Berklee Harp

"Buy Now" to view and securely purchase the available paperback / digital editions at our publishing partner Hal Leonard LLC.

Related Online Courses & Programs

Music Theory 101

Pitch. Rhythm. Scales. Intervals. Chords. Harmony. If you're serious about music, these are fundamental concepts you need to understand and master. Music Theory 101 will set you on your way.

Specialist Music Theory Certificate Program

A solid understanding of music theory is no mere academic exercise but a common language that will enable you to concisely communicate with other musicians, a core component of any collaborative endeavor with music. From basics like reading and writing music notation and using scales to advanced topics such as modal and pentatonic melodies and harmonic tensions, you’ll leave this program with a concrete foundation in music. As a result, you’ll approach your next project with a full set of tools and much more confidence.

Become a better improvising harpist.

Learn basic chords, chord symbols, and harmonic progressions used in a wide range of music, including jazz, folk, and other styles. Whether you play pedal or lever harp, this book will help you to explore your personal musicianship and creativity. You will learn techniques for soloing and for accompanying yourself or others. The harmony exercises will help you to master chord progressions in several grooves, practice modulating freely and without fear, and improve your chord recognition and smooth voice leading. The accompanying audio tracks include demonstrations and play-alongs.

You will learn to:

Identify and play chords, such as triads, seventh chords, chords with tensions, and upper-structure triads
Play several standard chord progressions, using smooth voice leading
Develop your sense of time and groove
Play in styles such as jazz, blues, swing, bossa nova, and folk
Create harp arrangements more easily

“Jazz music is something of a jungle for classically-trained harpists. It feels like a world filled with unknown harmonies, wild rhythms, and where an obscure language is spoken between musicians in the know. Felice Pomeranz guides harpists across this unexplored terrain. She clears a path with her lucid explanations, smooths the way with accessible examples, and speaks a language understandable to harpists who have not been exposed to jazz traditions and practices.

Taming the difficulties, step by step, Felice Pomeranz takes each harpist by the hand and leads them towards mastery of this music. Generations of lever and pedal harpists will benefit from her tremendous work; we should see many more jazz harpists in the future! For this wonderful contribution, we thank Felice most warmly, and with great admiration.”

—Jakez Francois, Harpist, President of Camac Harps, France

“My dear friend and colleague Felice Pomeranz has written the book we were all waiting for! A clear approach for harpists of all backgrounds (jazz, pop, classical, etc.) to understanding harmony and chord progressions. Felice illustrates these concepts with accessible, musical exercises and songs. Her book is the “must have” bible for harpists who want to play contemporary styles.”

—Isabelle Perrin, Artistic Director, the World Harp Congress; Professor of Harp, Chair of the String Department at NMH (Norwegian Music Academy)

“I highly recommend Berklee Harp for anyone who wishes to explore the joys of improvisation and jazz harmonies on the harp. Ms Pomeranz gently guides her readers along a step-by-step musical journey, thoroughly explaining theory and gradually introducing increasingly complex harmonic and rhythmic ideas. She enhances her instruction with many useful exercises and her tone throughout is encouraging, conveying her obvious love of music.”

—Carol Robbins, Jazz Harpist, Composer, Arranger (Billy Childs’ Chamber Jazz Ensemble, etc.)

“It’s great to read a book that explains so much, and in such a friendly way. It’s easy-to-understand, but doesn’t ‘dumb anything down.’ Great for beginners as well as harpists looking for information (and practice ideas) on advanced chords, comping ideas, etc. I wish it had been around years ago!”

—Park Stickney, Jazz Harpist, Composer, Arranger, Educator

“Felice Pomeranz has created a marvelous addition to the harp repertoire with her new book, Berklee Harp. It is a sophisticated and thorough improvisational method for both the pedal and lever harp, including the basic theory training that is needed to be a good musician. I can’t wait to share it with my students.”

—Linda Wood Rollo, Harpist, Educator, Composer; Co-Author (with Susann McDonald) of Harp for Today

“This new, important book by Felice Pomeranz is a comprehensive guide to music theory for the harp. It will be excellent for lever and pedal harp players who want to go beyond the basics of music theory, and learn about real-world applications and scenarios. Anyone who follows Felice’s advice and diligently practices the many great exercises in this book will become a true master of harp theory, and be a much better musician as a result.”

—Sylvia Woods, Lever and Pedal Harp Author and Arranger (Sylvia Woods Harp Center)