What is Harp Bisbigliando?

[@tommorrison7494]

this is one of the best instrument instruction videos i've ever seen. thank you so much for this.

[@daniellekuntz]

Thank you so much!

[@cubanbach]

Your instructional presentation method never fails elicit admiration for your skills. ♥♥

[@daniellekuntz]

I appreciate that! Thank you for watching!

[@anarosales2444]

This was super helpful, thank you!

[@emilycaballero6052]

Thank you so much! I'm in an orchestration class right now, and you're saving my life!

[@solveigcomposer]

This is great! Thanks so much!

[@lamarpuckett6950]

This is amazing for a beginning harpist to watch and hear!!

[@KasmuelMcOure]

This is quite informative. Thank you very much! Greetings from Kenya.

[@daniellekuntz]

Thank you for watching!

[@StephanieClaussen]

Danielle, I really enjoy your videos. As a professional harpist I'm always thinking "Yes!" and "Excellent explanation!" throughout. And your playing is a joy to listen to.

[@daniellekuntz]

Oh thank you! That is so encouraging to me!

[@diamondsmusic6413]

Thank you for showing the notation. So helpful. An extra bonus would be to have a second camera recording the pedals!

[@andrewfortmusic]

Wow! Thank you so much for this-I was sent your way by Thomas Goss over at Orchestration Online and your channel is a delight!

[@daniellekuntz]

Absolutely! I'm so glad my channel has been helpful! More videos coming soon :)

[@glenirvine6161]

Brilliant stuff Danielle! As a composer the harp has always been and remains a mystery but this is so helpful. Kind Regards.

[@LouieTaylorMusic]

incredibly helpful, thanks

[@GusDrennan]

So useful - thanks so much!

[@daniellekuntz]

Absolutely! So glad to hear you found it helpful!

[@fabiobadano-bad-composer5075]

Great channel and great videos. I'm here from "harp notation" fb group... I subscribe your channel. Thanks for share this examples and for your skills!

[@daniellekuntz2437]

I appreciate it! Thank you!

[@jimpeter3453]

Nicely done!!

[@daniellekuntz]

Thank you! Cheers!

[@jacqueline1598]

Thank you for answering this question! 🌸

[@daniellekuntz]

Absolutely!

[@SaraFigal]

I just love your videos. So clear, so professional.

[@johncowen8798]

i was hoping you'd do Holst's Neptune - that was really nice to hear just the harp part by itself, thank you so much for presenting this :D

[@daniellekuntz]

Neptune is such a stunning example of bisbigliando!

[@2dbuy]

Wonderful thank you

[@KimFsharpHarp]

I have been looking for this information. Thank you for an excellent job on this!!

[@daniellekuntz]

Absolutely! Thanks!

[@GianTJ]

Great note about Osian Ellis!

[@FREIMUZIC]

Wonderful video!! Thanks !!!

[@daniellekuntz]

Absolutely! Glad you enjoyed it!

[@irenechiang1153]

Thank you!

[@lyndavonkanel8603]

Fascinating! I've played the harp for several years progressing slowly. The is the first time I've heard of this technique. I'm going to try it. Wish me luck, please!

[@daniellekuntz]

Yessss! Have fun!!

[@lyndavonkanel8603]

@@daniellekuntz 😊 Thank you!

[@euph1958]

wonderful tutorial, thanks for including the notation as well as the techniques, nicely done Danielle!

[@daniellekuntz]

Thank you! I'm glad you found it helpful!

[@euph1958]

@@daniellekuntz one thing that is interesting looking at the notation and then hearing/watching you play it is how different those 3 and 4 note "tremolos" would be if played on piano . . .where the pianist would literally tremolo between two chords, the harpist at least sounds like its more like "fast as possible" motion between all the notes . . . that sound correct?

[@daniellekuntz]

@@euph1958 That's exactly right! A pianist would always split a tremolo into two groups of notes and alternate between those. On the harp, we play each note individually as a fast arpeggio.

