NOTE: The sheet music extract below is for preview purposes only. Sheet music is not included with your course purchase.
Bestseller!
Mahogany Moon (Early-Beginner) Course
Value: USD$195
Price: USD$52.50*
Members Price: 1 Credit SAVE!
NOTE: The sheet music extract below is for preview purposes only. Sheet music is not included with your course purchase.
Bestseller!
Mahogany Moon (Early-Beginner) Course
Value: USD$195
Price: USD$52.50 *
Members Price: 1 Credit SAVE!
Get this course as part of our guided ‘Harp Beginnings’ Program – go from absolute beginner to playing beautiful harp music in 6 weeks!
Mahogany Moon was inspired by a rare lunar eclipse, which turned the moon a mystical dusty red. The piece sounds atmospheric and creates an other-worldly moment for the listeners, while sticking to very basic harp skills.
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Difficulty level & Skills required
Early-Beginner: The melody is shared between the right and the left hands; the two hands never play at the same time. Only fingers 1, 2 and 3 are used and there are never more than 3 notes per hand in each measure.
Type of Harp
15 string harp (C to C) and larger
Range
Lowest note is D, just above middle C. Highest note is C, two octaves above middle C
Levers/Pedals
The piece is in the key of A minor (G sharp levers set). If you do not have levers, you can tune all your G strings up before playing this piece. No pedal or lever changes are included
What‘s Included?
Video Course with multiple lessons to learn Mahogany Moon.
Audio
Katie Thornburrow (verified owner) –
Lovely music and lovely to play
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Carole McAlpine –
As I don;t read music (yet!) I found this hard to memorise but once it was in my head I began to truly enjoy playing it. I love that it sounds beautiful played slowly as well as at full speed. I still make mistakes when playing it after 2 1/2 months of learning but I try to play it every day and see I am slowly improving each time. thank you Christy-Lyn for a lovely song!!
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Diane Dodds –
Lovely original piece. I was afraid it was above my absolute beginner level but Christy-Lyn explains everything so clearly, it was not an issue. Going out to join an orchestra now!LOL!!!
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Linda Burr –
Being a newbie at harp playing, I found this program to be just what I was looking for! The videos are easily accessible and can be reviewed as often as a student desires, even after completing this course – for a lifetime! The instructors are so patient and have a wealth of information to share and are very encouraging. Playing the harp is fun and relaxing, even when learning how to play. Also, the students in my class have been very helpful as well. I highly recommend Learningtheharp.com! Thank you Christy-Lyn and Carrie and staff!
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SueEllen Bendelow –
Fabulous pace. I really like to check off each circle during the learning. The videos were wonderful. Great smiles and encouragement from Christy-Lyn. I’m brand new & I would not be where I am today if not for this course.
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Janice Fenik –
I love the way Christy-Lyn encourages us through this and also reminds us to slow it down where needed in order to really learn the lesson at the pace each person needs, with the proper posture and hand/arm positioning reminders. All those tips are incredibly helpful, especially the prompts to “Place”. Also, comprehending the practice of “Chunking” is Invaluable and Christy-Lyn explains this so thoroughly. Chunking creates new pathways in the brain which develops our ability to grow and improve our playing! This is significant in learning as well as developing long term goals. These lessons are such an incredible way to learn the harp.
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Alice Lawrence –
Excellent I really enjoyed this teaching style and after a good amount of attempts and relaxing into it, I was able to play through to my daughter
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Jacqueline Patience –
More challenging piece to play, replayed each section about 5 times though 2 pages is annoying, so I trimmed the paper until the 3 sections were on one page, with 2 little dots to indicate a repeat. The more you practice the more you enjoy the tune.
