This book of traditional tune arrangements and original compositions for the lever harp has been in the works for many years now. Through my time as a faculty member at Berklee, as a workshop instructor at various folk music summer camps and my monthly online workshop Harp Talk, I’ve been using arrangements of traditional material and my own tunes as vehicles to further investigate our wonderful instrument, the lever harp. I’m a firm believer in wanting to learn and by incorporating technical exercises, along with rhythm and musicality focus into our work on these melodies, we can take on satisfying repertoire while strengthening our general musicianship and becoming more skilful harp players.
The music in this book is for the intermediate through advanced player and gets a little trickier as you move through the book. I encourage you to jump in and thoroughly immerse yourself in each piece, becoming familiar and comfortable with its own particular challenges before moving on. Isolate sections, create loops, transpose, create new left hand patterns to fully utilise your own imagination as you progress.
After all – no one is a better teacher than you. Enjoy!
Maeve Gilchrist