Camac Blog
World Harp Congress 2017: Monday, July 10th
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July 8, 2017
One of the best things about the World Harp Congress is the chance to immerse oneself in new musical genres. Many of us, for example, have learnt a lot more about the beautiful instrument that is the Chinese Konghou. The Konghou boasts over three thousand years of history, but became extinct some time during the Ming Dynasty. It was then successfully revived, as a double bridge harp. Today it exists both with a full set of pedals, and as a lever konghou, and its double bridged strings allow the use of techniques such as vibrato and bending tones.
Many think it’s a dragon, but the animal on top of this Konghou is actually a beautiful phoenix
We have also had the chance to explore Paraguyan music, with Sixto Corbalán. Sixto firstly gave a lecture about ‘Techniques and Tendencies of the Contemporary Paraguayan Harp’. This particularly focused on rhythmic and melodic patterns that, once learnt, help with improvisation. At the end of the day, technique – be it on a Konghou, South American harp or classical harp, and whether it’s physical or musical – exists in order not to weigh us down with things to learn, but to facilitate expression. We got a chance to hear Paraguayan technique in action later that afternoon, with compositions by Sixto Corbalán, Félix Pérez Cardoso and Janjo Corbalán.
Alfredo Rolando Ortiz will be continuing our South American explorations today, with ‘Special Latin American Effects for All Harps, All Levels’. These techniques promise to extend your range: muffled glissandi, mandolin-like effects, special Paraguayan bass muffling techniques, to name but a few. Don’t miss your chance also to explore Alfredo’s many very lovely and very useful collections of South American sheet music, again suitable across all levels. Alfredo also has a fascinating life story, which he recounted for the Camac blog before he came to play for us in Marseille last year.
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