If you primarily, make it your goal to play for your own enjoyment, you may never feel inadequate or left out. You are free to share with others or not. Thanks. Your music is enjoyable!
Hey Hal! Love your videos! I picked up a chromatic autoharp from my Mom, a classical guitarist, a few weeks ago and having really enjoyed playing and learning it and your videos have helped tremendously. My main instrument for the past 25 years has been tenor sax. I primarily play jazz, so I have a pretty good understanding of music theory and chord relationships. First, let me say, that I definitely consider the autoharp a "real" instrument. I have been working on the melody playing techniques that you teach in your videos. I also think the autoharp is more versatile than maybe given credit for. For example, I've been working on a song that calls for an F#-minor chord -- well, my autoharp does not have a button for that -- but I've been able to (and my music theory has helped here) use alternate chords for that to some extent to get the feel I want (e.g I can use the D chord playing the third and fifth to get the first and third of the F#-minor). Thanks again for the great videos!
You are going to go far with all that theory. Its what helped me learn fast. One day consider a Prizim setup. You can watch a whole series on prizim here on SWA. Dont take on the prizim till youve mastered chromatic and diatonic technique though.
You can retune strings on a chromatic autoharp diatonically to get chords you need in those situations where the tune is more or less diatonic. No chord felt cutting and gluing needed! That said, commercially shipped autoharps could stand coming with extra chords over in the A and E major sector of the circle of fifths.
I agree with Bill. I picked one up I think 3 or 4 months ago. I practice on average 6 out of 7 day a week. Your Melody of picking video was the game changer. One question you didn't mention was, do you like the sound they make? The other thing is when I have a good practice, I find my self say wow, was that me? So far i haven't played much in front of other people. And I need to get over that somehow, let alone play with others. BUT I get a lot of joy from it. And for now that is all that matters. Practice, Practice, Practice.
"Do you like the sound they make"? Wow what a great question! And i think I will make a video about the answer...but here's the short answer. When i am relaxed, that translates into sound i like. If I'm tense or distracted or disconnected from the music, then all that carries over into the music. Further there are lots of ways people improve the sound and tone of an autoharp, and some harps sound better than others. Glad you are finding my videos helpful.
I find the same in my practice time. If I have had a good day or bad I can here quickly the difference. But I will still keep practicing keeping in mind "its just practice and the only way to get better is to push through and not worry if its good, great or bad." In a while it will start sounding better as I relax. As long as I keep this mind set. I always find the joy of it.
I picked up the autoharp because I found the fingering for guitar too hard. Autoharp is difficult for me because I have never strummed but it feels so much better than my struggles on the guitar. I have played piano and flute and miscellaneous percussion for the majority of my life so not being able to get the guitar was very frustrating. Learning to play the autoharp has been freeing and has opened so many outlets for me as a musician. Since I am primarily a singer, I often run into that bias about who’s a “real” musician and who isn’t. At the end of the day, it takes skill, practice, and a good ear to succeed as an autoharpist and as a singer so autoharp IS a real instrument and we ARE real musicians.
People who think the autoharp isn't a "real" instrument remind me (I'm a visual artist) of artists who knock other mediums as "not really being art". It betrays ignorance. Some artists can do more with a piece of charcoal than lesser artists can do with a whole set of Windsor-Newtons and a sable brush. I'm not yet more than a lousy autoharp wannabe, but I've seen some pretty amazing performances already.
It's easy to play, but technically difficult to be a stand out player. Just like playing a guitar is easy to learn the basis but very hard to be great at it. A lot of purist bluegrassers don't want a dobro in their group because Bill Monroe didn't have one in his band. A bunch of them are not happy with spoons, washboard, clawhammer banjo picker either. There's also a lot of jealousy in music too. It's a sad state of affairs until you find a group you can fit in with.
I am on the record saying "If you can play an autoharp in public, there's no need to be ashamed or embarrassed about anything". www.creativesmx.com/creativesmxtory/#video-655
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If you primarily, make it your goal to play for your own enjoyment, you may never feel inadequate or left out. You are free to share with others or not. Thanks. Your music is enjoyable!
