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Celtic harper Kim Robertson

Celtic harper Kim Robertson






近日正努力學習一首Kim Robertson的樂曲, 發現這位美國人彈奏很多凱爾特*民間豎琴音樂(Celtic folk harp).    於是在網上找找有關她的資料, 找到了一段有關她的訪問, 一些關於她由一位學習踏板豎琴而轉為愛爾蘭豎琴的歷程, 和她如何幫助工作坊中的學員打開心屝, 內容很輕鬆和富有啟發性... ...

以下節錄了部份容與大家分享!

Folk Mote Music - Kim Robertson Interview

.... Kim, you've been doing a lot of harp workshops in the past few years. I know they're very special to you and to the participants. Tell me about them.
Kim: About fourteen years ago I went to a harp retreat in Vermont hosted by Christina Tourin. Derek Bell from the Chieftains was there, and Roslyn Rensch, the pedal harp teacher and historian. For me, this retreat was a huge turning point in my life. I was a pedal harpist at the time, playing orchestral music. I had a token small harp and I subscribed to the Folk Harp Journal. But this retreat was significant for me because I discovered that there was an entire repertoire surrounding the Celtic harp and this wonderful social context of musicians getting together to learn, share and grow. Anyway, I re-met Tina ten years later and we decided it would be neat to start sponsoring retreats and creating a supportive environment for other harpists. We spend a lot of time in the workshops on life principals and philosophy: what are you doing this for in the first place, what is the function of the music for you and others. Rather than focus on turning out concert harpists, we gear the workshops for the players who are using it in their daily life, using improvisation for self-expression and creativity – also, for people who are looking for alternative careers using healing arts and who want a more holistic approach to the harp rather than the competitive approach that Tina and I both experienced when we were in the classical harp world.....


...Do some people have a difficult time with this approach to harp creativity?
Kim: Sure, there is resistance in some people. But my rule is not to make exceptions. If someone comes to these workshop retreats, I assume they must want to break open their creativity and to benefit from these techniques. Some of them do get embarrassed but we just make everyone do these things. I'm the one who's the silliest of all so they all learn to loosen up pretty quickly – not to be afraid to sound absolutely awful or absolutely wonderful. We're all afraid on stage and in performance situations. I bring this stuffed toy harp seal named "Harpo" along to use as our "cringe police" so that whenever anyone thinks they've completely blown it – you know "Oops, I played the wrong note. I deserve to die, I'm so horrible" – the seal comes over and clubs them on the head. It's a playful way of exaggerating and acting out that internal self-critical "I'm no good" attitude we all have. The whole world doesn't have to know we made a mistake. Isn't improvisation just keeping going? You know, the only difference between a "mistake" and an "improvisation" is that you keep going.

(Full interview - http://www.folkmote.com/article.html;

Kim Robertson official website: http://www.kimrobertson.net/)

*凱爾特音樂這個名稱用來指愛爾蘭和蘇格蘭音樂，因為這兩個地方都產生了聞名於世的與眾不同的音樂風格。