Blazing Pedals, Book 1 (revised ed.)

“In the beginning there was not harp – there was piano.  That was my experience.  Then came the guitar.  Later pipe organ.  That was my major in college.  It was through my short-lived career in Church music that I came to the harp.  And it has been my life ever after…I decided that I would write out arrangements – note for note – of wonderful tunes that I had loved since childhood.  I could never play by ear.  And I did write out every note…Finally, I had this great idea.  Why not take some harmony coaching!…I called Garry Dial.  The following pages are the product of my labors with him…I am playing the harp in a fashion I never thought possible.  Every other chord has pedal slides that lead to a passing diminished chord which resolves through a tritone substitution to a deceptive cadence.  I thought I would never play by ear – and perhaps I still don’t.  I tend to think of it as “arranging on the spot.”…Every day I learn something new within the framework of the chords in this book.  It is a daunting study at first.  But once the basics are accomplished –fear is quelled- adventure and success lie ahead.  Before I began, I didn’t think I was up to it.  But I was. And you are, too.”  REP August 16, 1995

Download and Read a Sample