Avsnitt
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I rarely have guests on the podcast, but today I’m so happy to be sharing the show with my dear friend and my former student turned colleague, harpist Candace Lark, If you’re a My Harp Mastery member or in our coaching program, you will already know and love Candace, because she is one of our Certified Coaches and helped me to found our Harp Quest program for young student harpists. But if you haven’t had the chance to meet her yet, you are in for a treat.
Candace isn’t only an extremely busy professional harpist, playing with all kinds of ensembles and in all kinds of venues (spoiler alert: she’ll tell us later about playing at Will Smith’s house), but she has another aspect to her musical life as well. Utilizing her years of performing and teaching experience, she created an online business called The Happy Musician Coaching. Her coaching helps musicians, not just harpists, create and meet specific goals while cultivating a mindset for musical success. That’s what we will be talking about today, success, specifically being successful as a gigging harpist by avoiding some of the career-ending pitfalls and mistakes. Let’s face it; sometimes knowing what NOT TO do is even more important than knowing what TO do.
If you’re an experienced harpist who’s played a lot of performances, you will find a lot of our conversation will resonate with you, and you will find some new ideas to help you make your gigging life easier. If you’re just starting out, Candace’s tips will save you tons of frustration and anxiety. And if you’ve never played a gig because you aren’t sure how the whole thing works, trust me, you absolutely need to hear this.
Be sure to listen to the entire interview, because at the end, Candace has a couple of great resources just for our podcast listeners.
Links to things I think you might be interested in that were mentioned in the podcast episode:
Download Candace’s Happy Musician Workbook, free for podcast listeners! Special for podcast listeners! get 50% off a Contract Consultation with Candace when you use the code HARPMASTERY24 (all caps) Harpmastery.comGet involved in the show! Send your questions and suggestions for future podcast episodes to me at [email protected]
LINKS NOT WORKING FOR YOU? FInd all the show resources here: https://www.harpmastery.com/blog/Episode-0162
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They say that only two things in life are certain, death and taxes. But if you’re a harpist you know there is a third certainty; at some point, often at the wrong point, you’re going to break a string.
I remember one performance with my flutist friend Joan when one of my high strings broke as I played it at the end of a glissando near the end of the piece we were playing. When we had finished the piece, I began to change the string while she joked with the audience that the string had broken on time and in tune. We had been playing concerts together for years at that point so she also gave the harp talk to the audience while I finished changing and tuning the string.
Not all string breakage is so convenient, of course. A few years ago, I was playing a big flashy solo piece as part of a program with various performers. The piece was Salzedo’s “Variations on a Theme in the Old Style,” The piece is in G Major and it’s about 12 minutes long. I was less than a minute into the piece when I broke the last string I would have expected to break, the lowest wire G string on the harp. In many pieces, that wouldn’t have been an issue, but this string was part of every variation from beginning to end, and in fact, was in the last chord of the piece. It was critical.
Two thoughts flashed simultaneously through my mind. First, I’m going to have to stop and fix this string. Second, I had not only broken a string, but I had broken the most important rule for any harpist playing anywhere. Instead of having all my strings with me backstage, I had left my wire string set in my car which was in the parking garage a couple of blocks away. Not good.
While a broken string is a fact of every harpist’s life, it doesn’t have to be a disaster, even in a performance, as long as you have the right replacement string and you know how to tie the all-important knot. On today’s show, we’ll review string care, string storage, the different kinds of strings and which to choose for your harp, and I’ll even give you some knot-tying tips. All of these are really important as we here in the northern hemisphere come into high summer, which is a season of high string breakage.
But how did I resolve my broken string dilemma? Here’s a hint: it was solved in a most surprising and simple way and without running to the parking garage. I’ll tell you the whole story later in the show. As they say, stay tuned!
Links to things I think you might be interested in that were mentioned in the podcast episode:
Plan ahead for some focused harp time. Register for the Fall Retreat
Related resource What’s Your SPF- String Protection Formula? blog post
Harpmastery.com
Get involved in the show! Send your questions and suggestions for future podcast episodes to me at [email protected]
LINKS NOT WORKING FOR YOU? FInd all the show resources here: https://www.harpmastery.com/blog/Episode-161
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Saknas det avsnitt?
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Maybe you’ve noticed or maybe you haven’t, but these podcasts are organized into three different categories. One category is “Practice and Performing” and another is “Music and Meaning.” The third category is “Technique and Musicianship.” Technique is one of those self-explanatory items, but musicianship probably needs a little more description.
A common dictionary definition of musicianship is “the skill or artistry involved in performing music.” Other definitions include the word “knowledge” along with skill and artistry. Musicianship as a category is so broad that it actually encompasses everything about playing music except for technique, although technique obviously has a role to play in musicianship as well.
I like to define musicianship as the craft of music. It is the part of playing music that is common to musicians whatever instrument they play, or whether they sing or compose. For us harpists, it’s everything about music that is not specifically related to the harp. It’s note reading and music theory, rhythm and expression, music history and interpretation. There is so much to musicianship that it can feel overwhelming. Where do you begin to start developing your personal musicianship skills?