[@raymondhorton9668]

Thanks for sharing! Very helpful!

[@daniellekuntz]

I'm so glad to hear that!

[@charlesroydubuc4870]

What a good explanation!!! Thanks 🙏

[@daniellekuntz]

So glad you found it helpful!!

[@leporellothegoldfinch]

Very instructional video! Just an aside, the "g" in "bisbigliando" is silent

[@Warlowisnumberone]

So helpful!!! Thank you so much

[@daniellekuntz]

Thank you for watching!!

[@Hobgoblin4447]

Very, very helpful; very clear!

[@miguelcarvalho3685]

Thank you

[@julienmarocco]

Thanks a lot for this !

[@daniellekuntz]

Absolutely!

[@NK-vj7ur]

Great, your video just popped up during my lunch today and will definitely check out more of your videos. The technique is some I want to use for my electr. p. harp with gitar pedals sounds. I hope I will be able to do it as fast as you one day! 😁

[@daniellekuntz]

Oh, that will sound so neat! I'm glad you enjoyed the video!

[@luisfeliperey]

Thank you for this!!!! really useful!

[@daniellekuntz]

Absolutely! I'm so glad you found it helpful!

[@mekosmowski]

Thank you, you're amazing!

[@frejwedlundcomposer]

Omg Danielle, I somehow never realized you're on KZbin as well.

[@silvanloher5912]

Thank you! Finally a good explanation of what Bisbiglaindo is! I've written several pieces with harp and am currently working on a new one - love writing for the harp, but bisbigliando has always somewhat confused me, because I have seen many slightly different explanations of it 🙈😅

[@daniellekuntz]

So glad it was helpful! Bisbigliando is so effective on the harp, if written well!

[@silvanloher5912]

@@daniellekuntz it is! So beautiful and poetic. Anyway, I love the harp, such a beautiful instrument!

[@rodrigoruiz1988]

Amazing! Thank you so much for going the extra mile. It’s really helpful 🙏🏻

[@daniellekuntz]

I'm so glad you found it helpful! Thank you for watching!

[@Ah00060]

As a composer this is so helpful thank you! Just one question, most of the examples are in the upper half of the pitch range, is this because it's harder and slower to play in the lower octave?

[@daniellekuntz]

Good question! Yes, bisbigliando usually works better in the mid to upper range of the harp. It's possible lower, but the thicker strings are a little slower to play. They are also more resonant and the bisbig will end up less clean and more buzzy.

[@alessandropalazzani]

Great video, you should say bisbigliando is the Italian for whispering. And the correct pronunciation is different, the g is not hard as in the word big but sweet (I don't know if the sound of Italian GL is used in English... see the words aglio, paglia, meglio...) love from Italy!

[@daniellekuntz]

Fascinating! Thanks for pointing that out! I think most harpists in the US pronounce 'bisbigliando' incorrectly haha

[@damienpjones]

Great videos and appreciate the excellent insights into composing for harp. The closest explanation is that 'gli' is prounounced as in the word millionaire (eg bisbilliando)

[@rainbowphrog]

Hello! I am a harpist currently in middle school and I was watching your playing and I’m not sure If I saw right but it looked to me like you were resting your hands on the soundboard and i’m not sure how but resting your hands on the soundboard strains the muscles that control your fingers so ehm yeah, that was all I wanted to say other than I love this video, it was very helpful, thank you.

[@daniellekuntz]

Good observation! A lot of it depends on how you were trained. Salzedo-influenced harpists tend to have higher arms, while French-trained harpists tend to let their arms slightly touch the soundboard. I typically avoid resting my arms on the soundboard, but I've found that it sometimes helps with extended bisbigliando to have a little extra support. Glad you enjoyed the video!

