Tutorial and Repertory Books for Wire-Strung Harp (Partial Listing)
Cynthia Cathcart. From My Music Stand: Arrangements for the Wire Strung Harp (2001). Highland Circle Publishing, Silver Spring, USA. Scottish and Irish tunes for the wire-strung harp of Ireland and the Highlands and Islands of Scotland. Intermediate.
Cynthia Cathcart. Traditional Beginnings for the Harp (2000). Highland Circle Publishing, Silver Spring, USA. Teaches basic fingernail technique and damping for the brass-strung Gaelic harp; easy, progressive collection of familiar American popular songs. Beginner.
Cynthia Cathcart. Pathway: A Primer for the Wire Strung Harp (2003). Highland Circle Publishing, Silver Spring, USA. Teaches basic damping and ringing techniques of the clarsach, the wire-strung harp of Ireland and the Highlands and Islands of Scotland. Includes CD of the 34 tunes in the book with the Gaelic titles pronounced. Beginner. ***Editor’s Choice
Cynthia J. Crawford. Castle and Court Music from Scotland (1995). Dragon Tales, Norwich, USA. Contains 38 transcriptions for harp from the Rowallan and Straloch Lute manuscripts, with a short introduction, bibliography, discography, and music reference. Easy to moderately difficult.
Ann Heymann. A Gaelic Harper's First Tunes (1998). Clairseach Publications, Minneapolis, MN, USA. Explains the ancient fingernail and damping techniques used on the brass strung Gaelic harp; uses four tunes traditionally taught to students of the Gaelic harp, as detailed in the historical sources, for progressive exercises. ***Editor’s Choice
Ann Heymann. Coupled Hands for Harpers (2001). Clairseach Publications, Minneapolis, MN. USA. Heymann’s innovative approach to the brass strung Gaelic harp based on research into Edward Bunting's manuscript notebooks and other key sources. Beginner. ***Editor’s Choice
Ann Heymann. Legacy of the 1792 Belfast Harp Festival (1992). Clairseach Publications, Minneapolis, MN, USA. Contains ten tunes arranged for wire-strung Gaelic harp, one from each of the ten Irish harpers who played at the Belfast festival; technical notes on each tune and a short biography of the harper.
Ann Heymann. Off the Record (1990). Clairseach Publications, Minneapolis, MN, USA. Tunes wire-strung Gaelic harp from three of Heymann’s recordings.
John C. Hines. Early Music for the Wire Harp (1997). Afghan Press, Houston, TX, USA. Medieval and Renaissance tunes from Europe, ancient Irish airs and tunes from Scotland during the reign of King James, arranged for wire-strung harp in the fixed hand position. Beginner to intermediate.
Various artists. Sounding Harps: Music for the Irish Harp, Book Two (Intermediate to Senior). (1993). Cairde na Cruite, Dublin, Ireland. This collection contains a range of arrangements for wire or gut/nylon harp, including some by Irish harper Gràinne Yeats.