Playing the Jew's Harp - Textbook Volume 1

Enjoy Playing the Jew's Harp - Textbook Volume 1

Jew's Harp: Textbook for beginners with no prior knowledge
Wolf Janscha

The Jew's harp is one of the world's oldest and completely unique musical instruments. It is played in a variety of styles around the world. It is a rhythmic instrument of drones and harmonics that is struck and played simultaneously with and without air. The mouth and throat serve as the resonating body. Over thirty different overtones can be clearly heard on the Jew's harp. The beautiful melodies have been an integral part of European folk and drone music since the Middle Ages.

The sound of the Jew's harp is unusually colorful, meditative, shamanic, rhythmically moving and impressive.

Wolf Janscha developed a notation system for the Jew's harp in collaboration with the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna. It is based on the Western notation system. However, it also has a special tablature that clearly presents the different playing techniques. With the help of this system and the analysis of playing techniques, the world's first comprehensive textbook for the Jew's harp was created.

All content is explained in such a comprehensible way that the player can easily learn and master the game's techniques. Detailed explanations, graphics, and audio examples also contribute to comprehension. Special emphasis was placed on style independence to develop technical playing skills that can be used in any style as desired or help develop one's own style of play.

Due to the enormous scope and complexity of the various Jew's harp playing techniques, the textbook will span several volumes:

Playing the Jew's Harp - Volume 1

A systematic guide to self-study

The first volume is the ideal introduction for beginners with no prior knowledge of playing the Jew's harp or musical background. The textbook is designed to enable the performer to improvise in the most important time signatures and to vary rhythmically and tonally.

From the content:

- General description of the instrument and its history.

- Basics of playing the Jew's harp: posture, embouchure, attack movements, and preparation.

- Easy-to-understand explanation of the notation system and music theory from the beginning: tempo, meter, basic duple and triple note values, time signatures, permutations, and their practical implementation on the Jew's harp.

- More than 300 exercises for the progressive development of touch, breathing, coordination of individual movements, and hearing harmonics through vocal positions, intonations, and closing techniques.

- General information about the instrument, tips for purchasing a Jew's harp, and useful physical and mental exercises.

- Creative techniques to design your own grooves.

- Numerous audio examples of the most important exercises on CD.

For players with prior experience, the work is a valuable training book for perfecting their playing technique and gaining new insights into Jew's harp playing. It is especially useful for teachers as accompaniment material for lessons.

The audio CD included with the first volume contains the most important exercises for listening and playing. The Jewish harp and rhythm are arranged in stereo channel separation so they can be listened to separately or together.

A preview of: Playing the Jew's Harp - Volume 2

The second volume of 'Playing Jew's Harp' will deal in detail with the subject of harmonic melodies.

From the technical sophistication of playing up to 30 harmonics on a Jew's harp, to advanced rhythm, phrasing, breathing techniques, dynamics, and music theory for melody and much more, this book offers the ideal expansion for the ambitious performer.

Drone players in particular will appreciate this work, as it allows them to play traditional pieces from Scandinavian and English/Irish/Scottish regions on the Jew's harp.

Volume 2 is expected to be published in 2012.

Textbook for beginners without prior knowledge
At Tienda Medieval, we have thousands of medieval and other period products. Discover them!