Beginning Harp Lessons: Four Different Harps | Cymber Lily Quinn

[@MeganMorrisHarpist]

Thank you - so helpful. I've been looking for something like this!

[@EPJM1750]

wow, this video is already 6-7 years old.. very instructive, thanks!. I'm sorry to but in. Just some stuff about the Paraguayan harp: 1- There were no “Celtic peoples that got to the Andes” the Spaniards who moved to the Andes were 90% ‘Cristiano Viejo’ or Old Christian, as opposed to the Muslim or Jewish converts. 2- In addition 80% of the Spaniards who moved to the Andes were from the Guadalquivir river basin the Castilian kingdoms of Seville and Cordova, what today we call Western Andalusian. 3- The DNA of that region is basically Roman and Visigoth, with lesser elements of Celtiberian and Punic (Phoenician-Carthaginian) the ‘Muslim’ (Arab, Berber, Tuareg, Bedouin or sub-Saharan black) and ‘Jewish’ is less than 6% 4- The Harp was the Spanish Instrument all along the Middle Ages, and since Phoenician times (3000BC) to the Renaissance the Spanish people used to play it as well as the Guitar today. There are ambassadors who were shocked at the dexterity and that ‘everyone’ played as dexterously as any keyboards master of Central Europe. 5- The Spanish took what we call “Arpa Doble” from their Italian commonwealth kingdom of Naples, Sicily and Sardinia; the Arpa Doppia, anc created the Arpa Cruzada, or Cross-String. This allowed to have the flats and sharps with the chromatic tuning 6- So when the Spaniards moved to the Andes (less than 500 people a year for 150 years moved to the Entire American continent, they brought their instrument. 7- Because 90% were single men in their late teens or early twenties they married the Indians girls (Inca, Quiche. Moche, Aymara, Guaycuru, Cario, Guarani…) 8- They found in their new families the wonderful Amerindian musical tradition, and then the Master Luthiers who moved adapted the manufacture of thein new instruments and strings to the new materials; different woods, varnishes, strings, humidity, altitude and then they reproduced the new melodies of the traditional Indian music, mixed with the European. Spanish-American Harps: You have two periods in the Viceregal Spanish American History, the “House of Austria” (Habsburgs) 1500-1700, and the House Bourbon (1700-1898). The richest and most developed kingdoms received more people early on during the House of Austria; Mexico and Peru. It changed during the House Bourbon when Cuba, New Grenada, and River Plate developed. You have classical Spanish harps all the way from the New Mexican Highland, down to the central Valley and Gulf Coast, then 1- “Arpa Jarocha” from Veracruz to Guanajuato and New Mexico, here the the ancient kingdoms of Tlaxcala, Xalapa, Cempoal, Chiapas, etc. the New Mexican harps were lost after the American take over. 2- “The early Antillean harps” (Cuba, Puerto Rico, Hispaniola) were lost when the population migrated to the Continent, and was substituted by new people under the House Bourbon… the heat and humidity of the islands was not good for harpists. 3- “Spanish Main and Northern Andes” You have wonderful adaptations in the Spanish Main, today Venezuela and the Northern Andes (Paria Peninsula and Colombia) called the Arpa Llanera or the “Plains’ Harp”, (Llano=Plains), and the Colombian Highlands harp (Santa Fe and Santander provinces 4- Andean harps: You have a wide gamut of styles and variations of the Andean Harps during the House Of Austria, since Peru,(all of South America) was the rishest kingdom in the globe. You have classical Spanish harps and adaptations done in Peru, Quito and Cuenca presidencies (today Ecuador), and the Charcas or High Peru Presidency, (today Bolivia) and Chile. 5- Parguayan Harps: they adapt the Andean harps when the explorers sailing up the Plate-Uruguay-Paraguay basin meet the Peruvians coming down south, and they adapt o the dry plain environment…. When king Phillip V the first Bourbon becomes king of “the Spains of Europe and the Indies”, his wife was the French Princess of Savoy. But after she dies, he remarries the Princess of Parma, Mme. Isabelle de Farnesio, Italian. She brought the Italian style to the court and with it the new Italian instrument: the 6 string Guitar, far easier to play and strum than the old bandurrias, mandolins and lutes, that were still very popular in the former Moorish lands of the Guadalquivir basin… With the reforms new peoples move to Spanish America, and bring new styles. So the migration to New Spain and the Antilles was huge; there were as many French and Italians, who brought the guitar with them; mainly to the Antilles, and the Mexican Highlands… So the Harp became a sign of the old blood, as the guitar became a sign of the new one…

[@relaxingharpmusicbycymberl3674]

Wow, that is amazing information! Could you please cite some sources, so that folks can dig deeper into these topics? Thanks!

