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Sylvia Woods Harp Center
February Newsletter
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A Personal Note from Sylvia
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Verlene Schermer is our featured arranger this month. I've always been a fan of her "With a Twist" series of books where she adds a jazzy approach to traditional tunes. And I'm proud to announce that we've just added her "Newbie" series of books to our website. Be sure to take advantage of our 15%-off sale to check out some of her unique arrangements.
Our other featured artist this month is one of the best-known harpists of all time: Harpo Marx of the Marx Brothers. Have fun testing your Harpo-knowledge with my Harpo quiz!
Happy Valentines Day to you all!
Sylvia
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Our Featured Arranger: Verlene Schermer
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Verlene Schermer
is our featured arranger this month. Here's what she has to say about herself and her music.
It’s hard to remember a time when music wasn’t a central part of my life. My first musical performance was at age three-and-a-half when my mother had me sing
M-O-T-H-E-R at the Mother-Daughter Banquet at the church. At the time I figured all little girls sang with their mommies, so it was no big deal to me.
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When my mother started teaching piano later that year, she had two students – my six-year-old brother and another six-year-old friend of the family. My brother was annoyed when I sat down at the piano and played his pieces by ear after he had finished practicing. One day he told mom, “She’s playing my songs again, and she has the book upside down!” Mom put a stop to that by starting me on piano lessons with my very own books. I learned to read notes before I could say the full alphabet. I got confused after G . . .
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In our family, after a minimum of two years of piano lessons, we were expected to learn a band or orchestra instrument. I chose the violin and started lessons with a private teacher. I played in the school orchestra from 4th grade on through high school.
I had the honor of playing violin solos in the district-wide honor orchestra concerts when I was in 7th and 8th grade. There was a girl in the orchestra who played the harp. (I now realize it was a Troubadour Harp.) I would look at it longingly but ultimately figured that my parents wouldn’t let me play yet another instrument.
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But then Dad brought home a guitar. I had already picked up my brother’s ukulele, so I knew how to play a few chords. I kept borrowing Dad’s guitar, and they finally bought me one for my 14th birthday. I started taking classical guitar lessons, and the guitar became my favorite pastime. I spent hours in my room singing, playing, and making up songs. My parents heard me singing through the door and decided it was time for formal voice training.
Mom’s private piano student schedule had filled up, so she taught a few of her more advanced students the nuts and bolts of teaching. I started teaching piano and guitar at age 15, and added voice students the next year.
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Fast forward many years – in my mid-thirties, my sister, who was teaching flute, joined with a pedal harp teacher for a joint flute and harp student recital. Following the concert, I asked if I could try out the harp. After being instructed on the red and blue strings, and where the pedals were for each pitch, I sat down and improvised long enough to fall in love. I asked, “So how much does one of these cost?” At the time, there was no way I could justify that kind of expense. Six months later, I heard Maureen Brennan at a Dickens Fair playing a small Irish harp. I thought, “Now
that I might be able to afford – and I can probably even lift it myself.”
I bought my first harp, a Triplett Celtic model, and using Sylvia Woods’
Teach Yourself to Play book, learned to place my fingers, and to play a handful of Celtic tunes. I also played my harp in a “fingerstyle guitar” fashion to accompany my singing. My style on the Celtic harp was far from traditional; I was greatly influenced by pop, jazz, and blues.
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It was not long before I started giving private harp lessons. I was a founding member of
Harpers Hall, which is a chapter of the
ISFHC (International Society of Folk Harpers and Craftsmen). I started teaching workshops at harp conferences and retreats on how to arrange in a modern style, resulting in the how-to book
Cool Chords and Groovy Rhythms, as well as the
Tunes with a Twist series.
I taught a five-week class called
The Sing-Along Harper at the request of a Harpers Hall member who wanted to know how I knew what notes to play when we did our late-night sing-along sessions at harp retreats. That class also became a book.
I started playing at hospitals in 2001 and have played my Rees double-strung harp at Stanford Hospital and Clinics since 2003. I am a Certified Clinical Musician (CCM) and I now also mentor for the Harp for Healing Clinical Musician certification program.
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Although the harp is a huge part of my life, it is not my only passion. Here's one of my poems from last year, entitled
I Play the Harp.
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I play the harp --
not the big clunky one
like Harpo Marx played --
but the small one, delicately curved,
carved from rich maple.
I play the harp
because it heals me,
restores my sanity,
invigorates me.
I play the harp
because it reaches others,
soothes, steadies, comforts them.
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And I play the harp
with other harpers.
