[Harp-L] Re: Questions for those who teach

[Snaruhn@xxxxxxx]

Hi Mikael,

though I´m not a teacher for "invisible" instruments as you called the
harp, but I have some ideas concerning your problem. OK, I understand
what you meant by "invisible", but it sometimes happens that I too can´t 
find my harp ......  :))

My "invisible" son Harpie also read your post but this time he´s not
allowed to produce his usual nonsense you surely have expected. :))

Well, it´s always a problem to teach & learn things which can´t be 
demonstrated by a conspicuous experiment. Let´s take your
example:

< The first time you are to teach a student how to bend notes, 
< how do you explain it? >

It´s similar to teach someone how to whistle. There are several methods
to produce a whistling sound but let´s only talk about the "normal" way of 
pursing the lips. OK, your student has pursed and when you tell him that 
now he only had to blow through that little whole between the lips, you 
can be almost sure that nothing will happen. Whistling is learned by the
trial & error method. 

However, when it works one can make interesting observations how the 
mouth cavity and the tongue position change to produce the high and
low notes.

Bending notes on a harp is quite similar to whistling notes. Whether using 
tongue blocking or puckering, whether draw or blow bends, the cavity shape 
and tongue position change the same way. 

Now comes the point. 
I see, a student will say impatiently, but what happens exactly inside the 
mouth. You hardly can´t help to answer that the tongue and the cavity 
interact 
in a very specific and certain way to achieve the note changing. Ahaah, the
student will respond, I almost had thought that.

Another example to show why the personal harp sound, not only bending,
is mostly found by trial and error:

In Howard Levy´s Homespun video is a sequence where Howard`s cavity is
recorded by an endoscope showing his cavity from behind during playing.
One can see exactly how the single parts, uvula, tongue, and cavity shape 
are changing at the different notes. Moreover, one can also see how these
body parts gradually change at bending or overblowing notes of a scale.

I dare say that one could study Howards demonstration hundreds times,
forward, backward, in slow motion or still, but finally will have more 
questions than before.

Harpie had asked, hmmmh, Dad, in case, I would learn to move my
cavity parts exactly the way as Howard, it´s only a question of time,
do you think that I could then work as Howard´s double?

Woooh, Harpie, you will really do that? But be aware that you had 
constantly to carry an endoscope inside your head so that everybody 
can check whether you are really playing yourself instead of an
Howard video implant.

Seriously now. In most cases, following happens: One day, the player
shouts, Heureka, my first bended note, however that had worked?

Siegfried