harp fingering fundamentals - amazon s3the harp strings. in this passage you have to take your...

Harp FingeringFundamentals

by Sylvia Woods

How to add finger markings to non-fingered harp music

I would like to thank the following harpists who helped me with this book. Your input was invaluable and greatly appreciated. Thank you so much!

Paul BakerJoanna ChambreauDenise Grupp-VerbonSuzanne GuldimannSusan HironakaRayven HockettFelice PomeranzJoyce RiceSheryl SavinaBeth StockdellFrances StroscioLinda Wood Rollo

© 2015 by Sylvia Woods, Woods Music & Books

Sylvia Woods Harp CenterPO Box 223434Princeville HI 96722 U.S.A.

www.harpcenter.com

Printed by Hal Leonard CorporationDistributed by Hal Leonard Corporation

ISBN 978-0-936661-77-3

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Harp Fingering Fundamentals by Sylvia Woods

licensed to original downloader only

Table of ContentsIntroduction .....................................4

Please read this first!.............................. 4 Welcome................................................... 5A bit of history.......................................... 5With a little help from my friends.............. 6What you need to know ............................ 6Terms....................................................... 7What is important ................................... 7This isn't "life or death" ............................ 8Placing and brackets ................................8

Intervals and chords ....................... 9

Melodies and runs ........................ 10Highest note will be the thumb ...... 11

Phrasing ....................................... 12Michael Row the Boat Ashore

Runs of more than four notes ....... 14DescendingAscending

How do I choose? ........................... 16How many notes? Spacing and skips Before . . . and AfterPhrasingTime signature and rhythmNote lengthSummary: runs of more than four notes

Repeated notes ............................. 19Hey, Ho, Nobody HomeRow, Row, Row your BoatOld MacDonald had a Farm

Enharmonics ................................ 22Old MacDonald had a Farm

All alone ........................................ 24Playing individual notesIndividual notes at the end of a run(Buzzes)Short ascending runs after finger 4Short initial runs

Fingering in and out of chords ....... 27

Left hand patterns ........................ 29

All together now............................. 31Moving the accompaniment to the right handMoving the melody to the left handOther two-hand considerationsTwo-handed arpeggiosMaking the hands similar

Can you repeat that, please? ......... 35He's Got the Whole World in His Hands

To ring or not to ring? ................... 36

Your turn ...................................... 37 When the Saints Go Marching In .............. 38On Top of Old Smokey ............................. 38America (God Save the Queen) ................. 39O Dear, What can the Matter Be? ............ 40My Bonnie Lies over the Ocean ............... 41Barbara Allen ......................................... 41Streets of Laredo - melody only................ 42Streets of Laredo - with chords ................ 42Black is the Color of My True Love’s Hair . 43The Three Ravens ................................... 43In the Good Old Summertime ................... 44

Sylvia's turn .................................. 45 When the Saints Go Marching In .............. 45On Top of Old Smokey ............................. 45America (God Save the Queen) ................. 46O Dear, What can the Matter Be? ............ 47My Bonnie Lies over the Ocean ............... 48Barbara Allen ......................................... 49Streets of Laredo - melody only................ 50Streets of Laredo - with chords ................ 51Black is the Color of My True Love’s Hair . 52 The Three Ravens.................................... 53In the Good Old Summertime ................... 54

Now what? .................................... 55

Appendix 1: Crosses and slides...... 56

Appendix 2: Left hand muffles ...... 57

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Please Read This First!

Aha! I hoped that would get your attention!

When I wrote my Music Theory and Arranging Techniquesbook in 1987, it began with a one-page introductioncontaining a lot of important information. At the beginningof the first chapter I wrote the following paragraph.

If you are like most people (myself included), youprobably just turned to this page and startedreading, without reading the “Introduction” first.If so, please go back and read the “Introduction”so I'm sure we're all starting together. Thank you!

I’ve found it funny over the years how many people have saidto me, “You’re right. I had gone directly to Chapter One untilI saw that paragraph, so I went back and read theintroduction.”

This request is the same. Even if you already know aboutfingering, please be sure to read each page in this bookconsecutively, starting at the beginning. I may be using termsin a way that you’re not used to, or introducing concepts thatyou’re not familiar with. Once you’ve read it through, you cango back and refer to particular sections or chapters to helpyou with particular fingering issues.

Thank you!

Sylvia Woods



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WelcomeHarp fingering is sometimes obvious, occasionally baffling, and often arbitrary. Sometimes thereis only one possible fingering, but usually there are several options that would work.

This book will give you some basic rules to help you get started. As with most rules, there aremany exceptions and the rules will often be broken, but they’ll give you a guideline to workfrom. I will not cover every possible fingering scenario, but will give you a good basic foundationto help you make good fingering decisions.

Fingerings are often a matter of personal preference. Your preferences have probably alreadybeen molded by your teacher, and the arrangers and composers of the fingered music you play.Also, the size of your hand will play a part in some of your fingering choices.

There’s only one hard and fast rule that should never be broken: ALWAYS use a pencil whenwriting in fingerings. There’s a good chance that you’ll be making changes before you come upwith the final fingering, so do yourself a favor and use a pencil. And be sure you have a gooderaser handy. If you want to go over the pencil markings with a pen once you’re absolutely surethey’re the way you want them, that’s up to you. But always begin with a pencil.

A bit of historyIn the “olden days” most harp students were studying with a teacher who could help themfigure out fingerings on pieces where there were none. However, since the revival of the leverharp that started in the 1970s, there are a lot of students who are totally self-taught, or whoare not currently taking lessons.

I’ve arranged and published lots of music for the harp over the past 40 years. All of mypublications have fingerings in the music, with the exception of my composition The Harp ofBrandiswhiere: A Suite for Celtic Harp.

I know that a lot of teachers (and students) change my fingerings. This is fine with me! As you’lldiscover as you go through this book, there are often many fingering choices that will work.But I feel that it is important to include fingerings in my publications to provide guidance forstudents, and a starting point for teachers who then can make their own changes.

However, a lot of harp music that has been arranged by other people does not includefingerings. I know that there are many harp players who never buy music without fingerings,because they have no idea how to figure them out. That is the reason for this book. I want tomake you confident that you can come up with your own fingerings for any piece of harp music.



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With a little help from my friendsI am fortunate to have two amazing harpist friends, Paul Baker and Denise Grupp-Verbon, whohave helped edit many of my publications since the 1990s. They both play pedal harp and leverharp so they can edit for the idiosyncracies of each instrument.

Paul Baker taught at my Harp Center stores in Southern California for many years. He’s anorganist as well as a harpist, and has published many arrangements of pop music for bothpedal and lever harp. He’s a fantastic teacher, and just a general all-around great guy.

I first met Denise at a Pop and Jazz Harp festival in Arizona. We hit it off immediately, andbecame great buddies. She lives in Toledo, Ohio, and performs with her guitarist husband asthe duo “Tapestry.” Denise created, organizes, and runs the annual Harp Gathering festival inOhio. Although we’ve only seen each other “in person” a handful of times, she’s been a greatsupporter of my arrangements, and I always value her thoughtful comments and suggestions.

Once I have completed the initial draft of a harp arrangement, I send the music to Paul andDenise for their input. Occasionally they will give me note or chord suggestions. But themajority of the changes are in the fingerings. Sometimes the three of us come up with threecompletely different fingerings for a certain passage. I then make the final decision as to whichfingering to print in the music, which is usually a combination of all our ideas.

Paul and I tend to have a similar approach to fingering, and Denise has a different take on it,particularly when the same note is repeated several times. You’ll find out more about thisstarting on page 19 of this book.

Even though I don’t always end up taking their suggestions, their input has made myarrangements significantly better, and easier to play. I’d like to take this opportunity to thankthem, once again, for their hard work and expertise!

What you need to knowI’m making several assumptions about you, my reader. I assume that you can read music andthat you have a basic knowledge of harp playing and harp techniques. You know that fingersare numbered 1 (thumb), 2, 3, and 4, and we never use our pinkies.

I also assume that you know how to play scales using cross-overs and cross-unders, and howto slide from one note to the next using your thumb. If you don’t know how to do thesetechniques, please see Appendix 1 for more information.

I strongly suggest that you play all of the examples on your harp as you read throughthis book. That way you’ll get the “feel” for the intervals and fingering options.

You do not need any sharping levers to play the examples in this book. These are not “pieces”that you’ll actually be playing, you’ll just be trying out the various fingerings. The keys and theaccidentals are unimportant. If you have no sharping levers on your harp, you can just playthe natural notes whenever there are sharps in the music. It will change the melody, but itwon’t alter the fingerings at all.



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Terms

RUN: For the purposes of this book, the word “run” means a series of notes going in onedirection. The notes may or may not be consecutive in a scale-type pattern. In the exampleabove, there is a four-note ascending run, a six-note descending run, and a three-noteascending run. Notice that the circled C notes are part of two runs: the high C is the end of thefirst four-note ascending run, and also the first note of the six-note descending run.

LIFT: A lift means to completely take all of your fingers off.the harp strings. In this passage you have to take yourfingers off the strings and move your hand up after you playthe first four notes. In this book, I am notating a lift withan apostrophe, or "breath mark."

4-2-1 OCTAVE CHORD: This will be explained in the middle of page 10.

CIRCLES and BOXES: I'll be highlighting some notes with circles (as shown above) or squares.Sometimes the "circles" will be ovals, and the "squares" will really be "rectangles." But, I'llusually be calling them "circles" (as in "the circled notes") and "squares" or "boxes."

