Nibiria
26 posts
Jul 10, 2014
3:13 PM
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Can anyone recommend a classical sounding tune that will sound good on harp? I like the style of playing (and many others!) but don't know what a good starting song would be. Usually I try to make things with lots of TB octaves and whatnot, but I'd like an actual song to work from. Does anyone have any ideas?
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STME58
981 posts
Jul 10, 2014
3:58 PM
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Two Bach pieces I like to play are "Jesu, Joy of a Man's Desiring" and "That Sheep May Safely Graze"
You can end Jesu before the modulation and it sounds fine. If you want to add the last section, with is a repeat down a fourth, you will need a 6 overblow or a harp switch.
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Nibiria
27 posts
Jul 10, 2014
9:01 PM
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Additionally, what songs are in this video? They all sound familiar but I just can't place them. Except Jesu. I know that one now.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_KAZ4uf8Q18#t=50
Last Edited by Nibiria on Jul 10, 2014 9:29 PM
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STME58
982 posts
Jul 10, 2014
10:06 PM
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The first piece is Jesu Joy. I can't place the second but it is quite familiar. The third is Rosinni's "William Tell Overture" Buddy only plays the more famous "Lone Ranger excerpt but there is a beautiful lyrical melody in the first part of this piece that plays well on the harp.
If you like martial galloping pieces to try, check out Tschaikovsy's 1812 overture, Von Suppe's Light Cavalry overture, or some marches like Ricketts' Colnel Bogey or FW Meachamp's "American Patrol" (written in 1895 but made famous later by Glen Miller)
Nice slow stuff like the "Goin Home" theme form Dvorak's "New World Symphony" or the Love Theme From Romeo and Juliet by Tchaikovsky work on the harp.
I good, I know I have heard that but what is it, is Bach's "Wachet Auf"
And here is a famous tune by Hayden that only has one overblow note Hayden
Last Edited by STME58 on Jul 10, 2014 10:08 PM
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Nibiria
30 posts
Jul 10, 2014
10:19 PM
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Thanks a ton! Followup question, how do you decide what harp to use? Key signature on the left? Experimentation?
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STME58
984 posts
Jul 10, 2014
10:48 PM
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If a piece has no accidentals you can definitely play it using a harp in the key of the key signature. Look at the Hayden piece. The key signature is 3 sharps, the piece starts an ends on A so it is in A major. An A harp is a great choice (but not the only choice) for this piece. IN measure 23 there is a D# on an A harp this is a 5 overblow. It only occurs once and you could probably find a substitute note that doesn't sound too bad.
American Patrol has a key signature of C but all of the B's are flatted. An F harp has this set of notes except for the G# which is a 4 overblow on an F harp. In this piece the G# is a passing tone and substituting the 4 blow (F) works pretty well.
I built a litlle spreadsheet to help me quickly review where the notes are on a harp.
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nacoran
7859 posts
Jul 10, 2014
11:25 PM
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It depends on your expected audience. For a general audience, don't overlook the Masterpiece Theater Theme, Mouret's 'Rondeau'. Everyone recognizes it right away and it is darn catchy. I find if you tongue block it with a lot of splits you can give it a nice rich complex sound. I don't do a lot of classical, so I've never learned more than the main theme, but I finally found a good recording of the whole thing and am going to add the rest in.
I also play a snippet of my favorite Bach piece, his 'Little Fugue'. I suspect someone could work that up pretty well.
I also play a snippet of 'O Fortuna', again, because I just think it's catchy. I've never sat down and worked up a whole version, but I goof around with it sometimes.
An uptempo Ode to Joy could be fun. Those are all tunes I sort of picked off because they were in my head from movies or TV. That means a less classically minded audience is likely to recognize them.
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Nate
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First Post- May 8, 2009
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JInx
819 posts
Jul 10, 2014
11:39 PM
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Grab a Lutheran hymnal
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Philosofy
576 posts
Jul 11, 2014
5:54 AM
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Eine Kleine Nachtmusik by Mozart is also easy to pick out on a harp.
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Diggsblues
1424 posts
Jul 11, 2014
8:52 AM
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I would use chrom for classical music unless your Howard
Levy. Bent notes just don't make it in that style.
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nacoran
7860 posts
Jul 11, 2014
12:19 PM
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Diggs, as a general piece of advice I'd agree with that, especially if you want to make it sound classical, but there are some opportunities for some fusion of sounds; some of them lay out pretty well in the middle of the harp, and at least on Rondeau I like hitting a dirty bend at the end of the main theme and dirtying up each section after a bit more. Again, it depends on the crowd. If they came expecting classical, then keep it clean, but there are a lot of settings where I think a dirtier sound might reach a more contemporary audience. And I'm certainly not Howard Levy. :)
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Nate
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First Post- May 8, 2009
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STME58
985 posts
Jul 11, 2014
9:29 PM
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Diggs, I was hoping you would weigh in here. That is a lovely track of harp an harpsichord, a great pairing!
If you are Boris Plotnikov you can also get away with classical on a diatonic at a high level.
I like to play classical on the diatonic in part because I need to hit the bent notes accurately without sliding into the note for it to sound right, and I find classical to be a fun way to practice this skill. Jinx's suggestion of playing out of a hymnal is also great for this. The hymns typically do not require overblows like the classical does.
Last Edited by STME58 on Jul 11, 2014 9:30 PM
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