For our discussion today, I want to start with two important ideas. First, you already have a level of musicianship skills. You’re not starting from scratch. Developing your musicianship is a process, just like developing your repertoire or your technique.
And secondly, I want to offer a new way to consider musicianship. It’s a slightly different perspective, one we will work with today that will help you identify specific things you can do and are already doing to become the musician - and harpist - you want to be.
Links to things I think you might be interested in that were mentioned in the podcast episode:
Join the Hub to access our Live Monday Warm-Ups. Related resource One Book, 10 Ways to Become a Better Musician blog post Harpmastery.comGet involved in the show! Send your questions and suggestions for future podcast episodes to me at [email protected]
LINKS NOT WORKING FOR YOU? FInd all the show resources here: https://www.harpmastery.com/blog/Episode-160
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At one of our Harp Mastery® retreats several years ago. I presented a workshop called “Learn Anything Fast.” That sounds like a pretty ambitious topic, and I imagine that some of the retreaters were a little skeptical. After all, learning a piece of music takes time. But my point in that workshop was this: does it have to take as much time as it’s taking you now?
There’s no golden rule about how long it should take you to learn a piece. That’s something students would often love to know, and it would be wonderful if each piece came with a guarantee, like all those infomercials have: Learn this piece in 30 days or your money back!
There is no “30 day guarantee” for a piece, because each harpist approaches each piece with a different set of individual skills and strengths. Each piece requires specific skills, either technical skills or musicianship skills or both. How long it takes you to learn a piece is a combination of the demands of the piece, your own skill development relative to those demands and the systems or learning habits you bring to the piece. That’s where I think we can make big changes, the kind of changes that could drastically shorten your learning timeline for any piece.
So on today's show, we are going to look at what exactly goes into learning a piece, skills you already have in your pocket that can help you learn that piece faster, and I’ll give you some tips to tweak your learning system so you can leapfrog ahead and start playing that piece sooner. In one day? Maybe. Let’s find out.
Links to things I think you might be interested in that were mentioned in the podcast episode:
Our next Harp Mastery® retreat is in Kissimmee, Florida from October 9 to October 13. Learn more and reserve your spot here.
Related resource Practicing Differently: 4 Steps to Faster Learning blog post
Harpmastery.com
Get involved in the show! Send your questions and suggestions for future podcast episodes to me at [email protected]
LINKS NOT WORKING FOR YOU? FInd all the show resources here: https://www.harpmastery.com/blog/Episode-159
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In a world of sticky notes, Gorilla Glue and tape that can hold a leaky boat together, why can’t we make a piece of music stick in our fingers?
Does this sound familiar? We sit down at the harp on Monday with fresh spirit and energy and we dig into the music we want to learn. Tuesday we repeat the process, feeling very virtuous. On Wednesday, we are a little disappointed that we don’t see any progress from our practice. Thursday, we decide that it just needs a little more effort. On Friday, it seems like our fingers have forgotten everything we’ve been trying to teach them, so we take the rest of the weekend off and hope that next week will be better.
And if we’re trying to memorize a piece, it can feel even more frustrating. It takes so long to see any progress. Our music just doesn’t seem to stick.
We can put the blame in lots of places: the music is hard, we don’t have enough practice time, we’re too distracted to focus, we’re too old. Any of those things could be contributing factors. However, there are three important components in stickiness. One of them we understand; one of them we reluctantly accept. And the last one is the one I want to talk about today.
The three factors are time, persistence, which I am going to call pushy patience, and observation, which I want you to think about as active understanding. The three of these factors together will make your music sticky whether you are memorizing it or not. They aren’t hard to understand in a theoretical sense, but you’ll want to hear the practice strategies I use to help my music stick, so that yours will stick too.
Links to things I think you might be interested in that were mentioned in the podcast episode:
Chorale Challenge is wrapping up! Send in your entry by posting it in the Week 5 Challenge Post in the Hub or emailing it to [email protected].
Related resource The Case for Memorization: Why It Matters More Than You Think blog post
Harpmastery.com
Get involved in the show! Send your questions and suggestions for future podcast episodes to me at [email protected]
LINKS NOT WORKING FOR YOU? FInd all the show resources here: https://www.harpmastery.com/blog/Episode-158
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I was going through some old music the other day and came across a notation that made me smile. It was written in my best elementary school cursive script and read, “Thumbelina’s having trouble with her thumb.” I don’t even remember what piece of music it was on, but it could have been on just about any one. I always had trouble with my thumbs. In fact, most of my music has the words “Thumbs up” in my teacher’s handwriting somewhere on the page.
I am double jointed, not to any circus freak level but in the more or less usual way. My thumbs bend backwards at the first knuckle. It’s not a big deal, not unless you’re a harpist, that is. It took me until I was sixteen to finally learn how to control my thumbs and have them play properly.