What is importantBelieve it or not, choosing the “right” fingering is not the most important part of this process.As you’ll discover as we go through this journey, there are often numerous fingerings that willwork for a particular passage.

Here’s what is most important. Once you choose your fingerings, write them down and playthem exactly the same way every time. That way, your brain is able to make the all-importantsynapse connections to enable you to learn and remember the music. If you play the musicwith different fingerings each time, it will be much harder to learn the piece.

However, if you’re having trouble with a particular passage in a piece, re-examine it, thinking“outside the box” and see if there’s a different fingering that might help. If you find one, changeit in the music, and then “play it exactly the same way every time.”

Master harp teachers Susann McDonald and Linda Wood Rollo have kindly allowed me to usethe following quote from their wonderful Harp for Today tutor, which reinforces these concepts.

When learning a new piece, good habits at the beginning are very important. Awrong fingering practiced three to four times will become a habit and hard to break.Therefore, the first read-through should be very slow, painstakingly thoughtfulwork, particularly if you are fingering it yourself. If a passage still seems hard, becreative and try another fingering or crossing over differently. Imagine the passageup to tempo to see if your fingering will work at the final speed.

As you gain more experience in fingering and playing, you may not need to write in all of thefingerings. For example, you might just write a 4 at the beginning of a four-note ascendingpassage, since you know what the other fingers will be. But, at the beginning, I strongly suggestthat you write a fingering for each and every note.



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This isn’t “life-or-death”Fingering isn’t an exact science; there are many viable options. And it isn’t a life-or-deathproposition. To my knowledge, no one has ever died as the result of a bad fingering choice!Keep this in mind when you’re working on a new piece. If you don’t happen to choose the “verybest” fingering on a passage . . . it doesn’t matter! Don’t second-guess yourself, and don’t stressout. Once you decide, then learn the piece with the fingering you chose. You’ll be fine. I promise.And remember that although playing the harp can be challenging, it is also supposed to beenjoyable and fun!

Placing and bracketsMany beginning books, including my Teach Yourself to Play the Folk Harp, include brackets inthe music to show when you should place your fingers in advance. Brackets are also sometimesused in more advanced music for clarification in a particular section of fingering.

On the harp we use “directional placing.” This means that we place our fingers in groups thatare going up, or groups that are going down, and not “mixed” with some notes going one wayand some notes going another.

For example, even though you could place all three fingers in advance inthis phrase, you should not do so. The first two notes are going up, andthe last two notes are going down. If you place all three fingers before youstart, there’s a really good chance that you’ll accidentally end up playingfinger 2 before finger 1.

In this instance, two overlapping brackets are used. Place fingers 3 and1 in the first bracket. Play finger 3, then place finger 2 before you play1 (that’s what the second bracket means), then play fingers 1 and 2.

Here’s a hint on how to make your placing (and your playing) faster.Whenever you are placing your fingers, try to place ALL the fingerslisted in the bracket at once, instead of one at a time. In this example,don’t place finger 4, and then 3, and then 2, and then 1. Place themall at the same time. But be sure you have the correct spacing! (Noticethat here there is a skip of one string between fingers 2 and 1.) Placingyour fingers together in a group will help get rid of the pauses in yourplaying that occur when you’re placing the next bracket.

In this next example, even though there are four ascending notes, youcan’t reach all four at the same time, so you’d play finger 4, and thenplace fingers 3-2-1 in the bracket.

Although I will not usually be including brackets in this book, it is assumed that you will beplacing your fingers whenever possible when the notes are going in the same direction, andeasily fit your hand.

If you are a beginner, it will probably be helpful if you write at least some of the brackets inyour music, as well as the fingerings. Just remember that all the notes in a bracket need to begoing in the same direction.



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Intervals and chordsAn interval is the distance between two pitches, either in a chord, or between notes, for examplein a melody. Even if you aren’t familiar with intervals, you probably know one: the octave. Anoctave is the interval from one C to the next C, or from one D to the next D, etc.

An easy way to figure out intervals is to “count strings,” including both the bottom and topstrings of the interval. For example, if you want to find out what the interval is from a C up toa G, count: C=1, D=2, E=3, F=4, G=5. You counted five strings, so the interval from C to G is a5th. Be sure you always count both the bottom and the top strings of the interval!

The word octave comes from the root oct, meaning eight (as in octopus or octagon). So countingthe octave from C to C, for example, we get C=1, D=2, E=3, F=4, G=5, A=6, B=7, C=8.

The interval of a 2nd is usually played withfingers 2 and 1.

The interval of a 3rd is usually played withfingers 2 and 1.

The interval of a 4th is usually played witheither 2 and 1, or 3 and 1.

The interval of a 5th is usually played withfingers 3 and 1.

The interval of a 6th is usually played witheither 3 and 1, or 4 and 1.

The interval of a 7th is usually played withfingers 4 and 1.

Octaves and larger intervals are usually playedwith fingers 4 and 1.

2nd

3rd

4th

5th

6th

7th

Oct.



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Here are the three-note chord triads and inversions.

Since we only use four fingers on each hand, four-note chordsalways have the same fingering: 4-3-2-1.

I’m going to let you make your first fingering decision! This three-note chord spacingwill come up a lot in this book. The top and bottom note are an octave, which will beplayed with fingers 4 and 1, so the middle note has to be either a 3 or a 2. Try using3, and you’ll see it doesn’t work, because of the large interval of a 5th between thetwo bottom notes. So the only choice for the middle note is finger 2. It feelscomfortable. This is the way many fingering decisions are made: trial and error.Finger 3 didn’t work, so it must be 2!

As with all of the intervals on these two pages, these three notes willsometimes be played together as a chord, and sometimes the notes will beplayed consecutively. I’ll be talking about this particular finger spacingnumerous times in this book, so I’m naming it the “4-2-1 octave chord.”Whenever you see that wording, you’ll know that this is the spacing I’mreferring to.

Melodies and runsWe’ll begin with fingerings for the melody, with no chords. The easiest way to start figuring outfingerings is to look at each run and see how many notes are going in one direction, beforeswitching. Don't stop at the bar lines or the end of the staff; continue counting until the notesgo the other direction.

This example begins with a run of four ascending notes: E G A B.Then, starting with that B there are three descending notes: B G F. Then, starting with that F there are three ascending notes: F G A.Then, starting with the A there are two descending notes: A, G.

Notice that the circled highest and lowest notes of each run are counted twice, as part of bothan ascending and a descending run.



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The highest note will be the thumb99% of the time, the highest note of each run will theplayed with the thumb. Because of this, one way tostart fingering music is to write a 1 on the top noteof each run.

The first run is four notes, so the fingering will be 4-3-2-1. The next two runs are three notes each, sothe fingers are 1-2-3 (descending) and 3-2-1

(ascending). The last note is finger 2.

Here’s a second example. Once again, start by putting a 1 on the top note of each run.

It is a good idea to finger the longest runs first, so find all the four-note runs and finger those.Notice that not all of the notes in the runs are consecutive in a scale; most of the runs includeskips.

The first two ascending runs are three notes each, so they can be 3-2-1. The last measure issimilar, with two three-note descending runs of 1-2-3. That just leaves one note in the secondmeasure with no fingering. Since the spacing of the notes in the circle is the “4-2-1 octave chord”spacing, the missing finger is a 2.



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PhrasingAn important thing to keep in mind when adding fingering to a piece is phrasing. In general,you should not continue bracketed fingerings between one phrase and the next. Most harpistslift their hands off the strings at the end of each phrase. Think of where you might breathe ifyou were singing the music, and put a lift, or a breath, there. It helps shape the music foryourself and also for the listener.

When phrases are not marked in the music, it is sometimes hard to tell where one phrase endsand the next one starts. Here are some hints.1. Phrases tend to be four measures long. Sometimes these four-bar phrases are separated intotwo sub-phrases of two bars each.2. If the piece starts with a pick-up measure, usually each phrase will begin with the samenumber of pick-up beats. 3. If the lyrics are printed in the music, you can use the lyric phrases to help determine thephrases of the music.

Here’s an example of “Michael, Row the Boat Ashore.” There are two long phrases, divided intosub-phrases.

This piece starts with a two-beat pick-up, so it begins on beat three of the measure. Eachphrase will also start on beat three. Therefore, the word “Michael” always starts on beat three,and so does “Alleluia.”

Once again, begin by adding finger 1 to the top note of each run.



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Looking at the first line, there are no four-note runs, so we'll add fingers to the three-note runs.There are two ascending, one descending, another ascending, and one descending, as shownby the arrows.

Look at the three notes I circled above. They are a three-note run, so we used 1-2-3. However,“Michael” is the beginning of a new phrase, so it makes more sense, musically, to begin a newfingering sequence here. So, the E and the G of “Michael” at the end of the line can be 2-1 (seebelow). That gives you two finger 2s in a row (“-ia” and “Mi-”), on different notes. But you’ll belifting your hand between them for the phrasing. It should be noted, however, that our originalfinger 3 will also work here on "Mi-," but lifting will improve the phrasing.

Let's look at the second line. It begins with a two-note run, so the second note will be finger 2.Then there is one descending four-note run, and a descending three-note run at the end.

We're now just missing one fingering, on the D note I circled above on the syllable "-le-". It couldbe either 3 or 2. However, if we look at the phrasing again, we realize that we should be liftingafter the word "ashore," before the "Allelujah" phrase. So, a better fingering is to have two finger3s in a row, on different notes, lifting between them, as shown below.

