New Year
Welcome to the end of 2024 and the beginning of 2025! Enjoy the rest of your holidays – see you soon with more thoughts, ideas, approaches, and more in the coming year!
New Year
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Monthly Archives: December 2024
Christmas Time is Here
Christmas Time is Here
As the Peanuts Christmas song goes, Christmas Time is Here….
I want to take a moment to wish you the best of holidays, days of friends and family and laughter and love. I hope you make some music, share some harp magic, and enjoy the holidays with sound and joy. I’ll be playing my favorites for the president of my fan club between happy bites of treats and sips of delight.
And I want to thank you for your continued support and participation. I hope you look forward to this each week with as much enthusiasm and I feel creating it. Let’s wrap this year with our shared love of music and revel just a moment in the bliss! From me to you, Merry Christmas!
PS – things are still a little dorked up on the back end, so if you want to leave a comment or send me a note, please click here (so your comment doesn’t get eaten by the website!).
Wrapping up?
Wrapping up?
The end of the year is rapidly approaching. You’re probably busy with social engagements, family time, practicing, decorating, work commitments, school holiday pageants, gift buy/wrap/giving (and maybe gift making?), and all the other stuff that makes up the end of year holiday swirl (miasma?).
So, it is reasonable that you might not have gotten to a point where you can spend a few minutes sorting through the detritus of the last twelve months. I know it can be scary – at first blush you might think you haven’t gotten anywhere – I often feel like that about this time of year.
But there is plenty of irrefutable proof all around if you think to look for it. Let’s take stock, shall we? Here are some questions that bear consideration (they are multi-part questions):
What did you learn this year?
I know you learned something! First, what did you want to learn? Whether it was a new tune, to read better, to adapt music to your instrument, or whatever you wanted to learn – were you able to learn it? Were you able to learn more than one thing?
Now – what did you want to learn that you didn’t get to? Why was that? Are you disappointed or do you feel like you did well getting where you did? In addition, what did you learn (in everyday life) that you can apply to your playing, and what did you learn from playing that you can apply to your everyday life?
What did you practice this year?
First, what did you intend to practice? Did that align with what you wanted to learn? Did your practice serve you?
Second, were you able to meet your practice goal? Did you practice as much as you meant to? How did it work for you? How did it not? What could you have done differently? When should you have made changes? Practice isn’t a purgatorial punishment (really!). And you only have limited time, so it needs to be useful and efficient. Otherwise, you aren’t going to get anywhere.
What did you achieve this year?
First, what did you want to achieve? Was that realistic? How’d you do (maybe as a percentage, not just a yes/no)?
Second, how well stated was your achievement? Did you set yourself up for success or for failure? How could you frame it so that you could see (and assess) your progress throughout the year?
What did you overestimate this year?
First, it’s easy to make big sweeping goals but actually achieving them can be a bit of a bugaboo – it’s likely you overestimated something in your playing goals for the year. Were you able to correct along the way? Do you feel ok about your progress where you might have been too optimistic?
Second, how do you feel about the gap between where you are and where you thought you’d be? How does that make you feel about yourself? (BTW it should only help you understand about overestimating not undermine you!) Anything you underestimated? What is the difference between the things you over- and underestimated on (e.g., you overestimated reading but underestimated total number of tunes learned)?
What next?
Once you review yourself, you can ask yourself what’s left to do and how you might go about doing it. Remember that there’s nothing magic about mid-December – it’s an artificial boundary, but it is useful for taking stock of our progress and our direction.
No matter how you went about the process of practicing and playing throughout the year, you can reflect on it. But now it might be very clear why I’m always suggesting you write it down. Because if you had, now you could be looking at your notes throughout the year, your thoughts and feelings about not only the music you were playing but also about the music you would like to be able to play, the technical things still kicking your metaphorical butt, and the little joys that happen at your harp (but which recede from memory so quickly, and often before confronting the next challenge).
So, if you’re willing, please share how it went. I’m particularly curious about your gaps and the things that got in the way! And what questions we should add to this list. As always, I’d love to hear from you in the comments.
