harping in the holidays

Rowena has been learning the harp for two years. Elanor has just started this year. In order to encourage practice, I have been getting the girls to leave the harp up in the living room over the weekend (Friday to Monday) and just putting it away while the Little Kids are here. (I think the strategy has helped - at least I have heard more practice than I usually do when it's in a bedroom. This, of course, is the chief advantage of a soft and beautiful sounding instrument!!!)

It's the middle of the school holidays now. Last week I got the girls to leave the harp out so during the week so the toddlers could see and touch it, and watch people have a play, and have an experiment with it themselves. It was very exciting for them to arrive and see such a big, new and exciting piece of equipment in the living room. Responses ranged from excited touching straight away to wary watching from afar, and slowing coming closer and experimenting.

At one point I was playing three adjacent low strings one at a time (like a short descending scale). I(child) must have been watching the strings vibrate, because she would put her fingers on the vibrating strings to stop the sound. When I plucked them again it was a deadened sound. I moved to several other strings, but she kept watching me and moved where she was touching too. This game went on for some time.

I wouldn't leave the harp out in term time. It's quite tall and heavy and I think it needs at least some supervision. One of the school kids can be in the living room during the holidays to keep an eye on it when the Little Kids are inside. But I'll leave it out again this week and see what they make of it again.

I guess our (hired) harp is a similar size to the one in the picture. It is on legs, and stands about 1.4 m tall I guess. Picture curtesy of Google.