Once upon a time--OK, it was really just over three years ago--I was dreamily plucking the strings of my Celtic harp and thinking about Turlough O’Carolan, the beloved blind Irish harper who composed so many of my favorite harp tunes. One of them is “Blind Mary,” which he wrote about another blind harper.

Then a question popped into my head: Why aren’t more blind people playing the folk harp today?

Back in O’Carolan’s time (1670-1738), apparently there were plenty of blind harpers--playing the harp was a popular way to earn a living in Ireland especially for those who, like O’Carolan, had lost their sight to smallpox. So obviously the folk harp is an instrument that can be mastered by those who lack the gift of sight.

As a sighted harp-lover who has enjoyed noodling around on my harp for many years with no aspirations of becoming a pro, I know what a simple yet soul-satisfying pleasure it is to extract beautiful sounds from this intriguing instrument. (I like to tell people that the harp is hard to play well but easy to play.) And as a volunteer for the Santa Barbara Regional Center of the Braille Institute--an organization that provides a variety of free classes, services and resources for blind people of all ages and levels of disability--I like finding activities of particular interest to the students there.

Suddenly it became clear to me that there should be a program designed to help the visually impaired get their hands on a harp. But how could I make this happen?

More important, how could I not?

So I began on what was to become a miracle-filled journey. The first step I took was to write a description of what I envisioned (see proposal, next page). I then shared the proposal with members of the Braille Institute’s staff. They agreed it was a wonderful idea but regretfully explained that there were no resources to help with implementation as they were still raising funds to pay for the center’s new building.

Next I spoke with my harp teacher, Lynette Johnson, who also loved the concept and offered to be part of the program once it was up and running. She helped feed my faith that the “Harp to Heart Program,” as I called it then, would happen somehow, although I didn’t know how or when.

A couple of years went by; I was busy with other projects and commitments, but I kept thinking about the idea. Then on February 5, 2005, serendipity smiled upon me: I met Leah Young, the youthful (and appropriately named) president of the local American Harp Society chapter. We were volunteering as ticket-takers at a fundraiser for Folk Mote Music’s owners, Nadine Bunn and Cherie Chako, who had been injured and lost their home in the recent La Conchita mudslide. During a lull we were chatting and for some reason I mentioned my idea about creating a harp program for Braille Institute students. Leah’s face lit up and she grabbed my arm excitedly. “We can do this!” she said, and told me that the chapter might even be able to get a grant to help pay for harps. Her enthusiastic response was heart-warming (harp-warming, too!) and my spirits soared as I realized that at long last my dream was on its way to becoming a reality.

It took awhile for all the pieces to come together, yet the process was a delight thanks to the 10 generous and talented harpers and harpists who kindly volunteered their time and talents. Chief among them was Suzanne (Suzy) Rowe, who came up with the new name “The Joy of Harps,” galvanized the chapter members into signing up to cover specific class sessions during the 14-week semester (the program consisted of a weekly one-hour class), and covered three sessions herself, accompanied by her musically accomplished folks (mom’s a dynamo pianist and dad’s a fabulous singer). The program ran from January-April of 2006.

Each of the 14 classes introduced students to a different aspect of harps and harp music from various times and places, including medieval, modern, jazz, classical, Celtic and South American. In addition to Suzy (who drove all the way from Oxnard--a round-trip of nearly two hours), the volunteers were (in alphabetical order): Lorin Grean, Christine Holvick, Meg Hontos, Lynette Johnson, Ignacio Lopez, Jeanne Martin, Laurie Rasmussen, Patricia Rushton, and Leah Young. [Visit the Harp Sites page for links to their websites.]

The smorgasbord of music was demonstrated on a variety of harps: small lap harps, mid-size Celtic harps, a large Paraguayan harp, full-size pedal harps and even a wire-strung harp. The presentations included everything from the history of harps to the personal stories behind autobiographical compositions. After each session, the students were invited to “come on up and get your hands on a harp” so they could experience first-hand the joy of creating musical sounds on harp strings.

The response to the program was overwhelmingly enthusiastic. Less than halfway through the semester a student named Lillian told me, “I think the Joy of Harps class is the best thing the Braille Institute has ever done,” and her fellow students agreed.

As the weeks passed and word spread about how wonderful the class was, attendance rose since students kept inviting guests to enjoy the class with them. One guest was the grandmother of Noelle, a girl in her late teens who was the youngest student (most of the students were senior citizens). Noelle told me her grandma had been experiencing vision loss but had not wanted to come to the Braille Institute to seek assistance. (It’s hard for most people to admit they need help learning to cope with loss of sight; just getting them to come inside the Braille Institute is a big step.) But when Noelle told her grandmother about the Joy of Harps class she felt compelled to come, and once she was there it was easier for her to take the next step of signing up for independent living classes.

At the final session there was an outpouring of love and appreciation from students and staff, with lots of hugs and everyone asking hopefully whether the Joy of Harps would return next semester. One of the students summed it up best: “This class has been more than wonderful--it was inspiring!”

What’s next? Well, it was always part of my dream that students who participated in the Joy of Harps program would be offered the opportunity to have harp lessons. Last year while we were still in the planning stages of the program, I had discussed this possibility with the local AHS chapter members. They liked the idea but were concerned about the actual process of teaching blind students to play the harp. “How do you even teach them to tune a harp?” wondered one of the harp teachers. So I searched for a solution online and found (in June of 2005) Christina Cotruvo, an amazing woman in Duluth, Minn., who had created a system called No-C-Notes for teaching harp to the blind ( www.no-c-notes.com ). She was teaching a workshop for blind music students and had received a small grant from www.HarpingforHarmony.org, on whose website I found her.
 
