Frailing the Irish Harp?

Subject: Frailing the Irish Harp?
From: Mark Clark
Date: 13 Jul 03 - 08:33 PM

I know there are some harpists lurking about these parts and thought they might be able to shed some light on the old technique of striking the harp strings with the back of the nail. While looking through engraved music sites (ABC, LilyPond, etc.) I stumbled on a site by John Sankey in which he discusses building a replica of an old Irish harp. In the last paragraph on the harp he states:

“The most misunderstood fact about the old Irish playing tradition is this: every authority on early Celtic that I know of insists that there was only one word used at the time for the old technique - the strings were "struck" with long nails. I am assured that there was a perfectly good word for "plucked" at the time, and it was never used for Irish harpers before the Cromwell purge. There is only one way this works anatomically - the finger has to be flicked outward so that the outside of the nail hits the string…”

Are any of the Mudcat harpists familiar with this technique? I didn't find a thread discussing it.

      - Mark

Subject: RE: Frailing the Irish Harp?
From: Bonnie Shaljean
Date: 14 Jul 03 - 06:43 AM

Beware internet faux-"history", full of opinion and romantic fancy masquerading as fact but lacking any historical references. I know the source he is referring to, which is merely a verbal description and does not constitute an "authority". If he's going to cite "every authority on early Celtic" (early Celtic what??) then he needs to name and quote them. He's basing a whole hypothesis on his own interpretation of one word.

The strongest evidence of all is the depictions: just take a look at the harpers' hands in the many engravings and drawings that exist. When do you ever see the palms facing away from the strings?

And, crucially, how do you play any sort of complex melody in this style? Irish harpers had a foremost reputation, both as players and composers of delicate, intricate music. That technique simply doesn't suit it. Take a look at the opening arpeggios in the "Try If It Be In Tune" prelude in the Bunting collection. How could you "frail" those?

There is also extensive description of the old harpers' individual-finger damping technique, used to stop the long sustain of certain strings while allowing others to ring on (metal strings act differently from gut in this regard) to avoid a tonal clash. This argues against the percussive "frailing" technique, which would not have been string-specific in the first place, so the damping – quite a complicated art to master – would not have been needed, hence would never have developed.

His history is no more convincing. Why the pre- and post-Cromwell division? The year 1658 is of no particular consequence in harp history. Far more significant is the break in the tradition which occurred in the years following the Belfast Harp Gathering (1792), of which he seems unaware. If he is measuring periods according to individual lives, he would do far better to cite Carolan or Hempson. Belfast is a major milestone, but he never mentions it. Does he even know about it?   

At Belfast there was only one harper, Denis Hempson (1695-1807) (yes, 112 years) who still played with nails, which were described as "long and crooked" (there are references to crooked nails elsewhere, and this shape would affect the plucking of the string, not the hitting of it). No one else by that time was still playing with nails – Hempson was regarded as something of an oddity and an anachronism by the other harpers at the festival – and there is a whole period when wire-strung harps were played either with flesh or the nails. This too argues against the strings being hit. The famous picture of Hempson given in Bunting clearly shows him plucking the strings. Likewise Carolan, O'Neill, Byrne, Quin, and others.

He writes: "After Cromwell's death, efforts were made to revive the playing tradition, but it came back as a drawing room tradition and an occupation for the blind." Wrong: It's after BELFAST that the efforts were made – the harp didn't need reviving in 1658. And playing it had always been a good occupation for the blind.

"Pre-Cromwell" is equally meaningless, as whole social structures flourished and fell in those centuries, each with its own characteristics: you can't generalise them down into one category. He seems utterly unaware of the position of harper in the ancient Gaelic civilisation, which was not itinerant at all. The chieftains had their own harpers and poets whose social standing was high and noble – and stable. They were excused all other work except to compose and perform their art, and it was only after this old order was destroyed that the harpers became more transient. But he seems to think they were always wandering minstrels. His statement that they "travelled between locations by foot, alone" is dodgy anyway: many of the harpers were blind and had guides in addition to horses, as is well attested. This is his imagination talking, not historical fact. How on earth can he state whether they were "alone" or not??   (Was it snowing too?)

