Bonjour Alan,
I will try to write some of this message in French, or at least in something that resembles French.
J’ai deux ou trois questions. Je sais vous avez écrit a ces sujets, mais je suis trés intéressé.
Votre method de jouer la harpe celtique (avec des ongles? votre méthode d’employer des notes de grace (ou ornamentation))
Me dire au sujet de vos harpes. Pouvez-vous les décrire?
Et aussi votre pensees du spiritualisme celtique (le symbolisme). I wear a small necklace with three Celtic spirals. It reminds me of the three sides of the harp frame, and also of the three parts of the way the music is played (the plucked notes, the damped notes, and the undamped notes). There is more to this, I know. Je suis devenu intéressé par le spiritualism celtique il y a beaucoup d’années quand j’ai écouté la première fois votre musique.
Merci, et kenavo
Karen
I will answer you soon on these subjects;
kenavo,
alan
Dear karen,
I don’t play mainly with the nails; I use them sometime only to get a different sound;
Grace notes: I have my own technique, a bit influenced by the Highland bagpipe or the bombard, either technically and musically; for exemple, I use them alternatively anticipating or deep in the beat (as on bagpipe), which is very suitable to Celtic music; to my point of view, teachers are too often « classical » in this field.
My harps are all unic prototypes; even my first acoustic nylon strung (made by my father) is very different from the others;
cheers,
alan