As a harpist, I wanted to share my passion for music through concerts, teaching and writing.

I have always cherished the contact with students, especially with children, to whom I feel very close and who are the ones who have inspired me for most of my work. As a result, I published my first book, “ Play the harp with Charlie the Kitten ”. 

This method is aimed at young (and not so young) beginners who have no prior knowledge of music theory. The student learns everything simultaneously: notes, rhythm and the harp, in a very progressive and efficient way. Charlie is a mischievous little cat who accompanies the student in his progress, through short pieces and exercises that are easy to remember. Extra space is on each page for coloring and drawing. As a result of the enthusiastic encouragement of students and my fellow harp teachers, I have translated this book (originally written in French) into English, German, Italian and Spanish.

Then I wrote “ Les amis de Gribouille ”,  (Charlie’s Friends), an educational continuation of the method, together with the “Big Book of Exercises ”, a very complete book of harp technique which took many years to write.

Finally, a few pieces of chamber music and solos later… I’m delving into illustration! This unique project was born in the United States, where I joined my expatriate husband. This provided me not only with many opportunities to meet artists and harpists, to participate in beautiful concerts, in particular as a soloist with an orchestra, but also to draw and paint which I had always postponed! Then I enrolled in college to take drawing, painting, and children’s book illustration classes which gave me all the tools to carry out my musical story project,  “ L’anniversaire de Gribouille”. (Soon to be published in English as “Charlie’s Birthday”!)

In this tale, Charlie is growing up. He loves chocolate more than ever and shares happy moments of bonding with his friends! In order for everyone to tell this story to children, I have integrated QR codes in front of each score, which when scanned with a smartphone, allows the reader to listen to the music recorded on the harp.
I have also made available to musicians, young and old, these scores in several forms; piano, advanced harp version (simplified version is in the book), piano four hands, two harps, piano and flute or violin,… to download for free when you purchase the book, to play in class as part of an educational project, or at home, simply for fun!

Isabelle Frouvelle
For more information: www.isabelle-frouvelle.com