Do you remember when you brought your band/orchestra instrument home for the first time? Oh how those clarinets "squeaked"! And what about that ring aroung your upper lip from the mouthpiece? Or the gurgle that accumulated from hot air and spit in the body of your brass instrument? And how about that drum set that magically ended up in your garage or basement one day when you got home from school? Hmmmm..who could have moved it???? Your Mom? Your Dad?????
Well, John & I have been spared all the above, but unfortunatley our wallet has not. Whitley has decided to take up playing the HARP! It was a really tough decision, but the pieces came together and we felt lead to give her this wonderful opportunity!
Since the instrument is somewhat rare, we'll give you a little education on the harp. For starts, she will begin on a 26 string "Ravenna". The harp is about 5 ft. tall. It has a very beautiful voice. Standing harps can vary between 19 to 36 strings. They are usually made of cherry, rosewood or maple. The style of the harp is unique to a specific style like Celtic, Folk, Traditional,etc. The particular harp that Whitley will start on, retails for about $2,500.00 (used), but we can rent it for the first 6 months. After that, we can apply the 6 months rental to the purchase price is she is excelling and we wish to purchase it.
So here's what I want to know, "How did David, a poor shepard boy in the Bible, afford his harp???? I'm not quite sure, but here's our plan.
If she is still playing by high school, we can look at the Pedal Harp which runs between $11,000-$55,000.00!!!! I know, we choked too.....however, the demand for harpists is so great that there is a high probability that she could get a full ride to college on a music scholarship...which in turn would save us about $100K in college tuition. Now, with that being said, it seems like it might be worth the investment.
For now, she will start on Mondays after school with a private instructor just a few miles west of her school. She is required to practice 30 minutes a day 5-7 days a week, and we'll just have to see what happens from there!
She is really, excited. She said tonight that when she gets good enough, she wants us to have people over for a formal dinner and she will play dinner music with her harp! Now there's an idea!! Maybe we'll just start charging at the door! Or do you think maybe, just maybe....
she might end up herding mutton??????
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