minstrel: Beginning harp books

[Janet Parish-Whittaker]

Message text written by Holly
> There's not a lot on early harp technique, 
and what little extant treatises we have are from fairly late.<

Pretty sure the earliest is pg 35 in the Ap Huw (I know Holly knows this,
I'm just elaborating).  Dictates a nail and damp technique-  some of the
ornaments seem fairly contorted, but ergonomically work VERY well.

Yeah, it's 1613, yeah it's Welsh.  But.  Even at the time RaH was
considered a proponent of the "old ways".  Certaintly the music has little
in common with most Jacobean stuff.  As for it's Celtic nature-  the Welsh
were playing on bray harps at the time, much like most of the western
world, so this is a doable technique on non-wire harps as well.  

(I just deleted a pro-bray rant here)

-David Parish-Whittaker
Solona Beach, CA
www.thegoliards.com