No comments about Nine Folk Melodies for Pedal and Lever Harp.

No comments about Rise My Soul: Old Harp Singing from Wear's Valley.

3 comments about Andrew Lloyd Webber Arranged for the Harp.

1. ... when you sit down at the harp! Old favorites like "Memory" from 'Cats' and five songs from 'Phantom of the Opera' are arranged for the folk (non-pedal) harp. All are in the key of C or G with fingering; no lever changes. While the book is described as "intermediate to advanced," I'm a rank beginner and have learned two songs from the book already. Just takes practice!

   Some of my favorites include "The Music of the Night" (Phantom), "All I Ask of You" (Phantom), "The Phantom of the Opera" (Phantom), "Don't Cry for Me, Argentina" (Evita), "Tell Me On A Sunday", and the haunting "Pie Jesu" which has been sung by Sarah Brightman and Charlotte Church, among others.

   If you ever plan to play in public, you can bet that these are the songs people will love, because they're familiar with them. An excellent collection of favorites!




2. All the favourites are here, "Don't Cry for me Argentina", "Memories", etc, beautifully arranged for the harp. Though a beginner, I have found this book easy to follow and am now fingering my way through some of my favourite tunes. I bet they play this in heaven.



3. Many of the great Andrew Lloyd Webber songs are here, including "Don't Cry for Me, Argentina," "The Phantom of the Opera," and "Jesus Christ, Superstar." My friend Peter Puller the Pasta Chef and Bartender Extraordinaire loves to do his own versions of these hit tunes, such as "Don't Cry for Me, Semolina," "The Fandom of the Okra," and "Jesus Christ, at the Bar." There was certainly something special about Webber, and there is no better way to appreciate his special genius than getting a little plucky with a harp.

5 comments about Harmonica Americana Deluxe Double Cd (Harmonica).

1. Thanks a million to Jon Gindick for 'Harmonica Americana'. Man, I got further on this harp in one week thanks to this book/CD than I've managed in the last ten years with countless others. So delighted was I with my progress, I ordered Gindick's 'Country & Blues Harmonica For The Absolute Beginner' video from Amazon, and surprised myself at the ease with which I am FINALLY wailing out a blues riff or two. I'm now eagerly awaiting the arrival of Gindick's 'Rock N Blues Harmonica' book/CD . . . Re-reading all of that, it looks like some kind of cheesy commercial, so usual disclaimers: I'm not affiliated with Jon in any way other than as a VERY satisfied customer. Gindick's da man! Harp on!



2. Hi Jon,
   For a long long time, I had been planning to learn how to play the
   harmonica. This past Christmas my wife bought me a set of Soul's Voice
   harps and my son bought me your Harmonica Americana with CDs, the only thing
   better would be to have you here at the house. A few days ago I had a friend
   download and burn(I dont have a burner) your Chugging and Bending
   instructions. Man! you talk about getting you in the mood to play, I listen
   to them going to work, sure beats listening to Imus in the morning. I now
   chug as fast as real train, ok,,ok maybe like a 2 mile long train going up a
   6 mile 20 degree incline, but one of these days I'm gonna crest that hill,
   and then it's downhill and the speed will pick up. I want to THANK YOU for
   helping me fullfill a dream that I've had since I was young pup living in
   Canada. I'M now 60 1/2 years old which again proves that you're always young
   enough to learn. Again I THANK YOU for the enjoyment that I get practicing.
   Cordially
   Mike Hebert



3. Hi Jon,
   For a long long time, I had been planning to learn how to play the
   harmonica. This past Christmas my wife bought me a set of Soul's Voice
   harps and my son bought me your Harmonica Americana with CDs, the only
   thing better would be to have you here at the house. A few days ago I had a friend download and burn(I dont have a burner) your Chugging and Bending instructions. Man! you talk about getting you in the mood to play, I listen to them going to work, sure beats listening to Imus in the morning. I now chug as fast as real train, ok,,ok maybe like a 2 mile long train going up a 6 mile 20 degree incline, but one of these days I'm gonna crest that hill, and then it's downhill and the speed will pick up. I want to THANK YOU for helping me fullfill a dream that I've had since I was young pup living in Canada. I'M now 60 1/2 years old which again proves that you're always young enough to learn. Again I THANK YOU for the enjoyment that I get practicing.
   Cordially
   Mike Hebert



4. Just my luck that the song I wanted to play the most (Swing Low, Sweet Chariot) is printed with the vital note bends missing. Oh, the asterisk is there in the key, but nowhere to be seen in the notes. I wonder how many other songs are misprinted.

   I'll be sending this one back.




5. I bought my first harminca and The book Harmonica Americana about a year and a half ago,then 6 months ago, I finally got around to ordering the two cd's that go with the book. What a difference the cds made for me! My ability jumped by leaps and bounds after that. Just to be able to hear what the songs really should sound like made all the difference in the world. What a thrill it is to me to be able to make GOOD music anytime at all. I tape my practising and when I replay it and then can't tell my harp playing from his, sometimes, I just think -wow! I am in the early stages of bending and thanks to his lessons, am extremely grateful that I really can bend notes! Just need to perfect this skill. I am a 55 year old grandmother of 13, so if I can, you can too.

No comments about A Harp Full of Stars: The Journey of a Music Healer.

1 comments about The mythic harp.

1. I found this book fascinating. It take you behind the scenes for a look at the beliefs of what the harp can and would do for the player and the listeners. No wonder that the harp has been the object of destruction in the past. The sound of the harp seems to have power over peoples emotions and what they do.
   As I said fascinating stuff.

No comments about Mel Bay's Hymns for Harmonica [Diatonic, Cross-Harp, and Chromatic].

No comments about Tiny Tales for Harpist Beginners for Pedal and Lever Harp.

No comments about Masters of the Blues Harp: Note-for-Note Transcriptions from Classic Recorded Performances.

3 comments about The New Harp of Columbia.

1. I have gotten many hour of enjoyment for this book.



2. The New Harp of Columbia is the seven-note "old harp" tune book for shape note singers in and around Knoxville in east Tennessee. The 1975 University of Tennessee Press reprinting is probably out of print (though we have a few extra copies) as of March 2001. A new edition, scheduled for publication by the University of Tennessee Press in July 2001, will include the present (1867) New Harp of Columbia, with about 40 additional tunes from the earlier (1848) Harp of Columbia which M.L. Swan omitted from the new book in 1867. Meanwhile, come sing with us! - Bob Richmond (RSRICHMOND@aol.com)



3. The New Harp of Columbia is a repository of Odes, Anthems, Fuging pieces, Marching Tunes, Sea Chanteys, Dirges, Folk Tunes, Calvary Tunes put to meter and matched to the prime sermons of the day and written by the tune smiths into hymns.
   (The Hymn "Amazing Grace," was mixed and matched to a tune New Britain or Middleton is contained therein but not to J. Cowper's Hymn of John Newton's sermon.) This singing school manual breaks the music into separate parts for easy reading and written into character notes or shapes to help distinguish the notes for a people in a time who could not read let a lone read music.
   It is part of a two hundred year plus ongoing American social community and spiritual tradition. More information can be found www.oldharp.org or www.fasola.org.

   Larry Olszewski- Old Harp Singer