Caliope

[mneme]

I actually took my (29 string, nylon, heavy) harp out and played it today, for the first time in over a year. And I even sounded pretty good, though I can't do anything more than simple melodies, chords, and combinations of same by ear. I didn't try self-accompanyment...but then, I'm really bad at that to begin with.

I've put her back in her case (though due to my putting her on her bottom, the only place where the case is open, she actually wasn't dusty this time), and instead of putting her back where I'd beenk keeping her, cleared the junk off my desk and sat her there -- maybe if she's there, I won't forget she exists for so long.

I -think- part of why I stopped playing with any regularity was that I was told (correctly) that the way I'd learned to play and been practicing was wrong (specifically, I"d been playing with the pads of my fingers when you're supposed to play with the sides, which gives you a lot more mobility). Which did take something out of me, since retraining is worse than learning.

But then, a lot of it is just that she's heavy and bulky and a pain to bring, well, anywhere, in comparison to a drum, or even to a fiddle (even if she is easier to use than a fiddle).

Comments

[avram]

Garrison Keillor once did a routine called "A Young Lutheran's Guide to the Orchestra", in which he discusses each instrument and whether it teaches young people proper Lutheran values. ("[...] to some persons God has given musical talent, though not to as many as think so.") The harp was one of the two instruments (percussion is the other) he considers appropriate for a young Lutheran:

It's a good instrument for any Christian because it keeps you humble and keeps you at home. You can't run around with a harp. Having one is like living with an elderly parent in very poor health: it's hard to get them in and out of cars, and it's hard to keep them happy. It takes fourteen hours to tune a harp, which remains in tune for about twenty minutes, or until somebody opens the door. It's an instrument for a saint.

[pocketnaomi.livejournal.com]

Good for you!

I withdraw all evil comments about asking for custody of my godchild-harp, although I still request occasional visitation rights.

Keep treating her right.

[mneme]

Good! (and I'll try).

[mneme]

*laugh*

Amusing. Of course, my harp is somewhat different -- she at least stays in tune with herself with reasonable facility (ie, she was still playable only having to tune her bottom-most string after a year off), and she -is- much lighter than a full-sized harp, even if she's also a lot heavier than a harp her size has any right to be.

And the big cool thing about the harp is that it's amazingly easy to play in a way people can stand -- they'll sit around to listen to you -tune-, and if you can't play anything well, you can just play glisandos all day, which -still- sound pretty. It's possible to make a harp sound bad, but it takes serious -effort-.

Plus, if you leave on in the wind, it will -sing-.