To celebrate seven years of Harp Tuesday I’ll be doing a free livestream workshop on John Thomas’s A Minstrel’s Adieu to his Native Land!
This piece is a classic example of a theme and variations, with each set of variations focusing on a different type of technique. I’ve worked on the Minstrel’s Adieu with a number of students, but I’ve never learned it myself. So, similar to my recent “Behind the Scenes” episode on Soupir, for this event you’ll get to see my process as I set about learning and working on the Minstrel’s Adieu.
The Minstrel’s Adieu is available as free, public domain sheet music. You can print out a copy and follow along (Direct link to the PDF). It is actually playable on lever harp, with some modifications (played in the key of C, not Cb). Link here. I’ll primarily be learning it on the pedal harp but I’ll talk about and demonstrate how it can be played on the lever harp as well.
I hope you’ll tune in on Sunday, December 10th to watch it all happen live! The stream will start at 12 noon PST, which is 3pm EST and 9pm central European time. You should be able to see a countdown timer on the video below. Bookmark this YouTube link and tune in on the 10th!
Note that in order to type comments and ask questions, you’ll need to be logged in with a google account – if you don’t have on make sure to create one before the event so that we can interact!