What I learned in the process was exactly how crucial our thumbs are for our harp playing. Our thumbs actually have the ability to free our fingers to be relaxed and supple; used another way, our thumbs can just about immobilize our hands. They can play ringing melody notes or trip us up in a scale. A simple repositioning of your thumb can make all your other fingers sound better.
So we are all thumbs, or maybe it would be better to say, everything you need to know about your thumb, on the podcast today. We’ll talk about how the position of your thumb affects the rest of your fingers and how a “long and strong” thumb can make everything you play a little easier and a lot prettier. And I’ll share 10 things you need to know about how your thumb works and how to make it work better.
Links to things I think you might be interested in that were mentioned in the podcast episode:
Join the My Harp Mastery community today. Watch our Unveiling Party video on YouTube to check out our new website. Related resource: Beautiful Thumbs or All Thumbs? blog post Harpmastery.comGet involved in the show! Send your questions and suggestions for future podcast episodes to me at [email protected]
LINKS NOT WORKING FOR YOU? FInd all the show resources here: https://www.harpmastery.com/blog/Episode-157
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Are you a free spirit, a rebel? Or maybe you just hate being told what to do?
I have to admit that sometimes one or more of those labels fits me. Most of the time I toe the line but there are moments when I just don’t want to do the thing I know I should do. Now I’m not talking about anything illegal, immoral or dangerous. It’s more like sometimes I just don’t feel like practicing. Or maybe I’d rather play the new piece of music I just bought instead of slogging through those four measures that are giving me so much grief. Going over and over those four measures doesn’t feel like making beautiful music. It doesn’t feel creative, and even though it may make me feel a little virtuous when I’m finished, it doesn’t always bring me joy in the moment.
Because playing the harp is not only as important to me as breathing but it’s my job, I know I need to buckle down and do the important work, and so I do. But that doesn’t mean that I have to shut my more creative side in a box somewhere. It does mean finding ways to nurture my more artistic side, feed those creative impulses and get my work done too.
I’ve worked with students who struggle with trying to tame their own free, creative spirits and most of the time, trying to tame it doesn’t work. Creativity shouldn’t be, and truly isn’t, a force that hinders your practice. It can fuel your practice, helping you make progress faster at the same time that you’re enjoying it more. So if you’re one of those free spirits who resists having a practice plan, or just has trouble sticking to one, I’m here to help. I want to help you get a new perspective on what your practice could be like if it didn’t feel so much like homework and not like making music. This is also going to help those of you who battle shiny object syndrome and have stacks of music you’ve bought because you heard it and wanted to play it NOW. (Actually, I have to admit I fit into this category myself.) And if you are on the other side of the fence and the practice plan is no problem for you, but you’re not sure how to feel more creative, you’re going to find some interesting ideas in this show too.
Links to things I think you might be interested in that were mentioned in the podcast episode:
Come to our Unveiling Party for the new My Harp Mastery website! Join us live in the Harp Mastery® Hub or on YouTube on Friday, May 17, 2024 at 11:00 AM Eastern time. Related resource Music Practice for the Free Spirit blog post Harpmastery.comGet involved in the show! Send your questions and suggestions for future podcast episodes to me at [email protected]
LINKS NOT WORKING FOR YOU? FInd all the show resources here: https://www.harpmastery.com/blog/Episode-156
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Have you ever had one of those moments when you wonder if you’ve been doing it all wrong? It might be something you have taken for granted, a habit maybe, or a process, something you thought was the perfect system. You always have done it that way, but suddenly you have a moment of doubt. Maybe it felt like a blinding flash of clarity; the clouds part and suddenly you see the thing in a new light. But just as quickly that clarity fades, and you are left with a nagging feeling that you’re missing something important.
Maybe it’s just me. But I don’t think so. I think we all encounter things that we thought were working, until we see that maybe they aren’t.
I think that many of us actually feel that way about our harp technique. We go along just fine for a while and then we hit a wall. There’s a piece or a performance that shakes things up and all of a sudden our technique doesn’t seem so trustworthy any more. We need to strengthen it, to sharpen our skills, maybe even rethink our technique altogether.
I think that’s the right time to take a step back and look at what we really want from our technique. I’m not just talking about playing faster or with more control or having fingers that work better under pressure. Of course, we want all that. But at the most fundamental level, we don’t want a stronger, more reliable technique itself. We want what that technique will do for us. We want our fingers to make beautiful music.
So today, we’re going to talk about technique a little differently. We are going to look at what our technique should do for us and then look at any changes we might want to make to our technique through that lens. And I have a new way to consider this, with the three s’s. I’ll give you some practice ideas too, and I promise - no exercises today!
Links to things I think you might be interested in that were mentioned in the podcast episode:
Join the Chorale Challenge and Contest in the Harp Mastery® Hub! Related resource Three Disciplines of a Trustworthy Technique blog post Harpmastery.comGet involved in the show! Send your questions and suggestions for future podcast episodes to me at [email protected]
LINKS NOT WORKING FOR YOU? FInd all the show resources here: https://www.harpmastery.com/blog/Episode-155
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Johann Sebastian Bach is a name every musician knows. He is revered as a composer whose music defined musical practices in the Baroque era and whose compositions still influence music and musicians today. Learning about his music and learning to play his music is required study for any music major.
