This year is a good time to take the next step by adding a harpsichord to your studio. The chance to perform on a harpsichord can boost students' motivation, enhance their technical sensitivity, give them a broader understanding of Baroque performance practice, add a new alternative for ensemble playing, and create welcome variety in student recitals. A wide variety of harpsichords is available, and every teacher should carefully examine his needs before selecting an instrument. This harpsichord is easy to maintain. It needs tuning every two or three weeks, depending on the weather, and its unique jack design requires almost no adjustment.
Students approach the harpsichord eagerly, but their curiosity is often tempered with caution.
A simple five-finger scale is a good way to introduce them to the instrument. First, let them play the scale using only the eight-foot register. Explain how harpsichord strings are plucked as opposed to piano strings which are nit by hammers. Look inside both instruments and compare their respective mechanisms. Point out that although the harpsichord's pitch is the same as the piano's, the sound and feel are quite different.