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Sylvia Woods Harp Center
April 2020 Newsletter
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A Personal Note from Sylvia
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We have all heard plenty of bad news recently, with the Covid-19 epidemic throughout the world.
This newsletter is going to be about
GOOD NEWS
and how our harps and music can make the world a better place. I love my customers, and they inspire me with how they use their music to help themselves and others. I'm proud to share some of their stories with you in the "Inspirational Harp Stories" below.
In these uncertain times, your harp and your music are more important than ever. If you're staying home, be sure to add some harp playing to your new daily routine. And share your musical gifts with friends and family through your favorite social media or networking program. It will bring them so much joy!
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If you're at home with some extra time on your hands, why not hone some of your harp skills by taking lessons through Skype or FaceTime? You don't have to be in the same city as your teacher, or even the same state, country, or continent! Anyyone on my
teacher list with the Skype logo on the left of their listing teaches remotely.
I also personally teach students all over the world. I love being able to help players at any level, and it is fun to talk about the weather and what's happening in their location.
Now is also the PERFECT time to order your music in PDF format whenever possible. PDFs don't have to be shipped, so I don't need to travel to the post office. You get your music immediately, and you don't even have to walk out to your mailbox! To give you an added incentive to order PDFs,
ALL PDFs at
harpcenter.com
are a whopping 20% off until the end of April when you use the code word
APRIL. This sale includes my arrangements as well as music by over 70 other amazing harpists!
See the sale section below for more information on this excellent opportunity to expand your harp repertoire!
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Unfortunately, I do have a bit of bad news. Because of stay-at-home orders throughout the country, some manufacturers and warehouses may not be able to ship for a while. Whenever I find out about this, I will put a message on any affected products on my website. I apologize in advance if your favorite item is temporarily unavailable.
Sylvia
P.S. If you'd like to contact me, please do not respond to this newsletter. Send me a new email at
sylvia@harpcenter.com
. Thanks, or as we say here in Hawiaii, Mahalo!
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Inspirational Harp Stories
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As I mentioned above, I love my customers, and I enjoy hearing their harp stories. Sometimes I get an email that totally makes my day! I hope that these three examples inspire you, as they have inspired me.
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Good very early morning, Sylvia.
I just went to church, always a part of my Sunday, but not in quite this way. My little church doesn't have the capability for streaming, so we are worshiping at home. My harp and I played through your book of hymns and what a sense of peace it gave me. Thank you so very much for a special gift on a morning when it was needed so badly. I am so very grateful for this retirement skill that gives me so much joy!
Stay well.
Denise in New York
**********
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Meredith, one of my Skype students, is a nurse practitioner in a women's health clinic in New York City. Her clinic is not treating any Covid-19 patients, and they are helping most of their regular patients through Telemed (phone consultation).
This photo shows me playing my harp at my medical office in New York City. We currently don’t have many patients, mostly emergencies, pregnant women, and urgent visits, and there haven’t been many of those. On a whim, I brought my Harpsicle Harp to the office to play for the patients and staff. New York City has been on edge recently, with good reason, and moments that soothe are few and far between. The simple music I played provided solace and comfort and offered a reprieve from worry and fear. Music is a powerful medium through which we can convey emotions, which can decrease anxiety, calming both the harpist and the listener. I will continue to play when I have the time and hope that it makes a difference. I know playing my harp helps me tremendously through these challenging times.
Wash your hands often, and stay healthy,
Meredith
**********
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Last week, I received an inspirational email from Susanna in California about how she and her harp are coping with Covid-19.
My life was completely changed for the better when I started playing the harp in my 40s. First of all, I want to thank you for all of your arrangements. I think I've bought pretty much everything you've put out. I always get the PDF versions so that I can easily print out the pieces I need, without having to take lots of books with me when I play outside my home.
Although I am certainly not a professional harpist, I've been playing my lever harp every week at the retirement home where my mom lives. Sometimes there are five people in the audience, and sometimes there are 40. I love playing for them, and they are very forgiving of any mistakes I might make!
Since we are currently under a “stay-at-home” order, I’ve started sharing my harp music with my mom and the other residents through Skype. I’m now focusing on happy, silly, and uplifting songs to bring joy during these trying times.
I wrote back to Susanna, thanking her for her email, and asking her what fun pieces she's been playing. (The links here are to the PDF versions of each piece.)
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And, of course, Disney is ALWAYS uplifting!
When You Wish Upon a Star, Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah, Second Star to the Right, Let’s Go Fly a Kite,
and the
Mickey Mouse Club March.
