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Reviews |
Traditional Beginnings for The Harp Cynthia Cathcart has written a harp instruction book that the harping world has needed for a long time. Designed to assist wire-strung harpers without teachers, the book is well thought out and very informative. This book not only provides ample instruction for the wire-strung harper, but is an eye-opener for the nylon-strung harper. Cathcart provides an expansive, yet detailed, overview of damping technique, much of which can be incorporated into the nylon player's bag of tricks. This book will broaden your horizons. Not only is the book excellent for damping instruction, it will serve as an excellent music book for beginning nylon students who are having difficulty working with both hands together. The simple and familiar melodies are all played with both hands, which will provide supplementary material for students who need a little extra time to work out the kinks of coordinating hands. With this diverse collection of music, teachers can give these students a chance to work on new music every lesson. Nylon students should just ignore the damping instructions, but follow the fingering as written. Finally, it is a nice collection of tunes, and accompaniment chords are included. Use the book as a repertoire book, both solo and in ensemble. "Traditional Beginnings for the Harp" will prove a valuable resource for all harpers, whether they play nylon, wire, or gut. -- Jo Morrison What other people have said... "Your selection of songs is great - real songs, not just something to practice." "Woo hoo, Cynthia, your notation rocks!" "You can put me first on the list for your next book!" "I love having the marked version of the music on one side and the unmarked on the other. And the way you've done it, even I, with my remedial music reading skills can read it well enough to play. And I don't know why nobody ever mentioned the idea of fixed fingers to me before. It was like a lightbulb went on over my head." "You open up a new world for a nylon player." "[Cynthia's] done lots of research, and has interesting background information for each tune, as well as very specific markings indicating "what to do" with the fingers and the wire strings, so it sounds musical." emails from satisfied customers |
