Book Teach Yourself To Play The Folk Harp is the most popular beginning book for people of all ages who want to learn to play the harp. This book teaches the student step by step how to play the harp. Each of the 12 lessons includes instructions, exercises, and folk and classical pieces using the new skills and techniques taught in the lesson. It is an excellent book for any student, regardless of previous musical training. 44 pieces all in the key of C, with no sharping levers required. Fingering and placing brackets included. 80 pages, spiral-bound.
Click (or double-click) the arrow to hear Sylvia Woods talking about this book, and playing a few of the beginning pieces.
Companion CD or Cassette The companion CD or cassette will assist harp players learning the pieces in this book. Since many of you will want to “play along” as you are learning, Sylvia has recorded most of the pieces slower than they are usually played, and as “straight” as possible, with little or no expression or rhythmic variations. The pieces are in the same order as in the book Most people find the CD easier to use than the cassette, because you can go directly to a specific track. The prices of the “Book and CD” or “Book and Cassette” sets listed above are $2 off the price of the products if purchased separately.
Video or DVD In this informative companion to the "Teach Yourself To Play The Folk Harp" book, Sylvia Woods gives helpful hints and instruction as she plays the pieces in the book. This is an excellent way to see “how it should be done,” and receive helpful advice from Sylvia. This wonderful teaching tool is available on video and now also on DVD format which can be viewed on a DVD player in your computer or TV. Both formats contain the same video footage. However, the DVD is easier to use, as you can easily click and go to a specific tune or lesson The video or DVD is 1 hour and 40 minutes long, and follows the book, lesson by lesson.
Click here if you want to order the Video by itself, or as a set along with the book.
Includes Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, Yankee Doodle, Go Tell Aunt Rhodie, Lavender's Blue, Are You Sleeping?, The Water is Wide, White Choral Bells, Long Long Ago, Country Gardens, Allemande, Joy to the World, Blue Bells of Scotland, Minuet (Bach), All Through the Night, Robin Adair (Eileen Aroon), Ode To Joy (Beethoven), Drink to Me Only With Thine Eyes, Planxty George Brabazon (O'Carolan), Scarborough Fair, The Grenadier and the Lady, My Love is Like A Red Red Rose, Searching for Lambs, Greensleeves (What Child is This), Planxty Irwin (O'Carolan), Trip to Sligo (Lark on the Strand), Minuet (Bach), Farewell, The Christ Child's Lullaby, Cherry Blooms (Sakura), St. Anthony's Chorale (Haydn), Lullaby, Johnny Has Gone For A Soldier, Flow Gently Sweet Afton, Theme from the New World Symphony (Dvorak), Cockles and Mussels, Au Clair de la Lune, Shenandoah, Gilliekrankie, Ash Grove, Wild Mountain Thyme, Minstrel Boy, Southwind, Sheebeg Sheemore (O'Carolan), Jesu Joy of Man's Desiring (Bach).
Braille Music Book The Teach Yourself to Play the Folk Harp book is now available in Braille for blind players. For more information on how to order, see the Braille Music article in the Helpful Articles section of this web site.
Teach Yourself to Play the Folk Harp is a wonderful resource for anyone starting out. Both my daughter and I used this book for several years as we learned. She eventually took lessons for a couple years, but I am self taught. It still remains one of our favorite books.
Teach Yourself to Play the Folk Harp DVD
01/24/2007 - by Deva Kolb from Porterville, CA US
More than 30 years I have dreamed of owning a harp and learning to play. Finally my dreams are coming true. I now live in a small town with no harp teachers. I stay home everyday to care for an elderly, Alzheimer's mother. Now that I have a harp, I just have to figure out how I am going to learn it. Sylvia Woods has answered my dream with this DVD tutorial! It is better than having a harp teacher. She is so clear and organized that even I (with not music background and unable to read music) can easily follow her step-by-step guidance. I can replay the parts I need as many times as I need. I can play anytime of the day or night. So many years of tears and prayers have at last come true and this DVD is so far superior to anything I had imagined it would be like (or COULD be like). I sat and watched the whole DVD twice and kept saying out loud, over and over, "I can do this!" Sylvia, thank you for all the time it must have taken to write and record this DVD so that your instructions are so inspirational. I feel like you are standing in front of me, actually teaching me to play the harp! I am a very happy woman now. There is a God and she is wonderful!
Starting Out
05/27/2005 - by Daniel Patterson from Fredericton, N.B CA
Teach Yourself to Play The Folk Harp Book, is an excellent teaching book. I am a self taught harpist from this book, and I was able to develop my skills very quickly through the exercises. I also recently started taking lessons, and all of the folk harp teachers in my area use this book in their lesson plans. I would reccomend this book to anyone wanting to learn how to play the harp, even if you are taking lessons, this book will only help you progress further.
