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Hello silver harpists!
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Hello, all! I’m so happy I discovered Christy-Lyn and her wonderful tutorials. I’m 74 and have had my harp for a few years, but only dabbled now and again. I found a teacher finally but then she moved out of state, so that ended that. I had to learn to read music, and have made decent progress on that but it was taking forever. Then I discovered I had cataracts, which explained why things got so blurry between notes, lines and spaces. That problem has been taken care of recently, and I’m amazed at how clear things are now.
I joined Christy-Lyn’s courses about 2-3 months ago and I was so excited to be able to play something other than the one song I new and my several books of exercises. I’m amazed at how lovely this Website is and that we have an area to meet other harpists, as there are none in my area (Northeast Ohio) that I know of. I have joined a few online harp sites to keep me inspired. I have found the harp community to be very friendly. So far I only play for my cat, but hope one day to work up enough nerve to post a video on YouTube.
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Are you in the Cleveland area?
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Mentor-on-the-Lake, actually.
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Beautiful. May I suggest you connect with Tiffany Schaefer as well as ohioscottishartsschool.com. I’m not sure if you have an interest in Scottish music or Celtic music in general, but there should be people that can help you find harpists in your area. Tiffany teaches as well as performs and is very involved with the school and the Scottish Games. She has her own FB pages, Patreon site, and is also a member of this site if you want to connect with her here.
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I have enjoyed Tiffany’s youTubes. I didn’t realize she was a member here. Small world.
I see you have a Prelude, too. I love mine.
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Kia ora from NZ. I have had some similar experience. I am 70, could read the treble clef from a very brief stint at playing the recorder as a child. So have had to learn the base clef with severely myopic vision and also cataracts – now recently corrected as is the myopia, and now just coping with the challenges of aging eyes 🙂 I have a great teacher but there is no local community so this seemed a great one to join plus I get some choice new music!
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I love all the stories that have been shared. The harp is really horizon expanding, but as it takes it takes time to make progress, it is good to know that others are also facing that challenge.
I did not know how to read music when I started, and have always been rhythmically challenged, but it is getting easier. At 66, I can still learn, but having a resource like Christy-Lyn is so critical for me, as I do not hear fast enough to pick up nuances – but hey – when you can repeat something a zillion times, even I start to hear it!
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Hi, I
m Sandy from the northeast UK. Ive played the banjo, dulcimer and fiddle for years ( I still cant read music ). Five years ago I was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis and for a while I couldnt lift anything up. I bought a small harp because I didnt have to lift my arms up very far to play it. That was two years ago when I was 70. Im now able to play my banjo and fiddle again but have become quite obsessed with the harp. Im still having a lot of trouble getting my left hand to play the right strings but Ill get there. This site is amazing. I`m so glad to be here.-
HI, i
m sorry about this. I have no idea why this happened. Ive tried to fix it but had no luck.-
Not to worry, Sandra! Your post is perfectly readable. I can sure understand about “obsessing” on the harp, haha. It’s so mesmerizing!
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Hello! I love reading all of these inspiring stories from the “Silvers”. I am 66 and learning the harp. I have a background in music so reading music is not a problem. I just can’t seem to find the time to dedicate. A few months after signing up for C-L videos in early 2020, my husband decided that we should move from Florida to Tennessee. My harp has been in storage for many months during our moving process. I hope to get her back this week. I am very excited about getting back to my practice.
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Hello everyone, I am so inspired by reading all of your stories. You are an amazing group, undertaking the harp under such different life circumstances and backgrounds. And I can see how Christy-Lyn has been such boost for many. You all deserve a hug and a cheer! About myself, I bought my harp and started learning just one year ago, after turning 60. Thanks to the pandemic, actually! Although I do believe in God’s timing. I live in Spain and work as a translator; having an abundance of work throughout the pandemic, and zero expenses thanks to being stuck at home, for the first time I found myself with funds *available* to buy a harp! (Salvi Mia, 34 strings) It’s been a dream of mine for decades, and I barely dared to think it could happen for me. I do have a music background, and also started with some private lessons online from a professional harpist in Barcelona, but now on my own. Ah! I live in the south of Spain, Almeria province, no harpers around here but me.
