De Zingende Snaar Harpen

A harp method (in Dutch) that focuses on children. With attractive illustrations by Masumi Nagasawa. With many exercises, worksheets, moving from an easy level to Intermediate.

A new colourful teaching method for Celtic Harp. A well illustrated book that is very attractive to children. With simple exercises and corresponding little pieces, to learn a good basic technique. It is possible to learn the Celtic Harp at an early age (at 7 years, sometimes even earlier), and this book should be good fun and yet be efficient. Explanations about technique, repertoire, creativeness etc. have been reduced to a minimum. 60 pages.

If you've ever wanted to play the harp, this book is for you! Play the Harp Beautifully gives you step-by-step instructions on technique, teaching you all the basics of harp playing. It contains 86 pages of photos, diagrams, and explanations on everything from tuning to practicing. This book will even teach you to read music, if you don't already know how! 

This book continues the 'self-teaching with ease' program begun in Level 1. You'll learn how to play intervals, rolled chords, left-hand patterns, the art and science of fingering and brackets, glissandos, harmonics, and more! If you've begun the harp, and are ready to move to the next level of accomplishment with confidence, this collection of music, photos, and explanations is perfect for you. Songs include The Ash Grove, Danny Boy, Scarborough Fair, Greensleeves, The Water is Wide, Morning Has Broken, and more! 96 pages.

This well written and wonderfully illustrated book is designed as an easy-to-follow, step-by-step guide to playing the harp for those who have completed Play the Harp - Beautifully! Level 2, or are quite familiar with playing the harp already.

Volume three includes chord theory, major and minor chords and intervals, introductions and interludes, how to have confidence in your harp playing, playing music from lead sheets and fake books, Taking care of your hands, special effects, and more. There are delightful pieces to learn, carefully explained just as you have come to expect from the Play the Harp Beautifully series. Another wonderful book for teachers to use for instruction (makes the teacher’s job easier!), or for the aspiring harpist/harper in an isolated area far from a teacher.

This book is designed as a companion book to "Play the Harp Beautifully Level 1 and Level 2. Each piece has two page numbers listed after it in the table of contents, designated "skills" and "notes." The pieces are designed to follow along the method books and give you interesting repertoire to play as you progress. Each piece has specific instructions to assist you in becoming adept at the harp in your technique and your phrasing. The titles of these repertoire pieces are: Asian Garden, Give And Take, Splendid Sixths, Floating, Aura Lee, Waterfalls, The Third Waltz, Amazing Grace, Ocean Waves, Going Home, Down In The Valley, Auld Lang Syne, The Spiral Staircase, Ode To Joy, Rays Of Sunlight, And Wild Mountain Thyme. 

This 2-DVD set accompanies the books Play the Harp - Beautifully! Level 1 & Level 2. The books are not included with the DVD. You'll hear and see all the musical selections and exercises performed, receive harp technique instruction, and get all the lessons from a gentle, inspiring teacher. This DVD with the books is equivalent to many hours of private lessons, and it's a lasting resource - you can view it over and over! You absolutely can learn to play the harp - beautifully!
  

Learn how to use chords and understand how they work in ten lessons. This book teaches you for instance how to accompany a melody using chords. The lessons were published in the magazine Folk Harp Folks! of the Nederlandse Folk Harp Vereniging. When Ank van Campen left this society, they created this book by putting these lessons together.

25 pages.

Harpologie is an original harp method for the beginning lever harp player with a play along CD. It contains 16 lessons in which all kinds of musical subjects are treated like performance, ensemble playing, technical exercises and musical theory. Titles of the CD tracks are: "Trappendansen", "Over de rooie!",  "Blue Waltz", "Kamelenkaravaan", "De witte tanden van een Chinees", "Trista", "Boeven en bandieten", "Speeldoosje", "We wish you a merry Christmas", "Hongaarse dans", "Tumbalalaika", "Lang zal ze leven", "Pestenpatser", "Swingende dingen…", "Elfenbal" en "Circus". 

A number of CD tracks are in study tempo. All pieces are also on the CD in concert tempo and as a Karaoke version. 62 pages. CD included.

Harpologie 2 contains 20 lovely harp pieces (with a lot of duets), 48 technical exercises in the 'Helpdesk' and ten 'Brainteasers' to test your theoretical knowledge. Naturally there is also a play along CD with Harpologie part 2. Harpologie 2 is suitable for students that have had 2 to 4 years of harp lessons.

