Beginner's Intro to Melody playing: SWA Stalking the Wild Autoharp

[@leahlandwehr1198]

Hal, hello. My name is Leah, I’m just at 69 and I decided I want to learn to play this alluring instrument. I bought an O.S, and started with a few basic books. I came onto your video today on picking and I gotta tell ya I feel like I learned more from watching you then I have in a year of page-turning. Thank you. I would like to start lessons with you and will be following up on that possibility. Best. Thank you, Leah in Minnesota.

[@miahoover9225]

Thank you for these videos. A wonderful way to keep a musical traditional alive.

[@reohorse42]

I play Harmonica, and tonight has opened up like when I play Harmonica. Owed to joy is stuck in my brain. But other songs will come a lot ezer. It feels awesome feeling my fingers take over and my eyes are closed and Muscle memory is starting to take over. Holy crap. This is fun.

[@rebeccapratt9067]

Hal thank you so much! My goal this year is to learn my auto harp. And in just 24 hours your lessons have been so very helpful thank you!

[@connieratti.ADBestyoucanbe]

Excellent and reassuring. Loved thus tape

[@kimadams2995]

"I don't recommend it" (all those books with the notes spelled out). Horrible man. But you are absolutely right.😁 Very much enjoying the online lessons; an excellent way to get started.

[@HillSpinner]

You are an excellent teacher. Thank you for doing this.

[@reubenkeyz5131]

This is the first song I ever learned on the autoharp because of you, Hal. Thanks!!

[@Electroghoul]

You are the Bob Ross of Autoharp

[@wildautoharp]

Now add some pretty little plucks...wherever you want them, it doesn't matter. Thats the nice thing about autoharp...anywhere you like....!

[@laraegarrison3380]

Thank you because watching this video now fully assures me that an autoharp is really what I want to learn to play. I've picked out the fact that a 21 chord instrument is what I need to do this and grow. What brand is up in the air but I know the sound and resonance I'm looking for. While on the quest, I have come across this video which has enlightened me as to some of the chord and picking mystery, copied down those 15 letters and the next three keys you talked about. I can visualize playing and begin to understand the movement of hands to obtain the melody! Thank you again!

[@wendymathews1030]

Hal, you are a Godsend!! I am learning so much from you; things I have been struggling with & couldn't figure out on my own. I was about to give up....then, I found your "Stalking the Wild Autoharp" videos. It's like taking private lessons!! Thank you SO MUCH!! ❤️

[@CharlotteFairchild]

He might take donations! lol I wish he could start a nonprofit so you could sign up on Amazon Smile and when you buy things Amazon donates to him!

[@garyives]

Excellent. You are a fine teacher.

[@richardparker1875]

Very helpful lessons...and your voice is so soothing it calms me when my fingers get tangled up!

[@wildautoharp]

why thank you....glad it's helping.

[@CharlotteFairchild]

I never had lessons. I had my first autoharp when I was 15 years old and now I am almost 60. I was so overwhelmed in 2009 at Mountain Laurel Autoharp that I couldn't learn in the group. People like Skip spent time alone with me telling me a few things I had never heard. I have the book. I don't perform much, so I am not inspired to become as adept at being a virtuoso like so many people like you, Jo Ann Smith and all the winners of the autoharp gatherings.

[@nettiefriesen8115]

Very cool to find you! May start playing again :)

[@karlschulte9231]

Love the Celtic art

[@alancowen4424]

very very helpful indeed. You are an excellent instructor.

[@paulcolegrove9465]

Great class on autoharp. One of the best I found online.

[@wildautoharp]

I never had lessons either. At least, not on Autoharp. I had tons of private lessons in Piano, Oboe, French Horn, Music Theory and Composition. Workshops/groups are a mixed bag. Way I see it, half of what we need to learn is about MUSIC in GENERAL, and the other half is Autoharp specific. In a group, some of the people don't know about music, and that has to be addressed for those people. Meanwhile the music savvy people are waiting. It's hard to get a group where everyone has the same needs, so it's hard to target/pinpoint where people are and speak to that need. Individually, though, the teacher can determine just where you are at and give the right pointers and use the right language (hopefully) to give you "the next piece".

