Harp Exercises for Agility and Speed

by Deborah Friou

(Harp). This book was designed 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. The repetition of patterns common to the harp should enable the player to perform with greater ease and confidence.

93 pages, Spiral-bound

First published September 1, 1989

Reviews

[Tanah Haney · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent collection of exercises for all harp players. Useful for both beginners and more advanced players. I recommend this collection to all my students, and use it as the main source of exercises in most of my lessons. Lever harp and small harp friendly.

[Georgina · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read somewhere that if you really wanted to advance your harp-playing skills, you should buy this book and diligently practice the exercises. They were so right! By practicing the most basic exercises each day, my ability increased *exponentially* in just a few weeks. (Yes even my weak fourth finger did better.) Highly recommended.

[Clara Florence · Rating 3 out of 5]

I bought this book on the recommendation of my harp teacher. I wish I hadn't. It's from a very staid musical tradition that involves endless repetition in a very un-engaging way. I far prefer to create exercises out of the current piece I am working on, than play scales.

Works for some. But I am not a rote learner at all so wasn't useful to me. To learn I need

1. A challenging piece that is mentally stimulating. Scales are not that.
2. A real desire to master the piece because it is incredibly beautiful to hear. Most beginner pieces are awful to listen to because they are chosen for simplicity not because they are inspiring.

I increased my skill dramatically once I picked up the Well Tempered Clavier (JS BAch) which is a collection of edtudes and variations written for the harpsichord. The first piece Prelude in C Major is extremely challenging because it cycles through all harp hand positions in the one piece at the same time as challenging you with memory as a few chord patterns are repeated and it's easy to get lost and forget where you are if you are not paying attention. For an easier avenue you could try Bernard Andres books of etudes which appear simple at first glance but sound like real music not beginners exercises. Another way to be inspired to play.

If you have been frustrated by rote learning in the past don't buy this book, because that's all it is. Endless scales played with various hand positions. Thankfully there are much better ways to learn and this old style of musical tuition is being eclipsed by more engaging methods.