I woke this morning to a screaming two year old who was just plain GRUMPY and determined that I not be left alone to think and blog. Coming on the heels of an evening spent with this same child being unwilling to leave me alone to read before bed, I find myself with a head-ache and nothing much of depth to say. Sometimes life just does that to me. Nobodies fault exactly since two year old children can be difficult simply on principle. Autoharp: I do like thinking about my autoharps. I call my smaller instrument FRED. Fred is a … Continue reading
Tag Archives: autoharp
I suspect if someone had explained this to me when I was in 5th grade taking recorder to qualify for band I might not have flunked out! I never mastered how to blow that thing so it sounded even decent and the band director decided I hadn’t practiced. I blew and blew on that thing but I sure didn’t improve! Anyway, anyone wanting to learn an instrument should explore Youtube as a resource. Lots of fun stuff on there for learning an instrument. Here is one for the autoharp I love so much: This is from an instructional video available … Continue reading
This is a duet between Native American Flute and an Autoharp set up as a “diaprizm…a diatonic autoharp with floating penatonic chord bars” [Hal Weeks–musician] It is a lovely piece. Sometimes we need this sort of thing as a balance to all the difficulties in life. Things like sudden surgeries can really get a person down and it is important to balance these with reminders of nicer things. How about this piece: JoAnn Smith playing a Scottish tune, Sky Boat Song. Pretty song played marvelously well! And of course, one should enjoy the humorous side of life brought to us … Continue reading
I like Mark Gunn’s music. I like the instrument he plays. I enjoy celtic music. I love the humor in his funny songs. I am a Tolkien fan and so his Hobbit songs are wonderful. I guess I am a fan. His style makes me think of a traveling bard. I enjoy the wonderful music out there on autoharp, and there are several incredibly talented musicians whose skill on the autoharp is just amazing. But I really LIKE this artist’s use of the instrument. … Continue reading
Well, as I said in my last autoharp related blog post, I am delighted with the OS GD diatonic autoharp. It delighted me so much that when I spotted a lovely walnut and cedar GDA autoharp in a slightly scaled down design I was instantly smitten with Autoharp Acquisition Syndrome or AAS (tongue in cheek joke among people who enjoy autoharps so much they end up with several, usually one chromatic and several diatonics). This lovely instrument became mine after some budget negotiations with my beloved hubby. So now I have a lovely sounding walnut and cedar autoharp that is … Continue reading
1. Well, I cannot say I have made much progress in learning to play my autoharp since I’ve been side-tracked by other parts of my life. However, when a good used Oscar Schmidt Autoharp with Chuck Daniel’s bars and fine tuners added became available for around the price of a new one I jumped into owning a GD diatonic autoharp. As I see it, I’ll get a taste of what all the fuss is about diatonic autoharps at a comparatively low price and have a good loaner for introducing new people to my favorite folk instrument. It is a good … Continue reading
Our Church is supposed to be a family and a community but so often it is simply the place where we go to Mass and then go home. One common solution to this is to attempt to turn the Mass into a social connecting time. This is a serious error for this reason: Mass is for worshiping God and becoming closer to Christ through participation in the Liturgy of the Word and in receiving the Eucharist. Our unity as a community comes through our unity with God and to change the Mass is to downplay this essential aspect. Keep the … Continue reading
Oh, how I wish I were going! This is the premier autoharp get together in the Eastern Half of the United States and very possibly the best of the best for the entire hemisphere. There are a lot of things to do at the Mountain Laurel Autoharp Gathering, from classes which begin before the official starting day and run through the Gathering, to the competition, the jam sessions, the catering so you can enjoy meals right there, and finally just the great fun of a huge gathering of talented autoharp musicians and your opportunity to experience the entire mix! … Continue reading
The other day I decided it was time to let the tittle tiger in our family touch my autoharp. Being that this instrument is a well made one that cost money I probably should not have spent on myself I have been loath to let a 21 month old touch it. Never-the-less it was time and I knew just what method to use! There was at one time a bulletin board for autoharp and on it a woman demonstrated how she introduced the autoharp to small children, granted a bit older than 21 months, but still small: she let them … Continue reading
Music theory never interested me when I was growing up. Now that I am older and seeking to move from Quicksilver to Gold in my life, I find myself seeking more knowledge of music theory to help me learn to play my autoharp. Jumping into music, I discovered a whole world of music theory and my total ignorance of such a vast area of knowledge. I knew that my autoharp, a chromatic instrument, could play in pretty much any key and I have 21 chords I can make with this instrument but I did not know much about what a … Continue reading