Teach Yourself to Play the Folk Harp Wednesday, May 18, 2011
The history of the harp goes back to ancient times. There are harpists portrayed in the artwork from Greece, Sumeria, Babylon and Egypt, just to name a few. Of course, David played his harp for Saul.
Harps are still popular. It is a wonderful thing to have a good pedal harpist to play with an orchestra or to play for a wedding or other event.
What about the folk harp? It is a “lever” harp. Instead of pedals to change keys, the player has to flip a lever under the top end of the string, which changes its length, therefore its pitch.
Sylvia Woods, world renowned folk harpist, has written “Teach Yourself to Play the Folk Harp” to help beginners learn to play this lovely instrument. The parts of the harp are named and explained. How to hold the harp, proper hand position, and how to read music are presented. The songs to learn include American folk songs like “Yankee Doodle”, and several Irish songs are included such as “Eileen Aroon” and “Sheebeg Sheemore”.
Visit our website, stantons.com, email us at greatservice@stantons.com, or call us at 1-800-42-MUSIC
to check out this folk harp book and others.