Discovering Christina felt like a miracle, but it turned out to be just one more link in an ongoing “miracle chain” that the Joy of Harps was magically creating. The next link was created when Meg Hontos, an AHS chapter board member and music professor at Santa Barbara City College, obtained a grant that paid for Christina to come out to Santa Barbara and hold a workshop for 10 harp teachers. On April 29, 2006, at the harp-friendly home of Lynette Johnson, Christina presented this workshop and afterwards the word used most by attendees was, again, “inspiring!”

A couple of days later I received an e-mail from Meg which brought tears of gratitude to my eyes:

"I have been thinking about the Braille classes all weekend (what an inspiration Saturday's workshop was!). Although I agree that we need to pursue funding to pay our teachers, I do not want to give up the momentum we have already created. I believe in the Braille philosophy of recruiting volunteer workers. As unpaid volunteers we have a very different investment than as paid teachers. This being said I would like to volunteer my time in the fall to teaching some of the preliminary skills delineated by Christina. It is not that big of a deal to align my existing teaching methods with those Christina taught us. If you and several others would help in the initial introductory class to help the students learn to tune their harps, I will teach consecutive weekly lessons on rhythm, scales and melodic materials and simple harmonization of a melody. I think this could practically be done in 6 lessons. Hopefully by that point we will have secured some funding to set upindividual (paid) lessons with the teachers who are interested. Do you think you could run with this and, if so, approach the Braille Institute with a class proposal?"
 
Of course my answer was a resounding “yes!” We are now set to offer the first Beginning Folk Harp class at the Braille Institute in September 2006. You may be wondering where the harps for the students will come from, but don’t worry: another link to the chain of miracles was contributed by the Channel Islands Harp Ensemble (co-founded by Suzy Rowe) when they donated $700 towards the purchase of a pre-owned 29-string Triplett harp which will be used for the class. (At the behest of Leah Young I found the harp for sale on Craigslist for $850; Leah suggested that I offer $750 and explain what the harp would be used for, which I did and the seller accepted; the AHS chapter kicked in $50, whereupon Suzy drove from her home in Oxnard to the seller in L.A. and picked up the harp. Mission accomplished in less than a week.) Folk Mote Music also donated a lap harp, and another harp has been donated from the estate of Mary Jane Barton, who was a local AHS member, so we’ve already got three harps for our students.

Now all I have to do is manifest some funding to pay the harp teachers so they can provide private lessons to any Braille Institute students who want to continue beyond the Beginning Folk Harp class. It will happen; I have faith that the miracle chain will continue on.

To find out more about the Joy of Harps program and what new miracles have occurred since this article was written, you can visit our new website and blog, http://www.JoyofHarps.com (which I consider yet another miracle thanks to Henry Marx, my webmaster husband). It is my hope that you and others will be inspired to bring the joy of harps into the lives of those who need it most.
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Harriet Schechter Marx is an amateur harper and professional writer who usually writes about clutter control and storage solutions but prefers noodling around on her 32-string Sandpiper harp. Visit her website at http://www.WriteInTime.com .
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Here is the proposal I originally submitted to the Braille Institute in March of 2003:

HARP TO HEART: A Program Proposal
By Harriet Schechter Marx   

Mission
To improve the quality of life for blind and visually impaired people who have restricted mobility and limited recreational opportunities.

Introduction
People who lose their vision later in life often feel like they have few options for enjoying life, and to some extent this feeling is well-founded. As a mature adult, it is often difficult to learn new skills even if you are able to see perfectly. Newly blind adults are rarely able to learn to read Braille, and often experience enormous difficulty when trying to master computer skills and learning how to get around independently. As a result, many older blind people often simply stay home, and their activities may be limited to passive time-fillers such as listening to the radio, TV programs and books on tape. Although these can provide a certain amount of enjoyment, a steady diet of “listening only” can become tiresome. Time passes slowly and joylessly without an interactive activity in which to lose oneself.

Concept
It is life-enhancing to be able to regularly lose yourself in an activity that allows you to focus on what you are able to do, instead of pining for what you’re no longer able to do.

The Celtic or folk harp can be a key to an enjoyable way to spend time especially for people who are blind and with restricted mobility. Unlike most other musical instruments, the harp provides instant gratification--simply stroking the strings creates pleasing sounds. It is delightfully easy and satisfying to pick out tunes on the folk harp. Of course learning to play it properly is a challenge, but it’s a challenge that blind people through the ages have managed to master. The harp has long been associated with blind musicians--in fact, the most famous and beloved harper and composer for harp was Turlough O’Carolan (1670-1738), who lost his sight from smallpox at the age of 18 and then learned to support himself and his family as an itinerant harper.

Harp music is also believed to have therapeutic qualities. Harp therapy, a subcategory of music therapy, is a growing field.

Description
What I envision is a program that would:

1. Introduce the folk harp to blind people through interactive hands-on presentations that would include a mini-concert &/or harp demonstration plus a brief history of O’Carolan’s life and perhaps inspiring stories of other blind harpers.

2. Provide harps on loan at no charge to any person with visual impairment who wants to learn how to play the harp.

3. Provide ongoing harp lessons or classes free of charge to the above.

The program could start out locally at the Braille Institute in Santa Barbara, and then eventually spread throughout the country (and perhaps internationally). This program would benefit at least three worthy communities:
- The blind and visually impaired
- Harp teachers and performers
- Harp makers and sellers