Home | Music & Dance | Instruments |

The Harp for Beginners

The Harp - Learning Your First Tune

To properly view this site, javascript must be enabled and Flash version 9 or higher must be installed.
Get the latest Flash player

All Segments in this Video
All Videos by this Expert

The Harp

View Comments (Add Comment)

Learn More

How to Tune a Cello
How to Tune a Bass

These series of videos will take the beginning student from purchasing the correct bass to playing and practicing the basic techniques and exercises to get the student out and playing in a band situation.
The Drums - How to Tune a Snare Drum

Wes Crawford demonstrates how to replace a drumhead.
Tune an Acoustic Guitar Without a Tuner

This video shows how to tune an acoustic guitar without a tuner.
Tune an Acoustic Guitar with an Electric Tuner

This video shows how to tune an acoustic guitar with an electric tuner.
Playing Pizzicato on the Cello
Care and Maintenance of the Cello Bow
Preparing to use a Cello Bow
Basic Bowing on the Cello

Expert
Video Details
Transcript

Cynthia is one of the world's experts on the Clarsach, the wire-strung harp of the Highland and Islands of Scotland and of Ireland. Performing and teaching internationally, she is leading a new wave of interest in the wire-strung harp. Based near Washington, DC, Cynthia represents Ardival Harps of Strathpeffer, Scotland and is their North American Artist in Residence. Cynthia is a recording artist, and the author of several books for the clarsach. She holds a number of prestigious awards, including two-time U.S. National Scottish Harp Master Champion, three time winner of the Clan Lamont Trophy (in Virginia, Texas and Ohio), and holder of the Pennington-Grey Award for service to the wire-strung harp.

The Harp - Learning Your First Tune

Cynthia Cathcart introduces newcomers to the wire-strung harp, or clarsach (also sometimes called the early Gaelic harp).

This series: 32,580 views

Download to Mobile Device

Tags:

Harp

Tune

Comments:

0 (Read Comments) (Add Comment)

Transcripts

My name is Cynthia Cathcart, and lets learn the first tune. Since the first tune I usually teach the little fun called The gentle rain fall. Start with your base-hand, fingers four, three, and two put them on strings D, E and F-sharp, you want to have your F tuned sharp for this tune. Treble-hand, fingers four, three, two on D, E, F and auto fire, so both hands, fours are on D, threes are on E and twos are on F-sharp. Base-hand, skip a string and put your thumb on A, treble-hand skip two strings and put your thumb on B, you are now on these strings D, E, F-sharp, A, D, E, F-sharp, E. Okay. The first element we are going to learn in this tune is treble-hand four, three, two, thats it. Four, three, two, as you strike, each succeeding string, return the previous finger to the string. Be comfortable with that, and then one time, strike the thumb, and as with the treble-hand, elements of this tune, base-hand just straight down the strings, thumb on A, two F-sharp, E and D, fingers three and four.

Once you are comfortable with that, here is the tricky part. Turn it around, come back up, but leave your second finger on the F-sharp, its an anchor, dont move it. Fourth finger D, third finger E, thumb A.

The elements are quick review, with sometime, okay and then base-hand straight down and one tricky time, straight up, but leaving the second finger on the string. It goes together like this; treble-hand plays this bit, base-hand plays this bit.

Heres the tricky bit; treble-hand goes all the way up to the thumb, base-hand comes up, skipping that second finger, dont play the F, and then its back to the way it began. One more time, treble bit, base-hand; treble-hand up, base-hand down. Treble-hand all the way up, base-hand up, four, three, one, treble-hand, base-hand, One more time without my talking [Music]