The program stages

The program My Ancient Harp, consists of four stages:
1. Building a personal instrument, a Ancient Harp.
2. Initial and individual playing.
3. Musical combinations and little compositions - communicating through music.
4. The art of ensemble playing, orchestral music and the final performance.

Detailed description of the stages:

a) Building a personal instrument, the Ancient Harp
An elementary stage in which we present the contents and build a personal instrument:
   Presenting the program stages to the students by telling a story and playing music (done by the teacher).
Drawing the complete instrument and the parts.
Gradually building the instrument and presenting concepts connected with the structure of the instrument (resonance box).
Performance versus plan, working in pairs, adjusting the parts and accurate assembly of parts.
Experimenting with sounds, string and resonance box.
Discovering the sound of the instrument we have built.

b) Initial and individual playing
In this stage we will stabilize several playing abilities, especially on the personal level, so that each student is able to express himself through music.
This stage will include:
Setting up the instrument and teaching the position of the hands.
Plucking one, two and three strings with the fingers.
Introducing the sign script and the basic rhythmic values (whole, half and quarter notes).
Experimenting with sounds: writing, playing and correcting.
Producing sounds in response to a given topic, for example: the sea, a storm, spring.
Free, intuitive composition.
Improving technique and playing from sign script. 

c) Musical combinations and little compositions - communicating through music
At this stage students will start communicating with their friends through music, and this will enable them to play small pieces together and according to plans. This stage will include:
Playing in pairs using our visual notes system.
Little compositions of one or two musical phrases and playing together.
Combinations, playing and tapping the backside of the instrument (darbuka style).
Patterns of simple song accompaniment and different rhythms.
Pieces for two to four players, in unison.

Great News! You can now learn easily how to play and teach the Ancient Harp Go to the Program's content...

d) The art of ensemble playing, orchestral music and the final performance
In this stage the students’ ability to play together will be developed to its fullest by preparing a few orchestral pieces and performing them before the school and the families. This stage includes:
Training the group to work and play as an orchestra by defining and practicing some rules.
Giving out the parts and combining them. For example, some of the students sing, while the others accompany them with their instruments.
Deciding which pieces will be played in the final performance.
Playing several more advanced pieces prepared by the teacher.
General rehearsal.
The final concert