And I always end my "concerts" with the beautiful, peaceful, prayerful song:
Pie Jesu
by Andrew Lloyd Webber.
Thanks again for providing such inspiring music to harp players everywhere! We all love you.
Susanna
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This month's sale features 20% off every PDF download on my site!
The code word is
April
, and it is valid through the end of the month.
There are over 1,000 PDFs on my website, so you'll have LOTS of music to choose from!
And, I have even more good news! Besides music PDFs, I also sell a variety of knitting and cross-stitch pattern PDFs in the
Craft Pattern section of my site, which are included in the sale! Use some of your stay-at-home time to create some beautiful harp-themed handcrafts.
Please note: ONLY PDFs are on sale. Printed books and sheets that I would mail to you are NOT part of this month's sale. If it has a big red PDF on the cover it is on sale. If it doesn't, it isn't!
To get the 20% discount on PDFs, enter the code word
April
in the Promo Code box on your shopping cart page and click "Enter Code" by April 30, 2020. For more information, see the "How to get the 20% discount" section at the bottom of this newsletter.
Here are a few hints on my website.
#1. 99% of the music that I have personally written or arranged is available as both printed music and PDFs. There will be a link on each product web page that will take you to the other version.
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#2. If you look at the cover images, the PDF versions all have a big red PDF on them. So, once you get your products in your cart, it should be easy to see what formats you are ordering. Also, all PDF product numbers begin with a "p." For example, the Game of Thrones
sheet music is 5587b, and the
PDF download is p5587.
#3. Music written by other people is generally only sold on my site as printed music OR as a PDF; usually, not in both formats. Therefore, music that is only available as printed music is NOT part of this month's sale.
I hope this information helps you. Enjoy your 20% discount on PDFs with the
April code!
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Here are some hints on how to download, save, and print your PDFs.
Once you place your order, you will receive an Order Confirmation email. There will be a big red note on the top saying:
Please see the "Electronic Products" section below for information regarding your downloads.
Scroll to the bottom of the email and follow the instructions.
Also, if you have an account on our website, you can easily access all of your downloads in the
My Account section, even without the confirmation email information.
Step #1. Download the PDF
Due to copyright restrictions, PDFs expire after 30 days. So be sure to download them right away. After 30 days, your PDFs will not be available for you to download, even if you have an account.
Step #2. Save the PDF to your computer
I suggest that you make a folder on your computer to hold all of your PDFs. The filename of the PDF will be the product number, for example, p5587. You might want to change the name to the title of the book or sheet to make it easier to find in the future.
Step #3. Print all or part of the PDF
Once you have saved your PDF, open it with an Adobe product, such as the free
Adobe Reader. Some other PDF programs print music incorrectly with strange arrows and weird symbols. Through
Adobe Reader, you can print the PDF on whatever printer you have attached to your computer.
Since you have saved the PDF to your computer, you can print it at any time. You don't necessarily have to print the entire book at once. If you're working on a particular piece or chapter, you can print only those pages to start.
Step #4. Keep your PDFs safe. You are responsible for keeping your PDFs safe, just like you're responsible for keeping your printed music safe. So it is crucial to back up your computer files often. That way, you'll always have your PDFs.
ANOTHER HINT: You can also read your PDF music on your iPad (particularly if it has a big screen) or on your computer!
Your respect of the copyright laws will help support the musicians and arrangers who create the harp music you love and will encourage more harp music to be produced in the future.
You are allowed to print copies for your personal use. However, please do not make multiple copies to pass on to others.
You can help keep downloadable harp music viable and available by encouraging your students, friends, and relatives to purchase their own copies.
Thank you for your assistance in this endeavor.
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How to get the 20
%
discount
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20% off all PDF downloads when you use the code word
April
Our newsletter promo codes are redeemable online and are only valid for the items featured in the sale section of this newsletter. They are not valid for phone or email orders. This month's code word is
April
, and it is valid for 20% off all PDF downloads at www.harpcenter.com. Just because an item is mentioned somewhere in this newsletter doesn't mean that it is on sale. It must be a PDF download.
#1. Put the items you want to purchase in your cart.
#2. On the page where you view the items in your cart, type this month's code word
April
in the "Promo Code" box and click on "Enter Code."
The actual price of the featured sale products on this page will then automatically change to reflect the discount. You'll also see a note below the Promo Code box saying the name of the promo code you entered and the percentage amount of the discount.
REMEMBER: you must enter this month's code word
April
in the Promo Code box and click "Enter Code" on your shopping cart page by April 30, 2020 to get the discount!
Offer expires at the end of the day on 4/30/2020.
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Sylvia Woods Harp Center
Lihue, Hawaii
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