Mel Bay's Basic Harp for Beginners

Rating:
Summary: Learn the harp from a great teacher!
Review: Laurie Riley is an accomplished folk harper. Her book is arranged logically, and you learn to play the tunes sequentially, starting with simple pieces and moving along to more difficult ones.

The pieces themselves are nicely arranged, and you'll (very) soon be playing with both hands - important to me, because when I learned piano many years ago, I never progressed beyond the left hand exercises! So my belief was, it's difficult to play any instrument that requires both hands. Not true.

The one and only thing I didn't like about the book was the pictures that depicted how to hold your hands. They look as if the harper's hands and arms are being held abnormally and are full of tension. Keeping your muscles relaxed is of utmost importance, or you'll never progress to difficult pieces where your fingers need to move quickly and surely. I wish Ms Riley would update these pictures next time the book is updated to show a more relaxed stance.

I'm well into my adulthood (late 40's) and have made excellent progress using this book (and the Sylvia Woods "Learn to Play the Harp" book, used in tandem). I highly recommend it!

Rating:
Summary: Begineer's harp - ughh!
Review: Riley rates quite poorly in writing a "beginner's" harp book. She uses an archaic method dating from the days of caste systems, when harpists were often blind people, playing by ear and touch. Most beginner's would give it up after a few lessons from this type of method and teacher. I myself, learned a harp technique from a Russian method, and I can tap an Irish reel out, while Riley would probably be fumbling around in the dark.

Rating:
Summary: Begineer's harp - ughh!
Review: Riley rates quite poorly in writing a "beginner's" harp book. She uses an archaic method dating from the days of caste systems, when harpists were often blind people, playing by ear and touch. Most beginner's would give it up after a few lessons from this type of method and teacher. I myself, learned a harp technique from a Russian method, and I can tap an Irish reel out, while Riley would probably be fumbling around in the dark.