An excellent etude book by the well- known French harp teacher, Maite Etcheverry. These exercises, like many of the French exercises, work all the fingers, enabling one to really get around on the harp. 22 pages. For pedal or lever harp.

This book is inspired by Jopie Jonkers’ Latin-American style of harp playing. There are many books with South American harp music on the market, but up till now a good method was lacking the repertoire. Inge combined her experience as a music school teacher and publisher with the knowledge gained from Jopie Jonkers. This resulted in this beautiful and instructive workbook, a unique method containing lovely music for harp solo, two and three harps. Titles in the book are: "Duermete Mi Nino", "Polka", "Regalito", "Guantanamera", "3 De Mayo", "Regalito", "Rio Rebelde", "Pasaje", "El Condor Pasa", "Serenata del Monito", "La Candelita", "Zambita, "Navidad", "Llorando Se Fue".

91 pages.

Level: beginner

This book of harp exercises was designed by Deborah Friou to help harp players develop and maintain strength, suppleness and agility in the fingers and hands. It is intended for use by players of all levels, and on any type of harp. A few pieces of music have been included where additional practice of the skills involved is helpful. The pieces, exercises and etudes are in the key of C. 93 pages, spiral-bound.

Includes:
Twll Yn Ei Boch
Annie Laurie
The Trees They Do Grow High
Mwynen Geiriog

It's hard to learn to improvise, especially when you're playing alone! This CD gives you a "friend" to play along with and the booklet provides an introduction to the principles of improvisation. The package has special instructions for harp players, but it can be used for ANY instrument, from the ukelele to the saxophone!

Example pages: music page tutor page

The creative teaching method. Eine Schule für absolute Anfänger. A school for absolute beginners - Volume 1. It is in three sections. Section one includes  excercises and studies with notes in German. Part two has some great tunes composed by Ushi Laar. Includes a CD recording of the excercises and tunes.

Over 90 pages of tutoring and excercises with notes in German. Totally 126 pages.

Tunes:

Die Frau im Wind, Renada, Cheno, Sinerella, Full of Spring, Dreher, Little Lilly, Goldwind, Tanz in Quaré, Flinn, Herbstmärchen - Lore Schätzlein, arr. Uschi Laar, Zwei alte Deutsche Tänze - trad arr. Uschi Laar, Zweiter Deutscher Tanz - trad arr. Uschi Laar, Abendklang - Lore Schätzlein, arr. Uschi Laar, Cingrena, Spagneoletta - trad arr. Uschi Laar, Tristeza - Anon arr. Uschi Laar, Desiree

 Improvisation: Übung 1-2

Theory and exercises sample pages:  sample 1  sample 2

Volume 2, with study CD is aimed at the 'advanced' beginner and follows on from the creative teaching method in Volume 1 - A school for absolute beginners. It is in three sections. Section one includes 30 pages of excercises and studies with notes in German. Part two has some great tunes. With a CD recording of the excercises and tunes. 60 pages.

Tunes:
Song of the Waterpike - trad arr Uschi Laar
Vasija de barro - trad arr Uschi Laar
Black orpehus - Louis Bonti arr Uschi Laar
Take Five - Paul Desmond arr Uschi Laar
Senor negro - Uschi Laar
Bardo - Uschi Laar
Fatamorgana - Uschi Laar
Fole a desmesura - trad arr Uschi Laar
Suite de Loudeac trad Bretagne arr Uschi Laar

 Fole a desmesura

Level 0/1
56 pages.
A lot of illustrations, large music notes
Also with information about replacing strings etc.
Technique and study pieces
Suitable for children and adults

Level 2
92 Pages.
Following part 1
Exercises for 2, 3 and 4 fingers.
large music notes
Suitable for children and adults. A lot of nice illustrations.
Also Christmas and holiday music.

I would like to give a short explanation why I wrote a book with Celtic Melodies  while there are so many of these books. My biggest problem with all these books is that you play the arrangement of the harpist who has written this book and I believe that music should be played straight from the heart, with a lot of feeling. To do that, it is better if you play your own arrangement. Also, the arrangement may change from time to time. 


I noticed that most harp players could use some help in making your own arrangement. In this book I try in several small steps to provide sufficient tools to create your own arrangement. 

To learn the melody of the song, you can use the CD to learn it by ear, but the sheet music with chords are also in the book. It is possible that you heard the song before or seen it in a book and that the melody or the chords are different. This is because the Celtic music was handed on from musician to musician and everyone plays the song in his own way. I tried to stay close to the "original", but of course I have chosen the approach that I like and that fits the harp the best. 

