Wednesday, April 2, 2008

"The autoharp is a friendly, easy instrument" - NOT!

Then why are there so few truly accomplished players...really? Why am I not buying many autoharp recordings?

What other instrument requires that you attend to 36 strings, usually on your own? There are trade offs. We get to skip the part about how to form a chord but have all the rest to learn and master. It is more difficult than on most other instruments to pick accurate melodies. The autoharp allows it...it's just more difficult. One can only say the autoharp is "easy" if there are low expectations and we kid ourselves about certain aspects more challenging than on many other instruments.

Is an autoharp easy to tune? 'Not if it doesn't have fine tuners and we don't have an ear for doing stretch tuning by ear. We also need the equipment, including a pickup. What we do is settle for playing the thing in coarse tuning and claiming it is "easy to play".

The autoharp is "a friendly, easy instrument" if someone hands you an instrument in good tune and proper working order while not expecting you to do much with it.

If the autoharp is not easy, why do we keep saying it is? It is because we don't expect much. That doesn't make it right. Those who expect more play at a very different level, and it wasn't "easy " to get there. I would settle for it being said that, once in tune and working okay, an autoharp can provide some basic music pretty quickly. But how long does it take to play three chords on a guitar or whatever size neck and fretboard suits ones hands?

This "easy" thing is way over done, starting as hyperbole to sell autoharps. It was never actually true. If one can reach a point where they are feeling good without much skill, it would be wrong to refer to that as easy, because they haven't accomplished anything meaningful. It's not a toy...make some noise and then lay it down and move on. It is also wrong to judge oneself as having tamed the beast. "Easy" to do what? Easy to get compliments? It depends who you ask. Is the performance a 6 year old's piano recital, anything is wonderful, or is it about an adult who is or should be expected to be competent if choosing to perform, playing for more than personal enjoyment.

One thing that is deceptive, mistaken for "easy", is when one can find some satisfaction in the instrument rather quickly, able to produce a nice sound and basic music without much skill development. The hard part is trying to move beyond that point. Some never do, because it isn't "easy".

Now, with that out of the way....

I usually don't let "the autoharp is easy" pass. If people think the autoharp is easy, and that isn't true, then autoharp people are their own worst enemy in repeating that mantra. A good instrument isn't cheap either. The whole thing is a sham. A good autoharp is expensive, and it takes a long time to become a truly accomplished player. Observe what admirable players play and how long they have been playing. One can be encouraged without effectively being lied to about what is involved. We should all stop doing that. It is dishonest. There are sincere, forthright ways to be encouraging. Of course, being deceptive does allow more autoharps to show up on eBay 20 years later after sitting under someones bed, having been found too difficult with which to deal, for one reason or another. It finds the next sucker.

We have said it so many times we actually believe it, repeating it like gospel, choosing to forget our own challenges in finding the right instrument and becoming accomplished at some level. Would we say it was easy for us? If it was, where are all the really good players? Of the few that are truly admirable, why is it not "easy' to duplicate what they are doing with the instrument?

Let's be encouraging and forthright at the same time. There has to be a useful as well as accurate way to characterize the autoharp. It is not for everyone, never was, never will be. It is okay for someone to walk away, aware of the facts.

-- Bob Lewis

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