[@MrInterestingthings]

Thanks so much ! So informative .I used your info in a children's piece with Solo harp and Strings and very very light brass and Winds . My only question is what do repeated fast notes sound like on a Harp . I'm going to check out some Harpists playing Scarlatti - they'll probably tune the harp with enharmonics where possible but I will look on your channel to see if "buzzing " occurs at a certain speed and if the buzzing is not harmful for the strings I imagine it would be good for a contemporary violent effect or harsher music . Ginastera's 2 Harp concerti are wonderful !

[@daniellekuntz]

So glad to hear the video is helpful! If you can utilize enharmonics for repeated fast notes, that will help. Otherwise you'll be limited to a slower speed and still hear a stop in sound between each note. Buzzing isn't harmful for the strings, though! (Side note: I do offer Zoom consults if you want to experiment with sounds and techniques. Details on my website!)

[@lpamnz]

So helpful and cool! Definitely gonna reference this when writing for harp :) I was wondering, what do you think of those triplet parts in Ravels Alborada del Gracioso? Is it also bisbig.? I've heard some harpists play those as duples instead because they're so hard.

[@daniellekuntz]

Ooh, I need to do a video on this excerpt! The triplets are generally played similar to a measured bisbig. It's easier to demonstrate than explain! (Maybe I'll do a KZbin short in the meantime.)

[@pleasedyes]

Any tips on practicing these as a harpist? It’s an underdeveloped skill for me and it’s not used in everything, but it’s certainly used often enough to put some time into it

[@daniellekuntz]

Great question! The goal is to stay relaxed while playing the bisbigliando, which is tricky! A few practice ideas: 1. use dotted rhythms or accent different fingers (use a slightly slow tempo), 2. play up to tempo, but stop when you get tense OR uneven (see if you can last longer each time), 3. Alternate slow and fast bisbigliando practice. Try to make the slow feel the same as the fast (articulation, finger placement, etc.). I hope this helps! I do offer zoom lessons, so feel free to reach out if you're interested in working through this together!

[@jojoen3194]

I thought you might use hasselmans and renie's pieces as example.

[@daniellekuntz]

Those are some other good examples! Bisbig is a very common and idiomatic technique on the harp. :)

[@brookerichey486]

Hi Danielle! Love your channel! I'm studying film scoring, a huge part of the study is making mock-ups. Do you have any suggestions for notating and creating a harp bisbig in a DAW? Goal is for it to sound realistic! My bisbig is between 5 notes. My first take on this is to have the notes sound "arpeggiated" but not to tempo. If you were to write out each note of a bisbig, would it be in a sequential pattern or randomized? Thanks!

[@daniellekuntz]

Thank you, I'm so glad to hear it's helpful! Yes, the bisbig is arpeggiated with the ascending figures, LH notes then RH notes. If you send me a message through my website, I can send you an example of what it would look like written out! www.daniellekuntz.com/contact

[@jocomend]

in Neptune the rest seems to be ample time for 4 pedal changes is this so or it still difficult?

[@daniellekuntz]

Good question! Timewise, the movement is slow enough and allows plenty of time for the pedal changes. The tricky part is making them quiet. Several of the pedals move all the way from flat to sharp (and visa-versa), which can be louder. Plus, this is a very quiet orchestral texture, so the pedal changes need to be inaudible. All that to say, it's just barely enough time to change the pedals quietly.

[@jlownes2179]

I had a question. You kept mentioning that you were adding a "harmonic" or "enharmonic" to what was written. What do you mean by that?

[@daniellekuntz]

An enharmonic is respelling a note using a different accidental (ex. Eb and D#). This is especially on important on the harp since they are played on two different strings. I have a video on enharmonics too! kzbin.info/www/bejne/lXPKhnedmZWnd9E

[@alexandrajanzen-harfelernen]

Super helpful video. Thanks a lot!

[@daniellekuntz]

@@alexandrajanzen-harfelernen Absolutely!

[@olouati]

🙏

[@Luna73565]

How to pronounce the "gli" of the word "bisbigliando" kzbin.info/www/bejne/b2ipoKupjMuCrZY Wich is a different sound from the sound of "Gli" of the word "glissando" that is right as you are saying now an hard sound g+l.