Two recitals and a lesson

The first of my two recitals for this month was on the Saturday as it was nephew Josh's 6th birthday. A small family gathering up in Derbyshire included such highlights as a lovely cake made by Sue and my 5 minute recital featuring exam pieces and grand finale of Rockin' all over the world for my Dad. Josh was clearly so excited that he carried on playing with his new Lego set while I performed. I had been hoping to go to see harpist Lucy Bunce that evening but unfortunately the concert was postponed so I am on the lookout for other harp recitals to go to in the future. Sunday was the first day I did no playing at all, although I was kept busy with a Palace Band rehearsal and the adult pupil concert that Sue (day 36) and Helen (day 38) had been working towards. Several of the teachers who had provided pupils had themselves participated in the grade-1-a-thon and I think it was reassuring for the performers to know we were attempting to understand what it felt like to perform in front of your peers while feeling rather unskilled. It was a lovely evening and Sue and Helen both played extremely well, remembering many features that we had worked on and playing musically despite being quite nervous!

Monday's practice was a good 30 minutes planning pieces for the following day's performance. Azaleas, The Ball, Lavender's Blue, Merry-go-round and Lullaby are among my favourites. I had struggled with Lavender's Blue but this was feeling much better now so I am glad I stuck with it. I tried Rondo just to see how it felt and typically it went much better than the exam. My second recital was on Tuesday for Walden Winds. I played just before the tea break and then they all had a closer look, had a go at plucking the strings and asked lots of questions. I don't think I have had a question that I can't yet answer. Having read a fair amount of Harps and Harpists I can produce a few essay-length answers if appropriate, erudition oozing out of me as I speak but generally people seem to have their next question lined up before I've finished answering the first one so we move swiftly on. The only question I am not sure about is what the harp is made of. 'Wood' is not the most satisfactory of answers but I think it is made of ash, as this is written on the bottom of the harp. I'll find this out soon. Along with another distinction bonus as promised by Hayley I earned two more sponsors that evening so thanks are due to wonderful bass clarinettist Doris and clarinettist and wonderful hostess of parties Mary.

I then did nothing for two days but since then have left the harp out and will sit down for as long as I feel like it, usually between 20 and 30 minutes. I have done some practice before school but this is dangerous as I get carried away and have nearly been late a couple of times. I added another Dunhill piano piece called The Old Windmill and a Waltz by Dominig Bouchard in Harpe d'Or. I also arranged a lesson with Rohan and on the Friday did a short burst before packing the harp away and going to school. I had a few things to ask Rohan, not least how did my new pieces sound, but also wanted some new book ideas and suggestions for grade 2. Rohan asked me to meet her at one of the schools in Cambridge. When she opened the door I thought she was overly glamorous for a spot of Friday afternoon teaching with her sparkly black top and smart black trousers. However it turned out that she had just given a lunchtime recital and was fitting me in before travelling to some other pupils in the city centre. As I set up she played some extracts of the pieces she had performed. I followed as best I could with Swaying Branches and Waltz. Swaying Branches has some lever changes which I worked out and she said that looked fine to her. She said my elbows needed to be out more but rather than suggest I think of myself as a princess, as Elaine had done, she told me to imagine a porcupine under each arm. Ouch, I thought, but it did the trick at least for a short while. In Waltz, which has some left hand chords, she told me to lengthen my fingers and think of pointing them down. That way I would be able to see where the left fingers were going much better. This worked but as I played Waltz again I could feel them curving back up to their old position. But generally all was looking good and Rohan showed me some grade 2 pieces. Nothing too difficult and she lent me a book with one or two in until I get my own music. She told me her next exam session for harps will be mid-July so I could work towards that. The scales seem easy enough and the fingering patterns are straight forward extensions on grade 1 so I can get working through those on my own. I'll continue making my own progress and will then get in touch with her when I think I need some help, or if I suffer a crisis. Having made the point about folk asking me lots of questions I then quizzed Rohan further about certain aspects of technique. One was if you are supposed to let the harp strings ring on mid-piece, or should you try and dampen them. This is down to experience I was told and you gradually learn which strings might want stopping and which you can let ring on. I was told not to worry about it for now. Rohan took a phone call during the lesson and I was able to overhear her talking about the grade-1-a-thon. Whoever was at the other end seemed keen to know all about the event, in particular the harps as well as Rohan's efforts on the percussion. Afterwards she told me it was one of the staff at Morley's, one of the other English harp builders. They had sponsored Rohan a considerable amount and were ringing to return Rohan's thanks so I learnt a little mroe about them.