Janne-Minke Nijp

For pedal and lever harp! Beginner to intermediate level! Includes a play-along CD. Five new tunes, blues history, improvisation, wonderful and clever illustrations, hands on training, the four special scales! 108 pages!

Everything you ever wanted to know about how to play the Blues on your PEDAL or LEVER HARP!

The Four Special Scales used by blues players
How to improvise your own solo
Special exercises to "see" the Blues Strings
Lots of blues licks to use in your improv
How to comp using shuffle, syncopation, riffs
Learn the secret BLUES TUNING

From Carol Robbins, jazz harpist with many TV credits: "Congratulations on a book that is creative, well researched, and beautifully illustrated"

From Louise Trotter, "A book on blues for harpists is long overdue, since the subject has been sorely neglected.  I. Mac Perry has given us a practical workbook to appeal to classical and pop harpists alike.  A valuable contribution."

This book covers the cool chords that go "beyond and between" the triads used in traditional styles of music, and modern rhythms that "groove". The minimal chord in jazz is a chord made of four tones - usually a seventh chord, such as Cmaj7, Dm7, and G7. These are used extensively in pop as well. But beyond the 7's are 9's, 11's, sus4's and 13's that can add even more of a modern jazzy sound to any melody. The rhythms used in modern styles vary from syncopated rhythms to "swing eighths" to a rockin' "four on the floor". Jazz introduces the element of swing, and the Brazilian influence within the jazz genre brings us straight eighths with lots of syncopation. Exercises, examples, and assignments are given for each element presented in order to provide the tools for making modern-sounding arrangements using popular songs, traditional tunes, or your own compositions. 80 pages.

This book will give you tools to play along with singers and other instrumentalists without needing to read and memorize music! The concept is the same as for learning folk guitar -- they only need to learn some chords and a few strumming or fingerpicking patterns, and away they go! So, why should guitar players get all the fun? Here at last is an approach to playing folk harp that is truly a folk style of learning. Although all the songs used for examples and practice in this book are from American and Celtic folk music, you can apply this to modern popular music as well. The book includes how to figure out the keys and lever settings for songs, and what to do about chords that are not "within the key." It also includes a fingerpicking "library" with 80 patterns in four different time signatures. There are 20 fun folk songs with lyrics and chords, not a single note to read. The book comes with a companion CD of all 20 songs to rehearse along with. Verlene sings and plays her Celtic harp in a variety of styles to give you the sense of playing along with other musicians and singers. Then you can take these fingerpicking patterns, add your own if you like, and bring your harp to the next sing-along or jam session in your own community! The songs in the book include: The Water is Wide; Down the River; Go Down Moses; Mockingbird Song; Fair and Tender Ladies; Barbara Allen; Wade in the Water; America, the Beautiful; Streets of Laredo; Star of County Down; Scarborough Fair; Midnight Special; Oh Danny Boy; Amazing Grace; Wayfaring Stranger; Cockles and Mussels; Water Come a Me Eye; Cat Came Back; Old Joe Clark; and John Henry. 62 pages

Written by Gwen Màiri Sinclair and published by Meinir Heulyn, this book brings the spirit of Scotland to life. Suitable for beginners or those with interest in Scottish harp music.

Included in the new Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music exam syllabus for harp. Beginner to intermediate level.

Included in the new Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music exam syllabus for harp. Intermediate to advanced level.

Teach Yourself To Play The Folk Harp is the most popular beginning book for people of all ages who want to learn to play the harp. This book teaches the student step by step how to play the harp. Each of the 12 lessons includes instructions, exercises, and folk and classical pieces using the new skills and techniques taught in the lesson. It is an excellent book for any student, regardless of previous musical training. 44 pieces all in the key of C, with no sharping levers required. Fingering and placing brackets included. 80 pages, spiral-bound.

 Click the arrow to hear Sylvia Woods talking about this book, and playing a few of the beginning pieces.

The companion CD or cassette will assist harp players learning the pieces in this book. Since many of you will want to "play along" as you are learning, Sylvia has recorded most of the pieces slower than they are usually played, and as "straight" as possible, with little or no expression or rhythmic variations. The pieces are in the same order as in the book

In this informative video companion to the Teach Yourself To Play The Folk Harp book, Sylvia Woods gives helpful hints and instruction as she plays the pieces in the book. This is an excellent way to see "how it should be done," and receive helpful advice from Sylvia. This video is 1 hour and 40 minutes long, and follows the book, lesson by lesson.