Author Archives: Jen

At the Year’s end

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At the Year’s end

It’s the middle of December, and it’s about that time when we begin to take stock of the year that is nearly gone.  Soon we’ll be setting plans for next year, but for now, we need to decide how we think this year has gone.  If you set specific goals earlier this year, then you can check yourself against them now.  You’ll be able to see clearly what you accomplished and what you still need to work on.  

But what if you didn’t set goals at the beginning of the year?  Well,  you could set some “retrospective” goals (sort of like writing everything you’ve already done on your To Do list – you get credit for getting it done, but you didn’t actually have it on the original list!).  But that’s not ideal.

If you hadn’t gotten around to setting and writing goals and you don’t want to add to your To Do list, you might need another way to reflect on the year.  Because, whether you wrote goals or not, you likely still had accomplishments and achievements that are worth noting.  It’s instructive to look back and assess what happened all year and to actively remember the events of the year.  But those activities won’t make themselves obvious – you have to look for them! 

How do you take yourself on a journey reviewing the year?  You guessed it, ask yourself some questions.  What should those questions be? Here are a few.  Although it’s only a few, the answers will be instructive and tell you how you’re doing for the year. 

What is the best thing that happened all year?  What are the runners up? 

 

What did you do that you probably could have skipped?  What didn’t you do that you probably needed to include? 

 

What had you hoped to accomplish that you did?

 

What had you hoped to accomplish that you didn’t?

 

What did you do to take care of you?  Did it work?

 

What did you do that made you uncomfortable because it was (way) outside of your comfort zone?

 

What advice would you give yourself back in January, knowing what you know now in December?

 

What did you learn from all this?

The point of these questions is to meet the need to remember what you did, how you felt, what you should do next.  They are goals, just written differently!

There are, of course, other questions.  You will need your own that reflect your own ideas about what you accomplish in the year.  Spend a little time sussing out which ones work for you.  

What are some questions that you asked yourself to help take stock of the year?  Did you like the answers?  Let me know in the comments!

Taking the Lead

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Taking the lead

Here we go!  It’s December and that brings, well, you know.  We have a lot going on (why yes, even more than usual!). All that can get in the way of your practicing which might make you fell less than sturdy when it’s time to share all your holiday tunes.   

After all, everything you play (typically) is a tune everyone who’s listening already knows.  And, since it’s material we only get to play if for about a month (well, this year it was more like more than two months starting before Halloween), it’s easy to get less learning and practice in.  That might leave you feeling not quite prepared.  Feeling comfortable could end up being a luxury. 

Of course, that wobbliness can leave you feeling vulnerable – if you make a mistake – everyone will know – because they are so familiar with the tunes.  That can feel like a lot of pressure on you. But what if we turn that on its head?

Because when everyone knows the music, you are sort of free.  Stop looking at me (metaphorically) like I’m crazy!  When everyone knows the music – it makes everything you play even more of a connection to those you’re playing for – how cool is that?! 

You might feel like you must play perfectly, but…yawn.   That everyone knows the music is exactly what makes this repertoire so much fun!  So what if you add some “flourishes” or “jazz improvisations”?  Here’s a great opportunity – you may find you have a knack for generating your own arrangements (on the fly).    If you’re afraid (or just still telling yourself that you can’t do it) maybe start a gentle transition.  Find the tunes you already play in a lead sheet form.  Then you have the backup of knowing what should get played there – but you get to decide how it should sound. And if you’re not struggling to get a prewritten arrangement read through, you might also have time to insert some ornaments or variations (on purpose!).

I’m not suggesting you do this on the fly – but there’s still time to make the shift to a lead sheet so you can get used to reading that form and practice making it up as you go along (so it will be easier).  Keep notes on what you’re doing, what you like and what you don’t, as well as keeping all the kind comments you get – that way, next year, you’ll have a leg up!

Where are you playing for the holidays?  Do you have a favorite tune that you might move to a lead sheet on?  What is it?  Let me know in the comments!

Do you get a thumbs up?

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The days are getting shorter as the nights grow longer and the year end is hurtling toward us – must be time to take stock to see if you get a thumbs up.

You might have noticed that the holidays began before Halloween this year – and that’s probably here to stay (ugh).  So you are likely still working on material for your events whether they are family get togethers, playing for your friends, playing any one of a number of venues, or playing to impress the curtains and your cats.  Meanwhile, there is just a lot going on and everyone is busy.  I hope you are playing as many events for the holidays as you want to be – not one event more and certainly not one event less!