REMINDER: Please be sure to play all of the examples in this book on your harp so you canfeel how the fingerings work.



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Runs of more than four notesSince we only use four fingers on each hand, runs of more than four notes can create“difficulties,” no, let’s reword that to say “opportunities for creative fingering." In runs of fivenotes or more, a variety of fingerings are possible.

Usually, you’ll be using cross-overs and cross-unders in these runs, instead of moving yourwhole hand by lifting. Crossing between placings is usually much safer, faster and smootherthan lifting and jumping. In the following examples, I’m placing an x where you’ll cross. Pleaseread Appendix 1 on page 56 if you’re not familiar with cross-overs and cross-unders, asthey are very important techniques.

DESCENDING

Here are eight possible fingering options for playing the same nine-note descending run. You'llcross-over after four fingers, or three or two, in various combinations. Play all eight versions tofeel the differences.

Sliding is also an option when the first twonotes of a descending run are consecutive,giving you even more fingering options.Notice that by adding a slide to this samerun, only one cross-over is needed, insteadof two.

(If you don’t know how to slide, please read Appendix 1 on page 56.)



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ASCENDING

Most players find that when playing ascending runs, crossing finger 2 under the thumb isawkward. And so, even if there are only two notes after a cross, it is easier to use fingers 3-1,instead of 2-1. That’s why Example B here is easier for most people to play than Example A.

I’ll be using this 3-1 fingering throughout this book. On the nine-note run examples below, I'vecircled finger 3 when it is replacing finger 2, so you get the idea.

Here are seven possible fingerings for a nine-note ascending run using cross-unders. Onceagain, play them all to see how they feel.

By the way, sliding up on the 4th, 3rd, or 2nd finger is extremely unusual, but can sometimesget you out of a tricky fingering problem. Here are three examples.

A B



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How do I choose?As you played through all the runs on the previous pages, there were probably some that youliked better than others. For example, maybe you’re not as comfortable crossing with your 4thfinger. These preferences are one way to help you decide which option to choose in a passage.Here are other important considerations that can indicate what fingering will be the “best” fora particular run.

#1. HOW MANY NOTES ARE IN THE RUNHow many notes are in the run before it changes direction? What are your options?

#2. SPACING and SKIPS In the nine-note run examples on the past few pages, most of the notes have been moving step-wise, in a scale-type pattern. However, often there will be skips in the run.

Although it is possible to cross-over or under on an interval of a 3rd or more, the larger theinterval, the more chance for a mistake. When deciding which fingerings to use when there areskips in the music, always try to make your crosses on the interval of a 2nd.

Here’s a new nine-note descending run. Wherewould you cross-over?

Although you see three sets of three eighth-notes,you don’t want to use 1-2-3-x-1-2-3-x-1-2-3,because then you’ll be crossing over on intervalsof a 4th. This would work if you're jumping, butnot if you're crossing.

Here’s a much better cross-over option, becauseall of the crosses are on the interval of a 2nd.

Where would you cross-under in this ascendingrun?

This time, 3-2-1-x-3-2-1-x-3-2-1 is a great answer,because it always crosses on the interval of a 2nd.

If you have large skips, you'll want to start countinga new run. This is technically a nine-note descendingrun, but you'd never try to play it by crossing over.You'll have to jump down to the D. So, for fingering,this is a five-note run followed by a four-note run.



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#3. BEFORE . . . Another major factor in deciding on the fingering for a run of more than four notes is whatcomes before the run. In these two examples, the last three measures are the same ascendingnine-note run from page 15, but I’ve added some descending notes at the beginning.

There are four descending notes atthe beginning in this example, sothe ascending run fingering shouldbe one that starts with finger 4.

This next example has three descending notes at the beginning,so the ascending run should startwith finger 3.

. . . and AFTERThe same principle applies to what notes come after a descending run of more than four notes. Here’s the same nine-note descending run from page 14, but I’ve added an ascending run atthe end. Knowing what finger you want to use at the end of the nine-note run will helpdetermine which of the fingering options to choose.

In this first example, sincethere is a three-note ascendingrun at the end we should endthe long descending run withfinger 3.

Here we want a descendingoption that ends with finger 4,in preparation for the four-noteascending run at the end.

#4. PHRASING As I discussed earlier in this book, you generally don't want to place your fingers on notes thatare in two different phrases. So the phrases in the music will also help determine whichfingering to use on long runs.

Here, I've added some lyrics to a nine-note descending run, so you can see the phrases. Youwill lift your hand at the end of the first phrase. So, once again, you would consider this to bea six-note descending run followed by a three-note descending run.



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#5. TIME SIGNATURE and RHYTHMThe next consideration is the time signature.For example, our nine-note ascendingpassage in 6/8 time works best using threefingers, following the rhythmic pattern of the8th-note groupings. This fingering also helpsthe feel of the music, making it easier to putthe accented stresses on the correct notes.

#6. NOTE LENGTHThe last consideration is the length of the notes. In the examples on pages 14 and 15, the notesin each run were quarter notes, so they were all of equal value. If we change the timing of theindividual notes, that can make a big difference. For example, you want to avoid crossing overor under in the middle of two very fast notes; so choose a longer note, giving you more time tomake the cross.

Here's the same nine-note ascending run,but with different timing. Take a minuteand think about how you would fingerthis passage.

You don't want to start with either finger3 or 4, because that will put your firstcross after a very fast 16th note, whichdoesn't give you enough time. Using thefollowing fingering puts both crosses aftera longer quarter note.

SUMMARY: Runs of more than four notesSo, whenever you have a run of more than four notes going in the same direction, here aresome important things to consider.

#1. How many notes are in the run, and what are your options?#2. Spacing and skips. If there are skips in the run, try to cross on an interval of a 2nd.#3. Before . . . and after. How many notes are leading into and out of the run?#4. Phrasing. Be sure to lift at the end of each phrase, and start a new fingering.#5. Time signature and rhythm. Does a certain fingering match the rhythmic pattern of thetime signature?#6. Note length. Where do you have the most time to make a cross?



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Repeated notesThere are two schools of thought on how to deal with fingering when the same note is repeatedtwo or more times. As an extremely broad generalization, classically trained harpists are usuallytaught never to play the same note with the same finger more than once or twice, wheneverpossible. Pop and folk players tend to use the same finger on the same note much more often.

One exception to this is when playing very fast Celtic dancetunes, where repeated grace notes are usually played bychanging fingers.

As I mentioned in the introduction, this is the subject that my two wonderful editors and Idiscuss the most. Denise Grupp-Verbon told me, “With repeated notes, I tend to change fingers.It reduces buzzing and makes the sound more even and also reduces that repetitive motiondiscomfort too.” Paul Baker and I tend to be more of the “using the same finger is often easierthan changing, and works just as well and is not as confusing for beginners” persuasion,especially when the repeated notes are placed in a bracket.

If you are studying with a teacher, ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS go by what your teacherprefers for you to do. If you’re studying on your own, for your own personal pleasure, do whatfeels and sounds best to you. Yes, the fingering choices you make can actually change thesound of the music. Often it is subtle, but it does make a difference.

Here are some examples of fingerings on repeated notes. Play all the examples, and see whichones you like best. Often, it will be a combination of the two versions.

First is the well-known round “Hey, Ho, Nobody Home.”

In the A Version, I’ve kept the same finger on repeated notes.

The B version changes fingers on each repeated note.

A

B



This is the “Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily” section from “Row, Row, Row your Boat.”

If there are repeated notes in the middle of a run, changing fingers can be a great option. HereI’ve circled the repeated notes in descending passages, and boxed the repeats in the ascendingpassages. Play this example.

In the example above, whenever the repeated note was within a descending run, I used finger1 on the second repeated note, to continue the downward run. But sometimes, 2 works great,as illustrated in Example C below. So, here are three ways to play the following passage withrepeated notes.

Example A. Here I kept finger 3 on both of thecircled repeated C notes. But the 4-3-1 or 4-2-

1 options for the following three notes are botha bit awkward.

Example B. Changing to finger 1 on thesecond C, as we discussed above, is better.

Example C. Another great option is to usefinger 2 on the second C. This sets us up nicelyfor the next three-note ascending run.

Play them all to see how they feel to you.

20

What fingerings do you like?

A

B



21

Sometimes, if you have nothing happening in the left hand, and particularly if the repeatednotes are very fast, you can alternate hands. This is the first line of my arrangement ofMendelssohn’s “Wedding March.” Here, the down-stem notes are always played with the lefthand (LH).

“Old MacDonald Had a Farm” has lots of repeated notes. There are many fingering options thatwill work. Here are two versions. Play them both, and see which one you like.

* You may use finger 2 instead of 1 for the notes between the two asterisks.

A

B

*

*



22

EnharmonicsJoyce Rice worked at my Harp Center store back in the early 1990s. She now lives in Seattle,and was kind enough to help edit this book for me. After reading my first draft she said:“Frankly, I would go out of my way not to play ‘Old MacDonald’ unless I used a tuning where Icould use enharmonics.” Thank you, Joyce, for the great suggestion!

Enharmonics are two notes that sound the same, but are spelled differently. For example, theblack key between the white A and B keys on the piano can be named or “spelled” either as anA-sharp or a B-flat. It is the same pitch. So A-sharp and B-flat are enharmonics of each other.

Also, on the piano keyboard there is no black key between the E and the F keys. So an E-sharpis the same pitch as an F-natural, and an E-natural is the same as an F-flat. Similarly, a B-sharp is the same pitch as a C-natural, and a B-natural is the same pitch as a C-flat.

