AHJ, Vol. 2 No. 1, Spring 1969

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lJnde1·standing The Stt1dent Harpist by Marjorie Chauvel This article by Miss Chauvel appeared first in the May 1968 issue of The Instrumentalist, and is reprinted with the permission of that publication. Copyright 1968 by The Instrumentalist. Used by permission. The student harpist is often the enfant terrible of the orchestra; the conductor can't live with her, or without her. Perhaps I can explain some of the reasons for the difficulties and misunderstandings which arise in dealing with the young orchestra harpist. The professional harp teacher is frequently asked by conductors and music educators if the harp is really such a difficult instrument to play. This question is usually prompted by the repeated problems that arise with the use of a young, inexperienced harpist in an orchestra. Actually, it is probably no more difficult than any other instrument, but its problems are a little different and not understood by many. Let us discuss the problem of tension first. The harp student, like others, experiences the usual tension during performance; however, its source is different than that of other instrumentalists. The harp student rarely has the opportunity to be exposed to and participate in section training, and it is all too infrequent that she has the chance to play with other harpists. On the other hand, the young violinist can go into the orchestra and sit in the back of the section until, as experience makes him more competent, he is able to work up and assume more responsibility. However, it is rare for a young harpist to go into an orchestra where there 4 is another sitting in front, helping to train her. Usually she is alone, exposed, and playing in a solo capacity. Another of the student harpist's problems is her inability to count and lack of knowledge of musical notation. Although she has few notes to play, this does not necessarily make her part any easier. Counting for several hundred bars and suddenly e~ec~ing oneself into a rhythm can be more difficult than playing every bar. Frequently, she is looking at a part that is completely foreign to her, with unfamiliar musical notation, which, if not properly explained, can look like another language. There is also a three-way visual problem. Most instrumentalists can line up their music and the conductor while barely having to look at their instruments to play. But the harpist has to look at her music, her instrument, and finally, the conductor; not an easy task when she is learning to feel intervals and count. For years I was baffled by students who would say that "the conductor keeps telling me that I'm not looking at him and I am!" I finally realized that they were looking from the corner of their eye, but the conductor had difficulty realizing this. Another complaint about the young harpist is that she plays too softly. There are many reasons for this; it takes many years before the harpist is capable of playing loudly as a natural approach. First, the timidness usually comes from a lack of confidence and strength. The fingers need to be trained for many years before sufficient strength is built up in them, as well as in the shoulder and back muscles. Until that time playing too loudly would only result in ~ forced and, consequently bad tone. Like other young musicians, the harpist frequently thinks she can be heard simply because she can hear herself. So the placement of the harp within the orchestra is extremely important for bringing out the tone. The best position for the harp is as far forward as possible and within the string section. Then too, the orchestra directors, in elementary schools particularly, must remember that a small harp cannot possibly produce the tone of a full-sized concert instrument. A good way to surmount this problem is to use two harps. It is also wise for the conductor to tell the young harpist to play without worrying about the possibility of playing a AMERICAN HARP JOURNAL
wrong note, and to wait for him to tell her she's playing too loudly. Rarely has a student ever told me that the conductor said she was playing too loudly. For various reasons, sightreading is a difficult thing for a beginning harpist. The part in all probability will not be marked properly for pedal movements. One must remember that the harp has seven pedals with three positions for each. Because it is sometimes impractical to move a pedal and then return it to the original position, it is necessary for the harpist to go through her part carefully, marking the pedals as they should be moved and carried over if possible. If this has not been done, it is difficult to sightread when one must also pick out notes and follow rhythm. Then too, the harp parts are often too difficult for the young harpist. She lacks the chord experience and interval feeling that it takes to sightread. When the student harpist is given a piece to sightread it is best for her to find the main entrances (possibly only one chord or one note), try to count the entire piece, and mark as many cues as possible to help her to keep her place in the music. If she does this, she will be able to play her part, given the time to learn it. However, rather than to expect a student harpist to sightread, it is much more prudent to distribute the harp parts early, with the tempos clearly indicated. Insist that the harpist learn her part as firmly as she would a solo, so that if the conductor were to stop the orchestra and ask her to play, she could-confidently. If she knows her part well initially, she will have much less difficulty in learning to follow the beat. It is also wise for the harpist to work with a metronome, not only with her playing part, but also with those difficult bars of two and three that must be counted between sections of playing, perhaps while moving as many as five or six pedals. Working with a metronome will also help her to understand where pages must be turned, pedals changed, and when to place her hands on the strings for her next entrance. A very fine idea for the harpist is to secure a recording of the piece, so that she can get an idea of where the harp part is exposed and what the tempos are; then if it is possible, to play along with the recording. Perhaps one of the best suggestions for learning how to follow a conductor is for SPRING/ <strong>1969</strong> the harpist to visualize that there is a conductor in front of her when she is practicing. In this way she can develop the habit of looking up. Urge her to write in all possible cues, like "cellos" or "violins" rather than just notes. Pedal charts are an important aid. So often the conductor stops in the middle of a composition to return to a particular point, while the harpist is frantically trying to figure out where her pedals should be, especially since the harp is frequently not set up in the key that the orchestra is in. So, if a harpist can indicate all of her main entrances with pedal charts, she knows at a glance what her pedal positions are and can easily jump to any point. It is often advisable to simplify harp parts, since it is better to be able to play three or four chords confidently than to attempt a maze of notes that the harpist is incapable of playing at her level of development and technical skill. Perhaps all she can do in the beginning is play with one hand. Then, as she becomes sure of her entrances and more confident, she'll be able to add her other hand and more notes until she can play the entire part. Since the harp is often not understood at all by composers, many parts for it are not well written. Often it is necessary to re-write a part, not only so that the same effect can be brought out, but, also, so that it can be played on the instrument. The harpist should be urged to sit in on all rehearsals, since this will help her in learning how to count and will familiarize her with the musical score. As I have mentioned, the young harpist usually has little knowledge of musical notations; if she comes in at the last moment she may not realize that 3/ 8 will be beat in 1, or 6/ 8 in 2, and while the conductor is beating in 1, she will be beating in three and will be far behind by the time she is to come in. Sitting in on all 1·ehearsals also allows th harpist to hear what is being played and to enter into the composition musically rather than mathematically, as usually happens if she has attended only one or two rehearsals. Tuning the harp presents a problem for the student orchestra harpist. She must develop a fine ear and fine relative pitch. It is best for her to begin to tune her instrument to a well-tuned piano on the diatonic scale note for note, sounding middle C to 5
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Page 10 and 11: PRESENTS HARPS of the ANCIENT TEMPL
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Page 16 and 17: in the harp and piano works is a di
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Page 22 and 23: THE JUILLIARD SCHOOL .... .... ....
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Page 36 and 37: TIIE SIXTII NATIONAL CONFERENCE R.O
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AHJ, Vol. 2 No. 1, Spring 1969

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