Sylvia Woods’ Blog and Podcasts

When I started my harp business over 30 years ago, I was selling harps out of my tiny house in Glendale. After I wrote my Teach Yourself ot Play the Folk Harp book, I created a mail order catalog and began shipping products out of my spare bedroom. I eventually moved to a much larger house, and ran the mail order business out of a guest house in the back, selling harps in my living room. This was the way my business ran for over 15 years.

In 1992 we opened our Glendale retail store, and once again, my house was just a house! Two years ago, we moved the store to a smaller location in La Crescenta. And now, at the end of July, we’re moving again.

My business is now going full circle, and I’m returning to my roots. Once again, I’ll be running my harp business from my home. My living room and dining room will now be the harp showroom, and the mail order business will be in my guest house.

WHAT THIS MEANS FOR YOU:
99% of our customers won’t even notice the change. We’ll still be taking your orders through our website and over the phone, and giving you our stellar customer service. Most orders will still be shipped within 24 hours. And you can contact us by phone or email with any questions you may have. You can still make an appointment to come and see and try out the harps. You’ll just be coming to my house, instead of a storefront. And you’ll get personal one-on-one service directly from me! I’ll be happy to help you pick out the best harp for you.The only customers who will feel the change are our local customers who are used to coming into the store to buy a string, browse the books, or just say hello. I’m sorry that we will not longer be able to provide this convenience for you. But, remember, if you order a string by about noon, there’s a good chance you’ll receive it in the mail the next day. And just think of the gas you’ll save!

Having a retail storefront for almost 20 years has been an amazing experience. I cherish the friendships I have made with customers who have been regular visitors to my store. I really appreciate your business and your support throughout the years. I apologize that I you will no longer be able to stop in and visit. But I hope that all of you will help me embrace this change, and allow me to continue to fulfill all of your harp wants and needs.

The economy has effected us all in different ways. With a vast majority of our orders coming through the Internet, these changes will allow me to continue to service the world-wide harp community for many years to come.

Our last day at our current store location will be Saturday, July 24th. We will be open (no appointment needed!) every Saturday from now through the 24th from 11 am to 4 pm. We have lots of books, gifts and accessories on sale in our showroom. So be sure to stop by and see us before we move, and pick up amazing bargains on our sale tables. 

Change is never easy for any of us. But I hope I’ll continue to have your business and your support as I return to my roots to give you the best harp customer service on the planet!

REMEMBER:
We’re still here and in business, and plan to be for a very long time!
You can still place your order by phone or on our web site.
You can still make an appointment with me to come to see our harps.
AND…
You’ll still get the amazing, personalized Sylvia Woods Harp Center service that you love!

– Sylvia

I’ve been extremely busy the past few months creating informative videos about many of my harp music books. Now you can watch them ALL on our web site! 

This is a fantastic way to learn about my books and to decide which ones are just right for you, your students, or to give as gifts.

Each video is specific to a particular book and runs about 2 to 7 minutes in length.

I discuss what pieces are included in the book; the playing level and harp range required to play the music; if fingerings, lyrics and chord symbols are indicated; and lots of other fun and useful information. You’ll also see sample pages and hear me playing some of the pieces in the background.

You will find each video on the individual book product page.
You can also watch all of the book videos on our Sylvia Woods Book Videos page.

Enjoy watching, listening, and learning more about my books!

I’d like to share some photos of the new harp-shaped Samuel Beckett bridge that my sister took on a recent trip to Dublin, Ireland.

According to Wikipedia, “Samuel Beckett Bridge is a cable-stayed bridge in Dublin that joins Sir John Rogerson’s Quay on the south side of the River Liffey to Guild Street and North Wall Quay in the Docklands area. . . The architect is Santiago Calatrava, a designer of a number of innovative bridges and buildings. . . The shape of the spar and its cables is said to evoke an image of a harp lying on its edge. . . The bridge, which cost €60 million, is named for Irish writer Samuel Beckett. It was officially opened to pedestrians on 10 December 2009 by Dublin Lord Mayor, Emer Costello and to road traffic at 7 am the following day.”

I’m happy to announce a new way to save money on our web site.

Our new Sylvia’s Special Sale of the Week brings a different Sylvia Woods product each week, at sale price, to our web site. It may be a book or piece of sheet music I’ve written, or one of my CDs. No matter what the product, you’ll save 30% throughout the week that item is featured. 

My Special Sale of the Week begins each Monday evening, Pacific Standard Time.

Be sure to visit our web site weekly for the Sylvia’s Special Sale of the Week bargain!

We are extremely proud that our harpcenter.com website has won the Gold Award as the best harp site on the web!

The prestigious TopTenReviews company compared numerous well-known harp websites, and we came out on top.