The two notes in each circle below are enharmonics. They sound the same, because they arethe same pitch.

If you have a lever harp with a full set of sharping levers, and your harp is tuned to the key ofC, if you raise the lever on a B string, you will notice that it is the same pitch as the C stringnext to it.

If you have a lever harp tuned to three flats, raise the lever on a D string and it will give you thesame pitch as your E-flat next to it.

If you have a pedal harp, make the appropriate pedal changes for any of the enharmonic notes.

Using enharmonics, particularly on a lever harp, is not often practical. But it is another exampleof thinking "outside the box" to solve a fingering problem.

In both versions of "Old MacDonald" on the previous page, the melody uses a pentatonic (five-note) scale. There are no B or F notes anywhere. (There may be in the harmony, but we'll ignorethat for this discussion.) Because of these unused notes, by using enharmonics we can get ridof most of the awkward fingerings in the melody of "Old MacDonald." I'm printing two exampleson the next page. Pick the one that matches how your harp is tuned.



23

OLD MacDONALD

For lever harps TUNED TO C, or pedal harps.

Flip your sharping lever on the B string circled below to make it a B-sharp, which will soundthe same as the C. (Pedal harpists, set your B pedal to sharp.) The music should still sound like “Old MacDonald.”

OLD MacDONALD

For lever harps TUNED TO THREE FLATS, or pedal harps

I’ve transposed “Old MacDonald” into a different key for you. This version uses no D-natural orA notes. Start by setting your levers (or pedals) for the key signature, then flip your sharpinglever on the D string circled below to make it a D-sharp, which will sound the same as the E-flat. (Pedal harpists, set your D pedal to sharp.)The music should still sound like “Old MacDonald.”



All aloneWhen you have a note all by itself, you can pretty much play it with anyfinger you want. If it is a low note you’re jumping down to near the bottomof the harp, you’ll probably want to use 4 or 3, instead of 1 or 2, so youdon't have to move your hand as far.

But in general, many harpists find it easiest to play an individual note with finger 2, whileothers prefer 1.

Here are three ways to play the following phrase. The left hand is the same in each example,but the fingering in the right hand changes.

Example A. Place fingers 3-2-1 in the right hand bracket before you start.

Example B. Use finger 1 and lift after each note in the right hand.

Example C. Use finger 2 and lift after each note in the right hand. You may notice that it iseasier to keep your hand relaxed in this example than it was in Example B.

Could you hear any differences? Did you like one better than another? Using individual fingers like this, instead of placing, can change the sound of the phrase.Because of this, individual fingers are often used on accented notes.

24

A

B

C



25

INDIVIDUAL NOTES AT THE END OF A RUNHere are examples of individual notes following a descending run. The question is, what fingerdo you want to use on the whole note at the end? Following our "rules," the answer should befinger 1, because it is the highest note of a two-note run. But we have other options as well. InExample A, we could use 1, 2 or 3 on the whole note, and in Example B we could use 1 or 2.Try all of the fingerings to see which ones you like. Once again, this is personal preference.

Listen to what happens if we slightly change the example, putting just a half-step before thewhole note. Once again, try all the fingerings.

This time, you may have found that you got buzzes when you used finger 2 or 3 at the end,because the back of your nail was hitting the vibrating B string. If so, finger 1 may be the bestoption here, because it will eliminate the buzzing.

BUZZES

Since I just mentioned buzzing, I'm going to go off on a tangent for a minute here.

Buzzes are the awful sounds that harp strings make when your finger or yourfingernail lightly touches a ringing string. Buzzes are a problem for all harpists, andtend to be worse in the bass than on the higher strings. If you find yourself "buzzing"on a particular passage, analyze what is causing the buzz and decide how to fix it.

Buzzes can be solved in a variety of ways, depending on the cause:#1. Change the angle at which your fingers are approaching the strings.#2. "Place with conviction," and do not wander onto the strings willy-nilly.#3. Place your finger on a vibrating string as late as possible; optimally at the exactsecond when you play the note.#4. Muffle the vibrating string before placing. (See Appendix 2.)#5. Change the fingering of the passage. An example of this is mentioned above.Here's another one. Play these two identical measures.

D

Did you notice that in Example A it was easy to accidentally buzz your thumbagainst the ringing C string? By changing the fingering in Example B, the problemwas solved. No more buzz! An added bonus in Example B is that you don’t have tomove your hand as far to reach the last three notes.

A B

C D



SHORT ASCENDING RUNS AFTER FINGER 4You also have choices when there is a two-note or three-note ascending run that starts onfinger 4. Here are three different fingerings for the same two-measure phrase. Once again, trythem out to see which one you prefer. Many players like the first one, and others are morecomfortable using the thumb. But they’re all OK.

And here's a "thinking outside the box" solution. In the exampleabove, the first two notes are right next to each other, so youcould slide your thumb; eliminating finger 4 all together!

Here's another example. If we finger the first line of “London Bridge is Falling Down” using therule of a thumb at the top of each run, and how many notes are in the run, we get this.

Try this alternate fingering. Sliding the thumb solved the problem of 4-3-1 or 4-2-1 in the secondmeasure. Plus the three runs of 3-2-1 make sense and flow nicely.

SHORT INITIAL RUNSA variation of this occurs when you have a two-note or three-note descending run that needsto end on finger 3 or 4.

In this first example, the first note could be either 1 or 2.

And here, you have more choices. Once again try them out to see which one(s) you prefer.

26

slide finger 3



27

Fingering in and out of chordsSo far, we’ve been discussing melodies of individual notes. Now let’s add chords.

When playing two-note chords on the harp, both notes of the chord are played at the sametime. Chords of three notes or more, however, are generally rolled or broken. This means thatyou play each note individually, in rapid succession from the lowest note to the highest note.

If the melody is ascending to a chord, you can place your thumb on the top note of the chordwhen placing the preceeding notes, so you don't have to search for where the chord will be.Here are a few examples, with explanations below on how to place your fingers.

Measure A. Place fingers 2-1 at the beginning of the measure, play 2, then place 3 and 2 rightbefore you play the chord.Measure B. Place fingers 3-2-1 at the beginning of the measure, play 3-2, then place 4 rightbefore you play the chord.Measure C. Place fingers 4-3-2-1 at the beginning of the measure, play 4-3-2, then re-place 3and 2 right before you play the chord.Measure D. Place fingers 4-2-1 at the beginning of the measure, play 4 and 2, then place 3 rightbefore you play the chord.

When the melody is descending into a chord, sometimessliding or crossing-over into the chord can be helpful. Inthe first measure you can slide your thumb into the chord.In the second measure, you can cross from finger 3 to thethumb of the chord. In each instance, this keeps you fromhaving to jump and search for where the notes of the chordwill be.

Here's a slightly different example. This time, the notes are descendinginto the bottom note of the chord, instead of the top. You can placefinger 3 of the chord along with fingers 1 and 2 preceeding it.

I also often slide out of chords. This isn’t as common, and somepeople find it very tricky. But try it and see if it works for you.Play the bottom notes of the chord as you usually would, butinstead of plucking your thumb at the end of the chord, slide itdown to the next string.



Here's another example of slides. All three measures are the same notes. In Measure A, you liftbetween each chord. In Measures B and C you'll slide your thumb. Notice that in Measure C you can place all four fingers before you begin. You’ll then play 2, 3,and 4 consecutively as you slide your thumb.

I’m a huge fan of sliding. My first harp teacher, Marjorie Call, gave me this rule. “When you’resliding, the note should sound exactly the same as if you plucked it. It should not sound mushy.If my eyes are closed and I can’t hear whether you’re sliding or not, then your slide is fine.”

Although we almost always have our thumb as the top note of any chord, sometimes it is easierto play chords using a different finger on top. In these examples, you place all of the fingersneeded at the beginning of each measure.

In Measures A and B, place fingers 1, 2, and 3 before you begin. In Measures C and D, place all four fingers before you begin.

Below are two options for playing a progression of two-note chords. In Example A, play all thechords with fingers 1 and 3, and lift between them.

In Example B, you can place all four fingers at the beginning of each measure. This one istrickier, and may take some extra practice! It is kind of like patting your head and rubbing yourstomach at the same time.

28

A B C

A B C D

A B



29

Left hand patternsAlthough the principles and examples that we’ve discussed so far have generally been aboutthe right hand, all of them also translate to the left. In general, the left hand tends to be morechordal, with the notes of the chord played together, or spread out in an arpeggiated fashion.Usually, these two-note, three-note or four-note chords or arpeggios will have the commonfingerings I discussed in the Intervals and Chords section on pages 9 and 10.

Play these G and C bass clef chords. Play the G chords startingon the lowest G you have on your harp, and play the C chordsstarting on your lowest C. (So you may not be playing the notesin the octaves where I have written them.)

Do you hear how the first version of each chord sounds a bit "muddy," but the second onesounds cleaner and clearer? By taking the 3rd of the chord out of the bottom of the chord, andmoving it to the top, it sounds better! (The "3rd" of the G chord is the B note, and the "3rd" ofthe C chord is the E.) The lower the pitch of the strings you are playing, the more noticeablethis will be. If you have a small lap harp, you may not hear much of a difference.

To help eliminate the muddy sound when playing chords in the bass, the 3rd of the chord isoften left out, or moved higher. So, here are some left-hand patterns that you’ll often find inharp music.

