Hey there! I’m looking forward to seeing you in person and online at the Somerset Folk Harp Festival this July. I’ll be teaching 4 workshops.
First, for ALL harpers, there’s a lead sheet arranging workshop called “On the Other Hand,” where we’ll create on-the-go arrangements with lead sheets and accompaniment patterns.
Then, 3 workshops especially for double-strung harps:
There’s a session on “Adapting Classical Music for Double-Strung Harp.” (You know it’s not just for pianos anymore, right?)
Another workshop, “The Double Effect,” gives you arranging tips and tricks to make your DSH sound more like a double.
And in “Pop Goes the Double,” we’ll explore modern sounds that you can add to any double-strung arrangement.
I’ll also be performing on the last day of the festival.
If you still need to register for Somerset, first of all, what are you waiting for? Come join us!
And, if you’re reading/watching this before May 1st, 2024, you can also save $100 on your festival ticket. Go to the festival website at SomersetHarpFest.com to learn more.
Hi, I’m Cynthia Shelhart. You can call me Cindy. And it’s time for some #DoubleTalk. Double-strung harp, that is!
Welcome, or welcome back, to our channel featuring the modern double-strung harp and its music. If you’re new here, make sure you subscribe to my mailing list and YouTube channel, so you can be notified of future episodes (and catch up on the back catalog)!
This series, Know The Score, takes a behind-the-scenes look at arranging for double-strung harp, based on The Technique Triangle™️, my signature framework for double-strung harp technique.
Each episode shows how I use The Technique Triangle in different ways, in different arrangements, to help your double-strung harp “sound more like a double.”
About the Tune
Today’s Episode 2 arrangement is an adaptation of Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring, by Johann Sebastian Bach, who, in turn, arranged and orchestrated an earlier hymn tune by Johann Schop. Bach’s version appears in his 1723 cantata Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben, BWV 147.
This arrangement comes from my book Double the Weddings, part of The Double Dozen Series (available at CindyShelhart.com). You can play this arrangement not only for weddings, but also for recitals, concerts, special events, and worship services.
In this video, I’ll play the arrangement twice through, leaving out the optional repeat of measures 9 through 24.
About the Arrangement
Throughout the arrangement, the left hand accompaniment is varied with single notes as well as chords.
In measure 12, the left hand D major triad stays above middle C, so the stacked thirds of the triad don’t sound muddy (if they go too low).
This arrangement features Overlap Technique—what I like to call the double-strung harp’s “combo platter.” It brings everything together. Both hands can play independent parts, and it also features elements of Echo and Split Techniques. If you need a refresher on Overlap Technique, watch the “Know The Score” overview episode for a review of The Technique Triangle.
In measures 9 through 16, while the right hand plays the chorale theme with chords, the left hand switches to a single-note line that imitates the basso continuo of Bach’s original.
Using Overlap Technique
Overlap Technique isn’t just a convenient way to play the left hand up an octave. It’s also a way to make “less” sound like “more.” This comes from arranging with simpler textures that make room for the double-strung harp’s extra resonance, from its extra strings.
This doesn’t have to be boring—nor is it dumbing it down. It’s an INTENTIONAL way to use musical texture, in a way that works best for the double-strung harp AND for your arrangement.
So this arrangement of Bach’s Jesu, Joy Of Man’s Desiring is just one example of how you can use the “less is more” texture of Overlap Technique to show off the extra resonance, the extra strings of the double-strung harp.
For YOUR next arrangement, try a “less is more” Overlap Technique approach, with some ideas like:
Using left hand patterns and chord voicings that use consonant intervals: unisons, fourths, fifths, and octaves.
Varying the accompaniment pattern between chord tone patterns and single notes.
And shifting between registers for contrast…you don’t need to use Overlap Technique all the time. You can move back and forth [in and out of Overlap] to vary your arrangement.
For more details on double-strung harp arranging with Overlap Technique, along with the other techniques of the Technique Triangle, watch for my upcoming double-strung harp arranging book!
Wrapping Up
Thanks for joining me today for Episode 2 of Know The Score. If you liked what you heard today, please make sure you’re subscribed, so you can be notified of future episodes. And if you want to be the first to get some more Double Talk, head on over to my website, CindyShelhart.com, and sign up for my mailing list.
Next time, in Episode 3, it’s a double feature. We’ll use Split Technique AND Overlap Technique to work some Mendelssohn magic with accidentals. Stay tuned (and subscribe) for more #DoubleStrungExcellence with Know The Score… see you next time!
Hi, I’m Cynthia Shelhart. You can call me Cindy. And it’s time for some #DoubleTalk. Double-strung harp, that is!