None of that makes it any easier to play, so it might be high time to check in on your basics to see how you’re doing.  Let’s start with your basic technique – are your thumbs up? fingers and hands relaxed? are you sitting up? breathing?  Are you still doing all those things while you’re playing?  You know good technique is important because it makes it possible for you to play stronger, and to play better for longer. 

Then let’s check on your current self-awareness.  You know that good technique relies on a solid awareness.  So, what better time than the present to give yourself the present of making sure you’re doing well?  Have you checked yourself in a video lately?  Or used a mirror to see what you’re up to when you’re thinking hard?  When you do look at these, do you identify what you need to work on (and then work on that!)?

Now let’s look at your repertoire – have you solidified your tunes for the season (or are you praying that you never get to the point where you have to play the wobbly tunes)?  Did you leave yourself enough time to prepare?  Will you mark your calendar to start sooner in 2023?  Have you noticed, though, that last year’s tunes are (ever so slightly) easier than they were last year?  If so, have you noticed what about them is easier (and what, if anything, is actually more challenging than before)?

So, now that you’ve looked it all over, can you give a thumbs up?  Of course, it’s only November so you have time to make changes if you need to so that you end the year on a high note. 

Have you let anything slide on over the last few months?  What have you found you need to focus on before you can give it a thumbs up?  Let me know in the comments!

Thanks

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This week we celebrate Thanksgiving in the US.  We have so many things to be grateful for, and once again, I find that one at the top of the list is – you!  Thank you for being such a wonderful part of my community.  I really appreciate your time and attention and participation!

Thank you.

SWOT’s it all about?

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Another crazy title – SWOT’s it all about?

I have an unending search for ways to get better at…everything!  And because I have a diverse background and work experience as a researcher, scientist, artist, entrepreneur, and person, I thrive on crossing boundaries between disciplines and practices, particularly applying tools from one disciple to problems from another which is a hoot.  At the least I learn something and at best there’s a huge breakthrough!  One of those stalwart business tools is the SWOT analysis – and it’s a nice fit for our harp playing. 

What’s a SWOT? It breaks into: Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats.  Clearly this is applicable to business, but to playing the harp?  Yup!

SWOT Chart

Think about it – taking a moment to complete a SWOT on your music could certainly help highlight where you should spend your time*.  Here’s how:

Strengths – What are your strong points?  Tunes you know (really well).  Techniques, at which you excel.  Sets you have put together.  And more.  These are likely your go-to tunes that you always perform, the ornaments you always use, your “signature” approach.  These are solid and need to be maintained, but certainly don’t need the bulk of your attention.

Weaknesses – What aren’t you good at? These are tunes (or tune types) you’re not so comfortable with, techniques you don’t know or don’t do well and avoid.  It’s not tunes you haven’t learned yet – just the ones that clearly aren’t ready for prime time (else they’d be in the Strengths pile).  These are things you need to work on (whether you know it or not).  These things require time and attention to get up to snuff and to be moved to the Strengths.

Opportunities – These are things you could nurture and take on to grow.  It can be tunes to learn, chances to perform, participating in workshops, lessons, or master classes, or sharing tunes with other harpers.  These are all chances to grown and develop and to move (eventually) to the Strengths column. 

And last is:

Threats – which might be the biggest head scratcher, but it’s also the biggest opening.  The word “threat” can be a little off putting so it might be better to think of it as things you might not think about or that you would love to skip (and maybe you do!).  It could also include not having learning opportunities (e.g., beginners without a teacher or not being able to get to workshops because you live far from other harpers).  So, they’re not “threats” as much as “thrusts” – places or things you can pursue to make progress including things to focus on or even gigs to seek.

A SWOT isn’t hard to do – it just takes a little time, some thought, a bit of self-reflection, and maybe some feedback if you have it (and a cuppa might help).  Set aside a half-hour to spend on it.  I’ve included a handy tool to help you do the analysis (click on the graphic (or here) to download).  The first time you do it, it might feel like a lot of work, but I promise it gets easier each iteration – and it certainly can help sharpen your focus.

Give it a try and let me know what you find!      

    

 

* And if you’re a professional, of course a SWOT can be helpful for business too!

Bzzzztzzzztzzzzzzzzz

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Practice Improvement

Do you ever feel like your practice needs fixing?  Like you should be doing something more but you’re not sure what?  After all, you do all the things (as the meme says).  And it’s our busy season coming, with friends, family, church, civic organizations, even strangers on the street, all asking for music for events or just to create a holiday vibe.  It is a gift to share your gift.  So the question is, is your practice ready or is your practice static?