And: "Hang all the harpers" started with Elizabeth I, not Cromwell. And no one managed to "kill them ALL off" (my emphasis).

The business about small "minstrel-style" harps (whatever and whenever those are) is plain mystifying. What instruments, what period? Why the arbitrary mention of Welsh harps? WHY the silly statement that there were no curved forepillers? Has he never seen the numerous McFall harps, to name but just one maker?

There's more, but you get the idea. Frail an Irish harp if you want to (better use metal strings, though, not gut or nylon) but don't delude yourself that it's "authentic" or that this website is any kind of authority.

Subject: RE: Frailing the Irish Harp?
From: BanjoRay
Date: 14 Jul 03 - 07:00 AM

I know nothing about harp playing, but a lot about frailing. Bonny Shaljean says "just take a look at the harpers' hands in the many engravings and drawings that exist. When do you ever see the palms facing away from the strings?". If you frail, the palm does NOT face away from the strings. However, she's right about the difficulty with complex melodies. On the banjo these use extra notes which are achieved by "hammering on" or "pulling off" - there's no way this can be done on the harp, where the strings aren't fretted.
Cheers
Ray

Subject: RE: Frailing the Irish Harp?
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 14 Jul 03 - 07:11 AM

But it's still Strik e the Gat Harp, and Strike the Harp Gently.

It set me wondering about another possible expalnation for the use of the term - do harpists ever use their left hand to deaden a number of strings, and then strike a chord with the right hand? A bit like an autoharp?

Subject: RE: Frailing the Irish Harp?
From: GUEST,Raedwulf
Date: 14 Jul 03 - 07:30 AM

I'm a very, very bad harpist, but I don't think that would work very well, McGrath. What's more it'd be totally unnecessary. You can only damp 4 strings that way, which won't make for a very large chord on the undamped strings, unless you want some serious disharmony! You can pluck, either simultaneous or arpeggiated, up to 8, so why bother?

My guess would be that the perfectly good word for "plucked" he refers to perhaps differentiates between a damped & non-damped stroke or, more likely, refers to a plectrum style instrument, such as a plucked psaltery. Is this 'plucked' ever used in context with the harp, I wonder?

Subject: RE: Frailing the Irish Harp?
From: Bonnie Shaljean
Date: 14 Jul 03 - 08:00 AM

Just to mention something that probably should be clarified: In the old tradition, Irish harpers rested the harp to the left of them, and played the melody with the left hand and the accompaniment with the right - though I'm not sure whether he's aware of this or not.
He seems to be saying that one hand played while the other hand damped, which you can certainly do; but it goes against historical fact to say that this was the only way. It also goes against musical common sense.

Banjo Ray, I don't know anything about frailiing a banjo, but if I'm interpreting the term correctly, the only way that this technique could be applied to a harp (with any hand-momentum behind it) would indeed be with the palms facing away from the strings - ???

I've heard "strike" "pluck" "pull" etc (and some terms not so polite!) used almost interchangeably with regard to playing the strings, and it just seems to be over-interpretation of one word that has led him to construct this theory.

Subject: RE: Frailing the Irish Harp?
From: GUEST,Raedwulf
Date: 14 Jul 03 - 08:30 AM

Bonnie - Think of the way you normally pluck: finger curls in toward the palm. Now start from the curled in position & uncurl. thus you strike, rather than pluck but your palms still face the strings. I *assum* this is what he means. It's a similar reversal to Classical vs. Flamenco guitar techniques...

Subject: RE: Frailing the Irish Harp?
From: Bonnie Shaljean
Date: 14 Jul 03 - 09:04 AM

Yes, I know, I thought of that - but it doesn't give you any hand-momentum, and just seems purpose-defeating and limiting, when you think of all the tonal colours and complexities the instrument is capable of.

