Angelic Harp Music By Moira Greyland

I begin my lessons with the simple statement: "Tell me everything."  I want to know all about my student's past musical experiences, as well as their goals for the future, and how I can help with any difficulties they might be having with their music.

As noted elsewhere, I have a Bachelor's and a Master's Degree in Music Performance, and I have been a professional performer for decades.

I have been teaching harpists and singers for over 20 years, and I am currently founding my third opera company.  I make performance opportunities for my students in different ways.

I charge 60.00 per hour and 30.00 per half-hour.  Skype lessons cost the same as conventional lessons.

When I would perform with my harp in various places, people would ask me to teach them, and I would agree.  Also, when I was in college, other singers would ask for my help.  I discovered many years ago that I could fix vocal issues that many voice teachers had no idea how to handle, and that I got results very, very quickly.

I work with many different types of students.  Little children, older people (who are often the most dedicated of all, and who are frequently very successful indeed,) young professionals and teens looking for that college scholarship or audition preparation.  I have worked with choir directors, both to improve their own technique and to educate them in how to improve the sounds of their choirs, and also with voice teachers who are having vocal troubles and need another perspective.

A few months back, my church held a huge operatic gala where we presented solos and ensemble numbers.  My students knocked the socks off the audience, who had never had an opportunity to see opera in this area before.  

My most recent harp performance was at a private birthday party at an estate a few hundred miles away. I played a combination of harp solos, songs accompanied with harp, and operatic arias.    My next show, in a few weeks, will be much the same, if closer to home.

Students looking for a harp teacher need only look for one thing: a closed hand where the fingers are flat to the palm and the thumb is curved, contacting the side of the index finger.  If your teacher plays that way, and teaches that way, you are fine.  If the teacher is nebulous about this, or allows curved fingers which do not contact the palm, stay away, because the risk of hand injury is serious when technique is not carefully managed and taught.

Singers, ask your teacher what their background is, and listen to them singing.  If you like what you hear, and they sound comfortable, good!  Also, if possible, listen to their students.  I have video recordings of entire operas made up of my students, at all levels, and their comfort and secure technique is obvious.

Ask a voice teacher what they do if the student experiences some sort of vocal challenge: do their students ever lose their voices?  If they say yes, walk away.  A good singer does not lose their voice, because their teacher will make certain they know how to care for their voice properly and sing in such a way that this simply does not happen.

What do you want to do with your singing or harp playing?  Do you want to get out of the choir?  Sing for friends or family?  Become a working musician?  Be in a band?  Audition for an opera company or a college music department?  Or simply sing for your own pleasure?  

What matters most is your own safety and comfort.  Listen to your intuition and your feelings when interviewing a teacher.  Above all, make sure they are caring and concerned about you.