New Piece in the Style of Scottish Folksong for violin and piano

[JAJ]

What was wrong with leaving it in the harp friendly key of Eb?

[adrianallan]

thanks for reviewing, Nigel. You are right - there is too much melodic material, but it was originally a longer piece. Being economical is often better, but glad you liked it overall.

And keep it in Eb if it suits the harp (I presume you mean the folk harp). I know almost nothing about the harp, but hope to learn more before I'm too old!

[JAJ]

Just learning myself.....

Most lever harps will be tuned to Eb(this is the key which is traditionally most common) although they me sometimes be retuned to Ab, Bb, or even C. The latter is often preferred by many trad/folkie players as they don't need to engage so many levers.
However, I personally feel that an Eb tuning gives the option of a much wider range of possibilties... everything from Eb itself up to E which also includes all the "fiddle friendly" keys such as D, G, A, and so on. It's just a case of switching on more levers.

[adrianallan]

thanks for the tips - another musical conquest for one day - but aren't harps really expensive?

I don't think the Chinese (who have been making some wonderful but cheap instruments in the past few years, not the poor stuff they used to make) have started making harps yet.

[JAJ]

Really good ones are very expensive although many students hire them at a fairly reasonable price.

You can buy new clarsachs from around £2000(approx) from companies such as Clive Morley, Camac, and so on on.
If you ever manage to visit Edinburgh Harp Festival, you'll soon be hooked and cost will be no object.