[@nealdmiller]

my brain feels full and happy because of how you teach :>)

[@cruzechevarria6161]

Thanks Gall, you are a wonderful tepaches. Teacher

[@janicebonhomme194]

Thanks for your speedy reply

[@marysmith5509]

You make itlookeasy ,,,love the sound ,,,

[@syoung6126]

Great teaching

[@55TeleMark]

Thank you!

[@crenee2007]

Oooooh! So love this !!! ***Thanks for sharing.**

[@gailwebber186]

Very good lessons!

[@gibsonfamily8509]

Shalom! Yesterday I was surprised with an auto harp from a family member. I'd love to get some information from you regarding some one on one lessons. Thanks.

[@wildautoharp]

Hi! Go to my website, www.halweeks.com all thw info is there

[@kathihilton4064]

Thank you this is the first time looking into how to play the autoharp. I've always loved music and always wanted a harp ( I got one last night so now I will be trying to learn to play ) I am left handed so it will be a little different. As I got this used, would there need to be any adjustments possibly? All the stings seem fine , other than some dust. I see you have 4 finger picks is that how many I should buy ? You seem to be a awesome patient teacher so as I go , I will looking into more once I get this one video down. Thank you so very much

[@wildautoharp]

Welcome to Autoharp! There are any number of adjustments/things that can need fixing on a used autoharp...unfortunately. Sellers usually don't know about those things, because they themselves don't play. Check out my video on buying an autoharp, where I explain why....but actually buying used is one of the better options these days, because vintage harps can be better in the long run than new harps....again, watch the video for why. As far as your left handedness goes, I'm a lefty, and learned to play right. But if you want to play left, you might have advantages over the right handed person, especially if you learn to play flat down on a table or laptop style vs upright, which is Righty's way of dealing with uncrossing the hands.....you don't have to worry about that if you are left hand dominant. Make sure to get a left handed thumb pick for yourself if you are going to play that way! Good luck to you. There's an index to all my videos at halweeks.com.

[@kathihilton4064]

@@wildautoharp , I actually bought the older harp for only $49.99 at a goodwill it came in a beat up case with a wrench for the autoharp. The autoharp looks great from what I can tell and, it sounds pretty nice when I was following your beginners video. I am ambidextrous with some things so we will see which hand will work best , but my biggest problem I think right now is I have 3 trigger fingers on my right hand and carpal tunnel , so I will have to adjust for that some. Maybe I will pick up picks for both hands and try them to see which will help me more. I will definitely check out more of your videos , thank you so very much

[@janicebonhomme194]

Hi Hal, Janice here. Quick question, how do you know what size pics you need? Thanks so much for your videos. I just got an auto harp (used).

[@wildautoharp]

Hi Janice....quick answer: You don't know until you know, you know? Sorry, I wish I could be more specific. They adjust with hot water if they are plastic. The metal ones just bend to shape. With your second purchase you'll know.

[@IcelandIreland08]

Where do recommend purchasing an autoharp. I’ve played piano, clarinet and flute. Thus, I’ll pickup on sound quality. I also am concerned with the quality of craftsmanship of an autoharp. I played a simple one as a youngster. I never forgot the experience. I look forward to your response. Thank you! Btw: my heritage is 1/2 Irish plus 1/2 Icelandic/Norwegian. This sound feels part of my soul.♥️

[@wildautoharp]

DAigle Autoharps makes 10 models of handmade instruments. If you are not ready to purchase such sn instrument, then dAigle Also has refurbished vintage Oscar Schmidt harps. Don't buy one of the new ones, they are very poor quality.

