Harp Guitar Workshop, May 26, 2013, Scotland

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Posted on February 21, 2013 by Lorelle

John Doan will be presenting a one hour seminar on the Harp Guitar, exploring the various styles and techniques associated with this historical string instrument at the Edinburgh Guitar and Music Festival. This is a premiere international event in Scotland bringing together a diverse group of musicians, artists, and music professionals to educate and entertain.

The seminar will be Sunday, May 26, 2013, and is a rare opportunity to see and study with the master of the harp guitar and other stringed instruments.

For more information, see the announcement of John Doan seminar at the Edinburgh Guitar And Music Festival and book your tickets immediately as this seminar is expected to fill fast.

More information on John’s upcoming European tour coming soon.

For more information on educational offerings, see John Doan’s workshops and classes and considering bringing one or more to your special event, festival, or group.

John Doan on the Harpolyre – Three-Necked Harp Guitar

Posted on April 12, 2012 by John Doan

My YouTube videos playing the harpolyre continue to get a lot of attention, and I wanted to share with you a little of the backstory of this amazing three-necked harp guitar.

In an effort to bring history to the harp guitar I discovered ten works for the harpolyre written by Fernando Sor, known as the Father of the Classical Guitar. The amazing thing about these compositions is not only are they extremely tender and lyric pieces, but they had never been played since 1830 and perhaps have never actually been heard in public until my recording “The Lost Music of Fernando Sor” along with my live performances and YouTube videos. I felt like Indiana Jones uncovering this forgotten music for a forgotten instrument.

I ordered the microfilm of this music in 1977 from the La Bibliothèque nationale de France (BnF) and with this extremely rare and beautiful music in my hands, I could only dream of finding one of a handful of existing harpolyres upon which to really recreate these beautiful musical pieces. After thirty years of the hunt, I was blessed to find a circa 1830 harpolyre that had been restored to near pristine condition.

Continue reading →

Fifth Annual Harp Guitar Retreat July 6-8, 2012

Posted on April 10, 2012 by John Doan

John Doan Harp Guitar Retreat Harpolyre Lessons

John Doan teaches the first harpolyre lesson in nearly 200 years at his Annual Harp Guitar Retreat

The 5th Annual Harp Guitar Retreat is set for July 6-8, 2012, in my home in Salem, Oregon.

If you are not familiar with the Harp Guitar Retreat, it is an intimate and stress-free environment where harp guitar aficionados gather for a weekend retreat for harp guitar all the way all the time.

The weekend includes instruction and inspiration on harp guitar playing skills. I’m available to the students throughout the entire weekend to work with them privately or in groups on the art of the harp guitar. Instruments are available on site for practice and experimenting with the different types of harp guitars. We keep the educational seminar limited to five to seven participants for in depth study and exploration of the guitar.

The schedule includes two daily group sessions and a half hour private session, an evening concert on Friday and Saturday, with an optional participant concert Sunday night. Fees include meals, lodging, private and group sessions, and concerts. Spouses and guests are also welcome to join us, and there are many things for them to do as well as you including hiking, tax free shopping, local wine tasting, hot tub, trampoline, and wireless Internet. It’s a lovely part of the state and there is so much to see and do, or you can just enjoy the beautiful mountain top view of the area and relax reading or napping in the garden.

Participants Fee: $685
Includes four nights stay, three private sessions, six group sessions, meals, evening -presentations, and various incidentals.

Additional guests Fee: $250
Includes four nights stay, meals, evening presentations, and various incidentals.

For a registration form or more information, see the Annual Harp Guitar Retreat page, call or write:

harpguitar@gmail.com
503-364-478
PO Box 5081, Salem, OR 97304

The Victorian Christmas Maestro – 700 Club Interview

Posted on November 17, 2011 by Lorelle

John Doan was interviewed on The 700 Club for their special on holiday music, “The Victorian Christmas Maestro.” The interview showcased John’s popular annual Victorian Christmas Concert, celebrating 25 years in 2011.

John played “Hark the Herald Angles Sing” on the crankorgan, “It Came Upon a Midnight Clear,” and “Go Tell It On the Mountain” featured on his CD Wrapped In White and Victorian Christmas DVD. He also showcased zithers, banjos, guitars, and other ancient stringed instruments.

The interview article features the transcription of the interview.

John Doan Interview in Austria

Posted on July 12, 2011 by Lorelle

After a concert in Wels, Austria, John Doan was interviewed about his Celtic Pilgrimage Concert. In this interview titled, “Sharing a Moment in Time Through Music,” John explains why he focused on Celtic ancient times and music. The background music is from his concert in Wels.