You can watch the TopTenReviews video talking about what they liked best about harpcenter.com.

Thank you, TopTenReviews, for honoring us with this award!

Our new catalog is out, and it is a big hit!  If you’re on our mailing list you should be receiving your catalog any day now (if you haven’t already received it.)  As always, it is chock full of your favorite products and lots of new items.

I’d like to particularly point out a few of our new books.

The first one is Ratatouille, a new book of innovative harp pieces by Dutch composer Clemens Krijger.  You’ll see one of the illustrations from this unique book on the front of our new catalog.  These 1-page pieces are lots of fun to play, and they each feature a full-color illustration.  The music is playable on lever or pedal harp, and the book includes a practice CD so you can hear the pieces.

We’re also proud to present 3 new books by Robin Fickle:  Wedding Wishes, Renaissance Songes of the Merrie Cavalier, and  Renaissance Songes of the Merrie Jester.  If you like music from the Renaissance, and/or if you ever play for weddings or other gigs, these books will be a great addition to your repertoire.  All three books are playable on lever or pedal harp.

We continue to add lots of  new products throughout the year.  So be sure to check out the New Products page on our website periodically, to see our most recent selections!

Want It NOW?
Audio and Printed Music Downloads Are Here!

I am extremely proud to announce that our website has begun to offer two types of musical downloads. Get your music NOW, with no waiting or shipping costs!

The first type of download is an mp3 music download. These downloads are audio tracks from some of the CDs we sell in our catalog and online store. Most individual tracks are 99 cents, with an entire CD download selling for $9.95 or less, with NO shipping costs! You will receive a link for your download by e-mail immediately after you have placed an order on our website.

To begin, we are offering my CDs as mp3 downloads, as well as the wonderfully relaxing CDs by Paul Baker. We’ll be adding more tracks from other artists in the near future. Check our mp3 download page frequently to see what’s new!

The second type of download is a PDF of printed sheet music. Once again, you’ll receive the link for your download by e-mail right after you complete your order on our website. Then you can print out your music immediately and begin playing it on your harp! Talk about instant gratification! The prices of the sheet music PDFs are generally the same price as the printed sheet music, but the advantage is that you get your music NOW, with no shipping costs!

We are extremely pleased to be one of the first to offer PDF sheet music by Loreena McKennitt. Selections include pieces from her recordings An Ancient Muse, The Book of Secrets, The Mask and the Mirror, and The Visit. These sheet music selections are ONLY available by PDF download.

We also have PDF downloads for some of my sheet music, including All the Pretty Little Horses, America Medley, Flower Duet, In the Bleak Midwinter, Spiritual Medley, and Wondrous Love. More Sylvia Woods music downloads will be available SOON!

We are adding new PDF downloads every week, so keep watching the PDF Music Downloads page on our website for new additions.

We’re excited to be on the leading edge of harp music downloads, where you can receive your music immediately, and not have to pay for shipping! As we add more and more titles to our website, we are certain that harpcenter.com will rapidly become your harp music download destination!

Sylvia Woods

In 1978, I published my groundbreaking book, Teach Yourself to Play the Folk Harp. Since then, thousands have learned to play the harp using this step-by-step tutor. In honor of its 30th anniversary, this book has been updated and displays a gold banner, proclaiming it as the “30th Anniversary Edition.”

What’s new?
The introduction and appendix have been rewritten and updated. Additional and helpful information has been added for new harp players. You can view and print PDFs of all of the newly revised Introduction and Appendix pages by clicking the links below.

Entire Introduction and Appendix (all of the new pages)

Entire Introduction
• Individual Introduction Pages:
• • 1-Page Intro to the 30th Anniversary Edition
• • The “Typesetting” of this Book
• • How to Use this Book
• • Types and Parts of Harps
• • Holding the Harp

Entire Appendix
• Individual Appendix Pages:
• • Tuning Your Harp
• • Sharps, Flats, and Key Signatures - and - Harp Tuning Methods
• • Accidentals and Lever Changes
• • Taking Care of Your Harp
• • Replacing Strings (2 pages)

• • Tying the Harp String Knot
• • What’s Next?

You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader in order to view these PDFs.

What stayed the same? 
I have kept all of the music pages in the Teach Yourself book intact, making no changes to the music or any of the pages from page 11 to 71. Therefore, the Teach Yourself companion cassettes, CDs, DVDs and videos are still compatible with any edition of the book.

What if I have an earlier edition?
If you have an earlier edition, you can view and print all of the newly revised pages by clicking and following the links listed here.

What about the companion products?
Because all of the music and lesson pages remained the same, the Teach Yourself companion cassettes, CDs, DVDs and videos are compatible with any edition of the book.

