Customer Reviews

The Small Harp: A Step by Step Tutor with CD (Audio)

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Having just bought a 19-string Celtic harp and not having an instructor near-by, I purchased Ms. Kinneard's book and CD. Within one week I was able to play some tunes and can actually keep the thing tuned..Both the book and the CD are very clear and the "exercises" she provides are actually pretty fun and good for learning basic techniques. The only criticism I have is that there are a lot of tunes in the book that are not played on the CD and for those of us who are not adept at reading music, it will be difficult to figure them out. And this is a shame, because her selection of music is a delightful assortment of traditional Celtic tunes that have been beautifully arranged for the harp. This is a petty complaint, though, because this was an easy, painless, and delightful way to learn to play this instrument. I have never been a musician so I was really starting from scratch - and I am very grateful to Ms. Kinnaerd for making competency with this rather intimidating instrument accessible and enjoyable. I highly recommend it!

This book will take you from absolute basics like "how to read music", "replacing a string" and "tuning your clarsach" to more difficult tasks like "ornamentation and decoration" and hints for arranging music with the harp in mind. The book begins with small songs for two fingers, working up to three and four fingers, and progressing through the skills you'll need to play more difficult songs. It's written in a straightforward manner, and the CD is an invaluable resource (starting off with tuning--useful if you've started into all this without having a tuning fork, tuner or piano handy--and giving demonstrations of all of the songs in the book). As a beginner, I found the pace just slow enough to get me off the ground with a bit of confidence, but fast enough to actually get me somewhere if I was willing to commit to practicing.