Enharmonic Spelling Tricks for Harpists
by Barbara Ann Fackler
Sometimes spelling a chord, passage or just one note enharmonically simplifies execution of a passage or makes the passage possible. Orchestration books include examples of how a harpist can respell music enharmonically but few actually teach why one might want to do this. This page is not intended for composers as much as harpists who are new to the idea of enharmonic spellings.
Hint Nr. 1: Phantom of the Opera
The original key change in Music of the Night goes from the key of D flat (5 flats) to the key of B (5 sharps). This isn't bad on piano but it's a lot of pedals on harp: all seven pedals must move, some more than one knotch. The easy solution? Play the B major section in C flat major instead. If you practice this enough, you'll get to where you can just transpose at sight without rewriting it. The example below shows the music in the new key. It will sound exactly the same.
Hint Nr. 2:Smoke Gets in Your Eyes
Because this hint includes a picture of both the original key and the more harp friendly key, it's easy to see what you'll do with your hands. When you transpose from the key of B major to C flat major, you are moving up one half step. Simply play what you see one string higher on the harp if you don't rewrite the part.
It's possible to do this on the fly wiht practice, and the pedal changes are far easier with this solution.
Hint Nr. 3: Body and Soul
Body and Soul, a popular song from 1930 ends with this chord progression is C, C#, C, C#, C. That's three pedal changes between each chord UNLESS you get clever. If you think enharmonically, you'll play a D flat chord (D flat, F natural and A flat) instead of the C# chord (C#, E#, and G#), two pedals and different strings makes this a breeze. No need to write it out, just learn to think differently.
Also, see the E flat in the triplet? If it's played as a D# instead you simplify your pedal movements. It's easier to get to the C chord because you still have the E natural and your foot will be on the D pedal, ready for that D flat chord you'll use instead of the C# chord. You'll lose the 5th of the G7 chord, but only briefly.
Old lead sheets of public domain music are full of great tunes and great harmonies. Often
they present opportunities to think enharmonically. Here’s a good example from an old song
with music by Ernest Ball.
You’ll find the sheet music at http://digitalcommons.conncoll.edu/sheetmusic/49/ and hear
it http://www.loc.gov/jukebox/recordings/detail/id/6959/. Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra
performed this.
The C dim chord that’s circled here can more easily be played as a B# dim, not a chord most
other instrumentalists would like to consider but on harp, this makes it easy. The D# and F#
are already in place for the B chord so transpose the melody note “down one string”, move
one pedal (B to B#) and you’re ready. Return to B natural for the Em following, then get the
D natural and F natural as you play the G7..
Once you've worked through the tutorial, here's a PDF with only the music, not the tutorial notes.
Hint Nr. 8: Find the Note Without Retuning
Think Enharmonically: Till There Was You
Most lever harpists know about the two prominent tunings: Eb and C. While each has its benefits and most harpists have a strong preference for one or the other, there’s still a compromise involved. No matter which tuning you adopt, you’ll be left without some pitches, or so it would seem at first.
Look at the G-7 chord here in the second line that moves to a G flat dim. Most problematic is the melody note. The G flat diminished chord can be omitted without too much damage to the original, but the melody note is important.
The simple solution is to play the D flat as a C#. Both common lever harp tunings include a C#. Neither one has a D flat included unless you think enharmonically.
When you see a note that’s not on your lever harp, give it second thought and see if it’s there, hiding, as an enharmonic note.
Pedal harpists aren’t off the hook for clever thinking: here’s a great place for a sliding pedal: slide from the D natural to the D flat. There’s no respelling needed and some find it easier to add the pedal slide than to return to the same string yet another time.
Hint Nr. 9: Expand Your Thinking
Thinking enharmonically can make the difference for a harpist between a piece being impossible or not. Here's an example to get you started thinking about possible options. In this old gem, melodic notes are spelled theoretically correct, a practice that is often less than practical. Note first the Gdim chord with the A# in the melody. Remember your theory training, it's the same as B flat, which is in the chord. The complication for a harpist is that the two pitches, as named, A# and Bflat are found on different strings. It's not like the black keys on piano.
Expand your repertoire by expanding your thinking. Learn to respell chords at sight. When you do, you'll find that you're able to sight read music you'd once thought impossible.
The Enharmonic Tutorials by Barbara Ann Fackler are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.