[@arachne8x]

This is really clever. I was wondering why Ode to Joy and I realized once I started trying why... It goes up and down in steps, which is nice, but also has you play the same note twice in succession! For me that's pretty hard. I guess I'm moving pretty far on my thumb pick. I think once I have this mastered I'll really have learned a lot. I'm guessing it's normal for this to take a few sessions or more to get down? Even with a music background (piano) I'm finding this challenging.

[@wildautoharp]

remember not to try to pick single strings...you want to pick a zone, maybe 3-4 strings...so that you catch the note you want. It lets you be a little sloppier. Practice will increase accuracy!

[@arachne8x]

@@wildautoharp I do recognize that and I'm not staring at the strings to pluck. Maybe I'm misunderstanding the exercise. With Ode to Joy each note is only 1-2 strings away from the previous one. So a range of 4 seems like it will give me the wrong note. Unless when you're playing it you are not going up in 1-2 half tone intervals?

[@wildautoharp]

@@arachne8x I don't mean jump up 4 strings...but each pluck will cover 3 to 4 strings but only one will sound. You are correct....to get the next note up, you will only move over maybe 1/2 inch...but your pluck will still hit maybe 3 strings, 2 of which are dead. So you don't have to pluck a single individual open string to get the note.

[@arachne8x]

@@wildautoharp oh don't worry. I'm not trying to pluck with perfect accuracy. I'm just also not accurate enough to cover the same distance twice in a row. I'll get there and I appreciate that confirmation.

[@sandiwells8831]

What a beautiful lesson! Thank you!

[@Forestgump12able]

Ettiene , Vivaldi zither Is an eye opener.

[@syoung6126]

Thank you

[@beautifuldreamer3991]

Can a 15 chord Autoharp be converted to a 21chord ?

[@wildautoharp]

Yes, with a "conversion kit". I'm assuming an Oscar Schmidt. The OS conversion kit won't work on a Chromaharp/Samick (or other knockoff). Reason being the string spacing is slightly different on the Chromaharp and it doesn't fit the precut notches in the felt on the OS conversion kit. shop.daigleharp.com/collections/parts-and-accessories/products/21-bar-conversion-kit They take some patience to install. I've done it many times.

[@venitacoffin204]

Just a question, maybe because I am a piano player, new to the autoharp, you don’t pluck the melody?

[@wildautoharp]

Yes absolutely!

[@michaelblaney4461]

So to play in some different keys do you need more then on harp or do you change bars?

[@wildautoharp]

That particular harp is a diatonic...it only plays in two keys...but it has double string tuning, like a mandolin. I seldom use it...most of my playing is chromatic.

[@donnabowden2628]

Wow thanks

[@lunathesavagedaughter190]

I melody picked so much from the start that I don't know how to strum chords 😂

[@wildautoharp]

Sounds like a good problem to have

[@lunathesavagedaughter190]

@@wildautoharp lol!! At least I know I did something right 😁

[@jonsaboe5372]

I have a two row auto harp, can you still teach me?

[@wildautoharp]

The short answer is yes, definately. I learned on a 15 bar two row harp. Most (90%) of Folk, Country, Rock, Gospel have only 3 chords. Just about everything I teach has to do with the picking hand, not the button hand. Where we run into trouble is mostly when we want to sing, and then there are limits because we can't neccessarily sing everying in the keys we can cover with our buttons...So we try to change the key of the song, and don't always have what we need so more buttons give us more singing choices. Sooner or later, you'll want a 21 chord. If you are thinking of lessons, right now, my time is full and a number of others have gotten in line. There are a number of good teachers who teach online, and probably someone can help you!

[@Phoenixhunter157]

What kind of autoharp are you playing here? Love it!

[@wildautoharp]

Made by Mark Fackeldy.

[@112goodrich112]

TX U!

[@brianduchowicz8993]

i think you will be my teacher too

[@wildautoharp]

I'd be glad to teach you! I teach people privately via skype all the time...come to my website, halweeks.com and there is information about how to get started!

[@karugumureithi5169]

Thank you