free harp sheet music download for beginning harpists

Rot und Schwarz and supporting harp preludes

by Barbara Ann Fackler

Rot und Schwartz and the accompanying Preludes by Barbara Ann Fackler are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.

Rot und Schwarz

from the teacher's notes:
This piece is intended as an exercise in beginning note reading for harp students. Students will learn to find all the black and red strings which are notated on the bass and treble clef staves. From there, they should be able to locate any other note they find in music. Students are not asked to name any of the notes herein, but to be able to quickly locate the proper string on a harp by learning to compare the location of a note on the printed page with the location of the corresponding harp string. Beginning note reading for harpists is easier for some students when they realise that each written note represents only one string. Any note written on third space treble clef, for example, always means the same string on a harp, whether the note itself is flat, natural or sharp. Unlike other instruments, key signature does not change the visual location of a note on harp. This collection of pieces uses the colored strings as marker points. Once the red and black strings are located, movement to all other notes can be made by comparing intervals and relationship to colored strings.

Add to the map of the harp by using tiny Post-it flags to mark, on the sound board, the location of middle C, the F at the top of the treble clef and the F at the bottom space of the bass clef. It's helpful to use a different color for each string, marking that place on the staff for reference in the same color.

Download the music:
Rot und Schwarz: full size harps
Rot und Schwarz: 22 string harps
teacher's notes

Prelude Nr. 1

from the teacher's notes:
This piece builds on note reading skills acquired in the learning of Rot und Schwarz, building on the notes from Rot und Schwarz and adding a few white strings, always one step above either a red or black string. Students who can quickly read music presented in Rot und Schwarz will now begin to find the rest of the notes on their instrument.

Download the music:
Prelude No. 1: full size harp 36 KB
Prelude No. 1: small harp 36 KB
Prelude 1 teacher notes 32 KB

Prelude Nr. 2

from the teacher's notes:
Prelude Number 2 builds on note reading skills acquired in the learning of Rot und Schwarz and Prelude Number 1. In this piece, students learn to recognize a step wise progression that begins, always, on a red or black string. They should already be able to find all the red and black strings so the focus shifts to recognizing patterns and intervals. Step wise movement is easier to discern and that is what is used here. Add the second harp part to turn this into Double Prelude No. 2.

Download the music:
Prelude No. 2: full size harp 36 KB
Prelude No. 2: small harp 36 KB
Prelude No. 2, harp II 44 KB
Prelude 2 teacher notes 36 KB

Beside Still Waters is a beginning harp solo included in Accessible Solos.