Cleveland Celtic Ensemble Concerts:

Enjoy the ethereal sounds of the Celtic world in a chamber music ensemble setting. Brian and Kristen Bigley, Ian Crane, and Tiffany Schaefer bring a unique combination of Irish uilleann pipes and Scottish small pipes, violin, flute, harp and voice.
For more info, visit www.ClevelandCelticEnsemble.com.

August 28, 2022 3:00 pm:
CCE at Lakewood Presbyterian Church, Lakewood Ohio
Click here for tickets


September 10, 2022 7:30 pm: CCE at St. Noel Church, Willoughby Hills, Ohio
Details TBA

Online Workshops:

NEW!
Lever Harp Virtual Retreat with Rachel Clemente, Tiffany Schaefer, Stephanie Claussen and Amelia Romano
August 24-27, 2022
$30 per class, or $240 for all 8 classes (free concert ticket)
Concert tickets: $15
Email to register: contact@ameliaromano.com





















Workshop Descriptions:

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WEDNESDAY

Finger Placement Fun (beginner) Rachel Clemente - 8/24 at 9am PDT, 12pm EDT:

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Fun with Odd Meters (beginner) Amelia Romano - 8/24 at 11am PDT, 2pm EDT: This workshop is for beginners who may have never played a tune in 5/4, 9/8 etc. We will look at two odd meter tunes beginning with an exercise to get comfortable feeling odd meters, then practice playing the odd meter pulse chordally before learning the melody.

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THURSDAY

Muffling and Flat Hand Techniques: Where and How to Use Them (intermediate) Stephanie Claussen - 8/25 at 9am PDT, 12pm EDT:  Virginia Woolf once said, “One must learn to be silent just as one must learn to talk.” Harp is an instrument where the strings ring freely unless we silence them. In this workshop we will learn how to use muffles to bring clarity to your melodies, to add rhythm and definition to your bass, and to avoid buzzing. We’ll cover the techniques to play flat octaves, walking bass, and brush muffles. Lastly we’ll learn how to interpret written muffles in sheet music and discuss where you might want to add a little bit of silence into your own arrangements. Handouts provided.

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Composition Toolkit: (intermediate) Rachel Clemente - 8/25 at 11am PDT, 2pm EDT: 

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FRIDAY
Getting Hands to Work Together (beginner) Tiffany Schaefer - 8/26 at 9am PDT, 12pm EDT: This workshop is ideal for adult beginners who are coming to the harp from a single line melody instrument, or the harp is their first instrument. We will cover tips and exercises for getting your hands to do two different things simultaneously, and will learn a simple arrangement with a customizable left hand so that you may practice this skill. Sheet music and handouts provided. 

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Navigating Lever-Shifting Repertoire (intermediate) Amelia Romano - 8/26 at 11am PDT, 2pm EDT: This workshop is geared to intermediate students familiar with repertoire requiring a couple lever-shifts. We will look at Barbara Brundage’s adaptation of Erik Satie’s Gymnopedie #1, and my transcription of the Venezuelan folk tune, Moliendo Cafe, equipping participants with tools to annotate lever shifts and techniques to execute those shifts, making chromatic repertoire fun for all involved!

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Instructor Concert - Friday 8/26 at 5pm PDT, 8pm EDT

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SATURDAY

Dynamics and Phrasing: How to Shape Any Melody: (beginner) Stephanie Claussen - 8/27 at 9am PDT, 12pm EDT: It’s never too early to start thinking about musicality! Even with a simple melody on the harp, dynamics and phrasing can make all the difference between a nice piece and a piece that really speaks to people. We’ll play through several melodies, discuss different ways to think about dynamics (short little hairpin dynamics, long dramatic dynamics, or sudden, unexpected dynamic changes, etc), and cover how to write all this into your music. We’ll also touch on how to hear phrases and how to use that knowledge to let the music breathe. Being able to read the treble clef or pick up simple melodies by ear will be helpful for this workshop. Handouts provided.

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Arranging Airs for Harp & Voice: (intermediate) Tiffany Schaefer - 8/27 at 11am PDT, 2pm EDT: This workshop is for the intermediate player who has a fairly good grasp on technique, rhythm, and playing with both hands, but who would like advice and creative ideas for arrangements when the melody is not needed. We will cover several different patterns that fit nicely under the hands which can be "plugged" into different chords to go under your singing, as well as introductions, interludes and endings for vocal airs. Traditional Scottish song Loch Lomond, in the key of D, will be used as an example and sheet music and handouts will be provided. 

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Monthly Workshops with the Mastering Celtic Music Club

Join us for a workshop every month! Generally Second Saturdays at 11am Eastern Time 
(Back-up date: Second Fridays at 1:00pm Eastern Time) 
Head to www.patreon.com/tiffanyharpandsong and choose "Bundle #2: Sheet Music and Workshops." You can cancel anytime or stay and keep learning!
Workshop recordings are available for download on the site.


 

Irish Session Accompaniment with Nye Farley and Tiffany Schaefer
This live event is past, but you can still
purchase the recording and handouts here.
A complete guide to Irish session accompaniment brought to you by the founder of Folk Friend and Finale Guitar Nye Farley, and harpist Tiffany Schaefer of Mastering Celtic Music! In this 4 hour online workshop (conducted over Zoom) we’ll be showing you everything you need to know to accompany tunes by ear, including the theory behind the “Celtic modes” (Ionian, Dorian, Mixolydian and Aeolian), how to find the right chords for tunes in each, substitutions, inversions, jazz chords, bass runs, harp patterns, and more!
We’ll even teach you a new tune while we’re there.