The first one is our old friend, the “4-2-1 octave chord” with two of the many possible variations.

Another common left-hand pattern puts the 3rd of the chord on the top, as shown in the chordalexample at the top of this page. A big advantage of this pattern is that it includes all three notesof the chord, whereas the “4-2-1 octave chord” pattern is missing the 3rd. And, as you see belowin Measure E, this pattern will often then go back to the octave G at the end. It also sometimescontinues up the harp on notes of the chord as shown in Measure F.

By the way, everything we’re discussing here about the left hand also applies to the right hand.Although these chordal patterns are more common in the left, they can also show up in theright.



30

There are several ways to finger this next four-note chordal pattern. Although the notes are thesame, the fingerings may make each one sound slightly different. In Example A, just placefingers 4 and 3 to begin. Then after you play 4, pivot your hand up on finger 3 and place 2 and1. In Example B you'll jump between the two finger 2s. Example C has a cross-under. And inExample D you can jump up to either finger 1 or 2. My personal preference is usually ExampleA, but my friend Denise tends to use B.

When deciding on fingerings, particularly in the left hand, think of chords, and decide whichnotes you are really planning to place, and when you'd prefer to lift. In the following examples,the “right” answer is personal preference, and how you envision the music.

Example A.

In this example, the question is which fingerto use on the first beat of the secondmeasure. I chose 4 (in the circle), becauseyou can place the "4-2-1 octave chord"together, as shown in the bracket.

Beth Stockdell, a harpist who was helpingme edit a sheet music piece, preferredfinger 3 instead. She did not try to place the3 with the previous notes. She used thisfingering because it was similar to the firstmeasure (see the two circles), and her handwas used to this chordal spacing. She likedthe consistency of the fingering.

Example B.

This example is similar. Do you want to place the 1-2-4 in the bracket?

Or do you want to complete the C chord in the firstmeasure with the same finger you started with, andthen place the G chord?

A-1

A-2

A B C D

B-1

B-2



All together nowSo far, we’ve been discussing fingerings for just one hand. But now we'llconsider how the hands work together. First of all, just because the arrangerput particular notes in one hand or the other, doesn’t mean you have to play itthat way. Here are two versions of the same five-note chord. The only differenceis which hand plays the G below middle C. When deciding which one to use,consider where each hand needs to be both before and after the chord. If youfind that a different one works better for you in the context of the piece, or isjust your preference for playing chords, it is fine to change it.

MOVING THE ACCOMPANIMENT TO THE RIGHT HANDAlthough we usually play the melody and the notes written in the treble clef with the righthand, and notes in the bass clef with the left, you don’t always have to do that. Sometimesusing the “wrong” hand can help. Arrangers often already do that for you, moving some of themelody notes down to the left hand, or accompaniment notes up to the right.

For example, when you have a sharping lever change, theaccompaniment may need to move up to the right hand, so thatyour left has time to move the lever. In this example, the onlymelody note is the circled E. The right hand takes over theaccompaniment starting on beat two, so you can make thelever change with your left. In these instances, pedal harpistsmay use either hand, and change fingerings as necessary.

The exact same thing can happen when you need to have your left hand free for a page turn.Check to see if moving some bass notes up to the right hand will make the page turn easier.

There are other reasons to move the accompaniment to the right hand. In these examples, theonly melody note is the circled middle C. Play both versions. See how playing some bass noteswith the right hand in Example B makes the passage easier. And it may sound better too!

I recently gave a Skype lesson to my studentJoanna. She was having problems with theleft hand in “Amazing Grace” from my Hymnsand Wedding book. I told her to keeppracticing it, because this left hand patternis very useful. But I also suggested that shetry playing the circled notes with her righthand, instead. (This then changed thefingering of the last three left hand notes asshown in the box below the notes.)

31

or

A B



32

MOVING THE MELODY TO THE LEFT HANDMoving melody notes down to the left hand can also sometimes help with fingering. In Example A, I’ve circled the five-note run in the melody. Since there are five notes, you needto cross-under somewhere in this run.

But if we move thefirst note of themelody run downto the left hand,as shown inExample B, thepassage is easierto play.

Whenever you do this, be sure that the melody is still obvious, and can be heard clearly. Melodynotes should sound like they belong to the melody, and accompaniment notes (which are notquite as important) should sound like they belong to the accompaniment.

OTHER TWO-HANDCONSIDERATIONSSometimes changing hands can helpwhen there is a large jump. Here’s theend of my “Castle on a Cloud”arrangement from Les Misérables.The circled notes are part of themelody. Moving them to the left handsolved the fingering problem of a six-note descending run, and gave theright hand time to jump up for thebeautiful high ending passage.

When both hands are playing the same string in the same measure or two, your fingering choicecan either help or hinder you. In Example A below, the circled C is played three times.

Example A. The fingering in the left hand looks obvious, as it begins with the “4-2-1 octavechord”. However you have to remember not to place the left thumb until you get to measuretwo, or you’ll have two fingers trying to be on the same C string. Example B. By changing the left hand fingering to 3-1, the problem is solved. You won’t beplacing the middle C in your left hand until just before the second measure begins.Example C is probably the best option. Move the middle C in measure two up to the right hand,since it has been playing that note all along!

A B



33

TWO-HANDED ARPEGGIOSWhen you have arpeggios that go up or down the harp, and nothing else is going on, you canalternate hands. These two-handed arpeggios always make me smile, reminding me ofAmaryllis' "cross-hands piece" on the piano in The Music Man movie.

As I discussed with nine-note runs, there will usually be a variety of possibilities. Here is atwelve-note ascending arpeggio on a C chord. I've purposely left out a time signature, so it won'tinfluence our decisions for now. But that is something you'll want to consider when evaluatinga real piece. Let's look at some options. Since it starts low on the harp, you'll want to startwith the left hand.

Although Example A will often have the least number of jumps (depending on the length of thearpeggio), it can be awkward for many players. Each time you jump, finger 4 is on a differentnote, with a different spacing between the fingers.

In Example B each jump has the three-note C chord in the root position, so it is easy to playand remember.

Example C starts the same as Example B, but ends with a four-note root position C chord inthe right hand, eliminating the final left hand jump.

After the initial 4-2-1 in Example D, each three-note C chord is in the first inversion, so, onceagain, the spacing between your fingers will be the same as you move up the harp.

These same principles apply to descending arpeggios.



34

MAKING THE HANDS SIMILAR

Another reason to examine the hands together is that sometimes a similar fingering in bothhands can make a passage easier to play and remember.

Examples A and B are the same notes. They both include a six-note run (in the circle on theleft), so we have a variety of fingering options: 1-2-3-x-1-2-3 (Example A), 1-2-x-1-2-3-4 (ExampleB), and 1-2-3-4-x-1-2 (not shown here).

Play these examples, hands together. Notice how the fingering choice in Example B feels better,because both hands are using the same fingers at the same time for the notes in the box. Thiswill also make the passage easier to remember.

In the next examples, once again the notes are the same in both versions. In Example C, wehave the dilemma of which fingers to use on the last two notes in the right hand, after the four-note descending run. They can be 3-2 or 3-1 or 2-1. This is totally personal preference.

By adding a slide to the right hand in Example D, both hands are using the same fingers forthe boxed notes, making the passage easier to play and remember.

Please note that there is nothing wrong with the fingerings in Examples A and C, but I preferB and D.

A B

C D



35

Can you repeat that, please?Music is very repetitious. For example, in many simple folk songs, the first, second, and fourthphrases are identical, or very similar. Pop music generally has a "hook" that repeats over andover. And in classical pieces, themes will re-appear numerous times. Repeated patterns andphrases are what hold music together.

Once you’ve figured out the fingering for a phrase or a section, look through the piece and findwhere it comes in again. Often, the phrase will be exactly the same the second time, so you canjust copy the fingerings from one section to the next. This is a good idea because it saves time,and you don’t have to continually “re-invent the wheel” by starting the fingering from scratch.Also, using the same fingering each time a pattern or phrase is repeated will help you learn thepiece faster. However, if you decide to change a fingering (which will often happen), be sure youremember to go back and change it each time the phrase occurs.

Often a repeated section is slightly different from the original. In this case, you want to examinethe new section carefully to see what can remain the same, and what should change. In myexperience, many times at this point when I’m fingering a slightly altered section, I come upwith a better fingering for the original section, and then go back and change that one. So, beflexible, but in the end, try to be as consistent as possible.

"He's Got the Whole World in His Hands" is a traditional American spiritual with lots of repeats.The first and third phrases are exactly the same. The second phrase is very similar, exceptthat the circled notes go down one string. But the fingering can remain the same. The lastphrase starts the same as all the rest, but ends differently.

I like the feel and the sound of a break between the lyrics "world" and "in His hands", so I puta lift in the middle of each phrase.

I have given you two options for fingering the notes in the box at the end (above and below thenotes). 2-3-4 is what our rule of "how many notes in the run" would say. But, personally, I like1-2-3 better. Although the notes are completely different, it seems to fit with the other phraseswhere we lifted after the word "world."



To ring . . . or not to ring?At the beginning of my Teach Yourself to Play the Folk Harp book I adamantly stress theextreme importance of placing your fingers in the brackets in advance. It provides stability, andhelps your fingers learn the spacing of the strings and the various patterns. As a beginner,placing seems to slow your playing down, because you have to stop each time you get to abracket to be sure your fingers are placed, before playing the next note. This can wreak havocon the timing. However, once you get the hang of it and are able to place all the fingers in thebracket on the correct strings at once (instead of one at a time), this is what will eventuallyenable you to play fast. You'll be thinking of the notes as groups and placing them together. AsI tell my beginning students, I'd rather have a 30 second pause after the phrase "Twinkle,twinkle, little star" to be sure you've placed your fingers for "how I wonder where you are", thanto have it in perfect timing without the placing.

