dennispurves2
Verified buyer
09/22/25
Totally on!!!!!!
Just started learning from it. . . think it is just great. . . BUT, since I've just started using it, that really is mostly a guess!!!!
Harp Guitar Basics
Fundamental concepts, techniques and insight for harp guitar
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About this course
Already sold on the instrument and now eager to learn how to play a Harp Guitar? Go directly to the video guitar lessons or just add this course to your cart, download it and dig in immediately. There's no question you've come to the right place.
On the other hand, if you've never played or have yet to experience a harp guitar performance--don't go anywhere. This course may change your musical destiny. At the very least, you're about to acquire a taste for a spectacular ear-bending breed of guitar music.
Start by treating yourself to audio samples off of Stephen Bennett's latest CD, In-A-Gadda-Da-Stephen and then a few videos of Stephen's performances on TrueFireTV. We'll wait.
OK, not what you expected, right? Indeed, the harp guitar dates back a couple of centuries and the instrument has facilitated the composition and performance of an impressive range of classical, parlor and folk music (check out Gregg Miner's Modern Organology of Historical and Modern Harp Guitars).
Today, however, an impressive group of world-class acoustic and fingerstyle players has adopted the instrument and given birth to a new generation of contemporary harp guitar music that has sparked great interest from listening audiences the world over. Amateur and pro players across a variety of styles are likewise smitten and have added the instrument to their collection. Fair warning to players: without even touching them, the overtones generated by the additional bass strings will alone intoxicate and addict you instantly.
One of the core players at the heart of the harp guitar movement is American guitarist, Stephen Bennett. Stephen is widely respected as one of the most versatile and original guitarists performing today. With nearly 20 CD recordings to his credit, Bennett is a prolific composer who consistently garners critical praise and audience enthusiasm for his recordings and live performances.
"My objective with Harp Guitar Basics is to take you through a series of musical arrangements to get you acquainted with my approach to the harp guitar. I start with the assumption that you already have at least some minimal experience playing finger-style on a standard 6-string guitar. But even if you have never played guitar and somehow have wound up with a harp guitar, you will still be served well by the simple arrangements presented in the course."
No tedious theory or exercises here. You will learn harp guitar by playing through six of Stephen's arrangements during which he covers tunings, techniques, all of the basics and few advanced tricks of the trade to keep you inspired and on your toes. Bennett worked up the following arrangements and lesson plan for your introduction to harp guitar: Stephen Foster's tune, Gentle Annie; Turlough O'Carolan's Bridget & Elanor (two tunes in one); an English folk song, The Water is Wide; Antonin Dvorak's Largo movement from that symphony, commonly known as Going Home; and Bennett's own Perestroika.
All in all, Harp Guitar Basics will treat your ears, tickle your musical senses and get you up and running quickly!
P.S. Once you've got these basic harp guitar chops together, go directly to Bennett's Harp Guitar Repertoire and take on seven more tunes, all written by Bennett and all composed specifically for harp guitar. In fact, go and check out the videos samples now for a peek at your future as a harp guitarist.
P. P. S. If you don't yet own a harp guitar, there are now some very affordable options on the market due to its rising popularity amongst players. Holloway recently introduced a Stephen Bennett model that you can pick up very reasonably.
On the other hand, if you've never played or have yet to experience a harp guitar performance--don't go anywhere. This course may change your musical destiny. At the very least, you're about to acquire a taste for a spectacular ear-bending breed of guitar music.
Start by treating yourself to audio samples off of Stephen Bennett's latest CD, In-A-Gadda-Da-Stephen and then a few videos of Stephen's performances on TrueFireTV. We'll wait.
OK, not what you expected, right? Indeed, the harp guitar dates back a couple of centuries and the instrument has facilitated the composition and performance of an impressive range of classical, parlor and folk music (check out Gregg Miner's Modern Organology of Historical and Modern Harp Guitars).
Today, however, an impressive group of world-class acoustic and fingerstyle players has adopted the instrument and given birth to a new generation of contemporary harp guitar music that has sparked great interest from listening audiences the world over. Amateur and pro players across a variety of styles are likewise smitten and have added the instrument to their collection. Fair warning to players: without even touching them, the overtones generated by the additional bass strings will alone intoxicate and addict you instantly.
One of the core players at the heart of the harp guitar movement is American guitarist, Stephen Bennett. Stephen is widely respected as one of the most versatile and original guitarists performing today. With nearly 20 CD recordings to his credit, Bennett is a prolific composer who consistently garners critical praise and audience enthusiasm for his recordings and live performances.
