Afleveringen
-
In my family, my grandmotherâs sister was pretty much our favorite aunt. Aunt Dolie was sweet and generous, although she never had very much of her own and worked very hard all her life for what she did have. She was a gentle soul and totally without worldly savvy. She lacked a lot of practical knowledge, what we would call âknow-how,â But that didnât mean she was without courage. Hence, this family legend I am about to relate to you.
When Aunt Dolie was in her fifties, she decided she wanted to learn how to drive. As a city person, she had always used public transportation or relied on my grandparents for rides to the store or to the doctors. My grandfather helped her find a driving instructor. He knew that teaching her himself would likely push his patience past the breaking point.
The driving instructor showed up for Aunt Dolieâs first driving lesson. They successfully navigated the difficulties of starting the car and pulling away from the curb. The instructor made sure she stopped at the stop sign at the corner, told her to signal for a right turn and then turn the corner. Aunt Dolie hesitated and asked him, âHow many times do I turn the wheel?â At that moment, it became clear to the instructor that she would never become a confident or even a safe driver. It was her last driving lesson and her last attempt at driving.
So whatâs the point of this story for us? I am often asked a question that is just as difficult to answer. Fortunately, though, if itâs a question you have had - and most of us have wondered about this sometime - just asking the question doesnât mean you have to give up harp playing, the way my aunt had to give up the idea of driving. The question is this: how many times should I repeat a passage or a piece in my practice?
Itâs a good question, even if it doesnât have an easy answer. The key lies in understanding what repetition can and canât do for you. Weâll talk about how to avoid repetition burnout as well as how to be efficient with the repetitions that you really must do in order to play with accuracy and security. Can I give you a magic number? Nope. But I will show you how to find a number that works for you.
Links to things I think you might be interested in that were mentioned in the podcast episode:
Plan your autumn harp happiness now. Sign up for the October Harp MasteryÂź Retreat. Related resource Repeat Ad Nauseam: Why You Aren't Finishing Your Pieces 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-163
-
I rarely have guests on the podcast, but today Iâm so happy to be sharing the show with my dear friend and my former student turned colleague, harpist Candace Lark, If youâre 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 havenât had the chance to meet her yet, you are in for a treat.
Candace isnât only an extremely busy professional harpist, playing with all kinds of ensembles and in all kinds of venues (spoiler alert: sheâll tell us later about playing at Will Smithâs 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. Thatâs 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. Letâs face it; sometimes knowing what NOT TO do is even more important than knowing what TO do.
If youâre an experienced harpist whoâs 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 youâre just starting out, Candaceâs tips will save you tons of frustration and anxiety. And if youâve never played a gig because you arenât 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 Candaceâs 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
-
Zijn er afleveringen die ontbreken?
-
They say that only two things in life are certain, death and taxes. But if youâre a harpist you know there is a third certainty; at some point, often at the wrong point, youâre 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 Salzedoâs âVariations on a Theme in the Old Style,â The piece is in G Major and itâs 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 wouldnât 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, Iâm 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 harpistâs life, it doesnât 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 todayâs show, weâll review string care, string storage, the different kinds of strings and which to choose for your harp, and Iâll 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? Hereâs a hint: it was solved in a most surprising and simple way and without running to the parking garage. Iâll 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 Whatâs 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
-
Maybe youâve noticed or maybe you havenât, but these podcasts are organized into three different categories. One category is âPractice and Performingâ and another is âMusic and Meaning.â The third category is âTechnique and Musicianship.â Technique is one of those self-explanatory items, but musicianship probably needs a little more description.
A common dictionary definition of musicianship is âthe skill or artistry involved in performing music.â Other definitions include the word âknowledgeâ 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, itâs everything about music that is not specifically related to the harp. Itâs 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. Youâre 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. Itâs 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
-
At one of our Harp MasteryÂź retreats several years ago. I presented a workshop called âLearn Anything Fast.â 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 itâs taking you now?
Thereâs no golden rule about how long it should take you to learn a piece. Thatâs 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 â30 day guaranteeâ 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. Thatâs 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 Iâll give you some tips to tweak your learning system so you can leapfrog ahead and start playing that piece sooner. In one day? Maybe. Letâs find out.
Links to things I think you might be interested in that were mentioned in the podcast episode:
Our next Harp MasteryÂź 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
-
In a world of sticky notes, Gorilla Glue and tape that can hold a leaky boat together, why canât 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 donât 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 weâve been trying to teach them, so we take the rest of the weekend off and hope that next week will be better.