Hey Hal! Love your videos! I picked up a chromatic autoharp from my Mom, a classical guitarist, a few weeks ago and having really enjoyed playing and learning it and your videos have helped tremendously. My main instrument for the past 25 years has been tenor sax. I primarily play jazz, so I have a pretty good understanding of music theory and chord relationships. First, let me say, that I definitely consider the autoharp a "real" instrument. I have been working on the melody playing techniques that you teach in your videos. I also think the autoharp is more versatile than maybe given credit for. For example, I've been working on a song that calls for an F#-minor chord -- well, my autoharp does not have a button for that -- but I've been able to (and my music theory has helped here) use alternate chords for that to some extent to get the feel I want (e.g I can use the D chord playing the third and fifth to get the first and third of the F#-minor). Thanks again for the great videos!
You are going to go far with all that theory. Its what helped me learn fast. One day consider a Prizim setup. You can watch a whole series on prizim here on SWA. Dont take on the prizim till youve mastered chromatic and diatonic technique though.
You can retune strings on a chromatic autoharp diatonically to get chords you need in those situations where the tune is more or less diatonic. No chord felt cutting and gluing needed! That said, commercially shipped autoharps could stand coming with extra chords over in the A and E major sector of the circle of fifths.
I agree with Bill. I picked one up I think 3 or 4 months ago. I practice on average 6 out of 7 day a week. Your Melody of picking video was the game changer.
One question you didn't mention was, do you like the sound they make?
The other thing is when I have a good practice, I find my self say wow, was that me? So far i haven't played much in front of other people. And I need to get over that somehow, let alone play with others. BUT I get a lot of joy from it. And for now that is all that matters.
Practice, Practice, Practice.
"Do you like the sound they make"? Wow what a great question! And i think I will make a video about the answer...but here's the short answer. When i am relaxed, that translates into sound i like. If I'm tense or distracted or disconnected from the music, then all that carries over into the music. Further there are lots of ways people improve the sound and tone of an autoharp, and some harps sound better than others. Glad you are finding my videos helpful.
I find the same in my practice time. If I have had a good day or bad I can here quickly the difference. But I will still keep practicing keeping in mind "its just practice and the only way to get better is to push through and not worry if its good, great or bad." In a while it will start sounding better as I relax. As long as I keep this mind set. I always find the joy of it.
I picked up the autoharp because I found the fingering for guitar too hard. Autoharp is difficult for me because I have never strummed but it feels so much better than my struggles on the guitar. I have played piano and flute and miscellaneous percussion for the majority of my life so not being able to get the guitar was very frustrating. Learning to play the autoharp has been freeing and has opened so many outlets for me as a musician. Since I am primarily a singer, I often run into that bias about who’s a “real” musician and who isn’t. At the end of the day, it takes skill, practice, and a good ear to succeed as an autoharpist and as a singer so autoharp IS a real instrument and we ARE real musicians.
been there, done that
People who think the autoharp isn't a "real" instrument remind me (I'm a visual artist) of artists who knock other mediums as "not really being art".
It betrays ignorance. Some artists can do more with a piece of charcoal than lesser artists can do with a whole set of Windsor-Newtons and a sable brush. I'm not yet more than a lousy autoharp wannabe, but I've seen some pretty amazing performances already.
It's easy to play, but technically difficult to be a stand out player. Just like playing a guitar is easy to learn the basis but very hard to be great at it. A lot of purist bluegrassers don't want a dobro in their group because Bill Monroe didn't have one in his band. A bunch of them are not happy with spoons, washboard, clawhammer banjo picker either. There's also a lot of jealousy in music too. It's a sad state of affairs until you find a group you can fit in with.
I am on the record saying "If you can play an autoharp in public, there's no need to be ashamed or embarrassed about anything".
www.creativesmx.com/creativesmxtory/#video-655
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