New lower price on the video and cassette!
We’ve lowered the price on the companion video that goes along with the “Teach Yourself to Play the Folk Harp” book. The video’s new price of $27.45 is over 50% off the previous retail price of $54.95. The video is available in VHS or PAL formats (while supplies last).

The companion cassettes are also on sale while they last. Their original price was $7.95. They are now only $3, or $1 when you purchase them as a set with the book.

The “Original” Teach Yourself book!
Several books and other products have come out in recent years with titles similar to  “Teach Yourself to Play the Folk Harp” book and companion products. My Teach Yourself series has been around far longer than any of these other titles. It was the first of its kind that truly showed one how to play the lever harp - and play the lever harp well! With over 75,000 books thus sold, the Teach Yourself To Play the Folk Harp book was, and still is, a proven and innovative learning method.

One of the things I enjoy most when speaking to our customers is hearing what books they like best, and what pieces they want to learn next.

How would you like to help me decide what books I’ll be working on in the future? Now’s the time for you to vote!

I’d love your input on what music you would like me to arrange for the harp. Is there a piece that you want to learn, but haven’t been able to find? Would you like me to arrange more love songs, or perhaps movie and Broadway themes? What is on YOUR wish list?

Go to our questionnaire and give me your input. Check as many boxes as you’d like. If there are genres or pieces you’d like, please be as specific as possible.

For example, if there is a popular song you are interested in, please give me the name of the piece, the composer’s name (if you know it), and/or who has performed it. That way, I’ll be sure to know exactly what piece you’re talking about.

It takes me about a year to complete a large book of music. I spend many hours on each piece, writing the arrangement and figuring out how to make the necessary lever changes as easy as possible. Next, I enter the music on the computer, adding fingerings, chords, lyrics, etc. Once the arrangement is “done,” it goes through dozens of edits and proofreading steps before it is ready for its public debut!

Now, here’s my “fine print” disclaimer:

Please be aware that just because you vote for something doesn’t mean that I will arrange it, either now, or at any time in the future. (But, of course, I just might!) Please don’t “hold your breath” waiting for an arrangement. Be patient. Your wish may eventually come true (but maybe not). Please don’t continually ask when a particular arrangement will be done. That won’t make it happen any sooner (if at all).

And, here’s my helpful suggestion to you!

If there’s a piece you really want to learn that you can’t find arranged for harp, buy a copy of my Music Theory and Arranging Techniques for Folk Harps book, and make your own arrangement! It’s fun, and it will free you from the whims of harp arrangers, like me!

Thank you so much for your suggestions and input through our questionnaire. I really appreciate all of your help! Who knows . . . maybe you’ll find YOUR suggestion in my next book. Won’t that make you feel powerful and proud!

Thanks again,
Sylvia

Click here to fill out our questionnaire.

As we prepare to celebrate Thanksgiving, all of us at the Sylvia Woods Harp Center give thanks for our abundant blessings. We are thankful for music, especially harp music, that can bring joy to players and listeners alike. And we are thankful for YOU, our customers. We appreciate your support and your business throughout the years. We are honored that you trust us to fulfill all of your harp needs. And we are extremely grateful we can count you as our true friends.

As our Thanksgiving gift to you, we’re  offering  you
5% off ALL orders* placed through our harpcenter.com website.
This offer is good through December 1, 2008.  
*(Harps, strings, and gift certificates  are  excluded from this offer.)

Simply enter the word THANKS in the Promotional Code box during Step 3 of our checkout.

This offer is ONLY redeemable on-line.
It is not valid for phone, fax, e-mail, or in-store orders.
This offer is valid through Monday December 1, 2008.

Here’s how to get your 5% discount at www.harpcenter.com:
  #1. Put all of the items you want to purchase in your cart.
  #2. Begin the checkout.
  #3. On Step 3 of our checkout, type the code THANKS in the Promotional Code box. (You’ll find this box below where you select your shipping and payment method.) The THANKS code will automatically apply your 5% discount.
  #4. On Step 4 of our checkout, you’ll see your discount listed in parentheses right above the Order Total. This discount will be 5% off.

*Shipping and California tax (if applicable) are not discounted.

(Note: if you go back and add more items to your cart, you may have to re-enter the THANKS Promotional Code in Step 3.)

You must enter the THANKS coupon code in your on-line order to get the discount. If you forget, or if you have trouble adding it to your order, please email us immediately.

All of us here at the Harp Center would like to wish you, your family, your friends (and your harps!) a very Happy Thanksgiving!

Sylvia Woods

Would you like to receive more money-saving offers like this every month? Sign up for our monthly e-mail newsletter to get more discounts!