Mid-November at Melody’s

With all the preparation for the Christmas and holiday events, we hope you are enjoying the season!    We are thankful to our customers!

Frank Voltz – by popular demand Frank has put together 2 collections which include chords!

The Harpist’s Hymnal Volume 1
The Harpist’s Hymnal Volume 2

Each contains 5 popular hymns with chord symbols.  Sight-readable by the advanced harpist and accessible to the intermediate player.

all Voltz titles can be found under his tag on our site

We have 2 used harps at the
shop which may be of interest to you!  A Venus Diplomat, and a Dusty Strings FH36B in maple. Give us a call if you’re interested – neither has been used a great deal, nor used as a gigging harp.

Christa Grix has a new Christmas book for intermediate to advanced pedal harp: selections with distinct embellished and jazz type harmonies arranged by a master of harmony for harp.:  All Is Calm.

Mitch Landy has a number of new titles, and he provides sound samples.  One of  my favorites is “Brief Digression on a Theme of Brahms” – (the sound sample he provides is really beautiful). Combining a classical music education (M.A. in musicology, U.C. Berkeley) with an eclectic musical taste, Mitch Landy brings a fresh approach to the harp. Proficient in both lever and pedal harp, and having won second prize on the Celtic harp at the 1995 International Pop & Jazz Harpfest, Mitch now focuses his talents on the rich harmonic potential of the pedal harp, arranging jazz classics from the twenties and thirties, along with contemporary songs, and classical pieces, including his own compositions. Says Mitch, “I relish the natural sound of the pedal harp, and favor lyrical songs with rich harmonies. I play almost exclusively my own arrangements, and about half my classical repertoire also consists of my own arrangements, and therefore some of the material is unique to me.”  All Landy titles are on sale until Dec. 20. – just type mitch70 into the voucher box.

Kathryn Cater has a unique new folio – “How Great Thou Art” as
Lever solo | Pedal solo | Lever and Flute | Pedal and Flute

The collection contains all 4 versions.
Click HERE for the download version (click on the title, above for the paper version).

Hard Copy: Lever Harp and Flute | Pedal Harp and Flute

Dan Pinkston has 2 lovely flute/harp arrangements: Now Thank We All Our God and All Glory Laud and Honor.  They are 15% off from now until Dec. 25.
Now Thank We:  Paper version | Download version
All Glory:  Paper version | Download version

Rhett Barnwell has a beautiful new duet called Peaceable Garden.  I was privileged to perform this with Carla Siegesmund as a world premier in Dallas just this past November 15 – a very meaningful event.  Video link on my FB page.   The download version is here.

Our good friend, the talented Brook Boddie has 3 new titles. Amazing Grace | Elegy | Thanksgiving (An original composition:  beautiful piece inspired by the simple offering of gratitude in any context). When Brook occasionally drove over to try out harps he would play some very beautiful arrangements.  We would ask him, “whose music is that?” and he’d say it was his own.  We told him, “You must write these things down!”  We’re so glad he did and continues to do so! download versions:  Elegy | Amazing Grace | Thanksgiving

Becky Baxter has arranged a beautiful lullaby for 2 harps or harp ensemble. An Irish Lullaby.  It has detailed editing, helpful to both teacher and student – and gives much warmth to the piece.  Download version.

We are pleased to have a whole new category of music (downloads only) by the Canadian harpist Joanne Griffin.  You may be interested in the Christmas titles: Northern Lights Christmas Selections  and Double Strung Christmas.

And some new popular music arrangements from Sylvia Woods!!:

Everything (Michael Bublé)
It’s a Beautiful Day  (Michael Bublé)
Lava (Pixar Movie)
Marry Me (Train)

Lastly, for those of you who are looking for a new-ish exercise book: Bochsa Revisited Volume 1 –  Bochsa’s 40 easy etudes combined with variations, pedal changes and technical tips, this is sure to be a fundamental resource for learning and refining harp technique.

Our latest foster dog, found tied to a pole at a shelter.  Homeless and helpless. And in pretty bad shape.  Golden Beginnings brought her over to our house after vetting and bathing her this past Sunday. She’s safe now. Her name is Paris, after the vet who worked with her, Dr. French. Please think of creatures such as these during the holidays.  There are many – human and animal, all creatures.