What is “The Salzedo Method”?

Harpist Heidi O’Gara Jellison plays, teaches, and firmly believes in the Salzedo method of playing the harp.  Two main “schools” of playing the harp exist today, both of which were developed by renowned harpists, Marcel Grandjany (1891-1975) and Carlos Salzedo (1885-1961).  Salzedo, a harpist, teacher, composer, and new music advocate, devoted much of his life to the art of playing the harp.  Salzedo’s “method” successfully transported the harp into the twentieth century as a powerful, vibrant solo instrument, departing from its prior image as a lackluster, limited instrument.  In her book On Playing the Harp, harpist Yolanda Kondonassis identifies three main elements of Salzedo’s method: musical ideology, practical physics, and aesthetics. 

Both technically and artistically, Salzedo’s approach emphasized that the optimal musical experience must please both the eyes and the ears.  Thus, what the audience sees, such as the “gestures” or “raising” of a Salzedo harpist’s hands, highlights the composition’s full range of expressions.  However, Salzedo appreciated that a harpist’s raising from the strings must be functional as well as aesthetic.  The technical aspect of his method emphasizes the natural movement of the body while playing the harp, focusing on the alignment of the body while seated at the harp, the proper angle of the elbow and wrist, the hand and finger position, the raising of the arm after playing, and the quality of tone production. 

A significant departure in the Salzedo method from the manner in which the harp had been played was removing the right wrist from the edge of the sound board of the harp.  As a young man, Salzedo suffered rheumatic symptoms in his right arm.  Consequently, he began to investigate why he experienced pain in only one arm and not the other.  He began to experiment by playing with the right arm free of the pressure of the sound board, and the pain vanished!   Unfortunately, many harpists continue to be taught to allow the right wrist to rest on the edge of the sound board, often leading to “repetitive motion” injuries. 

Carlos Salzedo did not aspire to develop a “method” for playing the harp.  Rather, it developed through years of teaching, and was recognized to be not only unique, but significantly superior to earlier methodologies.  Salzedo’s method has produced generations of professional harpists who occupy major positions in the foremost symphonies and performing ensembles throughout the world.  Salzedo harpists pride themselves on a crystal clear, uniform sound, and a controlled approach to their instrument.

The design of the concert grand Salzedo Model harp, pictured above, was submitted by Salzedo in 1925 to Lyon & Healy harp manufacturers, and was designed by Witold Gordon.