And if weâre trying to memorize a piece, it can feel even more frustrating. It takes so long to see any progress. Our music just doesnât seem to stick.
We can put the blame in lots of places: the music is hard, we donât have enough practice time, weâre too distracted to focus, weâre 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 arenât hard to understand in a theoretical sense, but youâll 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
-
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, âThumbelinaâs having trouble with her thumb.â I donât 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 âThumbs upâ in my teacherâs 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. Itâs not a big deal, not unless youâre 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. Weâll talk about how the position of your thumb affects the rest of your fingers and how a âlong and strongâ thumb can make everything you play a little easier and a lot prettier. And Iâll 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
-
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 donât want to do the thing I know I should do. Now Iâm not talking about anything illegal, immoral or dangerous. Itâs more like sometimes I just donât feel like practicing. Or maybe Iâd 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 doesnât feel like making beautiful music. It doesnât feel creative, and even though it may make me feel a little virtuous when Iâm finished, it doesnât always bring me joy in the moment.
Because playing the harp is not only as important to me as breathing but itâs my job, I know I need to buckle down and do the important work, and so I do. But that doesnât 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.
Iâve worked with students who struggle with trying to tame their own free, creative spirits and most of the time, trying to tame it doesnât work. Creativity shouldnât be, and truly isnât, a force that hinders your practice. It can fuel your practice, helping you make progress faster at the same time that youâre enjoying it more. So if youâre one of those free spirits who resists having a practice plan, or just has trouble sticking to one, Iâm here to help. I want to help you get a new perspective on what your practice could be like if it didnât 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 youâve 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 youâre not sure how to feel more creative, youâre 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 MasteryÂź 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
-
Have you ever had one of those moments when you wonder if youâve 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 youâre missing something important.
Maybe itâs just me. But I donât think so. I think we all encounter things that we thought were working, until we see that maybe they arenât.
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. Thereâs a piece or a performance that shakes things up and all of a sudden our technique doesnât seem so trustworthy any more. We need to strengthen it, to sharpen our skills, maybe even rethink our technique altogether.
I think thatâs the right time to take a step back and look at what we really want from our technique. Iâm 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 donât 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, weâre 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 sâs. Iâll 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 MasteryÂź 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
-
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 doesnât stop us from borrowing extensively from his keyboard music, his violin and cello sonatas and partitas and his lute music. Much of Bachâs music is well-suited to the harp with rippling scale passages or rich chords.
My first in-depth encounters with Bachâs 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 Bachâs 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 Bachâs 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
-
Todayâs 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 doesnât 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 90âs, but the producers of this recording wanted to preserve Rubinsteinâs 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 Rubinsteinâs performance in the recording studio of the first movement of Beethovenâs Moonlight Sonata. He felt he had witnessed a definitive performance.
The next morning, however, Rubinstein returned to the studio for that dayâs 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 wasnât the metronome mark. Beethoven didnât include one; the movement is only marked âAdagio sostenutoâ 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 canât play it at that speed or we donât 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 donât have to come up with the answers; thatâs my job. I think itâs 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, thatâs the secret right there. But I have lots more ideas and practical advice for you on this topic so donât go anywhere.
Links to things I think you might be interested in that were mentioned in the podcast episode:
Harp MasteryÂź 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
-
When I was preparing for this weekâs show, I couldnât help being reminded of a couple of tired old jokes.
Patient: Doctor, it hurts when I do this.
Doctor: Then donât do that.And,
Patient: Doctor, it hurts and I donât know whatâs wrong.
Doctor: Take two aspirin and call me in the morning.When weâre 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 isnât 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 - weâre 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 weâre 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. Thatâs what weâre going to discuss today.
First, let me say that I donât like the term âbad lesson.â 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 teacherâs 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 didnât 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 âbad lessonsâ aren't an issue. But they still happen. Occasionally you have a lesson that leaves you feeling demoralized or frustrated, and thatâs 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 wonât ignore those bad lessons; Iâll 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
-
Itâs high time I got up on my soapbox. Itâs not often I do a rant on the podcast, but thereâs an issue that has me so fired up that I had to talk about it with you.
I believe itâs 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. Iâd rather be part of the solution. Hence, the reason for todayâs rant.
You may have heard me talk about the leveling up involved in playing four-finger chords if youâve been playing mostly three-finger chords. Iâm not changing my opinion on that.
