Re: [Harp-L] this recent thread on positions, notes, colors etc...

[Aeskow@xxxxxxx]

I think Garry Hodgson's analogy to martial arts is a very apt one--for many  
reasons--not least of which is the focus on breathing that is so critical to  
both the art of harp and the arts of physical combat (I'd include boxing here, 
 too.)  It's incredible how many harp players, singers, and athletes  
continually sabotage their own hard work by failing to learn to breathe...how  can 
any of us perform at our best when we're thrown into the "deep water" of a  
performance if we quite literally can't catch our breath?
 
I've been greatly helped by a book called The Tao of Voice, by Stephen  
Chun-Tao Cheng.  Intended to bring Asian breathing techniques to Western  singers, 
it is also an invaluable aid to any harp player who can get into  it.  The 
book is lucid, without jargon, and enormously practical in its  applications.  
It's a small-press book, published by Destiny Books in  Vermont.  I recommend it 
wholeheartedly.
 
Peace and Respect
Johnny T