Monthly Archives: January 2025

Start up

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You probably aren’t keeping with the “thoroughly modern music teaching” online space. There are loads of teachers teaching other teachers to make more money by teaching. I keep an eye on them just to see what bubbles up in the idea streams. One thing they tend to do is drop stuff (music, ideas, games) the week before you need it. As in, they post a new Christmas arrangement on December 16th or a tune for St. Patrick’s Day on March 15th. Maybe all their students are way more efficient, but I would never ask my students to learn a piece that quickly! I know I wouldn’t want to get a piece of music and have it ready to go inside of a week!

I don’t know about you, but I need time. There’s so much to do – learn, remember, test out, reject, try again, for every single note. It’s thorough, but not speedy. I do know that it’s just nice to be ready – especially if you need the music to perform!

Ready for what? Perform where? Well, for all the things we know are going to come around like they do every year. There are learning opportunities like Ohio Scottish Arts School, Somerset Harp Festival (25th Anniversary!), Virginia Harp Center Festival, the Harp Gathering, and the list goes on.

But there are also the putting yourself out there and doing stuff to show yourself that you can. These are events like Play Music on the Porch Day in August and Random Acts of Harping in June. For these events you need to know some music – at least enough to fill the time – and feel comfortable that you can play it.

By giving yourself a little time to plan and prepare, those events will be easier on you – less stress and more fun. That also means that right now is not too early to start learning a new piece or two to have on hand. You can even look forward to debuting them – but that will be easier if you get started.

Before you think it’s too early, remember that there are a number of steps. You have to find some tunes that might be what you’d like to be playing, select from those the tunes you decide to work on, learn the tunes, really learn them, get the arrangement squared away, and then polish, polish, polish. When you consider all that, it’s about time to start!

Whether you’ll play at festivals, schools, or sharing events, give yourself time to enjoy the process! It really is nice to share. It’s nicer to share when you don’t feel like you’re not ready! What tunes are you going to start up? Let me know in the comments (I’m always looking for ideas!).

On Balance

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I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but everyone else is getting older. Every day. Inexorably. Also, not everyone gets their jollies by carting around nearly 30 pounds of wood in a bag on their shoulder.

Oh wait.

Ok, we are all getting older, e-v-e-r-y single day and we do sort of enjoy an activity that can require us to tote around a large, unwieldy bag full of recycled tree bits. And that’s before we’ve even begun to have fun! All this moving the harp (even without the case) can require that we have good balance. Like other things we practice, with small but consistent activities we can get there.

Adding functional exercises will help you tote your harp. They will also help you carry groceries, sit and get up from the dinner table, walk across the room or on a sidewalk. They can even make sitting at your harp easier. And activities like bending to one side, grabbing a handle and shoulder strap to lift a bag of tree parts onto your shoulder, then walking some finite distance, lifting said bag into and out of a vehicle, and subsequently toting it somewhere else to bend over again to place it gently on the ground are just part of everyday life! Easy-peasy, right?

Now, before I go any farther, I must reiterate that I am not that kind of doctor, and you should speak to your physician before embarking on any exercise or fitness regimen. Everything I say is a suggestion or just an idea. Functional exercises are a physical practice and require strength, flexibility, and balance to build greater strength, flexibility, and balance. Consult with a healthcare professional before starting any new fitness programs, especially anything I suggest. If you have any injuries, health conditions, or other physical limitations, it is important that you remember that you must take care of yourself, especially before trying any new or modified exercises. The information provided on this website is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified healthcare professionals with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. Reading this blog, or trying anything I suggest, involves risks and your results may vary.

Now, back to the point at hand. Working a few functional exercises into your everyday routine can help you continue to be able to carry your harp (or lift it onto the harp cart) for a long time to come by helping to ensure you have the balance needed to successfully bend over, lift, carry your harp without falling over! Here are three functional exercises that can move you toward improved balance:

  1. Stand on one foot. No, I am not kidding. Can you do it for 10 – 15 seconds? Longer? If you are at all wobbly (or if you’re just smart), do this behind a chair or at your kitchen counter to catch yourself in case you lose your balance. If you can easily do 15 seconds, can you do 30? The longer the better. When you’re feeling big and bad and hard to diaper, try it with your eyes closed (definitely have the chair for this!). It’s important to be able to stand on one foot – you spend half the time you’re walking in that position! This also strengthens your feet which do most of the work keeping you balanced.
  2. Undecideds (sit to stand). You might think it’s easy to sit down or to stand up from a chair (or you might not). You know how to do this. Use a straight chair (like a dining room chair or your harp bench). Stand in front of it and sit down, now stand up. And again, nine more times (like you can’t decide to sit or to stand!). While you’re doing these, try to remain upright (don’t bend over and hurl yourself onto the seat and similarly, don’t push off the table or make loud groaning noises!). If you’re not used to doing these, do them in a chair with arms because while one might be easy, ten will sneak up on you! (you can also use your legs to push off if you don’t have a chair with arms). Strengthening your legs helps in nearly everything you do. (PS if this isn’t enough, move to squats – same idea just no chair to fall into).
  3. Teapots (side bending). I haven’t ever seen anyone pick up their harp case from the floor who didn’t add a sideways bend (like “I’m a Little Tea Pot”) and worse, many of us not only bend sideways, we also bend forward at the same time – which is just begging to topple – head over tea kettle as they say. For this, sit upright in that chair we just finished not flopping onto with your arms hanging along your sides. Bend to reach to the floor on one side, come back to the middle and reach for the other side. Keep yourself upright, no slouching or slumping. If you can’t reach the floor no worries, you know it’s there and it gives you something to strive for. Don’t forget to breathe.