However, there is one down-side to placing in advance: we often muffle or stop the sound of astring that should still be ringing. I tell my beginning students not to worry about this, and toplace, anyway. As you get more advanced, you actually will not necessarily be placing yourfingers BEFORE you play the first bracketed note, but at the exact second that you play thefirst note in the bracket, allowing the notes to ring longer. The fingering you choose will alsomake a difference as to which notes continue to ring.

When playing the harp, there is no way to make a note sustain, except, perhaps, by playing itlouder and stronger. If we were playing a sustaining instrument, such as flute, violin, or organ,we would continue the sound of a whole note for a full four beats. But, on the harp, dependingon the speed of the piece, the note may fade away before the end of the measure. Generally, wejust assume that a note on a harp lasts until the next note is played.

Unfortunately, it is very easy to stop thering of a note too soon. In these examples,we'd like the whole note C to ring for thefull four beats. But since there is also a Cin the second measure, if you place yourfingers immediately after playing theinitial C, it will stop the tone, making thewhole note sound like only a quarter noteor a half note. Below are three ways youcan alleviate this problem.

Example A. Place the notes for the secondmeasure as late as possible, optimally atthe same time as you play the thumb.

Example B. To get ready for the secondmeasure, place only fingers 1 and 2. Then,after you play 1, you can place 3 and 4,letting the C ring a little longer.

Example C. Change the fingering. Bycrossing after two fingers instead of fourin the second measure, you won't bemuffling the C, no matter how early youplace the first bracket.

X

X

X X

A

B

C

36



37

Your turnIt is now time for you to figure out fingerings for some "real" music. Many of the songs on thefollowing pages are folk tunes from the British Isles. Since folk music is a dynamic, oraltradition, the melody and words you're familiar with might be a bit different from what is printedhere. Don’t worry about that: these are just examples for you to practice your fingering.

You’re going to use the next seven pages as a workbook. If you have this publication in bookformat (as opposed to a PDF) I suggest that you start by making copies of pages 38 to 44. Youcan either photo-copy them, or download a free PDF of these pages atwww.harpcenter.com/YourTurn and then print them out on your computer's printer.

For each of the ten songs, take some time and pencil in your own fingerings, Then playthrough them to be sure you're happy with your choices. Once you’re done, go to pages 45 to54 for my comments and suggestions. You'll then be able to see where our fingerings are similar,and where they differ. Mine are not necessarily any better than yours . . . just maybe a bitdifferent. (It is possible, however, that mine MIGHT be better than yours, and vice versa!)

As I discussed in the "Repeated Notes" section, there are several ways of fingering the samenote when it is played consecutively. Sometimes in my comments and explanations, I'll writein my preferences, and sometimes I'll just leave them up to you. But you're welcome to fingerrepeated notes however you prefer.

Here’s how I suggest that you go about this.

Step 1. Make copies of pages 38 to 44 to use as your worksheets to write on. You can printthem from the free PDF at www.harpcenter.com/YourTurn

Step 2. Play through, or read through, each song, looking for repeated patterns and long runs.

Step 3. Using a pencil, put finger 1 at the top note of each run.

Step 4. Finger the four-note runs, and three-note runs.

Step 5. If there are longer runs, play them in context and choose your fingering.

Step 6. Enter any fingerings that are still missing.

Step 7. Check the repeated sections to be sure the fingerings are the same whenever possible.

Step 8. Play through the song to be sure you like the fingerings you have chosen, and changeany that are awkward.

Step 9. Read my comments and explanations on pages 45 to 54, and compare your fingeringsto mine. If they are different, see if you can figure out why I chose the ones I did. You can thenkeep yours, or change them to mine.

(If you are more advanced, you may be able to figure out the fingerings in Step 1 as you playthrough the piece. This is fine. But for this exercise, please be sure to write your fingerings inthe music, so you can compare them to mine.)



38

When the Saints Go Marching In

On Top of Old Smoky

Once you've entered your own fingerings, you can read my comments on page 45.


This American gospel hymn was made famous by Louis Armstrong in 1938.

This is a traditional American folk song. The Weavers recorded Pete Seeger'sarrangement in 1951 and it hit the top of the pop music charts.



39

America (My Country, 'Tis of Thee)God Save the Queen


This well-known tune is known as "America" in the U.S., and "God Save the Queen" or"God Save the King" in the U.K.



Oh Dear, What can the Matter Be?

40


This is a traditional song from the British Isles that migrated to America. It is alsoknown as Johnny's So Long at the Fair. There are many variations of the lyrics of whathe “promised to buy” her.



41

My Bonnie Lies over the Ocean

Barbara Allen



"Barbara Allen" is another well-known English folk song that changed when it came to America.

This traditional Scottish song was probably written about Bonnie Prince Charlie.



42

Streets of Laredo - melody only

Streets of Laredo - with chords

Once you've entered your own fingerings, you can read my comments on pgs. 50 & 51.

This melody is also known as The Unfortunate Rake and The Bard of Armagh.

This is the same song as above, with chords added to the right hand.



43

The Three Ravens

Black is the Color of My True Love’s Hair

“The Three Ravens" is a very old English folk ballad. You can set the G-sharp lever for the lastline before you begin. As with all the examples in this book, you may leave out the G-sharp ifyour harp doesn't have levers. The music will sound different, but it won't alter the fingerings.

Once you've entered your own fingerings, you can read my comments on pgs. 52 & 53.

This song from the Appalachian Mountains probably originated in Scotland.



44

In the Good Old Summertimeby Ren Shields and George Evans (1902)


This 1902 Tin Pan Alley song was a big hit in its era, and was used in numerous movies.



Sylvia's turnHere are my fingerings, comments, and explanations for the music on the previous pages. Toget the full benefit from this book, please be sure that you've spent the time to enter your ownfingerings before you read these pages.

When the Saints Go Marching In

The fingering is pretty straight-forward for the two songs on this page. They consistmostly of two-note, three-note, or four-note runs.

As you see in the circled notes above, in the pieces on the next few pages I've opted forkeeping the same finger on many of the repeated notes. You're welcome to change theseif you'd like, as I discussed on pages 19 to 20.

On Top of Old Smoky

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For On Top of Old Smoky it makes sense to me to lift after the tied notes, as part of thephrasing, so I put in breath marks. The circled A note could be finger 1 or 2, and theboxed D could be either finger 2 or 3; your preference.



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America (My Country, 'Tis of Thee)God Save the Queen

There are a few fingering options in this song. Once again, you are welcome to changethe fingering on the repeated notes.

The first circled note could be either finger 1 or 2, as discussed on page 25.

The final circled phrase is a five-note run. We can't slide on the thumb, because thefirst two notes are not right next to each other. So our main options are 1-2-3-x-1-2 or1-2-x-1-2-3. If we follow our rule of always crossing after a longer note, we would choose1-2-3-x-1-2. However, this piece doesn't go very fast, and 1-2-x-1-2-3 just feels better tome. So I decided to ignore that rule this time. But this decision is completely personalpreference.

This brings up a good point: the rules in this book are guidelines, and not etched instone. They are there to guide and assist you, but are not always mandatory. Let yourfingers and the music help you decide when it is OK to "break the rules."



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Oh Dear, What can the Matter Be?

This song has many phrases and patterns that repeat, such as the measures I circled.The notes leading up to and following these measures are not always the same. But,in this instance, we're still able to keep consistent fingerings for those four measures.

Once again, you may change the fingerings of the repeated notes in the first sixmeasures.



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My Bonnie Lies over the Ocean

The word "My" at the beginning of the first three phrases can be finger 3 or 4, whicheveryou choose. Just be consistent.

I changed from finger 3 to finger 2 on the repeated C notes in the circle near the end ofthe first line. This concept was discussed in the "repeated notes" section in the middleof page 20.

This song has two identical five-note runs in the boxes. I've opted for sliding the thumb,but you could also use a cross. Since I was already using slides, I added one to thefour-note run in the circle in line three. This ends the run on finger 3, setting us upnicely for the three-note ascending run on “-nie to me.”

Notice that I put breath marks in the "Bring back, bring back" sections in the last threelines, matching the phrasing in the lyrics. You could place here, instead, but I like thelifts. In these same "Bring back, bring back" phrases, you could use finger 3 on “bring”each time, instead of finger 2. But be consistent all four times.



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Barbara Allen

The first four-note ascending run ends with the circled finger 1 on "town," which is also thebeginning of a five-note descending run. However, since "town" is a longer note, I think it issafe to start a new fingering and consider "where I was born" a four-note run of 1-2-3-4. Youcan slide your thumb from "town" to "where," or you can lift: your preference.

Similarly, I put a lift after "born," since it is the end of the phrase. I started a new four-note runon "There." The rest are pretty straight-forward three-note or four-note runs.

Here's another option for the last line. If we put in thumb slides, then the circled notes areeasily fingered and remembered three-note C chords.



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Streets of Laredo - melody only

I hope you noticed that the first and third phrases are exactly the same, and the secondand the fourth phrases are the same except for the last three notes.

For the five-note ascending runs in the circles above, we need to cross-undersomewhere. Because your thumb is already on the C at the beginning of the measure,and there is just one note going down, it makes sense for the B to be finger 2, followedby 1, and then a cross to 3-2-1.