[@EPJM1750]

@@relaxingharpmusicbycymberl3674 I had it in my computer... before my HD crashed...(*sigh*) You can get it from the general history of Music, the History of Spain and South America (if one is able to skim the rubbish about the Black Legend) ; hundreds of files in the national and archbishopric's archives in the hemisphere... I even got this form some conferences, concerts and NPR, when the interview the musicians and conductors...=)

[@EPJM1750]

@@relaxingharpmusicbycymberl3674 Since the Spanish Americas were not colonies but home soil administered as internal Kingdoms, all North America was New Spain, and South America Peru until 1736. IN 1736 the Presidencies (the President was the kingdoms' Prime Minister) of Panama, Bogota, Quito and Cuenca and the Captainship of Venezuela are segregated from Peru as the New Kingdom of Granada to mind Caribbean Commerce, and in 1776 the Presidencies of Buenos Aires, Paraguay, Montevideo (Uruguay) and High Peru (Bolivia) are segregated as the Kingdom of the River Plate, to mind Interoceanic commerce. Each pre-Columbian Indian Kingdom was fully recognized with a Royal Charter and was a Commonwealth Kingdom termed "Indian Republic" with its own laws, Peru had an Elector Prince Council, composed of only Indian Princes. You can search youtube for "Barroco Virreinal" or Viceregal Barroque, also Bolivian, Andean, Peruvian, Missional Barroque (the jesuit Mssions to the Guarani Republics/Commonwealth kingdoms... etc... You had hymns, cantatas, motets, operas, and high masses composed and written in the Indian languages (nahuatle, quiche, moche, otomi, aymara, guarani, quechua, guaycuru, cario etc.) because kings Charles I and Phillip II declared the indian languages official in their kingdoms, and fined 50% of the salary from the viceroy to the parish priest if they did not learn the local official one, I.e., in Texas and NM you HAD to speak Hopi, Navaho or Zia, etc.... ... kzbin.info/www/bejne/nmaYiGtvbr-fr8U; kzbin.info/www/bejne/paWqqpSCpc6KpdE; Here you have the foremost example: Inca melody in Renaissance Arrangements. kzbin.info/www/bejne/jXixdHaJf6eDf7s. In 1620, when the Pilgrims were getting to Massachussets, Lima had 4 Opera theaters with a dozen theater and music companies that went between Lima, Potosí, Cuzco, Trujillo etc... In 1600, when New York was still a Dutch hamlet, the University of Mexico city organized international contests of Performing Arts, literature, painting and Music...kzbin.info/www/bejne/hYHHf5-Cnd1jp9E

[@rachellafein6588]

Hi Cymber. Great overview, thank you! Also, how can I contact Bee Israel who did the woodburned mermaid?

[@CymberLilyQuinn]

Thanks so much!! you can contact Bea Israel through Facebook at facebook.com/bea.israel.7. Tell her I sent you!

[@Mrsbranditidwell]

I love the idea of custom woodburning! Do the strings need to be removed while working on it?

[@CymberLilyQuinn]

No, you can do the woodburning with the strings on it. We considered doing woodburning on the soundbox, but later decided against it. That's because the wood on the soundbox is too delicate.

[@sterlingmcvay2469]

Oh, you need to move up to Presonus Studio One Pro, it's Super Easy, Drag & Drop, but the Possibilities are Very Expansive. Watch some You Tube videos about it. All the Best

[@sierrafry]

do you have any experience with the Heather Harp by Roosebeck? I'm wondering if I should get that one since it's fairly cheap.

[@greekgodapollosfarts7823]

I heard lots of bad things about roosebeck and was pretty disappointed because they look so beautiful. I got the harpsicle which is pretty cheap and it is recommended for beginners.I got a black one with no levers and it was well worth the money and i am glad i got one. You can buy a roosebeck but i really do not recommend it : ( . It is best to save up your money for a harpsicle and trust me it is worth it . The one i got was only $439.00 plus shipping and i also got a tuner and a black strap for it. It was only about 500+ dollars total. Here is the website if you want to buy one : ) . harpsicle-harps.com/

[@sierrafry]

Thank you(: The only reason I wanted to Heather harp was because I would prefer to have full sharpening levers as I would like to play in all the key signatures. And the Harpsicle Fullsicle is up to $900...so I think my best option would be to save up for that. Thanks for the input about Roosebeck though(:

[@greekgodapollosfarts7823]

No problem, I almost made that discussion too for the same reason but i was talked out of it by many harpist. :)

[@CymberLilyQuinn]

I'm sorry, I don't have experience with that harp.

[@juliekozzy9132]

Where can I buy this harp online?

[@CymberLilyQuinn]

Julie Kozzy , Harpsicle Harps. harpsicleharps.com

[@maureensimpson4462]

Where can I buy it. Is online?

[@CymberLilyQuinn]

Yes, you can purchase the small harp and the Grand harp from Harpiscle Harps. harpsicle-harps.com/. You can get the kit to make your own Paraguayan harp as I did, from John Kovac. www.johnkovac.com/ The Salvi Egan is here...www.salviharps.com/harp/egan-electroacoustic/

[@octaviusthird6726]

What is the weight of your 4th harp?

[@CymberLilyQuinn]

I think you are referring to the Paraguayan harp. It weighs about 12 pounds.

[@octaviusthird6726]

Thanks. That's really light.

[@CymberLilyQuinn]

Yes, when harpist arrived in South America, they realized they could not carry their heavy harps all over the Andes. So they redesigned the harp to make it super light. In some parts of South America, the harp is actually played upside down, with the soundbox, high overhead.

[@CymberLilyQuinn]

Paraguayan harps have strings that attach in the middle of the head. For that reason they can use much lighter building materials. This harp weighs about 12 pounds.