Remember
This week we observe Memorial Day and honor those who have died in the nation’s wars. These fallen have given all to preserve our way of life. Those of whom can be said, “Uncommon Valor was a Common Virtue”. This Uncommon Valor has afforded the rest of us the privilege of playing the music we love in relative safety and security. Please remember them with gratitude as you play and practice this week.
Thanks, Bunches
“Your underwear only bunches when you’re on your way to the bench.”
And it’s true, isn’t it. It’s only when you’re on your way to the bench that you notice it. In the short walk that takes you to the bench (and takes forever (cut to bad old movie footage of a hallway progressively lengthening as you walk)), that is when the riot happens in your brain. You’ve been complete calm, comfortable, and bunch-free…right up until that point. AND THEN YOU FEEL IT.
And you can think of nothing else. Every neuron in your brain, no, in your body, is reporting that on this phenomenon. It is all you can think about. You certainly can no longer hear the tune in your head. It’s drowned out by the freight train of fearsome awareness.
There is no escape. No matter how well prepared you felt. No matter how long you have been playing. No matter how politely the cat and the curtains applaud your efforts. No matter how many seats in the theatre. This is the end. And you can barely walk for the bunching.
But that’s not true, is it?
When you begin to breathe again and stop hyperventilating, when your muscles relax and release, you realize the freight train is not running on a different track and the danger has passed. And when the noise abates, the riot calms, and you can begin to hear the strains of the tune once more. Without the clenching of your teeth and other muscles, you let go of the bunching, and you become more comfortable…as you settle on the bench.
I’d be bunches of happy to hear what you think! Let me know in the comments.
This bit of wisdom comes courtesy of my dear friend Kris. We were planning our Moving Forward weekend (formerly known as Harp Quest, but we felt like we wanted to leave that sitting there for a bit and focus more on Moving Forward) and we found this statement – in multiple places – in our assembled history (which includes student feedback, our own feedback when we’re still sweaty and exhausted from teaching, and our musings after a good meal and a glass of wine). It really is our collected wisdom to date, and we review it to launch our planning to…you guessed it…Move Forward!
We are offering Moving Forward to our students this summer. The first weekend (25 – 27 August) is for less experienced harpers – you are early in your learning and still getting a handle on playing and are looking to learn, laugh, and meet other harpers like you. The second weekend (8 – 10 September) is for more experienced harpers. You are intermediate or advanced and are looking for a challenge as well laughing, learning, and hanging out with other harpers like you. For either weekend you are interested, engaged, excited and enthusiastic while not judging, pulling back, or withdrawing. Enrollment in each weekend is limited because we are going to be very focused and have group and one-on-one time. If you have worked with me in regular lessons, irregular lessons, or in coaching you are invited. If you’re interested in being part of this or in getting more details, let me know – in the comments!
Prepping your practice
If you’ve spent even a little time in the socials you have probably not been able to escape seeing loads about Meal Prepping.
If you haven’t, Meal Prep is an approach to helping you get dinner on the table so that mealtime is not a zoo. All the cool kids are doing it, apparently.
There’s no magic to meal prep. It’s a fairly easy process to follow. And it’s smart because it saves time, money, angst, and the “hangries”.
While seeing that stuff again, it got me thinking* – could we “prep” our practice so that practice time isn’t a zoo? Why not!
So, if we were going to Practice Prep, what would we need to do?
We need to understand that practice prep isn’t a “hack” (remember, we talked about that before!).
We need to understand that, no matter how many well-meaning people make cute memes on the socials telling us what to do, our practice prep needs to be our own and that every suggestion is just that, a suggestion. We can look at, evaluate (maybe even test drive) and decide to keep or toss each one as needed to fit ourselves.
We need to understand that it can be as simple or as complex as we need it to be. Meal prep can be simple (make extra to have leftovers later) or complex (make an entire week’s worth of breakfasts, lunches, and dinners). Likewise, our practice prep can be as simple or complex as we need (and it can vary from week to week).
So, like meal prep, Practice Prep is based on identifying some important things like – what do we want to get done over the week? What are the steps to get there? What is missing that we need to build to make progress?
How do we identify these things? There are a few places to start depending on where you are in your harp life.
The easiest way is to read your lesson notes to find what you have learned and what your teacher is expecting you to accomplish between lessons so that you can continue to progress. You may get very good direction on exactly what you should do. But frankly, that’s likely only if you are a child or have just started lessons (while your teacher helps you learn how to practice). You are told what do to and how “on track” is defined. That’s fairly easy (as long as you do it).
If you are more advanced or if you are self-directed, you have the same information available, you just have to dig a little to find it. What is your overall goal? What are the precise steps to get there? Have you further identified the substeps (iterated to the smallest steps) so that you can work on specific things to move you forward? (NB these will likely change frequently as the steps at the beginning of a tune will look different than the steps when you’re polishing). Have you noted those steps so that you can 1. remember them and 2. verify that you have completed them (successfully)? Have you defined your criteria for “good enough” or “done”? Have you marked your progress (good and not as good) so you know where to start next and what needs more focus?
