Gift Guide – Part B
Last week we listed some gift ideas you could share with the people in your life who might ask what you would like to receive this holiday season. Now let’s flip the script. What gifts could you give from there on your bench?
Like any gift guide, this means matching the giving intention to the recipient and there are so many possibilities!
- You can play for your family. You might think that your family listens to you play every day so this wouldn’t be a good gift. But the reality is that they probably don’t listen to you practice. They might hear you, but they’re probably not listening. They will enjoy having a specific time to sit and actually listen to the fruits of your labors. They are, after all, your biggest supporters.
- Jane Austen is calling! There was a time when it was expected that each person would take their turn being entertaining for guests. Invite your supportive friends over and, as part of the time together, play for them. You’d be amazed how many of your friends don’t even know you play the harp, and how many of those who do know have never heard you play.
- Play for someone special. This can be as complicated or as simple as you want to make it. You have all the tools – just get out of your own way. Play the music you hear in your head. Don’t have a lot of noise going on up there? Stumped on where to start? Set your harp to C major and play only the white strings (thank you Marianna!) and diddle around. Run your recorder. Go back and listen, find what you like and put that stuff together. Practice that, toss in a left hand (hint – start with G) and boom! a handmade present!
- Give a concert. Why not! You need a venue (your living room?), an audience (friends, family, neighbors), and you need 3 to 20 tunes (depending on how long you want to perform). Add some “patter” (it is a show, you are the MC) and wine or tea and cookies and you’re in business. It doesn’t have to be Carnegie Hall, just play.
- Volunteer. Go to a nursing home or a rehab facility and play for them (or for the staff). You can do this anytime of year but the holidays seem like a good time to start (this does require a bit coordination, but so worth it).
It’s also amazing how good you’ll feel after sharing your gift of music. What else could you do with your harp to give someone a lovely gift? I’ve given you several ideas here, but I bet you have better ones – let me know in the comments.
Thank you, Jen. I’ve heard other harpers (and other musicians in general) complain that musicians who volunteer their music at facilities such as nursing homes and rehabs is not a good thing, because it makes it harder for professional harpers to get paid fairly for their work. For this reason, I’ve shied away from this idea, but would like to hear your thoughts on this, since you are certainly a professional harper.
Joyce – you’re right that all of us singing (playing) for our supper do not appreciate others making paying work into volunteer work. It’s hard to make rent off volunteer gigs. It’s also not great for the volunteer harper, because we know that people do not value what they can get away with not paying for. Then we all get the short end of the stick as pros don’t get paid and volunteers aren’t treated as well as they should be. I see this as a therapeutic musician too – although therapeutic musicians have studied and trained to do this work at the bedside contributing to healing, it seems nearly impossible to be paid for it, especially where other, untrained musicians will come in and play.
On the other hand, there are nursing homes and rehabs up and down the economic spectrum and there are facilities that don’t have the wherewithal to pay for live music for their residents. Those facilities that have no budget (not that they didn’t allocate, rather they have no budget) make lovely volunteer opportunities throughout the year. These are good for the people in the facility and for the amateur harper who will enjoy playing for them and may need more opportunities to perform (to become more comfortable doing so). I think it’s important to go throughout the year too – everyone wants to come for the holidays. Sometimes I wonder if the residents are rolling their eyes by the second week after Thanksgiving, when yet another group of school children come in to sing Christmas carols (just musing, I’m sure they do appreciate the act and the gesture).
It would be delightful if you had a couple of pros names/numbers to recommend when you find a paying gig (if you’re not going to take it) – we all appreciate getting a call! Just promise me that if you can play the gig respectably and they are paying you DO NOT – EVER! undercut the price! Either you are capable (and deserve the price) or you’re not (in which case you have no business playing).
And just like you, pros actively decide what they will volunteer for. Just like money – you decide how much of your budget you can contribute to charity each year. When you’ve given all you’ve got, you’re done. I enjoy volunteering to support local Hospice and play one or two gigs a year for them. Then I’m done. Other charities might also ask, but I have to turn them down (or I have to decide to increase my “budget” if something is very important to me).
Having said all that, in the end, it’s no one’s business but your own where you volunteer! 🙂
This is a whole blog post in itself! Thanks for the ideas, Jen, and happy holidays!
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in appropriate weather, go to an outside restaurant, find some shade and play!
do check with staff first, in case they’d consider this a disruption.
Good idea! Also make sure it isn’t someone’s paying gig before you offer.
What nice ideas Jen. I’ve always wanted to be able to improve meditative music on my harp. I’m thinking maybe I start improvising for you at each of my lessons- and I would be motivated to practice it😉.
I LOVE it! 💙 Yes! See you soon!