Basic Harp for Beginners

The package arrived on time and in good condition.Great book for beginners

And I am a beginner. A 65 year old beginner. I often find beginner's books on things tend to talk down to me, but this one treats the student with respect. I am very happy with this book, working my way through it, and happy with my progress as guided by the book. Five stars without a doubt.

I should say firstly, that this book is best described as a beginner’s reference guide only and not a first choice of how to learn to play the harp. While you will learn a great deal from this book, I can only cite it as good reference material, in addition to a good primary syllabus. If you wish to learn; I can highly recommend the Sylvia Woods tutorial “Teach yourself to play the folk harp”. While I am certain there are other good tutorials out there, I am still learning from the Sylvia Woods program series and know firsthand it works.

This is the book you NEED if you want to learn harp by yourself. It shows it all, from hand postions, finger placement, and how to read music. Harp music is more or less the same as piano music. Purchased this for my wife to learn how to play the Harp like she has always wanted. Learning how to read music is defeniatly part of that process. Very Glad that its in this book.

Nice book. Thanks

I find learning from this book to be somewhat frustrating. Part of the problem is that it seems to be written for a young person who needs firm guidance. For example emphatic directives like "DO NOT PLAY YET" and "OOPS! Did you look at your fingers play? Probably." As an older student who has written a number of tutorials, I find it much more motivating to work from guidance that simply tells me what I need to do. The book also falls short in the use of photographs. For example, page 26 includes a picture of hand placement that seems critically important. The image is so faint and washed out that I can barely tell where the harp strings are in relation to her fingers. Similar photos on pages 14, 15 and 17 are nearly as bad. If this book were improved, it would play a much more central role in my journey to learn the folk harp. As it stands, I am making better progress watching youtube videos that provide harp instruction. They allow me to study hand placement and technique much more easily. That doesn't mean I'm giving up on Riley's lessons though. I think that her music samples and notations will be more useful once I have gotten further along.

Perfect condition-

I am learning on my own right now, and this book is so easy to follow. I am getting some sweet sounds from my lever harp!

Das Buch geht von den Basics aus. Man sollte sich zumindest grob mit Noten vertraut gemacht haben. Harmonien etc. werden erklärt. Überhaupt bietet das Buch einen guten Einstieg und zwar auch ohne Lehrer. Wer ohne Lehrer lernt sollte sich allerdings klar darüber sein, dass er vermutlich keine besonders gute Fingerhaltung haben wird und auch Probleme mit Positionswechsel der Hand sind vorprogrammiert. Es ist letztlich nur ein Heft und es gibt zu jedem Kapitel ein paar Beispiele, aber Übungen, wie sie einem ein Lehrer anbieten würde Für wen ist das Buch meiner Meinung nach geeignet ? Für Interessierte, die noch keine Kenntnisse haben und gerne Lieder/Stücke spielen möchten. Es sind auch nach dem Lehrbuch-Teil einige weitere Stücke zum Spielen und Ausprobieren enthalten. Für wen ist das Buch ungeeignet ? Für Interessierte, die sich davon einen vollständigen Kurs für Anfänger erhoffen. Man ist irgendwann durch und stellt fest, dass man eigentlich immer noch wenig Praxis hat. Auch für Menschen, die sich oder andere Gerne mit der Harfe zu Gesang begleiten möchten, ist das Buch ungeeignet. Es gibt keine Akkord-Begleitmuster, wenn man von der Erklärung von Akkorden absieht. Würde ich es wieder kaufen ? Vielleicht. Es ist o.k. aber Sylvia Woods hat in den meisten Belangen einen besseren Ansatz. In Details ist aber auch Basic Harp for Beginners besser.

Thanks.

Absolutely wonderful for the beginner. The tunes you can achieve does depend on the number of strings on you harp. I've started with 12 which is a baby and a lot of tunes are out of its range. Ideally a 22 string would be best. That said this book is easy to understand and a definite necessity for the beginner.

Great. Easy understanding, gradual evolution of learning, so that no teacher accompaniment is necessary. I have already started my studies and I already notice progress. I recommend.

This book is brilliant, I'm re-teaching myself to play harp as I haven't played since I was a teenager. It's got helpful and easy to understand music theory and great exercises to teach you the principles you'll need to learn and practice to be able to move on to complicated pieces. I've not finished the book yet but my confidence is rapidly improving.