But we harpists do feel a little neglected. We play one of the instruments that Bach did not write any music for. Of course, that doesn’t stop us from borrowing extensively from his keyboard music, his violin and cello sonatas and partitas and his lute music. Much of Bach’s music is well-suited to the harp with rippling scale passages or rich chords.
My first in-depth encounters with Bach’s music were in my piano lessons when I was about 12 years old. My teacher was insistent about how the preludes and inventions I was studying should be played: how long each note should be, how the music was made up of melodies played together, or how the harmonies moved in progression. It was my first exposure to the real building blocks of music, besides simple key signatures and chords. Somehow Bach’s music seemed to define and explain much of the rest of the music I encountered.
In my studies in college, at The Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, I learned much more about the inner workings of Bach’s compositions and the lasting impact it has had, not just in terms of the wealth of beautiful music he wrote, but also in the effects his music had on every composer since his time.
What I want to share with you today is not simply how learning more about Bach will make you a better harpist and all-around musician, but specifically how three familiar pieces by Bach can work together to help you improve your finger agility and evenness, your chords, your melodic flow, and your understanding of a couple of key musical concepts. You probably already know and play at least one of these pieces, and possibly all three. What I want you to come away with today is a new understanding of how these pieces are constructed and how to use this information to become an even better harpist.
Links to things I think you might be interested in that were mentioned in the podcast episode:
Fall Retreat registration is open now. Related Resource: Podcast Episode 109 Why Other Musicians Study Bach and Why You Should Too Related resource Bach and My Friend Edward Aldwell blog post Harpmastery.comGet involved in the show! Send your questions and suggestions for future podcast episodes to me at [email protected]
LINKS NOT WORKING FOR YOU? FInd all the show resources here: https://www.harpmastery.com/blog/Episode-154
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Today’s podcast is all about tempo, and I have to start by saying that tempo is a funny thing. We define it with numbers or with the familiar Italian words, or less familiar French or German ones, and it still seems elusive.
Much of the time we try to pin a piece of music down to a number, a mathematically precise ratio of beats per minute. Perhaps the composer put it there as a guide for the performer. Perhaps it was added by an editor, an arranger, or a teacher. But it still doesn’t necessarily satisfy us. In fact, everything about this feels wrong. How is it possible to limit a piece of music, a creation that lives in a single moment, to one number?
I remember reading the liner notes to a CD recording by legendary pianist Arthur Rubinstein. This recording was made toward the end of his life. He was already in his 90’s, but the producers of this recording wanted to preserve Rubinstein’s interpretations of piano masterworks for generations to come who would not have heard him. The producer writes in the liner notes how he was moved to tears by Rubinstein’s performance in the recording studio of the first movement of Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata. He felt he had witnessed a definitive performance.
The next morning, however, Rubinstein returned to the studio for that day’s recording session and asked to re-record the Beethoven, saying it was too slow. The change in tempo was apparently barely discernible, if at all, to a listener, but it made a difference to Rubinstein.
What made the tempo difference important to Rubinstein? Clearly it wasn’t the metronome mark. Beethoven didn’t include one; the movement is only marked “Adagio sostenuto” and so a range of speeds would seem to be allowable. So from this we can conclude that tempo is more than a metronome marking. But what is it and how do we know what tempo is right or wrong?
Do we have to play a piece at the metronome marking, particularly if we can’t play it at that speed or we don’t think it sounds right at that speed? What do we do if there is no metronome marking? How do we know how fast or slow the piece should go? With so many recordings available to us, it is clear that harpists can play the same piece at very different speeds. Does that make some of the performances correct and the others not correct?
Okay, I just threw a bunch of difficult questions at you, but you don’t have to come up with the answers; that’s my job. I think it’s important, though, that you have a clear idea of what the parameters are for finding your tempo for a piece, a tempo that you can play that sounds appropriate for the piece. In fact, that’s the secret right there. But I have lots more ideas and practical advice for you on this topic so don’t go anywhere.
Links to things I think you might be interested in that were mentioned in the podcast episode:
Harp Mastery® Fall Retreat registration is open now!
Related resource Tempo is Not a Number blog post
Harpmastery.com
Get involved in the show! Send your questions and suggestions for future podcast episodes to me at [email protected]
LINKS NOT WORKING FOR YOU? FInd all the show resources here: https://www.harpmastery.com/blog/Episode-153
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When I was preparing for this week’s show, I couldn’t help being reminded of a couple of tired old jokes.
Patient: Doctor, it hurts when I do this.
Doctor: Then don’t do that.And,
Patient: Doctor, it hurts and I don’t know what’s wrong.
Doctor: Take two aspirin and call me in the morning.When we’re thinking about our harp lessons, we may sometimes think of it like a doctor-patient relationship. Something is wrong with our playing and we want to get it fixed. Give me the prescription and let me go home.