When we gather,
we call ourselves
“Harpers Hall and Culinary Society”
because we love to play,
eat, and repeat.
I play the harp,
and I am at home --
even when I am not at home.
© 2019 Verlene Schermer
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Harpo Marx was probably the best-known harpist in modern history. He and his harp were featured in all of the Marx Brothers films from the 1920s through the 1950s.
Harpo has been in my mind a lot during the past few weeks, as he has randomly come up in conversations with a variety of friends and students. When I saw that Verlene mentioned him in her beautiful poem, I decided it was time to feature him in this newsletter!
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Here's a fun quiz I created to test your Harpo-knowledge. You'll find the answers near the bottom of this newsletter. Good luck!
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1. Harpo was born on November 23rd,
A. 1888
B. 1898
C. 1908
2. Harpo's real first name was
A. Henry
B. Adolph
C. Horatio
3. Harpo quit school at age
A. eight
B. twelve
C. sixteen
4. Harpo worked at many odd jobs including
A. selling hot dogs on the street
B. construction
C. working in a butcher shop
5. Chico got Harpo jobs playing the piano for silent movies. How many songs did Harpo say he could play on the piano?
A. Two
B. Twenty
C. Two hundred
6. Harpo taught himself to play the harp. He says he learned how to hold it from a picture of an angel playing a harp that he saw
A. in a book
B. on a postcard
C. in a five-and-dime store
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7. He later got much-needed guidance from this well-known harp teacher:
A. Carlos Salzedo
B. Marcel Grandjany
C. Mildred Dilling
8. Harpo never spoke in the Marx Brothers movies. This was because
A. his voice was very high and squeaky
B. he was actually mute
C. it was just the character he played
9. Harpo was known for his sight-gags and props that he pulled out of his
A. oversized hat
B. oversized coat
C. oversized shoes
10. In 1933 Harpo spent 6 weeks as a performer and goodwill ambassador in what country?
A. China
B. The Soviet Union
C. Germany
11. In Harpo's private life, he
A. never got married
B. married but had no kids
C. married and adopted four kids
12. Harpo wrote an autobiography entitled
A.
My Silent Life
B.
Harpo Speaks
C.
My Life as Harpo
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This month's sale features PDFs by Verlene Schermer. The code word is
Harpo
. And, just for fun, I'm adding the silly song that I wrote called
Harpers Are Not Bizarre
to this month's sale, since it includes a verse about Harpo Marx!
To get the 15% discount on the products below, enter the code word
Harpo
in the Promo Code box on your shopping cart page and click "Enter Code" by February 24, 2020. For more information, see the "How to get the 15% discount" section at the bottom of this newsletter.
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~ ~ ~
~ ~ ~
by Verlene Schermer
15% off with
Harpo
code
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~ ~ ~
~ ~ ~
by Verlene Schermer
15% off with
Harpo
code
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~ ~ ~
by Verlene Schermer
15% off with
Harpo
code
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Lesson, Tune & Activity PDFs
by Verlene Schermer
15% off with
Harpo
code
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Lesson, Tune & Activity PDFs
by Verlene Schermer
15% off with
Harpo
code
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Lesson, Tune & Activity PDFs
by Verlene Schermer
15% off with
Harpo
code
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by Verlene Schermer
15% off with
Harpo
code
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by Verlene Schermer
15% off with
Harpo
code
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by Verlene Schermer
15% off with
Harpo
code
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by Verlene Schermer
15% off with
Harpo
code
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Just for fun, I'm adding the silly song that I wrote called
Harpers Are Not Bizarre
to this month's sale, since it includes a verse about Harpo Marx!
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~ ~ ~
by Sylvia Woods
15% off with
Harpo
code
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Answers to the Harpo Quiz
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1. A. 1888
2. B. Adolph
3. A. eight
4. C. working in a butcher shop
5. A. Two
6. C. in a five-and-dime store
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7. C. Mildred Dilling
8. C. it was just the character he played
9. B. oversized coat
10. B. The Soviet Union
11. C. married and adopted four kids
12. B.
Harpo Speaks
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How to get the
15%
discount
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15% off select sale items when you use the code word
Harpo
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
Harpo
, and it is valid for 15% off the select PDFs in the
sale section
above. Just because an item is mentioned somewhere in this newsletter doesn't mean that it is on sale. It must be in the sale section.
#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
Harpo
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
Harpo
in the Promo Code box and click "Enter Code" on your shopping cart page by February 24, 2020 to get the discount!
Offer expires at the end of the day on 2/24/2020.
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Sylvia Woods Harp Center
Princeville, Hawaii
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