Fantasy on Greensleeves
The Story:
I do a video series called Harp Tuesday about various aspects of playing the harp. I’m always looking for ideas for new episodes. (Got one? Email me!)
In the fall of 2011 I asked for suggestions on a harp email list, and one of the ideas was to take a song and do a series about arranging it. (Thanks, Biagio!)
This would give me a chance to talk about things like chord structure and other basic theory concepts, look at some ways to approach arranging a piece, etc. Seemed like a good idea.
I choose Greensleeves as the piece – it’s something I’ve always liked, and it’s a piece that most people know – perfect. In January of 2012 I uploaded the first video in the newly dubbed Arranging Greensleeves Project.
This first video was kind of interesting, as it was a real time look at me composing/arranging. Further videos followed, though these were shorter and just detailed what I’d done and some of the reasons behind it.
Eventually I ended up with a six and a half minute piece that I’ve called Fantasy on Greensleeves. I’m pretty pleased with how it turned out!
The Music Video:
A Live Performance from 2018:
The lever harp version:
The PDF download includes the full pedal harp Fantasy on Greensleeves, an easier version (without the last variation and cadenza) for pedal harp, and a version for lever harp.
Intermediate to advanced difficulty.
The Harp Tuesday episodes:
Episode one – I introduce the project, and compose/arrange the intro and theme in real-time on camera.
Episode two – a look at the first two variations
Episode 3 – the next two variations
Episode four – the last variation, the cadenza, and the coda
Episode five, part 1 – closing thoughts
Episode five, part 2 – musings on creating/composing