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Boon Teng TAN –
At first when I looked at the score, I thought to myself, this is much longer than The Water Is Wide, and I felt a bit daunted. But, as Christy-Lyn guided during the video course, I realised there are actually only 3 different melodic lines, each repeated once. So, it is not so scary to learn. The composition is brilliant – how Christy-Lyn could come up with such a beautiful melody with just 4 chords – i, iv, V and VI. I enjoy playing it through. It would be good to add other performance directions like dynamics so that learners could experience how playing with different dynamics can make the piece much more interesting and expressive, and enjoyable to play and to listen to. Difficulty level-wise, it is not very difficult for beginners, but it is quite a jump and involves techniques like placing the fingers accurately and in time while the other hand is still playing. It is a good challenge though, and requires learners to put in effort to learn slowly and practise consistently. Thank you, Christy-Lyn for thoughtfully creating this piece which challenges learners to push forward in their learning journey.
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Davy Clark –
So, I’ve just finished the formal course for Mahogany Moon.
This song is immediately a favorite and is easy to learn. It works well for relatively beginning students who are sufficiently past the rudimentary skills of learning to pluck the strings and learning to read the music on the page. It is an awesome melody that encourages beginners to keep moving forward.
And, utilized as an early-beginner piece for an adult, it has a more complicated, beautiful feel and mode that doesn’t sound like we are playing a child’s simple, entry-level learning song. No, rather, it is worthy of a first recital number!
Plus, Christy-Lyn’s exacting instructions along the way are reassuring and very helpful.
I also found, like several others, playing an octave lower on my big harp utilized more of the resonance of the instrument, complementing the tune’s mellow mode in a significant way, much more than just playing in the high treble range.
One minor critique concerns the music notation as presented on the paper page. Perhaps, if I haven’t missed something, the 3 sections could be shown as repeats, allowing the music to be more compactly shown on one page. One page is far easier for an early beginner than trying to read two pages spread wide or without having to move them whilst playing. Just a thought.
(Unless the ritardando at the end required a 1st & 2nd ending, taking up too much space to compact as such.)
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Renee Brecht-Mangiafico (verified owner) –
Loved this song. The videos were clear and broken down perfectly into manageable chunks. Did I mention that I loved this song?
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gillian kitson –
easy to follow, you can do as many as many repetitions of each section as you need
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Janet Cahill –
I realize that for me it will just take little longer to learn this song, but am so happy to be able to have the videos to refer to again and again as I continue to practice.
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Glory Emanerame –
I have never played the harp before, the first time I listened to this song I thought to myself “This song is so beautiful but how would I play it?” Well!! Going through this course, Christy-Lynn made it so easy for me to learn it and I was so excited that I could play something beautiful. Really a dream come through!!
I would encourage those that are anxious or really thinking about it, especially for newbies like me, IT IS REALLY WORTH IT!! The most important thing is to take it slow and don’t be in a hurry.
I hope you enjoy it.
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Mary. Kate Milne –
Really enjoyed learning this piece. Instruction clear and helpful and good to have it broken into sections. It is good to practice over and over as you start to hear yourself develop. ….when to repeat sections or when to feel a fluid ease to the notes which motivates you move.
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Angie Seddon (verified owner) –
Absolutely loved learning this piece. I’m a real beginner and took it nice and steady to embed good technique. Every little pointer in each lesson is there for a reason. I love CLs encouraging style. I particularly found the prompts about when to place the fingers of the non playing hand really very helpful.
I simply loved this piece altogether … the slight lulling motion and Celtic ethereal feel – makes me feel like a harpist!
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Julie Brown –
I am used to playing both the treble and bass clefs at the same time, so playing the treble clef with both hands was confusing at first, but I got used to it. I found that “chunking” not only helped me practice efficiently, but also helped with memorization.
I really enjoy learning pretty harp music such as Mahogany Moon.
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Paul Kater (verified owner) –
I love the clarity and slowness of the explanation of every little detail.
It’s amazing how enthusiastic you are about each step, no matter how simple, and how motivating that is.
The tune is easy for a beginner, but once you got it, it can be made to sound amazing!
Thank you.
