Lauren Scott harp
  • Home
  • About
  • Music
  • HARPYNESS
  • Projects
  • SHOP
  • Live
  • Contact

Welcome to Lauren Scott's
HARPYNESS BLOG
 

​Thanks for visiting!

Don't you wish you played the piccolo?

15/11/2011

Comments

 
For the past 20 years the answer to this most quoted question to harpists has always been a polite chuckle.

But with my local petrol station now selling fuel at 135.9 pence per litre, perhaps it's time to rethink my usual answer to that "piccolo" question with a "yes".
Picture

​I'm based in the North West UK, but am currently doing a couple of days work in Scotland. The very nature of my work takes in a wide geographical area and I rely on my gas guzzling volvo estate car to travel around the country.

Without my car, I cannot transport my harp. Without my harp, I cannot work.

Simple equation.

Before that other old chestnut saying trips off the tongue - "Why don't you get a proper job..." I (like every other professional musician) am highly trained and skilled and, in my case, have been doing this as my job for twenty years. It is not a hobby, it's what pays the mortgage and feeds and clothes my kids.

It would be nice (in theory) to swap the harp for a piccolo, which you could pop in your pocket and just jump on a train after a gig, somehow avoiding the crippling cost of petrol which now is barely covered by the fees for the work you have just done.

Except of course, unless you live in London, there are no trains that run across the rest of country late at night when the majority of gigs finish.

So in answer to the "piccolo" question, it would still be a "no".

I do however really wish I could afford to replace my gas guzzling volvo estate with a new fuel-economic hybrid estate car. Except of course I can't afford a new car.

Maybe I should prop up the economy and buy one on credit?

This blog was inspired by listening to some idiot economist on Radio 4 actually arguing for an increase in petrol prices as it was a "fair tax" that would only affect "rich people who drove gas guzzling cars when they could be using the bus".
Comments
    Like me on FaceBook to get regular updates of HARPYNESS posts! 

    ​
    ​Why blog?

    Well, I'm a bit of a harp nerd, and it's the quirky more unusual side of harping that usually catches my eye and ear!

    You won't find posts about harp competitions, and the standard harp repertoire here.

    You will, however, find posts about interesting harp items I have come across on the internet, as well as nerdy stuff like posts about harp strings and blisters etc.

    ​I post lots of videos of interesting harpists from around the world and their projects, and finally, I post the very occasional bit of news about me.

    Regular HARPYNESS readers might have noticed that I haven't been blogging that much since January 2017. That's because my elderly father was diagnosed with dementia then. His care is shared between my sister and myself. This has meant my available blogging time on this website has been significantly reduced. As and when I can write a new harp blog, I will do!

    ​Please follow me on instagram to see  regular updates with lots of harp photos & cute photos of my crazy dog, Louis. 
    Harpy hugs x
    Click here to see more HARPYNESS BLOG posts
    Now in it's 9th year, this blog has recently moved from it's original home
    on blogspot and the archive is currently being transferred to here. 

    Archives

    February 2019
    January 2019
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    July 2017
    January 2017
    October 2016
    September 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    February 2011
    January 2011

About
Privacy Policy
Contact
© Lauren Scott 2019 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
  • Home
  • About
  • Music
  • HARPYNESS
  • Projects
  • SHOP
  • Live
  • Contact