Or we may think of our lessons in a less transactional, more relationship based-way. Our teacher isn’t just our expert harp guide but our friend as well. We look forward to our lessons as a time to reconnect with our harp and with our teacher too.
While both of those scenarios may be accurate to some extent, neither one truly describes what a music lesson is or should be. If our lessons are transactional - just give me the scrip, doc - we’re missing out on the deeper experience and knowledge our teacher can offer us. If our lessons are mainly relational, we may find ourselves meandering through a succession of pieces and wondering if we’re really making progress. Fortunately, most teacher-student interactions have a little of the best of each of those scenarios, plus a whole lot more beneficial instruction and guidance.
But all that can sour quickly if you have a bad lesson. That’s what we’re going to discuss today.
First, let me say that I don’t like the term “bad lesson.” Oh, yes, I had plenty of them in my student days, the kind of lesson that would leave me in tears, frustrated, angry and wanting to quit the harp. From the perspective I have now, though, with decades of teaching experience, I can see that most of those bad lessons were the best learning opportunities. They were the times when my teacher’s expertise and guidance made the most difference for me. They were the lessons that taught me the most about harp playing and being a harpist. I simply didn’t have the perspective at the time to understand it.
I believe adult students bring a more sophisticated and mature viewpoint to their lessons and usually, so-called “bad lessons” aren't an issue. But they still happen. Occasionally you have a lesson that leaves you feeling demoralized or frustrated, and that’s what I want to talk about. I want to help you sort out the facts from the feelings, help you set clear expectations for your lesson outcomes, and give you my not-so-secret tips for preparing for a lesson so you know every lesson will be a good one. And I won’t ignore those bad lessons; I’ll share my best pep talk with you too.
Links to things I think you might be interested in that were mentioned in the podcast episode:
Certified Coaching registration is open. Find out more and register here. Related resource Never Have a Bad Lesson Again blog post Harpmastery.comGet involved in the show! Send your questions and suggestions for future podcast episodes to me at [email protected]
LINKS NOT WORKING FOR YOU? FInd all the show resources here: https://www.harpmastery.com/blog/Episode-152
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It’s high time I got up on my soapbox. It’s not often I do a rant on the podcast, but there’s an issue that has me so fired up that I had to talk about it with you.
I believe it’s the result of how we are learning now. There are so many opportunities to learn online, everything from individual live lessons to Youtube videos to video courses to coaching to online masterclasses. And before you mention it, yes, I am obviously a contributor to those online learning opportunities, which makes me part of the problem. I’d rather be part of the solution. Hence, the reason for today’s rant.
You may have heard me talk about the leveling up involved in playing four-finger chords if you’ve been playing mostly three-finger chords. I’m not changing my opinion on that.
But recently I’ve seen that the main stumbling block for many students isn’t just the addition of one more note to the chord. It’s actually more about the way their technique has developed. Their entire technical approach, particularly in the right hand, is based on playing three-finger chords. This means that when they begin to play four-finger chords, their entire technique must change. And with so much learning happening online, particularly without the personal attention of an experienced teacher, harp students don’t know they’re doing anything wrong.
I’ve also very recently come across some hand injuries that could be attributed to the development of a three-finger technique. This is the part that has finally pushed me to think about this topic in a more comprehensive way.
In short, a technique based on three-finger playing can:
Impede your technical progress, especially if you are an intermediate level player.
Cause stress from incorrect technique which could lead to injury.
Prevent you from learning more advanced music.
That sounds to me like a good reason for a rant!
Links to things I think you might be interested in that were mentioned in the podcast episode:
You’re invited to my special Live Monday Warm-Up on Four Finger Techniques on Monday, April 22nd at 11 AM Eastern. Join me in the Harp Mastery® Hub or watch on Youtube.
Related resource How to Play Four Note Chords Without Finger Fumbles blog post
Harpmastery.com
Get involved in the show! Send your questions and suggestions for future podcast episodes to me at [email protected]
LINKS NOT WORKING FOR YOU? FInd all the show resources here: https://www.harpmastery.com/blog/Episode-151
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This podcast episode goes live on April Fool’s Day, and I probably couldn’t have picked a more appropriate day to release it. I didn’t do it on purpose, but today’s topic lines up very nicely with April Fool's. It’s about the fool’s game of self-criticism.
I think the most dangerous pitfall for harpists, or for any musician, doesn’t have to do with performance nerves or losing your place or not having a strong technique or being able to sight read. I think it is being overly or inappropriately critical of our efforts.
Now before you say that you are skilled at keeping your perspective and you don’t let your drive to achieve lead to frustration, I want you to stop and really think. I run across harpists every day, every time I teach a webinar or an intensive, who describe themselves as perfectionists. Most of these harpists know that their perfectionism is slowing them down, possibly even preventing them from enjoying their playing or sharing it with others. Maybe that sounds familiar to you.
Other harpists get caught up in the “shoulds;” I should be playing this piece or working on these skills. Maybe that much is true, but when they start telling themselves they should be better than they are by now, they’ve started down the slippery slope.