Welcome, or welcome back, to our channel featuring the modern double-strung harp and its music. If you’re new here, we’re glad you joined us. Please make sure you subscribe to my mailing list and this YouTube channel, so you can be notified about future episodes. (and catch up on the back catalog!)
Know The Score
Today we’re launching Series 2, called Know The Score. It’s a behind-the-scenes look at arranging for double-strung harp, based on The Technique Triangle™️, which is my signature framework for double-strung harp technique.
Each episode shows how I use The Technique Triangle in different ways, with different arrangements, to help your double-strung harp “sound more like a double.”
About the Tune: Ode to Joy
Today’s Episode 1 inspiration is Ode to Joy by Ludwig van Beethoven. This famous theme comes from the final movement of Beethoven’s Symphony #9. It’s also used for the English-language hymn text “Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee,” and it is the instrumental anthem of the European Union.
This arrangement of Ode to Joy comes from my book Double the Weddings, which is part of The Double Dozen Series. It’s available on my website, CindyShelhart.com. In this video, I play the arrangement twice through.
Using Echo Technique and Echo Variations
This arrangement features Echo Technique, the foundation sound of the double-strung harp. If you need a refresher on Echo Technique, be sure to watch the Know The Score overview (Episode 0) for a review of The Technique Triangle, which includes Echo Technique.
Echo variations work well if your melody has mostly notes on the beat, like the quarter notes and half notes do in Ode to Joy. This way, you have room in between the notes on the beat to play echoes. But, if you echo ALL the notes, it’s too much of a good thing.
Ode to Joy‘s main theme is relatively short. So I arranged it with an echo variation, a section using Echo Technique, to keep things interesting a second time through. This especially shows up in the A part the second time through, in measures 25 through 32.
Echo Technique, Register Shifts, and Clef Changes
Echoing with the left hand means that it needs to move up and play in the same range as the right hand. So, in this section, you’ll see the left hand part written in treble clef.
Now, just because it’s an echo, doesn’t mean that every single melody note needs to be strictly echoed. And, for example, I do things a little differently on the first beat of each measure. The left hand plays a chord root or inversion to establish the harmony, and then it jumps up to echo the right hand in a different range.
In measures 33, 41, and 43, I break up the echo variation with some left hand block chords in the bass clef. So, changing to a different register on the harp, and giving it some accompaniment variety. So, watch for those clef changes when that happens.
Different Kinds of Echoes
And there are different kinds of echoes, too. In measure 28, in the left hand D-A-D pattern, the left hand’s A actually comes in before the right hand’s A. Maybe you could think about this as an “anticipated” echo, one that comes before the melody note instead of following it.
Later on, in measures 45 and 46, the left hand syncopation gives almost an “echo-ish” feel to the accompaniment. It’s not a MELODIC echo, but the ostinato G on the off-beats makes it almost sound like a RHYTHMIC type of echo.
Why Use Echo Variations?
Echo variations, like Echo Technique, come from the double-strung harp’s direct ancestor, the Welsh triple harp. Triple harpists in the 18th century composed and performed classical-style variations on Welsh traditional airs. And, we can use this practice for other types of music, too, like I did in this arrangement of Ode to Joy.
If you’re interested in finding out more about the history of the double-strung harp, and its relation to the Welsh triple harp, be sure to catch Episode 4 (parts 1 & 2), in our Double-Strung Harp FAQ series.
Wrapping Up
So this arrangement of Beethoven’s Ode to Joy is a great example of how Echo Technique and echo variations, from the Welsh triple harp tradition, can be used for other musical genres. My upcoming book on arranging for double-strung harp goes into more detail.
Thanks for coming today. Thanks for joining me on Episode 1 of Know The Score. If you liked what you heard today, please make sure you’re subscribed, so you can be notified of future episodes. And if you really want to be one of the first to get some more Double Talk, go on over to my website, CindyShelhart.com, and sign up for my mailing list.
Next time, in Episode 2 of Know The Score, we’ll show how arranging with Overlap Technique can help make less into more. See you next time!
Hi, I’m Cynthia Shelhart. You can call me Cindy. And it’s time for some #DoubleTalk. Double-strung harp, that is!
Welcome, or welcome back, to our channel featuring the modern double-strung harp and its music. We’ve just finished up a series of double-strung harp FAQ videos, featuring everything from “What is a double-strung harp?” and its historical roots, to choosing an instrument for yourself and getting started playing a double harp. If you missed those episodes—hey, it’s never too late for some Double Talk! Make sure to catch those episodes to catch up. And make sure you’re subscribed for future episodes.
About Know The Score
You’re here at just the right time for some exciting stuff. Starting with this episode, we’re switching gears for a new season. We’ll dig deeper into arranging music for double-strung harp with a new series called Know The Score.