"My objective with Harp Guitar Basics is to take you through a series of musical arrangements to get you acquainted with my approach to the harp guitar. I start with the assumption that you already have at least some minimal experience playing finger-style on a standard 6-string guitar. But even if you have never played guitar and somehow have wound up with a harp guitar, you will still be served well by the simple arrangements presented in the course."
No tedious theory or exercises here. You will learn harp guitar by playing through six of Stephen's arrangements during which he covers tunings, techniques, all of the basics and few advanced tricks of the trade to keep you inspired and on your toes. Bennett worked up the following arrangements and lesson plan for your introduction to harp guitar: Stephen Foster's tune, Gentle Annie; Turlough O'Carolan's Bridget & Elanor (two tunes in one); an English folk song, The Water is Wide; Antonin Dvorak's Largo movement from that symphony, commonly known as Going Home; and Bennett's own Perestroika.
All in all, Harp Guitar Basics will treat your ears, tickle your musical senses and get you up and running quickly!
P.S. Once you've got these basic harp guitar chops together, go directly to Bennett's Harp Guitar Repertoire and take on seven more tunes, all written by Bennett and all composed specifically for harp guitar. In fact, go and check out the videos samples now for a peek at your future as a harp guitarist.
P. P. S. If you don't yet own a harp guitar, there are now some very affordable options on the market due to its rising popularity amongst players. Holloway recently introduced a Stephen Bennett model that you can pick up very reasonably.
What you'll learn
- Execute complex chord voicings with melody on harp guitar
- Apply contrary motion principle in arrangements
- Create melodic variations by changing octaves
- Learn the recommended order for progressing through harp guitar material
- Develop expressive techniques (vibrato, sustain) for melodic playing
Release date: 01/27/2011 • 1h 45m runtime
Sample lessons
Gentle Annie
Introduction
Gentle Annie
Performance
Gentle Annie
Verse Breakdown
Gentle Annie
Chorus Breakdown
What's included
31 lessons • 5 charts
Harp Guitar Basics
Hello and thanks for your interest in harp guitars! With Harp Guitar Basics my aim is to present you with some musical arrangements to get you acquainted with my approach to the harp guitar.
As with anything, there are other approaches, not just mine. There is not even one "harp guitar"; there are a number of different configurations of these wonderful instruments. My purpose here is simply to give you some ideas of how I make music with the style of harp guitar that I like best – the type having 6 additional bass strings.
I start with the assumption that you, the reader, already has at least some minimal experience playing finger-style on a standard 6-string guitar. But even if you have never played guitar and somehow have wound up with a harp guitar, you will still be served well by the arrangements presented here.
You can approach these in any order you like, but the most difficult tune is my composition Perestroika.
When I inherited my great-grandfather’s harp guitar I had to figure out how to play it. What was I going to do with these extra strings and the possibilities they presented me with? I was already making my living as a musician and so I dug in to the challenge with a base of knowledge and experience already acquired. I began to arrange tunes for harp guitar, lots of tunes - all kinds of tunes. I arranged all sorts of tunes: tunes by the Beatles, folk tunes, Celtic tunes, jazz standards – whatever crossed my mind.
At that time, I was playing regularly in a restaurant and would play guitar several nights a week for 3 and a half hours. I hated to take breaks so I just played the whole time. In order not to bore myself (not to mention the patrons) I was constantly arranging new tunes to play. I never used a music stand and always played from memory. So this was a very good period of time for me in terms of the development of my chops and my repertoire: I was always learning tons of music and then playing it repeatedly. Some of those first pieces that I arranged back then – the late 80s - are presented here in Harp Guitar Basics.
In addition to arranging pre-existing music, I started writing music on harp guitar right away. Perestroika – which is presented in this project – was one of the first tunes I wrote and is also probably one of the most accessible of my harp guitar tunes. And – it’s a lot of fun to play!
So thank you again for your interest in harp guitar and now - time for you to dig in and get to work! And when you’re done, my hope is that you’ll be inspired enough by the sounds coming out of your harp guitar and intrigued enough to try your hand at some arrangements of your own, and maybe even in time, some compositions.
Best,
Stephen Bennett
As with anything, there are other approaches, not just mine. There is not even one "harp guitar"; there are a number of different configurations of these wonderful instruments. My purpose here is simply to give you some ideas of how I make music with the style of harp guitar that I like best – the type having 6 additional bass strings.