Now you can organize your time. That includes doing any prep work needed (pencils sharpened? music ready? distractions put away?) so that you are ready to practice and make the most of it.
Finally, you need to be consistent – doing this one week will be helpful but won’t significantly move you forward un
less you continue to build week on week. No matter how much we try to pretend otherwise, the tortoise always wins the race!
What do you think? Is my meal prep analagy too much of a stretch? Or am I on the money here? Let me know in the comments!
* you caught me surfing rather than practicing!
Sit up 2
Last week we talked about how the rest of your life (you know – work, home life, hobbies, etc.) can impact your harp playing, possibly leaving you injured or in pain and unable to play. And that this can happen even if your harp technique is really good. We talked about being ready to play by maintaining strength, flexibility, and good posture. This week let’s move from talking to what you can do about it.
We know that at the harp, we need to close, have good space for movement, that the arm must move to support the wrist, and that we will improve with practice (which will include some repetition, no matter how you dress it up). But do we apply this same thinking and discipline to our other tasks in life? The sad answer is that most do not. So, what can you do to overcome all this?
Here are some suggestions that are all over the place. You can treat this list as a pick and mix or you could acknowledge that this is a wide problem and needs a wide solution. Here goes:
We don’t often think of playing the harp as a rigorous activity but you do need to have a basic level of strength so you can be successful and resilient. You might be wondering 1. do you do these (bad) things? or 2. how do you know if you’ve stopped doing them? I have an answer for that too – record yourself. I know, there are still people who don’t want to see themselves on video (even after years of covid). Get over it – there’s too much to be learned to get stuck in a hangup. Besides – you use a tuner, don’t you? And you use a tuning wrench, right? Well, your phone recording is just another tool, so stop arguing. Set it up on your music stand, push record and do the thing. Do it for a while to capture your real self and see what you need to work on…and what you don’t. I am always delighted to see that my thumbs are up, for instance. Most importantly, when you’re done learning from the video – delete it!
These are all good ideas, but it is very important that you remember that if you have an injury – acute or chronic, any type really – seek medical help. Not Dr. Google. Don’t shake it off. Go see a real physician, chiropractor, or physical therapist.
Do you have other challenges or solutions? Let me know in the comments!
* Now you know my little secret writing spot.
Sit up and take notice
It’s May, which is a lovely time of year. It is daylight longer, the temperatures are fairly palatable, and we are ready to emerge from the winter (and to escape spring cleaning). It’s also a time that many think about our general health and fitness – and how fortunate we are to have (generally) good health while being fit enough to do the things we love (like play the harp).
And yet, as I write this, I have three students in treatment for various hand and arm overuse injuries and more that are preparing to seek help for sore forearms, tired fingers, tightness in the palm, neck pain, and more.
Yikes!
This bothers me because 1. I don’t like to see anyone in pain (except maybe that mean girl from 8th grade), 2. It interrupts their practice and our lessons, and 3. As a Human Systems Integration expert and a Certified Music Ergonomist it is painful for me to watch these things develop. I will say that, although these students are feeling the effects in their playing, they have done me proud by working on their technique so that we can be assured that it is not the harp that is the problem. However, the same cannot be said for the rest of their lives and there are still problems that have to be addressed.
A long time ago I heard/read someone say that it didn’t matter if you spent 30 minutes every day in the gym strengthening your abs if the other 23 and half hours of every day you let them slag off! (can’t remember where I got this, but it stuck with me)
This is so true for our harp playing body (and for all your other muscles (and fascia and tendons)). You can have brilliant technique and practice habits at the harp, but if the rest of your day is not similarly managed, you can develop issues that will spill over into your harp life. We don’t focus on our bodies while we sit at our computers, tablets, phones, paperwork, stovetops, or in front of the television. Working from home, our current world, and busy minds have all contributed too.
Contributed to what? Primarily poor posture and long periods of stasis – sitting still. Age also works against you as you calcify ingrown habits as well as losing both flexibility and strength. There may be some truth to those people who say their day job is killing them! Let’s not let us be one of them!
If you’re a kid (define that as you wish), you might think that’s a problem for other people. That it won’t happen to you. That you’re different. Go on telling yourself that. <deep sarcasm> Whatever – of the eight billion people on the planet, a very large proportion of those grow to older adulthood and along the way they lose strength and muscle mass, experience reduced flexibility, and develop age related injuries. It would be good if we maintained good posture, strength, and flexibility to avoid injury and loss.
This week, think about this and the relationship of (the other parts of) your life to your ability to play. Next week, I’ll give you some things to work on to assure that pain, injury, or loss of mobility don’t derail your harping! Are you experiencing any of these things? Let me know in the comments!