The boxed G notes on "As" and "All" can be either finger 2 or 3, your preference, but beconsistent. You may also use any finger for "day" and "clay" at the end of the secondand fourth phrases, but be sure they both are the same.

Here's an alternate fingering for the first (and third) lines. I changed the fingering inthe circled notes below from 3-4 to 1-2. This has added a cross, but it also works.

X



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Streets of Laredo - with chords

Now, let's look at what happened to the fingerings for "Streets of Laredo" when we addedchords to the right hand melody. Once again, the first and third phrases are exactlythe same, and the second and the fourth phrases are the same except for the last threenotes.

Notice that since we have added chords, there are no longer any four-note runs. Thechords have split them into smaller runs. The three-note chords will be fingers 3-2-1,and the two-note chords here are generally fingers 3-1.

Look at the two examples within the brackets. As I discussed on page 27, you can placeyour thumb on the top note of the chord with the notes preceeding it.

And, also from the discussion on page 27, there is a thumb cross-over ino a chord inthe middle of the first and third lines where I put the x.

You can slide your thumb for all four of the notes and chords in the circle. See the topof page 28 for more information.

Now let's look at the C note in the box. If you think of placing it with the "cold" chordpreceeding it, you would use 1-3 (or 1-4) in the chord, and 2 for the C in the box. OR,you could use finger 1 on the boxed C, and slide into the next chord. Either optionworks.



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Black is the Color of My True Love’s Hair

I used fingers 3-2 in the boxes on the repeated notes. This is similar to the fingering atthe end of the first line of My Bonnie Lies over the Ocean on page 48.

You can use either 1 or 2 on the word "fair" at the end of the second phrase.

The main fingering questions are the two circled five-note runs in the second line, whichI've copied below. Notice that there is a comma in the lyrics after "face," since it is theend of a short lyrical phrase. So it makes sense to put a lift there. And, in the secondrun, I chose a thumb slide because the first two notes are consecutive.

"WAIT," I hear you crying. "The first two notes of the first run are also consecutive, andyou told us to be consistent. So why didn't you use a slide both times?"

Although they are both five-note descending runs, there are some differences. Forexample, the first one begins with a quarter note, while the second begins with eighthnotes. The phrasing, and the spacing of the notes (where the skips are) are different, aswell as what comes afterwards. So, yes, I could have used a slide on both of them, butthe fingering I chose made more sense to me in the actual context of the piece.



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The Three Ravens

I underlined the lyrics "sat on a tree, downe" in the first line. The notes above these lyrics area five-note descending run. However, "tree" is the end of the phrase, so I lifted there. This made"sat on a tree" an easy four-note run.

For the following six-note ascending run in the box I chose 3-2-1-lift-3-2-1. You could also use3-2-1-x-3-2-1 with a cross instead of a lift. Another option is 4-3-2-1-x-2-1. These are all OK.

For the two six-note descending runs in the circles, a case could be made for 1-2-x-1-2-3-4,because ending on 4 might make it easier to get to finger 3 starting the next phrase. But sinceyou'll be lifting at the end of the phrase, I prefer the three-finger option. I like thinking of"breakfast take" as a three-note E-major chord, so fingers 1-2-3 make more sense to me than2-3-4. This also gives the last two lines a nice three-fingered flow.

The six-note "downe, derry, der-" descending run in the middle of the box in the last line needsto end with finger 3 on the G-sharp to prepare for the final three-note ascending run. I choseto put a lift after the high E.

Another option for these boxed notes would be to continue following the three-note patternsthat we've been using, as shown below.



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The fingerings in the rectangles are the "correct" fingerings going by our initial rule of how manynotes are in a run. My preferred fingerings are written below those notes. I’ve opted to lift eachtime before “summertime.” As I’ve mentioned before, sometimes it is OK to break the rules!

The three circled notes are part of five-note runs. If you're going to jump up to these notes, usefinger 2. If you're going to cross-under, use finger 3, as I discussed on page 15.

In the Good Old Summertimeby Ren Shields and George Evans (1902)



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Now what?Congratulations! You now have the basics that you need to start fingering your own music.Your next step is to pick a piece and give it a try. Don't be shy, don't be scared, just DO IT!Remember that it doesn't matter if you choose the "perfect" fingering for a passage or not. Doyour best, and then play it consistently. I promise that you'll be fine!

As you get more advanced, you'll probably be able to create many of the fingerings "on the fly"as you're playing a new piece, instead of figuring them out in advance. And you may not needto write in a fingering for every note. If so, be sure to at least write in the important ones thatyou need to remember. That way, you'll be playing the piece consistently the same way everytime, and you'll learn it faster.

Here are a few other hints and suggestions.

#1. Start paying attention to the fingerings that are used in the music that you buy, or thatyour teacher has written in your music. You might discover new fingering options that you canuse when fingering your own music.

#2. Unless your teacher tells you otherwise, it is perfectly fine to change fingerings in fingeredmusic that you have purchased. However, if you are going to change one, stop and see if youcan figure out why the arranger chose that particular fingering. Sometimes there may not bean obvious reason, since (as I've mentioned numerous times in this book) there are lots ofpossibilities. But you might realize that the original fingering is better than the one you had inmind, because of factors you had not thought of. Once you've analyzed the original, feel free tomake the changes that work best for you.

#3. Fingerings are normally written by the note head, not by the stem.

#4. Always use a pencil, not a pen.

#5. As I've mentioned before, having consistent fingerings and playing a piece exactly the sameway every time is the best way to learn. Another great suggestion is to understand and analyzethe chords and harmony used in the music. If you need help with this, please consult my MusicTheory and Arranging Techniques book. It will give you lots of information about keys, chords,intervals, and inversions to help you better understand your music. (See page 60 for moreinformation on my Music Theory book and my Quick Reference Chord and Scale Chart.)

Playing the harp is a fun, rewarding adventure. I hope that this book has given you theconfidence you need to play music that hasn't been pre-fingered, knowing that you can do ityourself. This should open new musical possibilities for you and broaden your harp musichorizons.

Have fun, and enjoy the music!

Sylvia Woods



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APPENDIX 1: Crosses and SlidesThese explanations are from Chapter 11 of my Teach Yourself to Play the Folk Harp book.

CROSS-OVERS and CROSS-UNDERS: "Cross-overs" and "cross-unders" are techniques used when playing a series of fiveor more notes that are either all ascending or all descending. Here’s how to play them.

Ascending - Cross-undersa. place the first four notes (C, D, E, F)b. play fingers 4, 3, and 2c. before playing 1, bring 4 under the thumb andplace it on Gd. play the thumbe. pivot the hand towards you on the 4th finger sothat the hand and fingers are in the properpositionf. place 3, 2, and 1g. play 4, 3, 2, and 1

This can also be done by crossing the 3rd fingerunder, instead of the 4th.

Descending - Cross-oversa. place the first four notes (C, B, A, G)b. play fingers 1, 2, and 3c. before playing 4, bring the thumb over 4 andplace it on the Fd. play 4e. open the hand down from the thumb so that thefingers are in positionf. place 2, 3, and 4g. play 1, 2, 3, and 4

You can also cross your thumb over after playingthree notes or two notes.

SLIDESWhen playing five descending notes, when the firsttwo notes are consecutive, it is often best to slidethe thumb from the first to the second note. It isnotated with a slur from the fingerings of 1 to 1.

In the first measure here, place your fingers on G,E, D, C (skipping the F string). Slide your thumbfrom the G to the F and then pluck the F, E, D, Cas usual. Be sure to slide from the first to thesecond note, rather than pluck with your thumb.



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APPENDIX 2: Left Hand MufflesSometimes the bass notes of the harp ring too much, which can make the arrangements soundmuddy. Or notes of a previous chord are still ringing when you play the next chord, which cansound discordant. There are a variety of muffling techniques that you can add to your fingeringto help solve these problems. Pedal harpists are used to muffles, adding them at their discretion,even when not printed in the music. However, this is a new concept for many lever harp players.

When I wrote my Lennon and McCartney book in 1998 I included detailed explanations of avariety of muffles that I used in that book. I’m re-printing that information here on the followingpages. If you’re interested in adding muffles to your fingerings, please read this section andpractice the exercises on the following pages.

This article first appeared in my Lennon and McCartney for the Harp book. So,in the following paragraphs when it says “in this book,” I am referring to theLennon and McCartney book, not the book you are currently reading.

Muffles are a standard part of pedal harp technique. However, many lever harp players are notfamiliar with them. This is not surprising, since the bass strings are generally the ones thatneed muffling, and pedal harps have many more bass strings than lever harps. But if your leverharp has more than about an octave below middle C, muffling is a technique that will makeyour playing cleaner and more melodious. Which muffles to use, and where to use them, aredictated by personal preference. The muffles I have indicated in this music are only suggestions.The resonance of your harp, particularly in the bass, and your ear will tell you whether a muffleis needed. Playing these pieces on various lever harps, I have found that some harps requirelots of muffling, and some can be played with very few muffles, due to their shorter bass ring.

FLAT HAND MUFFLES

Many of the muffles utilize a flat hand position. Imagine that you are going to push open aswinging door with your left hand. Try it. What does your hand look like? You place your palmflat against the door with your thumb and fingers pointing towards the ceiling. This is prettymuch what you will do when playing in a flat hand position. Now let’s try it on your harp.