I start with the assumption that you, the reader, already has at least some minimal experience playing finger-style on a standard 6-string guitar. But even if you have never played guitar and somehow have wound up with a harp guitar, you will still be served well by the arrangements presented here.
You can approach these in any order you like, but the most difficult tune is my composition Perestroika.
When I inherited my great-grandfather’s harp guitar I had to figure out how to play it. What was I going to do with these extra strings and the possibilities they presented me with? I was already making my living as a musician and so I dug in to the challenge with a base of knowledge and experience already acquired. I began to arrange tunes for harp guitar, lots of tunes - all kinds of tunes. I arranged all sorts of tunes: tunes by the Beatles, folk tunes, Celtic tunes, jazz standards – whatever crossed my mind.
At that time, I was playing regularly in a restaurant and would play guitar several nights a week for 3 and a half hours. I hated to take breaks so I just played the whole time. In order not to bore myself (not to mention the patrons) I was constantly arranging new tunes to play. I never used a music stand and always played from memory. So this was a very good period of time for me in terms of the development of my chops and my repertoire: I was always learning tons of music and then playing it repeatedly. Some of those first pieces that I arranged back then – the late 80s - are presented here in Harp Guitar Basics.
In addition to arranging pre-existing music, I started writing music on harp guitar right away. Perestroika – which is presented in this project – was one of the first tunes I wrote and is also probably one of the most accessible of my harp guitar tunes. And – it’s a lot of fun to play!
So thank you again for your interest in harp guitar and now - time for you to dig in and get to work! And when you’re done, my hope is that you’ll be inspired enough by the sounds coming out of your harp guitar and intrigued enough to try your hand at some arrangements of your own, and maybe even in time, some compositions.
Best,
Stephen Bennett
Gentle Annie
I learned this tune by the great American songwriter of the 19th century - Stephen Foster - from my friend Steve Gilmore. At the time, he was Chief of Police in Wheatland, Wyoming. I was in town to play a couple of shows and I spent those nights at his home. There I heard he and his kids play a version of Gentle Annie and I fell in love with the melody. I think it works great on harp guitar.
Gentle Annie
I will say this here and remind you occasionally throughout Harp Guitar Basic: If you happen to see that the music I'm playing and what's notated don't match precisely - don't worry. They are both good. I never play a tune 100% the same way every time. It's good to phrase things a little differently. That just reflects slightly different musical choices being made at different moments. The core of what I play each time is the same, but I might put a different bit of musical embellishment on a phrase today than I will tomorrow.
Additionally, the instrument I used for this project is an old Dyer Brothers harp guitar which has been extensively rebuilt. I noticed throughout the filming of this project (as well as the filming of another project immediately afterwards - Harp Guitar Repertoire) that there is sometimes a buildup of harmonics that are a little dissonant to my ear anyway. I have never noticed this on any other harp guitar I have ever played and am not sure what's going on. Generally, it's a very subtle issue and you may not notice it at all. I tend to obsess about such things once I start to think about them. I was in Florida at the TrueFire studios and did not have another harp guitar with me to switch to. Anyway, I'm just letting you know that if you notice it at all, you're not crazy. Well, you could still very well be crazy, I don't know...
Which means that it was actually built by the Larson Brothers - Dyer Brothers was a music store chain that ordered the instruments and then put their name on them.
Additionally, the instrument I used for this project is an old Dyer Brothers harp guitar which has been extensively rebuilt. I noticed throughout the filming of this project (as well as the filming of another project immediately afterwards - Harp Guitar Repertoire) that there is sometimes a buildup of harmonics that are a little dissonant to my ear anyway. I have never noticed this on any other harp guitar I have ever played and am not sure what's going on. Generally, it's a very subtle issue and you may not notice it at all. I tend to obsess about such things once I start to think about them. I was in Florida at the TrueFire studios and did not have another harp guitar with me to switch to. Anyway, I'm just letting you know that if you notice it at all, you're not crazy. Well, you could still very well be crazy, I don't know...
Which means that it was actually built by the Larson Brothers - Dyer Brothers was a music store chain that ordered the instruments and then put their name on them.
Gentle Annie
This is all pretty straightforward stuff here! Here's your tuning (from the lowest pitched sub-bass string to the highest): GABCDG
The regular guitar is tuned to standard: EADGBE
Go ahead and do the magic C major chord a couple of times before you dig into this tune. Here's what you do: play simultaneously the C sub-bass, the high G sub-bass and a harmonic at the 12th fret of the 6th string. OR instead of simultaneously - play them one after the other quickly in an arpeggio fashion. Beautiful, no?
