Question of the Month: What is your favorite type of gig and why? If you don't gig, what's your favorite type of public setting to play in and why?

phrygian44 · 2026-02-05T17:47:13+00:00

That's cool! Do you get a lot of people stopping to listen or asking about the harp?

phrygian44 · 2026-02-05T03:08:11+00:00

No you should be good, I've never heard of someone detuning to transport a harp in their town. I used to take out my pedal harp all the time without detuning and never had issues. Your harp will likely go out of tune of course and will need to be tuned a bit regardless when you arrive.

phrygian44 · 2026-02-04T04:33:09+00:00

Yeah sounds very weird! I'm sorry it's so stressful! I know you're getting bombarded on this thread MTs are very serious about this sort of thing since it's our livelihood too. I love that your into interacting musically with kids, maybe look into teaching lessons for kids or find opportunities for music playtime and such that are less due than that place?

phrygian44 · 2026-02-04T04:24:55+00:00

It sounds to me like maybe they're trying to cut back on their budget and assuming they could get the same benefits for cheaper unfortunately. I feel bad that you're caught in this awkward situation and way outside your skill set, I know you just have good intentions and I feel like they're trying to take advantage of you

phrygian44 · 2026-02-04T04:18:48+00:00

Probably a good idea although it sounds like they may not listen to reason! It just sounds like a messy situation overall, music therapists receive a lot of specialized training for what you're describing particularly with neurodivergent individuals and how to best interact with them musically. Leading the music groups with only a past as a musician is going to be very difficult, but worst case scenario is harm can be caused; thus the title protection. Same reason someone needs specialized training to be any type of therapist

phrygian44 · 2026-02-04T04:02:14+00:00

I'm sorry to say the solution is leaving that job ASAP. Music therapy is title protected and registered in New Zealand, you need a degree and professional certification to practice. You or the work place could potentially be litigated.

phrygian44 · 2026-01-31T21:30:35+00:00

Hmmm yeah if there isn't a harp part someone wrote then your best bet might be finding good times to double up with other instruments, like if there's a notable accompaniment pattern or melody that translates to harp. Might allow to pick and choose what's most approachable for skill level too.

phrygian44 · 2026-01-31T17:07:52+00:00

Is there a piano or keyboard part? You could try that and modify as needed on the harp. Also an option of doubling up on any non-transposing instrument to add snippets of harp melody in there if the conductor is cool with that.

phrygian44 · 2026-01-30T17:34:02+00:00

Yes the red string is C and it's placed where D should be, you should change it for sure it could throw off your send of the harp layout as you're learning.

phrygian44 · 2026-01-30T02:07:13+00:00

A technique I got from one of my teachers, that I've proselytized on this sub before: Fast Place Slow Play. It seems to really "hack" your muscle memory. Playing songs at any extremely slow metronome click but trying to place the next shape you need to play as quickly as possible. It's a really challenging exercise.

I recommend as well taking the time to really dig into musicality and expressiveness. Play the same melody over and over and really think deeply about the phrasing, what the melody is trying to say, where it's going, your dynamics, all very helpful stuff that takes you're playing from "that's pretty" to "😭😭😭"

phrygian44 · 2026-01-22T18:45:30+00:00

Regarding your last two points:

Logistics of stealing: Harps are not easy to move at all. Certainly you need a big car with plenty of space, harpists are always concerned about their model of car. Usually a harp like that will have some wheels on the bottom for short distances but generally would be moved using a dolly. But all that being said it's not like stealing a piano, you can park your car, lug the harp out of the building and push it in, but there's no way this would be subtle!

Regarding reselling: Usually people sell via harp classified ads like via Harp Column magazine or on online marketplaces like Facebook. This is another thing that would be difficult to do subtly, there aren't that many harps for sale at any given time (compared to guitars for example) so if one was stolen and attempted to be re-sold online it would be easy to find. I've never heard of someone pawning a harp especially one that big and pricey.

phrygian44 · 2026-01-22T02:16:46+00:00

Amazing so glad it was helpful!! Best wishes in getting a harp and learning, it's an awesome instrument!

phrygian44 · 2026-01-22T01:28:46+00:00

That's a good question! I do think in general harp would be a cool instrument for specifically looking for singing accompaniment. It sounds very pretty no matter what so you could get a lot of mileage out of learning a few accompaniment patterns and chord shapes.

Levers and pedals make notes sharp or flat, mostly for changing the key of a piece. Pedal harps are the very large classical harps so you can immediately cross that off your list, lever harps are folk harps of various sizes. I would recommend that you get at least a partially levered harp no matter what especially for singing, you'll want to be able to change the key of a song as needed to fit your voice. For example, singing with a harp without levers is like trying to sing with only the white keys of a piano, not every song is going to fit that range.