Gift Guide for 2024
Gift Guide for 2024
It’s gift giving time. That glorious time of year when the days are short, time is shorter, tempers might be shortest of all. And it’s not like it doesn’t come along every year at the same time. No matter which winter holidays you celebrate, there’s gifting involved. And where there’s gifting, there’s stress over what to give and whether it will be the best gift given.
Well, I have a shortcut for you! People love handmade presents. And there’s nothing like the present. And when you present someone with their gift that you have made especially for them, while you might have trepidation, they are just too busy being delighted to notice.
What better handmade present than to share your music? There really isn’t one. Your recipient instinctively knows that there’s a little part of you in the music. They know you had to work hard to bring their gift into the world. They know how precious that time is – because the music is ephemeral. And they can carry it with them for the rest of their life because while it is ephemeral it is also permanent as a memory. They might be extra happy that they don’t have to find a place to put your gift (or dust it) because it will be stored in their heart/brain.
You might not have thought making music for someone is a gift, but it is. You need to value it as such. And I don’t just mean for kids to give their parents – although I have found that this motivation helps my kid students focus on learning their Christmas tunes. And I have to give a special thanks to my parents who taught me at a young age that playing for someone is a good present (although I never really believed them – until I started teaching).
Because you want each gift to “fit” you can choose from many options:
If you have a fan(s) – you can play a concert! (not kidding). Play all the tunes they love – a curated playlist just for them.
If you have a supporter – you can compose a tune for them (or an improvisation – you know a composition that you don’t bother to write out fully). Play it one off (with a heartfelt, “I made this for you!”) or make it part of the concert you give them.
You can make them a recording to take with them. Good quality recording is available easily now so you can probably make a solid attempt with your phone and a quiet room. If you really want to make yourself crazy, you can use a free editor to put the whole thing together.
- Really a glutton for punishment? You could use that recording to make a video with pictures and snippet videos embedded with the music. Use graphics that share your thoughts and feelings about the music (e.g., you could find some video of eagles on the wing to pair with a soaring melody or a photo of a fire for a cozy tune).
If you’re crafty, you could go in other directions and still reflect your music.
You might have an admirer who listens to you practice all the time. This might make you feel like a performance isn’t a good fit. How about decorating a score and framing it? Use the dots from one of their favorite tunes. This can be plain with just the score in a frame, or you can literally decorate it by making a picture from the shape of the melody. Or you can draw and paint on the score as a canvas. There are so many possibilities!
You could knit a scarf that represents the music of their favorite tune. I thought of this when I watched my friend make a “sky scarf” that reflected how sunny, cloudy, rainy, or snowy the day had been. No reason you couldn’t also knit the “story” of your music! Chose the colors that you “hear” to reflect the mood of the tune and (if you’re a better knitter than I) even change stitches to reflect the shape of the melody.
How about a bake that incorporates the tune? Shortbread would go with absolutely any Scottish tune. Soda bread for your Irish? Cream horns to play hornpipes? Sacher torte for your favorite Viennese waltz? You get the idea. You can have a tea party or refreshments for your concert.
That’s just a few ideas to help move your holiday gifting along. I know you have other, better ideas. Let me know what you’ve made or are planning to make to share your love with your giftees – leave me a comment (you know the drill).
Follow through…
Follow through…
I love it when you ask me questions! They are always good, they make me think, and they give me something to share here! (hint hint – if you have a question, I will do my best to answer you).
One of you recently asked a question and I wanted to share it. I want to highlight it now because it’s the holidays and this seems to be a time when other people have no compunction asking you to play for them – for money, for free, for whatever. It’s just likely to happen around this time. And, frankly, it’s hard to say no – because it’s the holidays and who says no to heartfelt requests at this time of year? I think it’s hard to!
So, what was this problem – let’s hear it from you:
Here’s my latest issue- I’m having problems at the end of pieces during a performance. I almost always bungle the last few notes and end up playing the wrong chord or nothing at all. I think I lose focus because I’m almost done. Should I memorize the ending? Practice it more? Take drugs? Let me know what you think.