Subject: RE: Frailing the Irish Harp?
From: John P
Date: 14 Jul 03 - 09:05 AM

I'm glad Bonnie supplied so much cogent information about this. I was just going to say "don't be silly" and let it go at that. Really -- pick up a harp and flick the strings with the back of the fingers. You can't play a melody that way. Don't be silly. Also, the word "struck" doesn't have any direction implied in it. It can work equally well for plucking, flicking, punching, jabbing, or slapping. Only one of those really functions as a way to play the harp.

John Peekstok

Subject: RE: Frailing the Irish Harp?
From: greg stephens
Date: 14 Jul 03 - 09:23 AM

It's interesting that Cromwell managed to find time (betweeen massacring and pillaging Ireland, and running England), for this rsther nerdy and specialist project of preventing Irish harpists from frailing. God knows what he would have done if he'd made it to the Appalchians and heard the banjo players.

Subject: RE: Frailing the Irish Harp?
From: Bonnie Shaljean
Date: 14 Jul 03 - 09:40 AM

Well, you see, it's all that massacring and pillaging that made them frail in the first place. Before that they were a hearty and robust lot ;-)

Subject: RE: Frailing the Irish Harp?
From: Brían
Date: 14 Jul 03 - 10:20 AM

I wonder if some of this confusion about how yhe harp was played has to do with translation. The Irish word buail means to strike. It also can mean to play(an instrument). The same word is used regarding the bagpipes. Although some of may have wanted to strike a set of bagpipes at one time or another, I wouldn't recommend playing them that way.

Brían

Subject: RE: Frailing the Irish Harp?
From: Mark Cohen
Date: 15 Jul 03 - 12:49 AM

I can hear it now:

Pluck the bell, second mate, let us go below...

Aloha,
Mark
(not taking sides, just musing!)

Subject: RE: Frailing the Irish Harp?
From: GUEST,Russ
Date: 15 Jul 03 - 11:11 AM

Bonnie,

Another comment from a banjo player.

What Raedwulf said and...
when you strike, don't simply uncurl the finger but "snap" the entire hand forward. The result is serious hand momentum and big volume.

Any stringed instrument can be "frailed" in BanjoRay's sense. You're simply moving the finger forward to hit the string rather than pulling the finger backward to pluck the string.

All banjo jokes aside, frailing is capable speed, complexity, and subtlety. But not when I do it

Subject: RE: Frailing the Irish Harp?
From: Bonnie Shaljean
Date: 16 Jul 03 - 01:29 PM

Not when I do it on the harp, either!! The technique just doesn't suit the instrument, great as it sounds on a banjo. I tend to go with Brían's suggestion that the word in its original language is not necessarily a synonym for striking. But thanks to all the banjists for their input, which has enlarged my knowledge of frailing.

Subject: RE: Frailing the Irish Harp?
From: sian, west wales
Date: 17 Jul 03 - 05:26 AM

I almost hesitate to enter this thread, as I don't know much about harps, but Brían has a point about language. If Starkey doesn't speak Irish, or has only examined the use of 'strike' superficially, he'd better beware of assumptions. I note that he writes "struck" in double-quotes, and places the 'with long finger nails' outside the quotes. So, is this an assumption on his part?

I ask because, in Welsh, the term is "taro tant" - 'to strike string'. And, yes, there is a perfectly good word for 'pluck' ("tynnu" - also means 'pull') - it just isn't the IDIOM which is used when talking about playing the harp. Similarly, you don't 'play' ("chwarae") a harp (or many other instruments), you 'sing' ("canu") it.

I also remember hearing Robin Huw Bowen lecture on traditional Welsh playing styles. Telynores Maldwyn (Nancy Richards) used to sit by the fire of an evening and run her finger-tips on the hot metal of the side oven, or rails, to harden up her calluses. A hardened surface was essential for the right sound in 'striking' the strings.

May very well be connected ...

sian

Subject: RE: Frailing the Irish Harp?
From: Jeanie
Date: 17 Jul 03 - 08:56 AM

You may like to compare all of this with the "block and strum" technique for playing the Saxon hearpe ("lyre") here:
block and strum

- jeanie