April Tune of the Month: The Cliffs of Moher

Right click and choose 'save target as' for a printable version

This upbeat tune is popular at the Celtic sessions in our area. It lies fairly easily under the fingers for harp (especially the B part), so with practice you should be able to play it at a decent clip. Click here to listen (right click to download the midi file).

We often play Cliffs of Moher in a set with Tenpenny Bit.

The HarpBlog Tune of the Month is courtesy of Chubby Sparrow Music . For a printable version, right click on the picture and choose “save target as”, or pop over to the Chubby Sparrow Free Music page for more detailed printing instructions (note: if you just left click and try to print directly from the browser, it probably won’t print at the right size).

September Tune of the Month: Douce Dame Jolie

An upbeat 14th C. song by French composer Guillaume de Machaut, Douce Dame Jolie is quite easy to play on the harp. A simple rhythmic drone using open fifths is all you need for accompaniment.

Douce Dame Jolie by Guillaume de Machaut, 14th C.

More info on this piece can be found here. To hear a midi version of this tune, click here.

The HarpBlog Tune of the Month is courtesy of Chubby Sparrow Music . For a printable version, right click on the picture and choose “save target as”, or pop over to the Chubby Sparrow Free Music page for more detailed printing instructions (note: if you just left click and try to print directly from the browser, it probably won’t print at the right size).

April Tune of the Month: Lord Inchiquin

Apologies for the infrequent posting; I’m caught up in April Fools (another monthly writing challenge, to help spur on the finishing of the first draft of my novel), and in the madness my websites are feeling a wee bit neglected. Here’s a cheerful tune for April, by the famous Irish composer and harper, Turlough O’Carolan. (Although it’s hard to believe it’s spring today – here in southern Ontario it’s been quite wintery for five days now, below zero and snowing!).

Lord Inchiquin by O'Carolan

The HarpBlog Tune of the Month is courtesy of Chubby Sparrow Music . For a printable version, right click on the picture and choose “save target as”, or pop over to the Chubby Sparrow Free Music page for more detailed printing instructions (note: if you just left click and try to print directly from the browser, it probably won’t print at the right size).

February Tune: Drowsy Maggie

Drowsy Maggie is an example of the type of quick reel that is often played in sessions. We usually do this in a set with several other E minor reels. The chords are fairly simple, mostly alternating between Em and D in the A part; and D, A and G in the B part.

The HarpBlog Tune of the Month is courtesy of Chubby Sparrow Music . For a printable version, right click on the picture and choose “save target as”, or pop over to the Chubby Sparrow Free Music page for more detailed printing instructions (note: if you just left click and try to print directly from the browser, it probably won’t print at the right size).

January Tune: Brian Boru’s March

Once again it’s properly winter here in the PeterPatch, with snow swirling merrily about outside. The snow first arrived on Tuesday. Concerned that it might just up and melt away the way it has every other time this year (it had been a disturbingly warm and wet winter up to that point), M. and I decided to take advantage of the stuff and dig out our snowshoes. So the past few days have seen us tromping through the snow, and coming home cold but happy to cups of hot chocolate. The cats, of course, are deciding that this is the perfect time to curl up under warm blankets. What has this to do with harps, you ask? Not much, I admit. Except that since this is a very quiet time of year as far as harp gigs are concerned, I’m able to dedicate more time to working on the update of the Chubby Sparrow Site, and to playing with Sibelius. January’s tune is Brian Boru’s March, because – well, because I just couldn’t avoid it any longer. This is one of the very first tunes I learned on harp, and one that I teach to many beginners. It’s easy to pick up because of its repetitive patterns, and it’s a cheerful little upbeat march that works well on just about any instrument. Enjoy!

The HarpBlog Tune of the Month is courtesy of Chubby Sparrow Music . For a printable version, right click on the picture and choose “save target as”, or pop over to the Chubby Sparrow Free Music page for more detailed printing instructions (note: if you just left click and try to print directly from the browser, it probably won’t print at the right size).

October Tune: Woodicock

Okay, so it’s not quite October yet. Thought I’d get a bit of a head start. It certainly feels like October around here; chilly, windy, leaves skittering everywhere.

Woodicock, thumbnail (see print instructions below)

The HarpBlog Tune of the Month is courtesy of Chubby Sparrow Music . For a printable version, right click on the picture and choose “save target as”, or pop over to the Chubby Sparrow Free Music page for more detailed printing instructions (note: if you just left click and try to print directly from the browser, it probably won’t print at the right size).

Our early music group plays this one in a set with “The Old Mole”.

September Tune: Out on the Ocean

New Tune of the Month, courtesy of Chubby Sparrow Music (right click on the picture and choose “save target as”, or just pop over to the Chubby Sparrow Free Music page for more detailed printing instructions).

Out on the Ocean is a popular upbeat session tune, and can be played in either a leisurely or more rollicking fashion.

It goes well with Rolling Waves, Geese in the Bog and Connacht Man’s Rambles.

Also known as Mick Mulcahy’s, O’Connell’s Jig On Top Of Mount Everest, O’er The Sea, Out In The Ocean, Out Of The Ocean, Over The Ocean, Portroe, Split The Whisker, The Wind Is Over The Ocean.

August Tune: Morrison’s Jig

Morrison's Jig

New Tune of the Month, courtesy of Chubby Sparrow Music (right click on the picture and choose “save target as”, or just pop over to the CS free music section for more detailed printing instructions).

Morrison’s, a spritely jig in E dorian, is a well-known standard at Celtic sessions everywhere. Typical of trad tunes, it goes by other names as well, including Pipe on the Hob, Maurice Carmondy’s Favourite, Stick Across The Hob, and Tom Carmondy’s Favorite.

You can also get a midi version of this tune and other Celtic melodies over at Chubby Sparrow. Alternate versions of this melody, and more information on the tune, can be found at thesession.org, a great source of trad tunes.

Free Handout #1: Beginner Exercises

Harp Exercises Thumbnail - Click on picture to get printable versionClick on the picture to get a larger printable version (it usually works better if you right click and choose “save link as”, or “save target as”, and then print it from your computer later; some browsers have a hard time printing high-rez images at the right size).

These are a few easy beginner exercises that you can use to start getting those stiff fingers a little more flexible and coordinated. All linking (“walking”) exercises can be continued for a full octave (or, up the entire harp if you prefer!). Fingering inside square brackets means all fingers in the brackets should be placed before beginning to pluck the first note. The little “x” in the crossing-over exercise indicates when to cross the fourth finger under the thumb (or, when to cross the thumb over one of the other fingers).

These exercises aren’t meant to be a substitute for a proper exercise book, just something to get you started.

For lever harps, I highly recommend Deborah Friou’s “Harp Exercises for Agility and Speed”; it’s the one all my students use. It covers just about every exercise you could possibly need on a lever harp, and would be equally helpful to pedal harp players. You can get Deborah’s books at the Sylvia Woods Harp Center, Melody’s Traditional Music & Harp Shoppe, and most other harp stores.

For more free handouts, check out the Harp Center Handouts section of the Sylvia Woods website.