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Raelyn Rodriguez –
This is one of the songs I think I will use to play as a warmup. It makes me feel accomplished and it’s very relaxing to me too! I’m glad I got to play it through the harp beginnings course.
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Glynis Whitaker (verified owner) –
I am preparing for a performance for friends and neighbors. This is the perfect “first piece” for the beginning. I can easily play it with almost no errors and it is beautiful to listen to. This will be my go-to first song for my performances.
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Janice Ranne –
I loved learning this charming and = mysterious-sounding tune! Christy-Lyn’s style of teaching is perfect! She teaches small segments of the tune, counts along, and gently reminds us to practice ‘placing’ our fingers so we’ll be ready for each next section. I feel like Christy-Lyn is sitting right at my elbow, encouraging me to move forward.
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Gil Gilbert –
I loved this piece! Once I started, I had to keep going to the end (with a few shoulder rolls, reset elbow position & shaking of the hands along the way). I feel like a proper harpist 😁
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Sheila Blackford (verified owner) –
I love this piece! Mahogany Moon is lovely and I get compliments every time I practice it from my husband. The song is so beautiful that you can’t help but sound like a harpist. And what can I say about Christy-Lyn — she is so warm-hearted and encouraging. A great class to take. I want to practice placing even more smoothly because of this class. Thank you Christy-Lyn!
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Peggy Casey (verified owner) –
I thought this piece might be too easy for me. Nope. It is sweet and fairly simple. It helped me with correct finger placement and timing. At first, I just wasn’t getting it even though it’s mostly basic chord triads, E, F, Am, Dm. I learned if you place the fingers in the very first measure it enabled me to look ahead for each hand so I could place that hand as I am playing the other hand. I had to start slow to get it right. Memorizing isn’t my thing. I have a hard time with it. But I did start to remember some of it after going through it again and again. I had to think about the notes, placing the fingers, and playing in time. It’s an early beginner lesson that is a good refresher that I will keep in my repertoire and play over and over. I will go back to this one often.
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Lita Joy Murphy –
It was a great class. Maybe some others in the class who have pretty busy schedules, found like I did that I played all the videos on .5 speed. During this session, I moved my seat higher and found that I don’t need my glasses while playing and reading the music. I took advantage of being able to slow down the speed of the video. I will try to squeeze a little extra practice when I can.
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Melora Boyd –
It is wonderful to be able to play such a gorgeous song as an early beginner!
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Sue Fry (verified owner) –
Mahogany Moon is a beautiful song and so easy to learn. Its one which I know I will play over and over for a very long time, is my favourite (so far!)
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Leanna Manuel (verified owner) –
I love your videos. I like that I can learn from the comfort of my home. I like how the different sections of the piece are broken down into manageable bites. Christy-Lyn your smile is infectious and I honestly believe I can feel your joy radiating through these videos. It is so nice to be playing “real music” instead of twinkle twinkle but I do wonder if traditional scale and arpeggio practice would be a benefit to establish muscle memory. This was definitely a great value for the cost.
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Kimarie Webber (verified owner) –
Using three fingers and learning how to place fingers in an overlapping fashion was a real skill builder. This is a really beautiful tune that is suitable for a early beginner and I feel it was also a confidence builder.
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John Mills –
Changing the camera angle would be a help. As is, the placement of the fingers for the left hand is not visible. Perhaps an angle downward from above the neck of the harp?? At least slightly?
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David Ryan (verified owner) –
I really enjoyed how the piece is broken down. very encouraging instruction style. I’m looking forward to my next one! Best of luck to everyone on their harp journey. Thanks!
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s-corridoni –
I really loved this one
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Terri Brownell (verified owner) –
Took me a while to learn after being away from music for over a year, but with slow and steady progress I finally have it down pat! Looking forward to my next course! 🙂
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Athena Gibbons –
I like the haunting songs so this was my favorite in the Harp Beginnings Program. As usually, you did a good job of breaking the song into easily practiced pieces. 🙂
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Ginette Pilkington (verified owner) –
Loved learning this piece. Nice patterns and shapes made it easier to remember.