Even if this kind of negativity isn’t a regular part of your harp life, it still may show up from time to time and cause you to doubt your skills, your musicality or even if you should keep playing the harp at all. Obviously, that’s not a good thing.
So today, I’m going to discuss self-criticism, how it shows up in our practice and our playing. No more fool’s game, playing around with criticism and calling it “constructive.” We will reframe the way you talk to yourself so you can keep the negativity at bay. Plus, I will give you some strategies that will help you combat it so you can keep your outlook growth-oriented and positive, even when things aren’t going the way you want.
Links to things I think you might be interested in that were mentioned in the podcast episode:
New Hub Challenge for April: Every Day’s a Play Day Related resource Healthy Practice for Harpists: Nourish Your Body, Mind and Music blog post Harpmastery.comGet involved in the show! Send your questions and suggestions for future podcast episodes to me at [email protected]
LINKS NOT WORKING FOR YOU? FInd all the show resources here: https://www.harpmastery.com/blog/Episode-150
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We harpists take our finger placement seriously. Getting the right fingers on the right strings at the right time is paramount. One misplaced finger and a whole passage can go wobbly.
One of the quotes of Johann Sebastian Bach that comes to my mind at this moment is this one: “It's easy to play any musical instrument: all you have to do is touch the right key at the right time and the instrument will play itself.”
Bach was known for his sense of humor and so, without knowing the context for the quote, I like to think that this was not intended to downplay the difficulty of playing an instrument but was more tongue in cheek. But it’s still a little depressing.
Our physical connection to the harp strings is key, not just for playing the right notes, but for our speed, our tone, our range of expression, our relaxation, even our confidence. When our fingers are too loosely placed on the strings, they can slide up or down or even off the string. This makes for uneven rhythms, a weak sound and inconsistency. Of course, if we grip too hard, we end up with too much tension to play well.
I’ve often wished for magical mini-magnets that would stick my fingers to the right strings at the right time so I could play without concern, almost carefree. But I had wonderful teachers who taught me that I didn’t need magic magnets; I just needed to make my placing stick.
That’s our topic for today’s show, sticky placing. If you’ve never thought about your placing as being sticky or otherwise, you’re going to find this discussion interesting and probably very enlightening. I’ll talk about what sticky placing is (other than a term I think I made up), what it can help you with and how to practice it. The practice techniques may even be ones you’ve heard of and not used because you didn’t see the point. I hope to change all that for you today, so stay tuned.
Links to things I think you might be interested in that were mentioned in the podcast episode:
Hub Challenge wraps up this week. Finish strong! Related resource 5 Finger Foibles - Fix Them Now! blog post Harpmastery.comGet involved in the show! Send your questions and suggestions for future podcast episodes to me at [email protected]
LINKS NOT WORKING FOR YOU? FInd all the show resources here: https://www.harpmastery.com/blog/Episode-149
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Call me crazy if you want. I know your ideal day might be a day at the spa, or sitting on the beach with a good book, or going for a hike in the mountains. Although those all sound good to me, my ideal day - or at least one of my ideal days - would be a day when I could practice all day. A day when I only had to practice would be a true luxury for me. That's really not that crazy. I think a lot of harpists would feel that way. Maybe you would too.
Of course, the reality is that most of us are too busy most of the time for that ideal practice day. Usually we are sandwiching practice in between the other parts of our lives and often our harp playing ends up taking a back seat to tasks that are more urgent or the care we give to others. And when we do have time to practice, we don’t feel that we have time to get to everything on our practice list.
It’s not uncommon to feel a little frustrated that we can’t spend the time we would like to with the harp. We sense that our progress is hampered by a lack of consistency or time. On the flip side, too much practice can actually be physically damaging, but it still would be nice to have an uninterrupted hour to really focus on our work or even just enjoy playing.
The solution seems to be to use the time we have, to practice in those small chunks of time in between other tasks or obligations. Achieving focus and getting something accomplished in fifteen or twenty minutes isn’t easy, though. Being realistic, these small steps are often all we have.What I’d like to talk about with you today is how to stop thinking of your short practice spans as a practice compromise.
Rather than thinking of these practice sessions as too short, we are going to give them a makeover. We will call them “practice bursts,” and they can be valuable practice opportunities when we use them strategically. I’ll show you how to get in gear and focus more quickly so you can feel that you are still on the path to progress, even if you have to take small steps. And I will show you 10 ways to make your practice bursts effective, fun and satisfying.
Links to things I think you might be interested in that were mentioned in the podcast episode:
Our “Jigging It” Hub Challenge is in Week 3! Join us! Get your copy of “Fifteen 15 Minute Practice Ideas” PDF Related resource Yes You Can! 12 Things to Do When You Can’t Practice blog post Harpmastery.comLINKS NOT WORKING FOR YOU? FInd all the show resources here: https://www.harpmastery.com/blog/Episode-148
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My husband’s family is German, and even before we were married I discovered that one of the things I had long heard about German housewives was true, at least in my mother-in-law’s house: Germans take a clean house seriously.