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Hi, Nancy. Welcome! I have zero musical aptitude and have been playing on and off for the last 16+ years. I have had a beautiful harp all that time, but only started in earnest the last couple of years. I turned 60 this year. I plan on sticking with it this time around. Even though my progress is slower than I would like, I am determined to stay positive. I thank Christy-Lyn for that.
Despite my lack of musical talent, I just went out and bought a hammered dulcimer. 😄 Crazy.
Spain sounds lovely. I tried to get stationed there when I was military, but never could manage it. I’m in the US and lived in the UK from 1990-94, and have been back to visit a few times, but was never able to visit Spain (unless being held in a hangar at Rota AB for several hours when we broke down on the way to Turkey counts). 😉 I have supported a charity for Galgos 🐕in Spain for several years. 💕
Anyway, I’m so glad you are here and hope you enjoy it. I’m sure you will love Christy-Lyn.
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Hi Suzy, keep at it. Just a few minutes most days when the house is quiet and will progress because you love the sound of the harp! I am a 68 yo retired clinical social worker and after years of reacting to secondary trauma I find the sound of the harp a very welcome healing balm. I have been playing music for years…started as a clarinetist in middle school and end up playing in the Army band! I also have a collection of acoustic guitars and one electric guitar, a tenor sax, and a flute. It seems that I am no longer drawn to the repertoire of these instruments as I am to the harp. I recently received my first harp ( Lyon & Healy Drake) and I love it! Unfortunately, I am recently diagnosed with osteoarthritis of the knee and have incredible pain daily. I am pursuing treatment (knee replacement) as all other options have failed. I am hopeful to be pain free soon! Christy Lyn inspired me to pursue this lifelong dream. Her YouTube channel was all the push I needed to go for it! Thank you Suzi for sharing and as Jack Horkheimer (Star Hustler) used to say “Keep looking up! “ Peace and love to all!
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I love all the nice stories of all silver-harpist here and like to add my story:
· I am a late harpist: I bought a Harpsicle harp then I was 60 years old, now I am 65 and retired. I had some experience with flute and guitar, but that was 50 years ago. I came to the harp because I like the sound since years (in Wagner’s Rheingold there are 7(!) harps). I had some problems with heart rhythm and my doctor said I should play a “kinder harp” because it is pentatonic. I bought it and the experience was very nice. The calm sound of the instrument had a healing effect. I am now free of the problem, it was because of too much work and stress. But after the experience with that little harp I wanted to play more pieces not only pentatonic ones. Then I found the Harpsicle harp and bought one.
· The great thing with the harp is that you do all with your hands and immediately the strings give a response (at a piano you do not exactly know how the sound of the strings is produced – it is a very complicated mechanism). That direct answer of the strings is so great and makes you and your harp merge together. It is not only the sound you hear but also the vibration of the soundboard which directly effects your body. (Guitar would also offer that, but I do not like the fact that the right and left hand have totally different tasks.)
· But learning the harp was not so easy.
· I tried many courses. Very good was Pamela Brunner’s first and second course “Play the harp beautifully”. It is a really good course and I learned much from it.
· But then I found Christy-Lyn’s pieces and videos which I liked very much. And since some years there are the teaching course videos with different difficulties. That was and is a great pleasure. With the knowledge of the courses which I tried before and the video lessons from Christy-Lyn I made great jumps forwards. I can now easily play with both hands together, know new hand postures, start to improvise, and even play my one pieces.
· I now have a larger harp from Dusty Strings, the FH36, and the double harp FH26 form the same company. They both sound great. I like especially the sound of the lower strings of the FH36 very much.
· The secret which Christy-Lyn revealed was to learn only small parts of a piece. Formerly I often wanted to play the whole piece and then I skipped the more difficult parts and played only the easier ones. Now I prefer the stepwise progression.
· It is clear that younger people learn faster and with more ease. But they often fail because they are not sufficiently persistent. If you are older you can manage many things with your will. And after retirement I have much more time to practice. I often sit at my harp and play a piece or two in the morning, then I practice a new piece in the afternoon, and in the evening, I improvise and play my one music. And there is no pressure, I only can play and have fun. When I play in the garden, sometimes animals pass by and listen with interest. I hope they like the harp sounds as much as I do.
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