Do each of these exercises about ten times each then repeat the sequence two more times. Like all our practice, it’s about slow, careful progress not speed or overdoing it. Take it easy, build up, and enjoy the process. And, like harp technique books, there are loads of additional activities you can add to help you improve your balance. These are just a few that are easy enough to bring in to any practice session to make moving your recycled trees a bit easier over time.

What do you do to improve your balance? Do you have a different functional exercise to share? I’m always looking for some and you know I love to hear from you – leave me a comment!

Time to Plan!

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Time to plan –

One of the best things about January is that it just feels like a time to plan! Now some plans can be small but important like “I plan to practice every day” and others can be big like “I plan to buy a complete set of strings, so I won’t have to worry about a string breaking”.

But some plans are both big and important – like, “I really want to travel to Ireland and Scotland, and I want to do that with a harp so I can soak up even more of the wonderfulness in the air!” So, let’s start planning because I would love it if you came along with us!

For 2025, Alex and I have made some changes and added some flex, and I think you’ll really enjoy it! Welcome to your adventure where there are lots of amazing sites and musical sounds to be had in these incredible cultural treasures.

New in 2025 – you can come along to Ireland and Scotland, just Ireland, or just Scotland. Travel dates are October 1st through the 14th, estimated at $5,900 ppdo plus airfare. If you can only come for one week, split fares are possible – ask for more information! We are still planning, so be sure to check back often as the itinerary is updated and confirmed. This is a rough itinerary and is subject to change.

Here’s the plan:

The first week will be in Ireland. This week will focus on some favorites – and you know that there’s a tune for that! (for those of you haven’t traveled with me, that seems to be the sentence that comes out of my mouth all-the-time. Don’t worry, I’ll share them with you!).

Days 1-3: Down South in Dingle

Touchdown Shannon! We’ll meet in the arrivals hall and then make our way south to the Dingle Peninsula where music is king and “the next parish over is Boston!”

Days 4-5: The Cork-Kilkenny Connection

Known for winning the tidy town award year after year, Kilkenny is full of charming streets, traditional shops, and plenty of High Street atmosphere.

Days 6-7: Dublin’s Fair City

Ireland’s work-a-day capitol awaits as we check in to Dublin. With great districts like the Temple Bar and Grafton Street, Dublin has so much to offer including a chance to find out more about those Irish roots!

Departure Day or Day 8: Up North in Belfast

We know that some of you have to head back Stateside, and we’ll be sad to see you go but we’ll be headed to Scotland!

Week Two: Scotland

We’ll enjoy the historical centers and their sites. We’ll balance our time with organized tours and independent downtime. If you’ve never been here before, you’ll see those marquee sites that are a must. And if this isn’t your first time, those local gems for just waiting for you – the tenured visitor.

Day 8-9: Stirling in the heart of Scotland

We’ll spend some time exploring those beautiful spots that make Scotland so unique. We’ll check in at Stirling to see how things look from the stunning castle and learn a little more about William Wallace and history – romantic and accurate!

Day 10-11: Historic St. Andrews

We’re off to beautiful St. Andrews to take in this amazing and interesting place – full of history, culture, golf, and a university! St. Andrews is small but mighty – and compelling!

Day 12-13: Ending in Edinburgh

Edinburgh awaits us with plenty to see and to do! We’ll arrive in style by train and pull into Waverly Station. From here, we are just a short distance from our hotel. Just off the Royal Mile, we’ll set out to enjoy the local area and enjoy our workshop as well as dinner.


Departure Day

As we say goodbye to you here, we’ll be sure to fill your final hours with any last-minute activities or venues that might interest you. We are sure that you will leave magical Scotland with a song in your heart and a smile on your face and perhaps a reason to return to this legendary culture.

What’s Included

Breakfast at our hotels and dinners at unique locations daily.

Balance of scheduled experiences and unscheduled time to explore further or relax as you choose.

Plenty of downtime to enjoy unscheduled moments any way you please.

All attraction tickets and passes for experiences and guided tours (always with local experts).