Great question! If only because it happens to us all.
You might be tempted to assign blame to your aging brain, or lack of preparation, or nerves, but I don’t think that’s it at all. Will it take drastic measures?! Nope!
Here’s my answer:
You might be suffering from “get-home-itis“. What’s that? Well, that name for it comes from aviation where it is often not just an embarrassment – it can be fatal.
Get-home-itis happens when you can feel the end is coming. It’s pretty exciting – whether you’re flying home after being away or closing out a tune (or program). But get-home-itis causes you to shift your attention away from what you’re doing, and instead think about what will come after that. It can be momentary. You might not even know you’ve done it. But it’s just enough of a shift to make you bungle, and leave you shaken, frazzled, and embarrassed (which one can argue is better than actually being dead – even if it feels like you’d like to die right there on your bench).
So, how do you get over a case of get-home-itis? It’s actually fairly easy and much more comfortable than bracing yourself for impact!
- Memorizing your piece is a good place to start. That’s more for the reality that if you’re shaky going into the tune, you’re going to come out worse for wear at the end. Doing significant preparation will mean not only memorizing the beginning but also nailing the end. To do this – don’t always start at the beginning when you’re practicing. Break out portions of the tune that are not going smoothly. A strong start will encourage you, but the finish is what your audience will remember.
- Practice thoroughly. This will, of course, support memorizing the tune (because the more you practice it, the more facile you will be with it – all the way through). And extra preparation never killed anyone. Unless you’re being paid to deliver a specific tune, you should always feel free to shelve something that feels shaky until it’s actually ready.
Here’s the biggie:
- Think of your tune as having a follow through. Picture focusing on the end of the tune and its follow-through (like a golf swing, bat swing, doing a grand jete, or using an egg whip). The follow through includes not just the last note of the tune, or even the final chord but also your final gesture, the breath you take (and release), and putting your harp down. If you’re having trouble picturing this, think about how a beginner ends their tune – they typically spank their strings and we’re done – no follow through. Train yourself to think “through” the tune, focusing on playing all the way through to the end. Don’t skip a (brain) step between where you are and the end of the tune – picture all the notes, dynamics, gestures, phrasing – all the things. And remember that the end is not when you stop playing! Rather, it is after the final gesture, whether you muffle the strings and/or put the harp back on all four feet. T-h-e-n you’re done.
- All of this is in aid of focusing on what you are doing. Don’t be thinking about how glad you’ll be to get off the stage. Or what flavor ice cream you’re going to have on the way home. Or how many more times you’ll have to play this tune this season. Or even how tired you are and how much you just want to go home. Keep your head in the game! We’re not done here – not until the last ringing of strings is hovering in the air on the bated breath of your delighted listeners. Only then are you finished playing that tune. Don’t pull up short! Commit!
Stay present. There is only this moment. Later moments will have their own time – after you follow through on this one. No need to be thinking about what comes after – enjoy this right now.
I’ve sort of avoided the topic of taking meds for this. If you experience crippling performance anxiety, then you should definitely seek professional help, and medicine might be part of that solution. However, if you find you’re only a little anxious, I’d point out that you’re human. If it’s just a frisson in the pit of your stomach, breathe. * In addition, while medicine might take the edge off – equally it might cause you to lose your edge. Then you have a different problem (not playing like your usual self).
Whether you have experienced this or not, give it a try and see if the end of your tune isn’t just a little bit better when you purposefully follow through. As always, you know I want to know what you find! Let me know in the comments.
*I’m not a psychiatrist, nor am I opposed to using medicines if needed. Feeling nervous before performing is normal – in fact, one could argue that not feeling nervous is not a good sign). If you aren’t sure, try this (not very rigorous) self-test – next time you’re feeling anxious before performing, do some breathing (deep inhale for 4 counts, hold for 5 counts, exhale for 8 counts a few cycles). If that helps (your head clears a little, you feel less like throwing up, and you can remember how your first tune starts!) then try to go it unaided. If it doesn’t help, definitely find a physik to help. Don’t ask me how I know this.