April 2000: Adapting Music For Harp:

Unit 1: Current Popular Tunes

Compared to other instruments, there is a very tiny repertoire of music printed for harp. If one were to consider the amount that is accessible to an average player, the percentage would be very low. There are many people who are currently trying to increase the body of music for harp but it is a slow process and because of copyright laws, and fees that must be paid to publishers and composers for the right to use their music, popular tunes and current favorites almost never see the light of day.

Take for instance, "Beauty and the Beast" or the Love Theme from "Titanic". While the movies are current everyone knows and wants to play the tunes. But it takes time to create a harp version, receive the rights to publish, and money to advertise it (and in our field there are not many avenues through which to advertise), so by the time the music is issued, the peak time for sales has past and more than likely the publisher/arranger takes a loss. Unless a piece of music is a long range classic, like the old jazz and pop tunes that are carried in Faith Carman's "Pop Cycle", it is simply too risky and expensive to attempt to put out an arrangement.

So what do you do? Well there are two possibilities. First, if you are capable, you can work out the tune by ear, noodle it out on the harp, add chords and voilá! You have a new piece! But those abilities take a long time to develop and are not in the back pocket of the average player. Many people purchase the sheet music which is essentially the melody with words and an accompaniment which more often than not includes the melody mixed with some chords and rhythm patterns as close as possible to the composer's intent. Can you play this on a harp? Sometimes. But most often you have to make your own arrangement. If you are capable of singing a tune while playing, then all you need to do is find the correct chord sequence and an accompanimental pattern that fits the style of the piece and again there you have it, but alas this too is a set of abilities not in the possession of the average player. So... you are faced with creating a solo harp arrangement that includes both melody and accompaniment.

In the next unit we will address how to choose an appropriate piece for a solo harp arrangement.

See you next month.

Stephanie

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