All transportation including airport transfers upon arrival and departure.

Daily music workshop time to develop those crucial skills as well as a small harp for your use.

Our Commitment:

As we get to know you, we will be able to find those little corners of Ireland and Scotland that delight and enchant. From magical bookstores, fabled artworks, and secret passageways, we’ll share with you those little things that make this the experience of a lifetime.

You know one of the quintessential joys of making music is sharing with others, so if you have a non-harp playing travel mate – bring them along! They are more than welcome (and if they play a different, small trad instrument, they are welcome to bring it and learn the tunes as well).

At this point you’re likely interested, and have questions, right? Ask away, I love to answer questions! Click here for questions.

If you’re ready to “press play”, click here to save your spot and get priority access. Can’t wait to travel with you!

I hope you’re going to plan to come along – we’d love to show you our favorite things and find some new ones too! Let me know in the comment!

Welcome to the new

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Hope you had a peaceful and relaxing holiday season. You either? Well, here we are at the beginning of a new year (I’m chuckling as I write because that originally came out “eww year”).

That makes this the week when every other article you see is about resolutions, how they don’t stick, goal setting, how those goals have to be the right shape otherwise they won’t stick, planning and organizing, how a poorly thought out plan or substandard organization won’t stick.

That’s a lot of not sticking. So, what’s the point? After all, a new year starts every 365 days (or so), so what’s the big deal? Maybe it’s not a big deal after all.

If it’s not a big deal, maybe take the pressure off. Rather than focusing on what you “should do” think about what you have done and what the next logical step (or steps) might be. Nothing outlandish or excessive. And certainly not some ridiculously high number of goals/resolutions/foci.

In years past I have encouraged you to set goals, to make vision boards, to identify your resolutions. But not this year (I’m learning as we go, just like you). Instead, I’m going to suggest that you take a beat. Spend a moment reflecting on where you are – what you have learned, what you’re good at, what you still need to work on, what you know and what you don’t and how you might close that gap. In other words, just take a little time to consider what has gone before and what you can do next.

Why this new approach? It’s easy to get caught up in the details of all the shoulds of the beginning of the year. But getting caught up in those details also might derail you from taking the opportunity to skip pondering. What have been your successes, your stumbles, the holes you need to fill, the music you need to branch off into? It probably won’t take you a long time to give a thorough assessment of you – as you are now. Then you can decide what you might do next. One thing. No grand plan. No extended network of activities with untenable timelines. Just one thing.

You might be thinking, “Just one thing”!?! Well, that won’t take me long. What would I do next? I better make a plan for that.” (or something like that). But here’s the thing. Since this isn’t a big fancy goal setting/planning strategy – we can just keep repeating it. Think about the just one thing to do next and then do it. Lather – Rinse – Repeat.

I’ll admit – this takes a little getting used to. We’ve got lots of practice making big resolutions that we can’t (typically) execute. This might feel like traveling a little too light. But before you get too giddy, remember that it won’t be 365 days until you do it again – you might do it tomorrow (or next week, or Spring – whatever). When you’ve completed just one thing, then you can again take a beat, look around, and suss out what might be the next thing. And don’t sweat figuring it out. If you’re less experienced, ask your teacher. And if you don’t have a regular teacher, book a lesson with someone you admire for a coaching session.

Finally, don’t forget to write it down! What’s the point of figuring out the thing if you don’t have it on hand to refer to later? So tell me, when will you take a beat? If you’re willing, let me know what you’re next thing will be! If this is too off-putting or you need a little help focusing you can book with me – I love a challenge! Let me know in the comments!

Here are the comments from this week’s post – I look forward to hearing from you!:

Eby wrote:

Happy New Year dear Jen. I wish you the best in the coming year.
 – Eby – Happy New Year to you! Thank you so much for reaching out! Let’s have a wonderful year of harping!

Kay wrote:

Jen! I love your blogs! I just read the one about hosting a harp circle. It actually helped me understand that they are social, not a structured rehearsal where we all are supposed to improve and play together with one teacher telling us what needs to be better. I have been expecting the gatherings to be more like the hand-bell choirs that I have been part of! Whenever I read your writing, I visualize your fun cheerful self speaking, like at OSAS. Hope to see you again in June!
 – Kay – I’m so looking forward to seeing you in June – and before!
Robin wrote:
I don’t set goals at the beginning of the year. Instead I make little ones all year long. I’m very happy I decided to do a mini holiday concert with my husband for our neighbors and we hope to do another this year. We’re going to Sunita’s Tuscany harp retreat so I’m preparing two solos and a couple of duets to share with everyone. And maybe a new arrangement to work on with her. That’s it so far but I’m sure there will be more.
 – Robin – You have some really great plans and I’m excited to help you get there. I know you’ll have a wonderful time with Sunita and will learn so much from her! Can’t wait to hear how your holiday concert went!