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Sylvia Woods Harp Center
September 2021 Newsletter
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I'm happy to announce the winners of last month's "What Do You Love?" Review-It Contest. You can read about their favorite products in the following article. Thank you to everyone who entered the contest!
I also have important news for you this month. Due to rising costs, the prices of many of my harp publications are increasing on September 13, 2021. Many of the prices haven't gone up in over 20 years.
The good news is that I'm giving you advance notice so you can stock up NOW before the price increase. If you've been thinking about getting one (or many!) of my books, but you keep putting it off -- NOW is the time to order. I will be updating the prices on my www.harpcenter.com website on the evening of September 12th (Hawaii time). Be sure to complete your order before then to get the current prices.
And I have EVEN BETTER NEWS! This month's sale includes ALL of the books, sheets, CDs, DVDs, PDFs, and mp3s that I have created. Everything in the Music by Sylvia Woods category on my site is 15% off through September 30th when you use the " goodie" code. Have fun shopping!
Aloha,
Sylvia
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Review-It Contest WINNERS |
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Nineteen harpists submitted over forty product reviews on my website in response to last month's "What Do You Love?" contest. Thank you to everyone who participated!
Here are the five winners from the random drawing for $25 Harp Center Gift Certificates. Congratulations!
If you are a beginner or are having any difficulty figuring out how to finger a harp piece, or even if you just want to try out a different fingering, this book is designed to help you. In addition to showing various fingering combinations, Sylvia explains the reasoning behind the fingerings. The book covers almost every situation you might encounter. I only wish it had been written many years ago when I began studying harp, as it would have solved a lot of problems for me and saved me a lot of time, energy, and frustration!
Music theory has always been difficult for me to understand, and frankly, boring. I played piano for years as a child and never understood it then. But now, as an adult playing harp professionally, I really wanted to understand fundamentals and be able to make my own arrangements. This book has been the best book of the many I've tried! Sylvia Woods makes the concepts clear, without muddling up the lesson with too much information at one time. Lessons and ideas are clear and concise. I am now able to make my own left-hand arrangements easily and understand why and how this "sounds good."
This book covers exactly the amount I feel is important for what I want to do.
This is one of my favorite books. It goes over chords and patterns in the beginning, and then you can make the music as hard or easy as you like! A good book to use with Sylvia's "Music Theory and Arranging Techniques" book.
Lovely arrangement for lever harp. It sounds very close to the pedal version. It requires a little study about levers but after you fix them, it's a pleasure to play.
I've had this cart for many years, and it is one of the best purchases I ever made. It is so sturdy it's still like new. Before I retired I toured constantly, carting my harp in a big wooden crate, and all my luggage, through many airports. All together, everything probably weighed about 200 pounds. It all strapped easily to the cart, and I could push it with my pinkie finger - it rolls that smoothly! The cart collapses to a very manageable size and goes right in the overhead compartment of an airplane. When transporting in my car, I would leave the harp strapped to the cart and slide the whole assembly in and out of the hatchback on my harp board. So easy!
BONUS PRIZE
And, an additional $25 Gift Certificate goes to Pat for my favorite Harp String Buttons review!
ALL BUTTONED UP! And just like that, a string change becomes an easy thing! Dusty Strings has this all buttoned up for you . . . what an easy and reliable fix for the difficult task of tying a knot in nylon. This is definitely a game-changer. Now I can't wait until my strings break so I can add a button -- just kidding! I'll wait!
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Whenever I give solo concerts, I talk a lot between the songs. I explain how harps work and share information about each piece. Here’s one of the true stories that I love to tell.
When I was in junior high, I fell in love with an older boy. Unfortunately, he didn’t know who I was.
He got married the year after I graduated from high school, and I was devastated. But he still didn’t know I existed.
He was happily married for almost 30 years, but then his wife tragically died of cancer. After an appropriate time of mourning, I thought, “now is my chance!” But he still didn’t know who I was.
He eventually re-married, got divorced, and married again in 2011. He STILL doesn’t know who I am.
Oh, by the way, his name is Paul McCartney. And although he doesn’t know me, I am convinced he wrote this song for me. It is called “And I Love Her.”
(This photo of me is from a concert at my harp store sometime in the 1990s.)
"Tune in" to this newsletter next month for more fun information about Paul and me!
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"She's Leaving Home" harpist
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I am sad to report that London harpist Sheila Bromberg passed away last month at the age of 92. Sheila played with superstars such as Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr., Bing Crosby, Dusty Springfield, and the Bee Gees. Sheila is perhaps best-known for playing the iconic harp part on She's Leaving Home on the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper album. According to Wikipedia, she was "the first female musician to appear on a Beatles record."
In this YouTube video from about 2011, Sheila talks about her experience recording the track at the Abbey Road Studios.
You can find my harp arrangements of And I Love Her, and She's Leaving Home in my Lennon and McCartney book or PDF . . . which are on sale this month! |
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ALL of Sylvia Woods' books, sheets, PDFs, CDs, mp3s, and DVDs are on sale this month. Save 15% when you use the goodie code. Everything in the Music by Sylvia Woods category is on sale!
To get the 15% discount, enter the code word goodie in the "Enter Promo Code" box on your shopping cart page and click "Enter Code" by September 30, 2021. See the "How to get the 15% discount" section at the bottom of this newsletter for more information.
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How to get the 15% discount
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15% off select sale items when you use the code word goodie
Our newsletter promo codes are redeemable online and are only valid for the music in the Sale Section above. They are not valid for phone or email orders. This month's code word is goodie.
#1. Put the items you want to purchase in your cart.
#2. On the page where you view the items in your cart, type this month's code word goodie in the "Enter Promo Code" box and click "Apply."
The actual price of the featured sale products on this page will then automatically change to reflect the discount. For example,
Unit Price: $9.95 (which is the original price)
Total Price: $8.46 (the discounted price)
You'll also see a note below the Promo Code box saying the name of the promo code you entered and the percentage amount of the discount.
REMEMBER: You must enter this month's code word goodie in the Promo Code box and click "Apply" on your shopping cart page by September 30, 2021, to get the discount!
This offer expires at the end of the day on 9/30/2021.
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Sylvia Woods Harp Center
Lihue, Hawaii
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