But recently Iâve seen that the main stumbling block for many students isnât just the addition of one more note to the chord. Itâs 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 donât know theyâre doing anything wrong.
Iâve 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:
Youâre 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 MasteryÂź 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
-
This podcast episode goes live on April Foolâs Day, and I probably couldnât have picked a more appropriate day to release it. I didnât do it on purpose, but todayâs topic lines up very nicely with April Fool's. Itâs about the foolâs game of self-criticism.
I think the most dangerous pitfall for harpists, or for any musician, doesnât 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 donât 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 âshoulds;â 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, theyâve started down the slippery slope.
Even if this kind of negativity isnât 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, thatâs not a good thing.
So today, Iâm going to discuss self-criticism, how it shows up in our practice and our playing. No more foolâs game, playing around with criticism and calling it âconstructive.â 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 arenât 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 Dayâs 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
-
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: âIt'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.â
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 itâs 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.
Iâve 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 didnât need magic magnets; I just needed to make my placing stick.
Thatâs our topic for todayâs show, sticky placing. If youâve never thought about your placing as being sticky or otherwise, youâre going to find this discussion interesting and probably very enlightening. Iâll 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 youâve heard of and not used because you didnât 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
-
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 donât feel that we have time to get to everything on our practice list.
Itâs not uncommon to feel a little frustrated that we canât 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 isnât easy, though. Being realistic, these small steps are often all we have.What Iâd 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 âpractice bursts,â and they can be valuable practice opportunities when we use them strategically. Iâll 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 âJigging Itâ Hub Challenge is in Week 3! Join us! Get your copy of âFifteen 15 Minute Practice Ideasâ PDF Related resource Yes You Can! 12 Things to Do When You Canât Practice blog post Harpmastery.comLINKS NOT WORKING FOR YOU? FInd all the show resources here: https://www.harpmastery.com/blog/Episode-148
-
My husbandâs 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-lawâs house: Germans take a clean house seriously.
By American standards my own house isnât 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 âkeep your feet off the furnitureâ rule, were her grandsons. Cleaning didnât 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 canât 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 doesnât 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, itâs not nearly as taxing as scrubbing a floor.
So on todayâs 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 donât need specialized knowledge of music theory to do this, and you donât 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 itâs 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, âJigging Itâ 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
-
See if you can guess the answer to this.
What can sometimes feel gently rocking like a boat on a lake on a calm summerâs day, and other times puts a lively spring into your step? It isnât hard, but itâs never simple. Youâve 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 youâre the type who likes to figure things out, pause the podcast here for a moment and then come back when youâre ready for the answer.
Ready? Hereâs one final hint: the answer is a meter signature, and I know itâs one you know. Maybe youâve guessed it. The meter signature or time signature I mean is 6/8. I know youâve seen it and played it. âGreensleevesâ or âWhat Child Is This?â 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 âThe Irish Washerwomanâ - are very often in 6/8 time. Thatâs the other side of 6/8, the rollicking dancing side.
Today Iâd like to discuss some of the important characteristics of 6/8, not just how to count it, but why we count it that way. Weâll 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. Weâll also talk about the practicalities of these meters, what kind of fingering or placing strategies are best and why. And along the way, weâll clear up some of the music terminology that may be confusing. I want you to come away from the episode feeling like youâve 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
-
I am always interested to hear what first attracted harpists to the harp. Itâs 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 wasnât a gold harp or a pretty dress that drew me to the harp, but the sound that pulled me in. Naturally, thereâs 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 harpâs sound that first attracted you, sound is important to us. So why donât 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 isnât always time to just spend listening. But itâs 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. Iâm going to lead you through a warm-up that will help you focus on your fingers and your listening skills. Thereâs no printed music for this; just follow my directions. If youâve 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 youâre 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 youâre 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 Itâs 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
-
Letâs 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 doesnât prevent us from being surprised when we run into a passage in a piece weâre learning that our fingers just canât manage. What the heck? Weâve 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 youâve had that experience, rest assured, my friend, that you are not alone. Weâve all been there. Sometimes a moment like that is just a wake up call, reminding us that weâve slacked off a bit and weâve 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 donât have to tell you thatâs 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 isnât 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. Youâre with me so far, right? Good, because thereâs only one conclusion to draw from this, and itâs 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 doesnât challenge us and look for some ways to level up our technique to keep pace with our music. So on todayâs show, Iâll 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 MasteryÂź home page.
Join our February Hub âExpress Yourselfâ 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
- Laat meer zien