Rachel Green on Methodology

Harp Methods: How to Choose and Use Them

April 9, Thursday, 3p Central

Rachel Green discussed the philosophy behind using a method, describing key characteristics of successful piano methods, and then dove into what students learn in the early levels of her “Play With Me” Method. We enjoyed this excellent presentation which delved into how people learn, and why methods are helpful on the path to success in playing the harp.

This Zoom meeting was held on April 9, 2026. Link to the video (YouTube) recording bottom left.

Rachel is a harpist and pianist in Tucson, Arizona. She received a performance degree in harp and piano at the University of Northern Colorado. For her doctorate, she studied under Dr. Carrol McLaughlin at the University of Arizona. Rachel’s teaching method, Play with Me, is published by her company, Happystring Music. Rachel also publishes new high-quality editions of standard harp repertoire as well as compositions of contemporary teachers.

For more information on Rachel Green, view the Melody Makers Podcast Season 1 Episode 9 (Link is bottom right)

Handout from the HTG Webinar can be downloaded HTG Webinar slides.

Inspiration

Mary Radspinner

Mary co-owns Melody's. She has held positions in various symphony orchestras, large and small, throughout the Midwest and Texas. She freelanced in the Houston area from 1983 – 1994. Mary was director of music/organist at St. Therese Catholic church in Milwaukee where she also taught harp and piano for the Milwaukee Public Schools. She’s been the staff pianist for Waller (TX) ISD, and currently has a small studio of piano and harp students. She is also the founder of “Harp Teachers Gathering” – a community of and for harp teachers, and as editor of Afghan Press Music for the Harp, she also chairs a Zoom Publishing Group. Mary is also a member of the Irish Fest (Milwaukee) Peace and Justice orchestra. She has a B.M. in music ed and applied harp from Alverno College, Milwaukee, WI. Her harp teachers were Jeanne Henderson and Louise Trotter.

Downloadable Product Information

Here at Melody’s we offer a wide array of music books and accessories. In the music book category, you may have a choice between PDFs (or MP3s) and paper books. If there is a choice, you are required to click either the paper version or PDF version before you can put an item into your cart. There should be no shipping charge for download music. If there are physical products in your cart at the same time, your total will reflect shipping for those physical items.

Products that are download only will have a narrow blue banner toward the top of the description. Products that are only available as physical/paper will not have a choice for you to make in order to add to your cart, nor will they have the narrow blue banner signifying download only.

After you check out, you are directed back to your receipt where you can download your music. Also, you will receive an email thanking you for your order with links that will take you to your downloads. Please add melodytradmusic@gmail.com to your approved e-mail list. If you do not receive an e-mail within a few minutes after you place your order, check your spam folder.

If you created an account with us, you can also find your downloads by going to “My Account” and clicking on the “Downloads” link. We highly recommend that you create an account so that you can refer to your order history whenever you want.

Depending on your computer settings, when you click on your download link, 1 – it may open automatically, 2 – it may go into your “downloads” folder, or 3 – your computer may prompt you to “save as”.

If you have a problem with your downloads, please contact us at MelodyTradMusic@gmail.com for assistance. Because our website contains so many titles, on occasion we have overlooked uploading a PDF here or there. When you notify us of this, we make the correction immediately. Please note that downloads are not “returnable.”

PDF DOWNLOADS

Depending on your computer settings, when you click on your download link, 1 – it may open automatically, 2 – it may go into your “downloads” folder, or 3 – your computer may prompt you to “save as”. If you can’t find your PDF, look in your “downloads” folder first. The title of the PDF may not match the title of the book, so you may want to change the title to what you will remember. After you have located your download, please either remember that it is in your “downloads” folder, or better yet, move it to another folder on your computer with a name that you will remember.

Your respect of the copyright laws will help support the musicians and arrangers who created this music, and will encourage more harp music to be produced in the future. Please do not make multiple copies to pass on to others. You can help keep downloadable harp music viable and available by encouraging your students, friends, and relatives to purchase their own copies. Thank you for your assistance in this endeavor.

mp3 DOWNLOADS

On our website, folkharp.com, we offer a wide selection of paper and download music. We were always in a quandary about publications having several parts, or that include sound files. After realizing that we can place multiple files into one folder and “zip” it up, we are now able to offer book + cd options.

What we do: sound files and the PDF book are placed into a folder and zipped. The zipped folder is inserted into the product on the back end of the web site.

What you receive: after you purchase, you receive a zipped folder. This is a folder that literally has a picture of a zipper on it, indicating there is more than one document in the folder.

What you do with it: Generally by double clicking on the folder, it automatically opens up. The challenge lies in whether or not you have a program that unzips these folders. If you do, it is as simple as double clicking and the contents are revealed. Alternately, you can right click on the folder, which brings up choices, one of which is “open with” – you then click on your unzip program.

If you don’t have a program to unzip your files you’ll have a challenge! Recently I bought a small laptop for my zoom lessons. This laptop did not come with winzip, or any other kind of program that unzips these folders. The computer kept wanting me to purchase winzip for $29. I found another program that does a great job, and it is free. 7-zip unzips all my compressed (zipped) folders! It is open source and you can find out more here:https://www.7-zip.org/

We hope all this information is helpful to you.