Now learn the verse.
The regular guitar is tuned to standard: EADGBE
Go ahead and do the magic C major chord a couple of times before you dig into this tune. Here's what you do: play simultaneously the C sub-bass, the high G sub-bass and a harmonic at the 12th fret of the 6th string. OR instead of simultaneously - play them one after the other quickly in an arpeggio fashion. Beautiful, no?
Now learn the verse.
Gentle Annie
Pretty straight-forward stuff going on here. Make sure that you are making your melody sing and all the notes ringing that should be.
Gentle Annie
That's right, you do have to practice!
Aside from playing it slowly along with me here, you could try various things for your amusement and advancement along the harp guitar path. (Should I have said Grasshopper here?)
1. You might simply play the chords along with me and not worry about the melody. I do mean with the sub-basses! Here are the chords again:
G D | G C | G A7 | D B7 |
Em D/F# | G C | G D |
1st ending: G D go back and repeat and this time go to the 2nd ending: G G/B | C | G |
Em A7 | D B7 | Em D/F# | G C |
G D | G
2. If you're feeling brave, venture out a little bit melodically with your accompanying chords and play some short melodic answers to what I'm playing. Or maybe find a harmony here and there. Look and I suspect you'll find.
Aside from playing it slowly along with me here, you could try various things for your amusement and advancement along the harp guitar path. (Should I have said Grasshopper here?)
1. You might simply play the chords along with me and not worry about the melody. I do mean with the sub-basses! Here are the chords again:
G D | G C | G A7 | D B7 |
Em D/F# | G C | G D |
1st ending: G D go back and repeat and this time go to the 2nd ending: G G/B | C | G |
Em A7 | D B7 | Em D/F# | G C |
G D | G
2. If you're feeling brave, venture out a little bit melodically with your accompanying chords and play some short melodic answers to what I'm playing. Or maybe find a harmony here and there. Look and I suspect you'll find.
Bridget & Elanor
Two pieces from the great Turlough O'Carolan, combined by me some years ago because they both seemed too short to stand on their own. And I thought they sounded great together! The pieces are (though I couldn't remember while we were filming) Bridget Cruise and Elanor Plunkett.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turlough_Carolan
Tuning is (again from lowest pitched sub-bass to highest): GABCDG.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turlough_Carolan
Tuning is (again from lowest pitched sub-bass to highest): GABCDG.
+ 24 more lessons
Reviews
3 results
JThompsonUK
12/24/21
Stephen Bennett's Harp Guitars
I got into harp guitars back in the 1990's when I first enountered them via Greg Miners music and instrument page - what a collection, go look. Then the harp guitar website came and gatherings. I never went any of these events, being in the UK but I did build my first Harp Guitar in the early 2000's, based on a bass design I had that mixed an explorer guitar and a rickenbacker bass. It's a unique piece. I lost touch with that community through life intervening in some not so great ways but finding stephen bennett's courses here was a very welcome surprise, as even back then, he was one of the legends along with late michael hedges. I can also recommend his DVD and the "In search of the Harp Guitar" DVD by John Doan if they're still available, I bought those way back when too... So the course: It covers some classic tunes of Stephen Bennet's and is one of few introductory courses that I am now aware of. If you know nothing about harp guitar, it is as good a place as any to start and join the facebook community too, that I think is a more recent addition. It will get you started but personally I had also built a cittern at the time and was experimenting with tunings and found the harp guitar and all it's possibilities a great instrument to compose on and a great deal of fun. This course is more about learning some basic techniques and to play some of Stephens classic tunes that those in the community will recognise and will perhaps encourage others to listen and look more into the instrument. For me, it is bringing new inspiration to get back into that community and I should restring my harp guitar and get using it again and learn some of these songs, including my fave of his Perestroika! As it says, an introduction and if you have any interest, you should definitely follow up on the resources he mentions and the harp guitars facebook group!
Mark J.
Verified buyer
05/18/14
Stephen Bennet's courses, "Harp Guitar and Repertoire," and, "Harp Guitar Basics," are both absolute gems. Taught by a teacher who remembers when he *wasn't* an expert on the instrument, his speaking is first rate and the arrangements are very nice. I would recommend these as a starting point for anyone who is taking up the challenge of the Harp Guitar and would like a kind and humble guide to at least point the way. I would think these courses are just an absoute bargain, and if they are indicative of Truefire quality, thumbs up from me in every way. Price, video and editing quality, length, quality of instruction, etc. GREAT!!!
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