Prep School

CONSIDER JOINING OUR ON-LINE PREP SCHOOL!

This will enable you to prepare in many ways prior to entering the program. For some, it is an opportunity to have more harp skills at your fingertips, for others, it is a way to work on required materials in the program while waiting and saving financially to enter the program during the following year. And some may just want to get more information to add to the skills they already have.

We also are accepting TEENS into our Junior Division of IHTP. The TEEN Program prepares young harpists to share their music with children in children’s hospitals in a unique way. Please contact us if you are between the ages of 13-18.  CONTACT FORM

We will accept PREP STUDENTS in the ESM – Experiential Specialy Module in the summer months if they have met certain music requirements prior to the start of the ESM. Then in the September, students can enter the On-line Standards Module (OSM) to complete their study.

A PREP CLASS GATHERING in the UK

GETTING STARTED AS AN ON-LINE PREP STUDENT
Mentors, Creative Harping DVD Study, Readings, Repertoire Study

APPLICATION FORM

Please fill out the Application form –  either on-line or print out the Download form and mail it to our office. A $50.00 application fee is required. We can send you an electronic invoice or you can send a check to I.H.T.P., PO Box 333, Mount Laguna, CA  91948. You do not need to submit a recording at this time for the PREP School status.  See APPLICATION or under GETTING STARTED on the menu bar.

PAYMENT and ASSIGNMENT OF MENTOR

1. You will receive your mentor and their contact information after you have paid your PREP School fee. We will look carefully at background information with the intent of making a good match between student and mentor. For instance – if someone is a pedal harp player, you will have a mentor who plays pedal harp.
2. Payment for the PREP School is  $450.00. This total amount will be deducted from your total tuition cost. Special arrangements will be discussed with International students which involves paying their mentors in their own currency.
3. All mentors are highly successful in their careers and skills.  See our MENTORS!

MUSIC DEVELOPMENT

Creative Harping Music Development Series – DVDs

1. You will begin studying the Creative Harping DVD Series. This is an additional cost of $60.00 per monthly lesson. The DVD’s are set up so that there are left hand patterns for the most beginning harp player through to the most experienced harpist.  CLICK HERE for Creative Harping DVDs. You might want to order the first two lessons together as the first DVD is about theory and the second gets you started playing the left hand patterns.
2. Your mentor, along with the director, will determine if you are ready to enter the Experiential Specialty Module (ESM) in the summer months or the  On-line Standards Module (OSM) in the September of each year. We encourage you to have the first six Creative Harping DVDs so that you can utilize the experience of improvising in the modes when we teach the Resonant Tone portion of the program in the ESM.  If you have not finished all six but you are moving along at a good pace and your mentor feels you have a grasp of the patterns of improvisation, then they will allow you to enter (especially those who have signed up for the program very near the onset of the course). Other students who are struggling with the concepts of the DVD Lessons will be encouraged to spend the year developing their musical skills and work on the music and readings, thus making the entrance to the program easier for the following year.
3. After each of your Creative Harping DVD Lessons, you will submit to your mentor a recording (Cassette, DVD, or on-line recording). This will consist of ONE of the pieces from the lesson and have it segue into an improvisation which will utilize at least 2 alternating left hand patterns and be played with musicality or in many cases, as if you were playing for someone who is transitioning. Your mentor will follow up with your evaluation through our on-line format. Please keep these evaluations for your Portfolio. To obtain information about how to record on a PC, use method 2 at this link. RECORDING If you are using a MAC computer, you can record through Garage Band or you can record on your iPod and email it over to your mentor.
4. It is important that you understand the #1 Creative Harping DVD Lesson. Your mentor will be giving you a short quiz on how to find the Mode of a Piece and you will be required to show your understanding of how to do this.  If you are struggling, your mentor will encourage you to obtain a basic theory course (piano is fine). Basically if you understand that 1 flat is the key of F, 1 sharp is the key of G, etc. – the circle of 5ths – then the information on Creative Harping #1 will be able to guide you from that point onward. But you really must understand this to be successful in understanding the following DVD studies especially when they get to the Celtic Circle #10. Your mentor may also suggest that you might want to study with one of our on-line SKYPE teachers, or seek a teacher (harp or piano) in your area to help you understand the basic theory. This is at your own cost.

Recording submissions and evaluations are done after #1 (quiz), #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7, #8, and #10.  After #9 – you will submit your 5 selected pieces representing the Chinese 5 Elements for balancing energies from the Illuminations book.

REPERTOIRE STUDY 

Begin learning the six required pieces. Four of these songs fit into the Chinese Five Elemental Modes. Please choose from the following so that you will have music to play to balance energies (you will learn about this in DVD Lesson #9).Begin working on the following selections – any level presented in the book and you can do your own arrangement or embellishment of the song:

WE WELCOME YOU TO OUR PREP SCHOOL!

We will be creating a photo gallery for the PREP Students so you can interact with your community of classmates.