By American standards my own house isn’t filthy. I keep it fairly neat and decently clean. But my mother-in-law saw clean in a completely different way. There was no dust in her house, not even in the corners under the beds. She used paste wax to keep all the wood surfaces gleaming. And the only exceptions she made to the “keep your feet off the furniture” rule, were her grandsons. Cleaning didn’t just mean mopping the floor; it meant scrubbing it on your hands and knees.
So why am I talking about this on the podcast? Because just like there are different levels of clean, there are different levels of knowing a piece. Sometimes we find this out the hard way, when we think we know a piece and then try to play it for someone else and discover that we lose our place or can’t make it musical or even forget how it starts.
One of the ways we learn our music at a deeper level is by studying it away from the harp. You know the basic idea: listen to recordings, study the printed music and look beyond the playing of the notes to what the notes might actually mean. Just like deep cleaning, this approach helps you reach the places that regular practice doesn’t reach, like seeing patterns or chord progressions or repeated sections. But studying your music can do much more for you than that, as long as you know what to look and listen for. It can actually help you develop important skills that will apply beyond one particular piece to all your harp playing. Plus, it’s not nearly as taxing as scrubbing a floor.
So on today’s show, I will show you what to look for, what to listen for and how you can speed up your learning with some specific study methods. You don’t need specialized knowledge of music theory to do this, and you don’t need to take a lot of time. But I can pretty much guarantee that you will find this both interesting to do and rewarding. And it’s fun too!
Links to things I think you might be interested in that were mentioned in the podcast episode:
Last chance for the Finish It Intensive Join the March Hub Challenge, “Jigging It” Related resource The Aeolian Harp blog post Harpmastery.comGet involved in the show! Send your questions and suggestions for future podcast episodes to me at [email protected]
LINKS NOT WORKING FOR YOU? FInd all the show resources here: https://www.harpmastery.com/blog/Episode-147
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See if you can guess the answer to this.
What can sometimes feel gently rocking like a boat on a lake on a calm summer’s day, and other times puts a lively spring into your step? It isn’t hard, but it’s never simple. You’ve almost certainly encountered it in your harp music, and even though you may be able to play it easily, you may not be able to explain it. You might think of it as double trouble or as a triple threat in the way it compounds the challenges in your music. Can you guess what it is? If you’re the type who likes to figure things out, pause the podcast here for a moment and then come back when you’re ready for the answer.
Ready? Here’s one final hint: the answer is a meter signature, and I know it’s one you know. Maybe you’ve guessed it. The meter signature or time signature I mean is 6/8. I know you’ve seen it and played it. “Greensleeves” or “What Child Is This?” is a melody that is most often written in 6/8. It has that gentle lilt to it, like the rocking boat I mentioned a moment ago. Irish jigs - think “The Irish Washerwoman” - are very often in 6/8 time. That’s the other side of 6/8, the rollicking dancing side.
Today I’d like to discuss some of the important characteristics of 6/8, not just how to count it, but why we count it that way. We’ll touch on the other time signatures that share those same attributes, ones that may puzzle you when you first encounter them like 6/4 or 12/8 or 3/2. We’ll also talk about the practicalities of these meters, what kind of fingering or placing strategies are best and why. And along the way, we’ll clear up some of the music terminology that may be confusing. I want you to come away from the episode feeling like you’ve learned something useful and practical, something that will help you play the harp better not just today, but over the long term too.
Links to things I think you might be interested in that were mentioned in the podcast episode:
Our Finish It! Intensive starts next week. Learn more and register now! Our new March Hub Challenge starts today in the Hub. Related resource Got Rhythm? blog post Harpmastery.comGet involved in the show! Send your questions and suggestions for future podcast episodes to me at [email protected]
LINKS NOT WORKING FOR YOU? FInd all the show resources here: https://www.harpmastery.com/blog/Episode-146
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I am always interested to hear what first attracted harpists to the harp. It’s fascinating to learn the many ways that the harp can draw a potential student. My own story is that I heard the harp on the radio and told my parents that was what I wanted to do. The important part of this story for me is that it wasn’t a gold harp or a pretty dress that drew me to the harp, but the sound that pulled me in. Naturally, there’s nothing wrong with the gold harp or the glamor look, but the sound was - and is - important to me.
Whether or not it was the harp’s sound that first attracted you, sound is important to us. So why don’t we spend more of our time listening to our playing? We devote a lot of energy to reading the notes and teaching our fingers to play the right strings. Somehow there isn’t always time to just spend listening. But it’s an important habit and one that we are going to spend a little time with today.
This is a playalong episode, meaning that I will play and you will be able to play along with me. I’m going to lead you through a warm-up that will help you focus on your fingers and your listening skills. There’s no printed music for this; just follow my directions. If you’ve participated in one of my Live Monday Warm-Ups, then you know how this works.
I realize that podcast listening time is probably not usually harp time for you, but even if you’re not at your harp, you can still benefit from listening now. And of course, you can come back to this episode and play along with me later. However, if you’re driving or doing something that requires your concentration, perhaps anything more focused than stuffing envelopes, be sure to keep your wits about you.