Know The Score, which is new to Series 2, is a behind-the-scenes look at arranging for double-strung harp, based on The Shelhart Method™️, my approach to tunes, technique, and theory for double-strung harp.
Each episode also goes deeper on The Technique Triangle™️, my signature framework for double-strung harp technique, as part of The Shelhart Method.
This new series is going to focus on using The Technique Triangle in different ways with different arrangements, to really help your double-strung harp “sound more like a double.” You’ll see this in action with arrangements from my Double Dozen Series books: Double the Weddings, and Double the O’Carolan Tunes.
About The Technique Triangle
You might recognize these double-strung harp techniques from my method book, Make Mine a Double; they’re now known as The Technique Triangle, as part of The Shelhart Method. (I also wrote a blog post recently introducing The Technique Triangle, and I’ll put a link to that post in the show notes.) If you’re new to these techniques, or if you’d like a little reminder, we’ll take a look under the hood.
Each technique of The Technique Triangle is named for its main job in playing and creating double-strung harp music.
You can use these techniques to create an unlimited number of double-strung harp patterns, but they’re still based on 1 or more of these 3 double-strung harp techniques. And the same pattern can be used in a variety of ways.
Also, you don’t need to use all three of these techniques in the same arrangement. Using even just ONE of these techniques can help your double-strung harp “sound more like a double.”
The 3 Techniques
So let’s take a look at the 3 techniques:
Echo Technique
Echo Technique is the foundation sound of the double-strung harp—what everyone expects to hear from 2 rows of strings. This melodic technique features the 2 string rows, and they’re tuned in unison. And both hands echo the same notes back and forth.
Split Technique
Split Technique serves as the double-strung harp’s problem solver. It’s also a melodic technique. And it helps out, when you have repeated notes or an extended scale pattern, when you can split similar notes back and forth between hands, so that it’s easier to play. And Split Technique also includes some elements of Echo Technique.
Overlap Technique
The third technique, Overlap Technique, is what I like to call the “combo platter” of double-strung harp techniques. It weaves independent parts together, as both hands overlap in the same range to play two or more different parts at the same time, including accidentals. So that’s where some of the lever changes, or maybe not even having to make lever changes, can come in handy. In Overlap Technique, harmony and rhythm and texture share the same stage with the melodic techniques and elements from Echo and Split Techniques.
Wrapping Up
So, these 3 parts of The Technique Triangle, the part of The Shelhart Method that really helps your harp “sound more like a double,” are the foundation for our new look behind the scenes at the arranging process. You’ll see how I used these techniques—and how you can, too—with example arrangements from my Double Dozen book series.
Thanks for joining me today for Episode Zero, the overview of our new series. If you liked what you heard today, please make sure you’re subscribed, so you can be notified of future episodes. And if you really want to be the first to get some more Double Talk, head on over to my website, CindyShelhart.com, and sign up for my mailing list.
So stay tuned (and subscribed) for next time—our first Series 2 episode features some great ways to arrange with Echo Technique, that unmistakable sound of the double-strung harp. Get ready to Know The Score… see you next time!
Hi, I’m Cynthia Shelhart. You can call me Cindy. And it’s time for some #DoubleTalk. Double-strung harp, that is!
Welcome back to our FAQ series on the double-strung harp. In the past couple of videos, Parts 1 and 2 of Episode 4, we took a look at the double-strung harp’s family tree, all the way from late Renaissance chromatic harps to the 20th century birth of the modern double harp. If you missed those episodes, we’re sorry we missed you! You need to make sure you subscribe, so you can be notified of future episodes.
This time, it’s a very special Episode 5— can’t wait to share it with you. It’s actually ripped from the pages of a workshop that I just taught. And I thought this would be a great way to share a glimpse for you of what it’s like to work with me in a workshop. So sit back, relax, and enjoy a very special FAQ Series Episode 5, where I answer the question: “Which music can I play on double-strung harp?”
Which music?
Which music can I play on double-strung harp? This is really a concern or a question that people have.
At first, I have a very short answer: I say, “The easy answer is, almost ANYTHING!”
And then after that, there’s an easy answer with a short disclaimer: “ALMOST anything, if it works for your HARP, and works for YOU.”
We’re not just talking about musical elements like melody, or harmony, or genres or styles here. We can actually dig a little deeper, and talk about the actual source material of where the music really comes from.
For example, if a piece of music is written down in permanent form—somewhere—it usually comes from 1 of 3 categories of the source material: a composition, an arrangement, or a transcription. This means that, for compositions, you’re playing something that’s exactly the same, that somebody has written down, and the expectation is, you will play it as written. Or, maybe you are going to adapt music in the original source, and it will be different from its original form. So let’s compare those two things quickly.
