August 1999: Hand Forms

As a harpist so many of the units of notes that you play, either at the same time or in sequence, if consistently fingered, will feel the same no matter what string they are built upon. Thus we refer to them as HAND FORMS. A few examples are listed below:

INTERVALS:
2nds - 3rds use fingers 1 and 2
4ths use 2 and 1 as first preference
5ths - 6ths use 3 and 1
7ths - 8ths use 4 and 1
larger use 4 and 1

CHORDS:
Triads use 3 - 2 - 1
1st inversions use 3 - 2 - 1
2nd inversions use 4 - 2 - 1 (older tradition was 3-2-1)
Root - 5 - 8 use 4- 2 - 1
Root - 5 - 10 use 4 - 2 - 1
Root - 5 - 8 - 10 use 4 - 3 - 2 - 1
----and many, many more.

It is not that these fingerings are etched in stone. Rather, that they should be developed as the first response to each of the units described. To do so you must first drill the various forms by playing them all over the harp (low, high, etc.) with consistent fingering! If you bear in mind that we only deal with seven note names on the harp, there can only be seven different settings of any hand form. Flats, naturals or sharps are dealt with via tuning or lever/pedal settings.

After you have drilled the forms, take a familiar piece of music and find the intervals, chords etc within the music (analyze the music). Ultimately you must train your eye to recognize these forms and thus trigger the proper kinetic response as you read music. Not only will this help you to become a better reader, but it will assist in the development of memory as you work with music.

See you next month.

Stephanie

Webmaster's note: I posted July and August at the same time. See the July Lesson Of The Month here.

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