At the "Clueless in Concert" concert I picked up a leaflet advertising a book called "Successful Practising" by Jenny MacMillan. Jenny is known to me as she took the MA Psychology for Musicians course in the cohort before mine. I have read and enjoyed some of her articles and I know she is highly recommended as a piano teacher in the area. If a copy of her book was ordered by mid March she would donate £5 to SIA. The day before her closing date I remembered to put my order in and we exchanged a couple of emails. I'll hopefully write more about the book as and when I get around to reading it (need to finish Harpo Marx's biography first). Maybe there will be some tips to help me with my harp practise!

March looks set to end with some sunny weather and some harp progress, although at a slightly slower rate than January and February. So the blog will continue as and when time allows. Now though I think it is time to do some more playing!

March update - more sponsors

While I was spending January and February totally immersed in all things harp any other projects were put on the back burner, or at most I did the bare minimum needed to keep things ticking over. As February turned to March and the excitement from the grade 1 exam and Clueless in Concert died down I realised that I had an awful lot to catch up on. Concerts to organise, pieces to be practised on my regular instruments and music to arrange for a forthcoming schools project all needed to be done pretty quickly. I had intended to play the harp every day even if just for five minutes and with a list of sponsors who had donated on or after the exam day I still had that extra motivation. First up was Dad's wife Sue who sent a donation on the morning of the exam. A tribute to Sue should include her ability to have lived with my Dad for the past 12 years (the raising of an unimpressed eyebrow when Dad and I burst into hysterics after sharing a daft joke demonstrates this) but her other skills include celebration cake making and anything else artistic. However I did sense some competition with regard to Dad's attention through appearances on the BBC as on the Monday morning Sue managed to get her name read out on the Chris Evans Breakfast Show on Radio 2. She'd got in touch with a Dutch pen-pal after some years of being out of touch and texted this happy news as part of Evans's "Listener Breaking News". I did a good 20 minutes on the Monday evening for Sue playing through some brand new pieces. Running out of manageable harp pieces I tried an easy piano book but piano music does not transfer that easily to harp. There need to be few accidentals and not too many notes at any one time. I settled on "Swaying Branches" by Thomas Dunhill and a little number by Tchaikovsky.

Pat and Martin, husband and wife participants gave another donation as I had got a distinction. Mum also handed over the bonus distinction, which delighted the rest of the family. At school a few pupils (and some dinner ladies!) had seen my on the TV so used the opportunity to stop working in lessons or rehearsals by asking about it. The most common question is "is it hard to learn the harp?" My answer is "yes, but I practise lots" in the hope that they will be inspired to do some more practise themselves. The second question I get asked is "are you going to take grade 2?" The answer is that I'll probably take it as soon as I've learnt some of the pieces and scales. I am keen to as I think I work best when I have a goal in mind. And I want to put more certificates up around the house.

Tuesday's session was dedicated to Julie, a saxophonist at Palace Band. The enjoyment of music can be shared easily and as an example Julie recently donated a spare clarinet, suggesting I could pass it on to someone who might benefit. I now lend it out to beginner pupils who are not yet in a position to rent or buy their own and will then update Julie when the clarinet and its owner take an exam! Julie's session was much the same as yesterday trying out new pieces and playing for fun. I am now not tending to time my practice sessions as I just get going with any recent pieces and play until I get tired or think I ought to do something else. Wally, another Palace Band member had Wednesday's session, which was a little shorter but still enjoyable. Having a house in France Wally has spotted an opportunity for some music in the local town square and has organised some fellow musicians to go out in April to provide some entertainment. Thursday was for Pat, a member of Walden Winds, and is a clarinettist who is working hard to get through the exams above grade 5. Finally for this week Tricia had Friday's session. Tricia is a clarinettist who enjoys a lot of chamber music, playing in a wind quintet and ensembles featuring strings and piano. This gives her the chance to play some of the great clarinet repertoire sadly not available to most players. Knowing and being friends with a keen viola and pianist always helps! I am hoping to do some playing with others on the harp but I might need to get a little better first, and find some patient individuals with whom I can play some easy repertoire!