A colorful harp school for children

In front of me is a beautifully illustrated folder filled with six colorful, humorously drawn booklets that invite children to discover them. The two harpists Franziska Brunner and Sabine Moser are experienced teachers. Their school encourages active exploration of the harp and creates a connection between music and life. The authors have succeeded in creating an extremely well thought-out structure from the ground up, i.e. not only introducing harp technique, but also incorporating all aspects of music at the same time. There are suggestions for improvisation, pictures inspire you to tell stories, exercises are combined with associations, music theory is introduced in a very playful way, there is plenty of room for imagination and finally there are carefully selected beautiful songs. A teaching aid full of special ideas - a rainbow of possibilities.

Focusing on the child and its world of experience also led to the idea of aligning the harp school with the annual cycle. Each booklet, divided into learning units of six to eight weeks, has a seasonal focus, which is reflected in the improvisations and the choice of songs. If a child starts playing the harp in the new school year, they will go through summer, fall, winter and spring and should be able to master the first four to five booklets within a year. The booklets are only eight pages thick and can therefore be mastered quite quickly. This has a very motivating effect on the children, as they have the impression that they are progressing quickly.

I find it striking how airy the pages are designed, not at all overcrowded and yet there is space for everything essential.

Teachers can use this teaching aid as a varied source of inspiration for freer lessons, while at the same time it meets the objectives of Curriculum 21. As music theory is constantly integrated, it is also the starting point for games, discoveries and creation. A conscious decision was made not to fill the teaching material with lots of pieces. This gives children and teachers the opportunity to add or replace songs themselves as required. If the concept of seasonal booklets would be a hindrance for slower children, the teacher would of course have to be freer with the school. The school is primarily aimed at children between first and fourth grade.

It is very pleasing that after the huge response to the first volume, a sequel with a further seven booklets will soon be published. Once again, the design has been tested by harp teachers in lessons over a long period of time, and changes and suggestions have been incorporated. This future teaching aid is also a joint effort in many respects with the following content: great songs, intervals and triads including their inversions, arpeggios, scales, harmonics, triplets and sixteenths, improvising on tonics and dominants, extended note reading, keys and parts.

The Harp School Rainbow is a contemporary, educational enrichment that I can only recommend.

Franziska Brunner and Sabine Moser: Harp School Rainbow, booklets 1-6, illustrated by Ruth Cortinas, 80 p., additional material online, Fr. 34.80, kontakt@cordialharfenspiel.ch, ISBN 978-3-7252-1045-9