Links to things I think you might be interested in that were mentioned in the podcast episode:
Register for the Finish It! Live Intensive.
Related resource, The Practice of Listening: Why It’s Essential for Every Musician blog post
Harpmastery.com
Get involved in the show! Send your questions and suggestions for future podcast episodes to me at [email protected]
LINKS NOT WORKING FOR YOU? FInd all the show resources here: https://www.harpmastery.com/blog/Episode-145
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Let’s take this as a given: our technique is at the heart of everything we do at the harp. Intellectually, we know this to be true, but that doesn’t prevent us from being surprised when we run into a passage in a piece we’re learning that our fingers just can’t manage. What the heck? We’ve been doing our daily exercises and most of the time our technique is up to the challenges in any new piece. So what happened this time?
If you’ve had that experience, rest assured, my friend, that you are not alone. We’ve all been there. Sometimes a moment like that is just a wake up call, reminding us that we’ve slacked off a bit and we’ve been taking our technique work a little too casually. Technique practice done correctly requires our attention and focus. It also requires a plan for growth.
The basic drills or exercises we rely on are scales, arpeggios and chords. In theory, keeping those skills fresh should enable us to play about three quarters of anything we encounter. But I don’t have to tell you that’s not the way it seems to work out. Keeping those skills sharp is just the beginning. We need to keep them growing too.
It makes sense when you take a moment to consider. As we become more experienced harpists, we become more skilled too, which means that we are likely playing more music and more complex music too. If our technical proficiency isn’t growing with the rest of our skill set, we will find ourselves blocked by passages or entire pieces that are beyond the limits of our fingers. You’re with me so far, right? Good, because there’s only one conclusion to draw from this, and it’s one you may not be thrilled to hear. We have to keep challenging our technique so that it keeps up with the music we want it to serve. We have to keep looking for the next level of technical improvement in order to feel confident in the next level of music that we want to play.
Simply put, our technique is our great enabler; it makes playing our music possible. This also means it can be our biggest roadblock, one that will prevent us from playing our music or at least from playing it with the artistry we want. So what do we do? We reach beyond the everyday technique work that doesn’t challenge us and look for some ways to level up our technique to keep pace with our music. So on today’s show, I’ll teach you the three areas to consider leveling up and how to go about it. Just remember, finger freedom is musical freedom!
Links to things I think you might be interested in that were mentioned in the podcast episode:
Register for the Finish It! Live Intensive
The Magic of 1% Webinar Replay is LIVE on the Harp Mastery® home page.
Join our February Hub “Express Yourself” Challenge
Harpmastery.com
Get involved in the show! Send your questions and suggestions for future podcast episodes to me at [email protected]
LINKS NOT WORKING FOR YOU? FInd all the show resources here: https://www.harpmastery.com/blog/Episode-144
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Today I’m going to tell you how to improve anything. I know that sounds like a tall order, but we harpists are all about improvement. Every day in every way we want to get better and better. Many of us like this idea too: slow and steady wins the race. Yes, but remember tortoises live for a very long time. They can afford to take only the slow and steady approach. Some of us have a little shorter time frame in mind.
I’m a fan of the author and productivity guru Brian Tracy. His book “Eat That Frog” is one of my favorites when I need a little kick to conquer my procrastination. There’s a quote from his book that I considered as a starting point for our discussion today: “Practice the philosophy of continuous improvement. Get a little bit better every single day.”
But something about that left me a little unsatisfied. Yes, certainly the continuity of improvement, like practicing every day rather than once a week, is important for us harpists. However, that same philosophy is what seems to keep a lot of harpists from making bigger progress. When you seek improvement ONLY in small stages, you get only small improvements. And I hear from harpists all the time that they don’t feel like they’re getting anywhere, and asking me to help.
And so I’m going to try today to shake up that “slow and steady” habit just enough to make the improvement that you’re looking for actually visible, to get where you’re going faster. I’ve broken this down into three easy steps and one hard one. I realize that may not sound like the help you’ve been looking for, but I think it will be more encouraging than you might think.
Extra good news - this is a system you already know and have been using, but perhaps you haven’t thought of applying it to your harp playing. It really will make everything just a little simpler and should help you identify what you need to do so that you can actually experience growth.
Sometimes that tortoise strategy of “slow and steady wins the race” isn’t what we’re looking for. We secretly know that the hare was onto a good thing by sprinting ahead. He just didn’t have the good sense to actually get to the end before he stopped. You’re smarter than that, I assure you.
Links to things I think you might be interested in that were mentioned in the podcast episode:
Click here to register for the webinar, “The Magic of 1%: Learn the Small Steps That Add Up (Almost Magically!) To Big Progress”
Join our February Hub Challenge, Express Yourself
Related resource The Fork in the Road blog post
Harpmastery.com
Get involved in the show! Send your questions and suggestions for future podcast episodes to me at [email protected]
LINKS NOT WORKING FOR YOU? FInd all the show resources here: https://www.harpmastery.com/blog/Episode-143
- Visa fler
