The ‘Three Waves’ virtual workshops bring together the experience that Mendi Singh and Eleanor Turner have had through working together for the past five years. Tāla Tarang have combined Eleanor’s classical western harp playing background to Mendi’s Indian classical training. As Mendi says, “as we’ve been playing together, it’s just like the experience, the knowledge, the feeling of the instruments are resonating more deeply in myself, the harp and the tonality.”
As you'll see from the Course Curriculum below, there are three 'waves'. Each wave includes a 20 minute video, a fun quiz, some suggested listening and at least one piece of sheet music to be able to play along if you can read notated music. Don't worry if you're not a music reader, you can still fully participate in this workshop as the instruction is all verbal. Each wave would probably take an hour to study and you can do them in any order and go back to them at any point to play along with the videos again. Take the plunge and learn something new today!
Special thanks go to the United Kingdom Harp Association which supported this venture with a bursary. Do get your coupon code for free access to this course if you are a paid up member of the United Kingdom Harp Association. Thanks also to Olivia Prendergast for her generous time spent editing these videos. You can even catch a glimpse of her behind the camera in some of the final frames of Wave 3.
Ellie and Mendi
Course Curriculum
Hi, I’m Ellie
I started learning the harp when I was five, on a clarsach (Scottish harp) as my mother is Scottish. The reason I was lucky enough to start the harp? Mum was a huge fan of the Marx Brothers films, especially the musical comic genius Harpo Marx. I had a wonderful musical education with Daphne Boden and Alison Nicholls as my primary harp tutors, as well as a rich and rounded education including choirs and orchestras at the Royal College of Music Junior Department. When I studied at Middlesex University I gained scholarships in Culture and Academic Achievement. I love music and life, nature and people. I love food and the outdoors and my two children bring me joy. Composing has always been vital to me and my collaboration with Mendi is the perfect avenue to explore my love for a good food-based collaboration (our curry chats are legendary) and makes great use of my classical discipline and passion for Indian music.
Wave 1
Meet Tala Tarang, learn a teental cycle, play along with this very slow taal and sink into the sound of the tabla.
Wave 2
Learn the dadra rhythmic cycle, experience feeling the space around the beats and placing motifs and melodies where it feels right. Create your own version of 'The Deer' by playing along to Mendi's beats and practice a cross rhythm exercise.
Wave 3
This is the most structured of the waves and a fun ending to the course. Play along with Lord Ganesh Mantra which is in the bhangra feel - this is a great introduction to playing Bollywood music on the harp!