Exercise #1. Place your left hand flat against the strings with your thumb on middle C pointingstraight up. Your four fingers won’t be pointing straight up, they’ll be at a slight angle wherethey are comfortable. Your palm and the full length of all your fingers should be in contact withthe string. No gaps are allowed. The bottom part of your hand below your thumb will probablybe covering a few strings above middle C. Practice placing your hand like this several timesuntil you can place the entire length of your hand and fingers at the same time. Now let’s seehow this works to muffle the strings. With your right hand, play some of the strings in thatoctave below middle C, and then use your left flat hand muffle. Do you hear how the stringsare stopped? (Some strings lower on your harp may still be ringing sympathetically.) If some ofthe strings in the octave that you were trying to muffle still are sounding, your hand isn’t FLATagainst the strings. If you get buzzes when you muffle, then you’re not placing your hand onthe strings with enough conviction! If you wander into the strings, you’ll get buzzes. If you placeyour hand firmly, with all parts of your hand and fingers at the same time, you won’t buzz.Practice muffling in this manner until all of the strings stop at the same time.



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Exercise #2. Now that you have mastered the flat hand position, we’ll pluck some strings atthe end of the muffle. Here’s a visualization trick that I learned from a wonderful harp teacher,Suzanne Balderston. Look at the big knuckles of your left hand, the ones where your fingersattach to your hand. Imagine that these knuckles are a drawbridge. You’re going to raise theseknuckles (the drawbridge) while you play. Here’s how it works. Start with your flat handposition, with your thumb on middle C (as we did above). As you pluck your thumb, raise thedrawbridge. The tips of your four fingers should stay on the strings, and the rest of your handis drawn away from the strings (leading with the drawbridge knuckles). If you don’t lift yourhand from the strings, you’ll get a harmonic (which we don’t want here) instead of a nice clearnote played with your thumb. Practice this, placing your hand flat and then playing yourthumb, until it feels comfortable.

Exercise #3: Flat thumb. In “real life”, you actually want to play the thumb ATTHE SAME TIME as you muffle the strings (instead of afterwards). It should be onecontinuous motion. This way, the note played by the thumb will cover up anynoises made by the muffling, and the tone will not be interrupted. So your nextexercise is to place your hand flat against the strings (as above) and play the thumb at exactlythe same time that your hand contacts the strings. Practice this until it is comfortable. In harpmusic, the notation for this is a + sign, instead of a fingering. The + means to muffle with a flatleft hand and play the note with your left thumb at the same time.

Exercise #4: Flat thumb scales. Scale-type passages in the bass are often played with a flatthumb, as you practiced in exercise #3. Play middle C with a flat thumb, then move your entirehand down one string and play the B with a flat thumb, etc. When playing scales in thismanner, you fingers will just lightly rest on the strings. Be sure you place and play at the sametime. Practice playing both ascending and descending scales using a flat thumb. Once again,in this book this is notated with a + instead of a fingering.

A special note for players with small lever harps:The preceding muffles are hard to play on the very lowest strings of a harp, because there areno strings below to rest your fingers against. Sometimes (depending on the shape of your harppillar or column, and how close it is to the strings), you can rest your lower fingers against thepillar if you run out of strings. If your harp only has an octave, or a bit more, below middle C,you might want to play some of the flat thumb scales indicated in the music using thetechniques in Exercise #9 instead. Also, since your harp probably doesn’t have a lot of bassring, you can probably leave out many of the muffles, and just play the notes with normal handposition.

Exercise #5: Flat hand octave. Flat octaves are played using the same principlesas above. Start with your hand flat on the strings, with your thumb on middle Cand your 4th finger on the C below. Now, remembering your drawbridge, pluck bothyour thumb and 4th fingers at the same time. Your entire hand and fingers willcome off the strings. Remember to pull your hand away from the strings (leading with thedrawbridge) to avoid harmonics. Practice this by placing your flat left hand and then playingthe octave. Once you have mastered that, then place and play AT THE SAME TIME like we didwith the thumb previously. This technique is called a “flat octave,” and in harp music it isnotated with + sign placed above or below the octave. (In the song “Yesterday”, the sameprinciple is used with an interval of a 7th, as well as an octave.)



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Exercise #6: Flat hand octaves, not played together.Sometimes you’ll place your hand for a flat octave, but playthe two notes of the octave individually, one at a time,instead of together. In this first example, play a flat 4, thenplay your thumb. In the second example, play a flat thumband then your 4th finger.

Exercise #7: Flat 4th. Sometimes you want to play one note and muffle the stringsabove it at the same time. For this, you’ll play with a flat 4th finger. It is the sameprinciple as Exercises #2 and #3, except that you will pluck with the 4th fingerinstead of the thumb. In this book, this is notated with a + as well as a “4”.

Exercise #8: Low register muffle. When you want to muffle the lower register ofthe harp, just place your hand flat against the strings you want to muffle, as inExercise #1. This is the notation for a bass register muffle. You decide whichstrings to muffle, depending on the music and the range of your harp.

OTHER MUFFLES

The following muffles are NOT played with a flat hand, but with normal hand position.

Exercise #9: Descending scales with finger 2. Descending scale passages are often playedwith a flat thumb, as in Exercise #5. Another way to play them is with a normal hand position.To play the following scale, pluck each string with your 2nd finger (of your left hand). At exactlythe same time that you place and pluck your 2nd finger, you place your thumb on the adjacentstring above, muffling that note. For example, when you place and pluck the B string, yourthumb will muffle the C string. Your hand just bounces down the harp from one string to thenext, plucking and muffling at the same time.

Exercise #10: Muffling one note. Sometimes you just want to muffle one note to clean up thesound of a chord. This is often used at the end of a piece. To do this, just lightly place the tipof your finger on that one string to muffle it.



Music Theory and Arranging Techniques for Folk Harps

This book by Sylvia Woods teaches lever harp players at any level the music theory andtechniques they need to make their own arrangements. The book gives lots of examplesand includes over 90 pieces on which students can practice their newly gained skillsas they progress through the book. Most pieces are in the key of C, with a few at theend in sharp keys. Although this book was originally designed for lever harp players, itcan also be used by pedal harpists for their basic introduction to theory. 112 pages, spiral-bound.

Subjects covered include:major and minor chordsintervalsinversionsdiminished, augmented and other chordsmajor and minor keyschord relationships in keyspatternsright hand chordscounter-melodies modes"neutral chords"tuning your lever harp to two keys at onceaccidentals in the melodysubstitute chordshow to figure out which chord to usevocal arrangingtransposing

Sylvia Woods' publications are available from harp music retailers and at

w w w. h a r p c e n t e r. c o m

Quick Reference Chord and Scale Chart

Sylvia Woods’ easy-to-read chord and scale chart has everything you need for quickreference on one laminated, two-sided, three-hole punched, 8½" x 11" sheet. It includesthe chord construction for every Major, Minor, Augmented, Diminished, Suspended,6th, Minor 6th, Dominant 7th, Major 7th, Minor 7th, 9th, and Major 9th chord. It alsoincludes intervals, inversions, parts of a chord, chord intervals, scales, modes and keysignatures. Concise and complete, no musician should be without one!

More Products by Sylvia Woods

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What teachers and students are saying aboutSylvia Woods' Harp Fingering Fundamentals

For years, I have had students who come to me asking for fingerings before they get started on a newpiece. This new volume will be helpful for students and teachers alike, offering multiple ideas for manysituations. An excellent teaching and reference volume. - Denise Grupp-Verbon, harp instructor

Chock-full of common-sense suggestions on fingering from the simplest to the trickiest passages. Areal boon for do-it-yourself harp players, and good ideas even for experienced players on how to makethe unplayable playable. - Joyce Rice, harp instructor

Sylvia Woods has done it again! Harp Fingering Fundamentals is a must for every teacher and student.It clearly and concisely shows how to approach harp fingerings in her accessible and charming style.It will be a staple in my studio and should be in your collection, too. - Felice Pomeranz, Professor of Harp, Berklee College of Music, Boston, MA

This book will be very helpful for students and harpists who are teaching themselves how to play. Itgives wonderful basic, logical and practical approaches to all the problems involved. - Linda Wood Rollo, Retired Professor of Harp, Indiana State University, Bloomington

Sylvia’s fingering book is going to be her latest classic “must have” book for all harpists. This is thebook that I wish I had had when I was learning to play the harp and one that will now be required forall my harp students. - Beth A. Stockdell, professional harpist and editor of The Folk Harp Journal

This book, covering a vast, detailed and difficult topic, is crammed with technical information, yet it’sfascinating to read. This is due to Sylvia Woods’ emphasis on fingering not only for technical ease butfor tone quality and phrasing. Her clear, upbeat writing style makes what can feel like an impossiblechallenge, instead, an adventure with your harp. - Frances Stroscio, intermediate harpist

Having read and played through the entire book, I can say that it made me better at playing the harp.If you play through all the exercises in the book, your playing will improve. The songs at the back ofthe book were a big help, too. After writing in fingerings for each of the songs, you can see how Sylviawould have done it, and why. Sylvia's style of writing is not only positive and encouraging, but alsoclear and concise. - Susan Hironaka, harp student

Thanks to Sylvia for sharing her expertise in this easy-to-follow book. I found the exercises improvedmy playing ability, and I learned how to make pieces personally flow better for me. I feel I can nowapproach any arrangement with greater confidence and have a better understanding of how toovercome challenging runs. - Joanna Chambreau, harp student

harp fingering fundamentals - amazon s3the harp strings. in this passage you have to take your...

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