Description

Placing Power!

Finesse your placing for smoother and more confident harp playing

It is clear that harpists who are achieving the most happy, confident and beautiful playing have usually really studied and embraced placing as a really important skill on the harp.

This includes concepts such as using the ‘one direction’ rule, placing simultaneously in blocks of two, three and four with default fingering combinations, using muscle memory on the common shapes we play in harp music and even learning to place at different moments rhythmically to create the tone for the note as desired (e.g. smooth, detached, percussive).

In this IMMERSION we will warm up, play exercises and also look at a brand new Theme and Variations I have written specifically to finesse our placing skills. The piece is called ‘June 1953’ and I am really excited to share it with you. We will use the music to help see how embracing ‘default fingering’ can help us decide when and how to place.

At the end of the session we will finish with a little improvisation to demonstrate when we might consciously choose NOT to place!

What will the course include?

• Welcome and overview
• What is placing? Why bother?
• Let’s Warm Up – with some ‘go to’ placing practice ideas
• Everyday Exercises – Exercises taken from the theme and variations ‘June 1953’ which includes Alberti bass, three note inversions on triplets, four note inversion shapes as broken chords/block chords and default fingering practice on two note shapes.
• How can we use default fingering to help with placing decisions?
• Overview of the theme and variations ‘June 1953’
• Improvisation – choosing not to place?
• Thank you and goodbye 

Online short Course

The course will initially be delivered live on Sunday 16th October 2022 over a 2 hour time slot 3.00PM-5.00PM GMT. The session will include a short break for fingers and brains around half way through! After the live event you will receive a link to the recorded materials which will include approximately 90 minutes of video training, along with some explanatory text and sheet music downloads for you to print out and keep. You will be able to access the course for 12 months after the IMMERSION. It is fun to attend live but do not worry if you cannot make it, you will be able to access all the materials afterwards.

My main aim is to cover ideas that will be useful in your future learning, so you can continue to work on improving all the time.

This course is similar to one week of the START HARP  or Flourishing Harpist 12 week intensive online courses for beginner to upper intermediate harpists. Full details on www.FairplayHarpSchool.com

“Great immersion! As usual, Shelley went above and beyond.” Rebecca Blakeney referring to last IMMERSION (START HARP Level 1, 2 and 3 graduate!)

Following the same ethos and delivery style as the main 3 START HARP 12 week courses, we look at playing from sheet music, improvising and playing by ear all with an underlying focus on a good strong playing technique.

This course is aimed at advanced beginner to advanced intermediate level harpists. To be honest as long as you can read treble and bass clef at least a little bit and can play with all four fingers (and turn) you will be able to take this course. Simplification and extension ideas are offered as we go along so lots to keep everyone busy!

You will have 12 months access to these videos and materials.

When you sign up you will automatically receive a confirmation on email from this website. If you are signing up before the live session you will receive the meeting link and sheet music by 1pm BST on Sunday 16th October 2022. If you do not receive any details when expected please check your spam/junk file and if it is not hiding there email me on info@harpwales.com.

If you prefer you can subscribe to my Patreon account (Tier 4) where you pay a monthly fee to access the monthly IMMERSIONS along with various other benefits including monthly live Q & A sessions. Full details here: https://www.patreon.com/ShelleyFairplay

Comments from students who have attended previous IMMERSION

• Insider info…don’t miss it but prepare yourself to be bombarded with info in the nicest possible way???
• Don’t miss it! And don’t be surprised if you feel overwhelmed if you do it live. Shelley basically fits a full week of Start Harp into 2 hours, so it’s a lot to take in live — but then you can go back and work with the videos as you’re already used to doing in Start Harp. Or you can miss the live bit and just do the videos afterward. I did my best learning of Spiraling Shoots after the fact, when my brain was quiet and I could hear myself think and appreciate what I was playing.
• I couldn’t join live so learnt it from the recordings, which are great.
• I was glad to be on the live presentation, although it was early in the morning. However, due to more pressing priorities, I tabled my practice efforts for a future time—hopefully, in September. That is a benefit of the Immersion structure. Sign up for the class and add to your repertoire when you are ready.
• I also saw it in the replay. It’s great to be able to go over everything slowly…