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Northern Harps Courses |
Harp Resources
One of the best things about harp courses is sharing music and resources. To try and help in between courses we have created this page to share some of the places we know about. If you have any ideas you would like to share then please let us know. We've also included a what we are doing section which we will update regularly- if you want to join in then tell us what you are doing info@northernharps.co.uk.
We've broken the page up into the following sections:
- Harpists
- Sources of traditional music
- Places to buy harp stuff
- Other interesting things
- Other interesting musicians
Harpists and their websites
We have a listed a few of our favourite harpists below with a link to their website. It is hard to describe each one- they would be not be on this page unless we liked them- but we have tried. The best thing to do is to link to their websites and listen to some of their music. The majority of these harpists are traditional musicians (Scottish, English, Welsh and Irish music) who play the clarsach (although some play the pedal harp as well). If you think we have missed someone that you are dying to tell people about then please let us know.
Alfred Rolando Ortiz- if you are are looking for something different then try this! A fantastic example of him and his work can be found on You Tube here.
Alison Kinnaird - Alison helped revive the clarsach. Nothing more than that needs to be said! She also plays the wire strung harp. We once heard her play it outside on a croft in the Outer Hebrides and it was breathtaking.
Anne Macdearmid- we can't find her website so let us know if you know where it is. Look out for her music- especially Sea Rapture.
Catriona McKay- Catriona does things on harps you don't think are possible. Try and get to hear her live if you can. If you want to listen to just one track then listen to "Swan LK243". Sadly she has not published the music yet (that we know of). She publishes music with Charlotte Peterson through CMCP Publications. She is a member of Fiddlers Bid and also regularly performs and records with Chris Stout.
Corrina Hewat- if you want to learn one tune then learn Lindsay Grace Johnson. It is beautiful.
Deborah Henson-Conant- an American who fuses all kinds of harp music. If you want to learn one tune then learn The Nightingale.
Eira Lynn Jones- plays the concert harp and clarsach in and around the North West of England. Her CD is a mixture of lever and pedal harp and is well worth a listen.
Ingrid Henderson- Ingrid pops up all over the place playing clarsach amongst other instruments. She is a member of Cliar.
Isobel Mieras - we can't find her website so let us know if you know where it is. Look out for her music which is often published through the Clarsach Society- especially for beginners.
Janet Bennett- Janet is based in the North East and plays pedal and lever harp. Her arrangements of Northumbrian tunes for the clarsach are definitely worth a play. Try her arrangement of Bonny at Morn.
Joanna Newsom- we can't find her website so let us know if you know where it is. If you have not heard of her then you are missing out.
Maire Ni Chathasaigh- an Irish harper who does fantastic duets with guitar player Chris Newman.
Mary Ann Kennedy- singer and clarsach player and is also member of Cliar.
Meinir Heulyn- a Welsh harpist who has arranged and published a whole bookcase full of harp music in her time.
Patsy Seddon- Patsy plays the fiddle and sings too. Look out for her work with Sileas, Clan Alba and The Poozies.
Monika Stadler- is a German harpist. She mainly writes for pedal harp but her music "On The Water" for lever harp means she is worth a mention here.
Rachel Hair- Rachel is a brilliant young Scottish harpist. She has not published any of her music yet (that we know of) but she has released two Cds which are well worth listening to.
Savourna Stevenson- Savourna Stevenson is a remarkable harpist and composer. Try her music if you dare (and if you like lever changes).
Sue Richards- a US based harpist. We recommend her tune "Miss Abbott".
Sylvia Woods- you name it she has arranged it for harp. The harp center website is a good place to find completely random harp things you never thought you needed.
Wendy Stewart- Wendy is a brilliant musician. Not only does she teach on our course each year, the tunes she has taught us over the years have stayed with us as some of our favourite tunes. She also plays the concertina and has a wealth of knowledge on traditional music that will inspire you. If you want to learn one tune of Wendy's then learn Cairn Water.
You might also want to take a look at these people who incorporate harp music in what they do
Sources of Traditional Music
There are lots of printed and web based sources of traditional tunes. The ones we use the most are:
Taigh na Tued publish several of the old Scottish collections, including the Angus Fraser collection, the Patrick McDonald collection and the Simon Fraser collection. They also publish other collections of fiddle and pipe tunes which you can use as starting points.
Morley Harps have started putting some of the Clive Morley Sheet Music Collection online for free download. The Edward Joens collection of Welsh music is well worth a look.
The session is a great searchable website full of traditional tunes with lots of detail. There is always something new to look at.
JC's Tune Finder is not as user friendly as The Session but is a great source nonetheless.
Feis Rois publish collections of tunes from the Feis which can be really inspiring.
Places to buy harp music (and other harp things)
There are lots of different places to buy harp music. Some of them offer more detail on the type of harp and level of difficulty, some of them offer preview of pages, some of them offer download of seperate pieces, and some of them are cheaper than others! They are listed below in no particular order.
Other interesting things
In a completely random order:
Sheet music direct- one of the best legimate places to download digital sheet music. Their traditional section is limited but a great place to pick up sheet music from other genres. The specific harp sheet musci sites are covered under the heading of where to buy harp music.
Traditional music exams- there are now traditional harp music exams courtesy of the RSAMD. Details can be found here and you can buy music here. You can also do exams on the level harp on the more classical side of things- details are here
Youtube- there are loads of people playing the harp on Youtube these days. Try and search for your favourite tune. You will find allsorts.
The Clarsach Society probably needs no introduction, but there are always a few interesting things on their website worth looking at.
You can now download some basic video harp lessons- try here and here
Footstopmin.com has all things Scottish and folk related. You can download their fornightly podcasts (appropriately named the ayepodcast) either through the website or through Itunes.
As random as they get craftyharp is an American website which sells all things weird and wonderful as gifts related to the harp.
We have not included a section on harp makers as it is all too coplicated. However, we must mention our friend Christoph Locherbach and his amazing Bohemian harps. Wendy Stewart oftens sets up courses in the UK where you can go and make your own harp uner the guidance of Christoph.
Harp net is a web bulletin board for various harp related things.
Edinburgh International Harp Festival is a must for all things harp.
Other Interesting Musicians
A number of these musicians have been mentioned above. There are a thousand people we could list here but we have limited ourselves to either musicians who have collaborated with harpists or groups with harpists in them. If you can call it traditional, then we have also limited ourselves to traditional musicians who are currently recording. This list can only get longer!
Cara Dillon- just a beautiful voice. One track to recommend is her version of The Parting Glass on Hill of Thieves.
Chris Stout- regularly plays with Catriona McKay but his solo work is fabulous
Cliar- a great Scottish band and with more than one clarsach player!
Karine Polwart- our view is she is one of the best songwriters in the country. It is hard to recommend one particular track of hers but we like Baleerie Baloo which is on Scribbled in chalk. All her lyrics (with backgrounds to the songs) are on her website, and you can also download free tracks of hers from her website.
Kathryn Tickell- as we are all originally from the North East we had to mention Kathryn. She plays the Northumbrian pipes amongst other things. Try some of the tracks on The Sky Didn't Fall which she recorded with Corrrina Hewat.
The Poozies- The Poozies have been around since 1990. There have been various different line ups during that time, but there has always been a harpis
The Unusual Suspects- more an orchestra than a band. The line up changes but always represents some of the finest musicians that the tradition has to offer. We heard them live in Newcastle a few years ago and it was just brilliant.