Celtic Pilgrimage Concert in Austria [video]

Posted on July 1, 2011 by Lorelle

Kedar Video recorded John Doan’s Celtic Pilgrimage Concert at the Kornspeicher in Wels, Austria. The guest singer was Rija. The video is 1 hour and 11 minutes.

John was interviewed after the concert, providing a behind-the-scenes story of how he came to create the Celtic music from his Eire – Isle of the Saints, Wayfarer, and A Celtic Pilgrimage albums.

Muriel Anderson and John Doan Perform at Harp Guitar Gathering [video]

Posted on November 19, 2010 by Lorelle

Muriel Anderson and John Doan performed at the 8th annual Harp Guitar Gathering. They played “The Gathering” from their new duet CD “Harp Guitars Under the Stars.”

Faerieworlds 2006 John Doan Concert

Posted on August 17, 2009 by Lorelle

Some fans caught some lovely moments during my Faerieworlds Harvest Festival concert and workshop on “Celtic Thin Places.”

The “Expanded” Harp Guitar – Adding Possiblities with Super-Trebles

Posted on January 17, 2008 by Lorelle

In Volume 7, Issue 1 of harpguitars.net, John Doan wrote the article, ‘The “Expanded” Harp Guitar – Adding Possibilities with Super-Trebles.’

The playing and making of harp guitars today is causing a re-examination of many basic design features that go into making a fine guitar-like instrument with an expanded range. The six-string guitar world is alive and vital today but with the addition of sub-basses and super-trebles entirely new dimensions and fundamental questions arise that are not being commonly discussed among six-string guitar builders. I have concluded that after reviewing and playing many prototype designs today that simply having skills as a six-string guitar builder is not going to result in a great harp guitar. Harp guitar construction in many ways is a very different activity than building a six-string instrument.

The article examines the construction, enhancement, and benefits the super-trebles add to the harp guitar as he discusses the theory and techniques used to create the Sullivan/Elliott harp guitar John developed.

Sullivan-Elliott Harp Guitar during manufacturing - photograph by Jeffrey Elliott

Sullivan-Elliott Harp Guitar - photograph by Jeffrey Elliott

The Inevitable Harp Guitar: Recurring Cycles in Guitar Evolution

Posted on October 9, 2007 by John Doan

“The Inevitable Harp Guitar- Recurring Cycles in Guitar Evolution” was published in Fingerstyle Guitar Magazine No.66, and is used here with permission. For more information on harp guitar history go to harpguitars.net.

Back in the early 1970′s in my college studies on guitar I was very taken by the music from the renaissance and baroque eras and was intrigued that much of the material was originally intended for instruments beyond six strings. Having played twelve-string guitar and a double neck electric guitar in bands multi-stringed instruments seemed familiar to me. Just out of school I got an eight-course renaissance lute as well as a fourteen-course theorbo to play original lute music and included them in my guitar concerts.

Over time I began to recognize all sorts of multi-stringed instruments in some music shops, museums, and in books on instruments and was curious that hardly anyone played them or even seemed to know much about them. There were various lute-guitars (a.k.a. “lutars”) from late 19th/early 20th century Germany (those who think poorly of them call them “gututes”), Basse-guitares or Schrammel guitars from Europe (especially from Sweden, France, Germany, Italy and Eastern Europe), and harp guitars from early 20th century America.

These guitars all had an extended bass range with up to twelve additional strings. I even found a harp guitar made by Chris Knutsen in Port Townsend, Washington from the late 1890′s with seven additional super-trebles attached to the right of the ordinary six strings of the guitar. In time I acquired a Gibson harp guitar (literally hundreds were made in Gibson’s first twenty years), a Dyer harp guitar (made by the Larson brothers and still popular today especially since adopted by such great players like Michael Hedges and Stephen Bennett, among others), and various lesser known makes. I finally commissioned a twenty-string harp guitar (perhaps the first modern constructed harp guitar design in our times) from John Sullivan and Jeffrey Elliott of Portland, Oregon in 1985 and haven’t looked back since. *(note: William Eaton was building amazing multi-stringed creations of his own even before this). Continue reading →

John Doan – Master of Harp Guitar, Composer, Storyteller

The Master Muse of Music and Story, Harp Guitar, Composer, Speaker, Instructor, Historian

Category Archives: Harp Guitar