Compositions for double-strung harp
For compositions, you’re doing something that’s exactly the same as the composer intended, whoever they were (and whenever they were). The double-strung harp is a new and growing instrument. And that means that we are excited about it! It also means that we have a small and growing number of original compositions written for the double-strung harp. That’s not a whole lot of repertoire—YET. We’re working on that.
So it’s important, when we are thinking about growing the double-strung harp, to take advantage of our instrument’s potential (which is amazing, by the way, I think you would all agree with that). We need to grow our repertoire by also adapting music from other instruments, from other sources. That’s why I’m personally active as both a double-strung harp composer and arranger, so I can help add to the repertoire that’s available for our instrument, and help bring other people into our world.
Arrangements & transcriptions for double-strung harp
There are two types of musical adaptations where we would change the music around a little bit (or maybe a lot) to make it work for us and our double-strung harps. Those are arrangements and transcriptions. This is a time honored practice, by the way; this isn’t something like, “oh, we’re messing with it, that’s not a good idea.” This is something that people have been doing for centuries, since the beginnings of musical history, in all different cultures.
Arrangements are pretty closely related to the original compositions. They can actually be a little simpler, or they can be made more complex than the original. And the arranger might make musical changes in the fingering, for accidentals, the range, etc., that work better on the non-native or non-original instrument. And this is also what happens when we adapt music from, say, our single-row harp libraries, or from other kinds of harps (pedal harps, wire-strung harps, etc.). When we take that music and adapt it for double-strung harp, we are making arrangements.
Transcriptions are another kind of arrangement that are intentionally even closer to the original. They are played as written. And this isn’t just for classical music, as you might expect; this could be anywhere from Western classical music to jazz and rock. I did a couple of arrangements/transcriptions on my first CD. One was a jazz piece by Chick Corea called Children’s Song, and the other was an arrangement of a Southern rock tune by the Allman Brothers called Little Martha. So you never know what might you might be inspired to try, with arrangements and transcriptions.
(Of course, in this process, we’re also making sure that we respect intellectual property, and observe copyright law as needed, if this music isn’t in the public domain. Very important.)
Arrangements + arranging = more repertoire!
So once we understand that arrangements—and ARRANGING—are our friends, and they’re acceptable in the musical community, we can take on almost any kind of music we like (including the arrangements in today’s workshop, in our Irish music workshop), as we adapt and play original musical source material from a wide world of genres and styles. So again, to make the the the appropriate answer: you can play ALMOST anything, if it works for YOUR double-strung harp, and works for YOU.
Wrapping up
Thanks for joining me in this special Episode 5 of the Double-Strung Harp FAQ Series. If you liked what you heard today, please make sure you’re subscribed, so you can be notified of future episodes. And if you want to be the first to get some more Double Talk, more news from my website, go to that website and sign up for my mailing list at cindyshelhart.com. And we’ll get the word out to you as soon as it’s available.
In Episode 6, coming up, it’s that magical moment: you’ve got your double-strung harp and you need to know what to do next. So we’ll answer the question: “How do I start playing double-strung harp?” See you next time!
In previous videos and posts, we talked about the history of the double-strung harp as an instrument. But did you ever consider that a specific piece of music has its own history?
We might know about its musical elements—its melody, rhythm, harmony, texture, and form—and its genre or style. But we can dig deeper, all the way to its source.
Same or different?
If a piece of music is written down in permanent form, it usually comes from one of three categories of source material: compositions, arrangements, and transcriptions. This means that you’re playing music that’s either the same as or different from its original form. Let’s take a closer look at these categories.
Same: compositions
A composition is a piece of music that’s originally written for a specific instrument or ensemble. Whether or not you know who the composer is, you’re expected to play their music as written, on the same original instrument (or with that same ensemble).
Different: arrangements and transcriptions
If you’d like to play a piece of music that wasn’t originally written for your instrument, this implies that you (or someone else) will make some changes to the source material. There are two types of music adaptations: arrangements and transcriptions.
Arrangements are closely related to compositions, and can be simpler or more complex than the original. The arranger might make musical changes in fingering, accidentals, range, etc. that work better on the non-original instrument.
Transcriptions are arrangements that are intentionally closer to the original, and played as written. Transcriptions are created in many musical genres, from Western classical to jazz and rock. (The term “transcription” is also used to describe process of writing down music that doesn’t already have musical notation (from a live performance, improvisation, sound recording, oral tradition, etc.).
Stay tuned
I’ve got more to share about compositions, arrangements, and transcriptions in next week’s Double-Strung Harp FAQ Series video, “Which Music Can I Play on Double-Strung Harp?” Watch this space!
About Cindy Shelhart
Double-strung harp expert Cindy Shelhart is a performing artist, composer, & educator. Read more