Just love Christy-Lyn’s encouragement and enthusiasm. Her style really suits the way I learn
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Michelle Schillinger –
I find that i like this piece more each time I practice it! I have enjoyed experimenting with varying the sound from soft to strong, having the hands echo/answer each other. I also played it an octave lower (on my Ravenna 34). It sounds even more beautiful down there!
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Leigh (Lee) Harwood –
This original piece is simple yet haunting. Now, we learn to use three fingers on each hand! For me, the challenge is plucking hard enough with the third finger. If I’m too gentle, my finger slides off the string sideways and sounds wrong. My hands are getting stronger and more agile. I noticed my keyboarding is faster and more accurate after a couple of weeks of learning the harp. I am happy with this course. The song is well worth learning.
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Kathryn Kelly –
This is a beautiful piece which also gives you practice “looking ahead” in the music and placing your fingers in anticipation of the notes to come! I love its sweet, melancholy sound — hauntingly beautiful!
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kellie macfarlane (verified owner) –
Would love to learn more eerie pieces like this, Cristy-Lyn, I loved it! Thank you so much!
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Sharon Doolan (verified owner) –
I really enjoyed learning this piece of music, it’s such a lovely tune, it;s a piece of music I will continue to play
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Sue Berry –
Simple tune and melody to help you get started. I finished this ages ago but went back to play it again!
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sparks7392 –
I love the sound of this piece. And I absolutely love how Christy-Lyn plays and teaches it. I am still perfecting it as I practice. I also like that I can go back and review it if I’ve been away from it too long!
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Krystriana Clark (verified owner) –
I learned this song in September/October and it had that perfect Halloween feel to it. Love it!
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Corine Poleij (verified owner) –
Good to learn finger strengt because I have a little painting in one finger
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Michela Strusi (verified owner) –
One of my favorite song for early beginner harp…so delightful to perform
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Annette Kelly (verified owner) –
Intriguing melody and nice to know the story behind the composition.
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Cynthia Hauris (verified owner) –
Enjoyed learning and playing this piece. It is actually a fun way to practice the strumming and finger placement. Thank you.
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Cayla Dickenson (verified owner) –
On Mahogany Moon, can you please add a bit to the front of the full speed playthrough video? It starts playing the first note as soon as you hit the video play button! There’s no time to hit play and then place your fingers.
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Cayla Dickenson –
This eerie and beautiful piece let’s you practice hand to hand to hand transitions while playing something that is deceptively simple seeming. You will feel like you are playing something incredibly complex, and the flow and sound of it will have you wanting to play it again and again.
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Jennifer Patel (verified owner) –
Thank you Christy-lyn for this opportunity to take your course, I thoroughly enjoyed it.
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Holly Nestberg –
Lovely haunting melody that keeps a beginner from sounding so much like a beginner!
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Sheri Harshberger –
great beginner song! Haunting and the repeated patterns made learning the timing of placing hands much easier with immediate progress.
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Louise Bowers (verified owner) –
Very pretty, somewhat melancholy song ! Great song to start out with as a beginner !
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Louise Bowers –
Was a great beginner song! Does not take long to learn !
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Janet Ferguson (verified owner) –
Thanks for your guidance I enjoyed this and the classmates chats
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Cindy Brewer (verified owner) –
I finished and am moving on to Danny Boy. Thank you!
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Mary Hudnall (verified owner) –
I enjoyed this course very much. I bought my first harp, January, 2022. I had never touched one before, and I am 75 years young. I love the way you teach! It is just the right pace for a beginner. You repeat the important techniques that are so needed. I have arthritis, and my hands are quite disfigured, but the harp has actually reduced the pain in my fingers. I am recorded my trying to play this song tonight. I will go post it at the course group. I lost my way toward the end, and so it has a unique ending. lol
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Erin Minaker (verified owner) –
Of all the songs I’ve learned so far, this is my husband’s favourite. I love it too.
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