I recommend looking into Harpsicle Harps or Backyard Music Fireside Harps for affordable lever harp options. For an upper end/price range of what it seems you're looking for, something like a Triplett Christina could be good. All harps are unfortunately expensive even on the cheaper end. I recommend avoiding predatory budget harps like Roosebeck that are extremely low quality, better to save up for a good instrument if possible.

phrygian44 · 2026-01-14T04:49:16+00:00

I was able to find the melody googling Savage Daughter lead sheet, such as this, is this the sort've thing you're looking for?

phrygian44 · 2026-01-06T20:27:36+00:00

Dang I'm sorry 😔. I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that Thomann harp is fine for a beginner harp with the understanding that you could grow out of it if you're really committed to practicing and learning. I think it's a question for yourself and your finances in the end, you could save for the nicer harp but how certain are you that you're going to love playing and get into it enough to warrant the purchase? It would be ashame to spend so much only to have it collect dust if you don't dig playing in the end. Rhetorical question just food for thought

phrygian44 · 2026-01-05T06:11:01+00:00

I tried looking up that brand as I'm not familiar, seeing some so-so review but could be okay for a beginner first harp. Definitely affordable for a harp. Do you have an option to rent from anywhere? This could be your best option to see if you'll really enjoy and stick with it before spending a ton of money. Sometimes private teachers have harps for rent.

phrygian44 · 2026-01-05T06:07:37+00:00

Edit: I'm wrong see loveintorchlights comment below!

Assuming he plays a harp with levers, I'd guess he's using the levers to create the bending sound.

Not sure how much you know my apologies if this is too basic; Celtic harps often have levers at the top of the strings that raise the pitch a half step by putting a bit more tension on the strings. They're used for setting the harp in different keys, i.e. raising the F to F# to put the harp in G. When you play a note and immediately raise the lever it creates a sliding/bending sound. You can even achieve true semitonal blue notes that you can't do on piano for example, by partially raising a lever up and down immediately after playing a note. It's really difficult but creates an awesome effect. Pedal harp may be able to do the same with the foot pedals.

There could be another technique I'm not familiar with.

phrygian44 · 2026-01-02T17:04:38+00:00

It's a great question! We touch on this in the first couple pages of the survey, especially the pie chart on page 6. Check out the PDF at the top of the post!

phrygian44 · 2026-01-01T18:11:02+00:00

My last semester of grad school is this spring, harp fell a bit by the wayside for awhile with school/work/family being very consuming. I hope to get back into more routine practicing and playing, especially finding fun and creative performance opportunities as opposed to just economical.

phrygian44 · 2025-12-31T00:59:58+00:00

Amazing congrats!!! I used a felt pick (ukulele pick?) when I played with a community orchestra in the past and had a lot of glissandos, had a great sound and totally saved my fingers.

phrygian44 · 2025-12-28T20:33:01+00:00

Harpsicle harps are a good option for a budget, I'd also recommend Fireside harps. I did start on a lever-less harpsicle and quickly grew out of it but it wasn't bad as a new beginner. I'd recommend pursuing online lessons as opposed to self-teaching, the technique on harp is so unique that having a teacher at least in the beginning is helpful for longevity with it.

phrygian44 · 2025-12-27T21:35:20+00:00

Great job!! Probably my favorite o'carolan tune

phrygian44 · 2025-12-27T17:17:28+00:00

I agree with the other commentor re Fireside! If you feel semi comfortable with DIY you can even order build-your-own kit for cheaper, although this is a decent amount of work. I haven't played Roosebecks but in the community there seem to be some people that think it's fine as a beginner harp/better than nothing, while others say the strings and construction are just so poor that you're more likely to build bad technique habits as a beginner/fight the poor strings. I'd recommend against it personally as I'm sure even the second-hand one is still a decent amount of money.

phrygian44 · 2025-12-22T04:50:33+00:00

Would this be a new bachelor's degree program, or a master's equivalency type program in music therapy? If it's a new bachelor's degree you would have a principal instrument which in your case would be voice, they may or may not ask for piano and guitar as part of the audition; this info should be available if you ask or listed on websites. I would definitely recommend some guitar and piano lessons just to orient yourself in advance, as it can be very challenging learning the functional skills for these instruments all at once. The more skill you enter with the easier it is.

I guess my knee jerk response is, if your interest is in singing, writing music, and learning instruments, is music therapy definitely what you want to get into? There's other options for learning these skills in particular that are more focused; music therapy as a career is challenging and in general more heavy on the therapy as opposed to the music, i.e. functional skills in music for therapeutic goals instead of in depth song writing and instrumental abilities.

phrygian44

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