Practice Improvement

Unfortunately, we can’t just wrap bows around our hands (or our brains!) and be ready to present our gift. So we practice.  And practice. And practice some more.  We listen to the gurus (I’m going to be presumptuous and add myself to that list!) and try to follow their advice.  We do the technical work, and we write down everything, we make recordings, we do repetitions, we make exercises from fumbles, we repeat and repeat and repeat.  Just like the “people who know things” tell us to.

But sometimes even all that might leave you feeling like you still don’t quite have it. Like all that practicing you should be doing isn’t getting you where you want to be.  Ever feel like that? Oh, it’s just me? Ok, well…yeah, I didn’t think so.

There’s just one problem with what I’ve described, and with “doing as your told” in general.  And that is that you can’t be static – not moving, not changing.

You have probably cobbled together (from all that guru advice) that you should do your technical work, then do your learning, then do your polishing, then play for fun and call it a day, invariantly, in that order.  But that may be where your unease is coming from!

You can’t always practice the same way all the time.  Mostly because you don’t always need the same thing from your practice each day.  There are so many factors that go into what you need to practice each day –

  • what you’re working on
  • what you’re working toward
  • what you’re doing the rest of the day
  • how tired you are
  • and more – all those things that impact everything in your day

So how should you practice? Well, start by knowing that, just like your learning, your practicing cannot be static. It has to change to fit what you need. 

But how do you know what you need? Well, as a beginner you might have to depend on your teacher to tell you – after all, you’re a beginner so you probably don’t know where to start and a teacher will certainly help with that.  But as you become more accomplished, you will be able to notice what works for you (and what doesn’t).  Before we go on, noticing what works is not the same as convincing yourself that practicing all the easy stuff is good and working on something you don’t want to do/don’t feel comfortable doing/is challenging can be skipped…these are usually the things you most need to work on (don’t ask me how I know this).

Practicing is the time to find what works for you – and what doesn’t.  It’s the opportunity to try different approaches to your music – play faster, play slower, try shoving your way through, break everything down, listen to a recording, read the music, listen to a recording while reading the music, work backward, work phrase by phrase, walk away and come back with a clearer head, sit until you get it, repeat 3 times, 10 times, 100 times, sing it, play it on another instrument (all things some guru has probably suggested to you before).

What do all of these approaches have in common?  They require that you pay attention.  No formulaic, mindless practicing!  Be critical (but not self-critical!).  Note what seems to help you move forward for each of a variety of situations.  Be open to changing as needed – and as the situation requires.  Follow your progress like it’s your favorite facetictweegram influencer!  Remember to start with your goals in mind so your can modify your process to get there  Focus on your progress and don’t be static!

What have you noticed impacts your practice success?  How do you modify your practice? How do you keep track of what you’ve done that worked and what didn’t?  Let me know in the comments!

Even better than Halloween!

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It’s one of the best holidays – Halloween.  What’s not to like? Little kids in adorable costumes! Your favorite candy – that terrible candy that you’d never admit to liking but is so good (candy corn? Smartees?)! Leaves to kick through! Cooler temps, breezes, sweaters, socks!  All the things!!

Well, I’ve found something even better.  I got to go to Shepherdstown WV and play the harp with little kids and bigger kids.  I spent a lovely morning with 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders and then with Pre-K and Kindergartners!  They had great questions – how long had I played? Had I ever played for anyone famous? Best of all, they really enjoyed getting to play the harp(sicle!).

No photos of course – they are little, and the internet can be a terrible place.  But there, in those schools, they were amazing and fun.  I was grateful for the opportunity to play for them!  Hopefully a couple of budding musicians will emerge.  Or, at a minimum, these children will continue to enjoy the magic of music for the rest of their lives!

I was also delighted to get to play a concert for some incredible people too!  They were a wonderful audience – they also asked great questions and were so interactive!  Special thanks to Judy for setting the entire experience up.  I’m so hopeful that they’ll invite me back again (hint hint 😊).

After I played, I was delighted to have a number of audience members come and give playing the harp a try – they were so game and fun.  Jen and I had a great time playing for her first time

I couldn’t ask for a better weekend!  Have you ever gotten to work with kids?  I’d love to hear about it!  How old were they? What did you do with them? Did you enjoy it? Let me know in the comments!

Sad

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Recently, a harp friend told me that she was going to move along.  That she was done with the harp.  That she had completed what she set out to accomplish. And now that that’s done, it’s time to move on to something else.

I struggled for what to reply.  The concept of being done with playing the harp is an anathema to me.  I don’t get it.  What?

I wanted to argue.  She’s a good player.  She’s put in so much work.  So much time. So much money!

But the more I thought about it, the more I realized that arguing with her wasn’t the right tack.  After all, she knows her own mind.  If she’s done, she’s done.  No amount of my quizzing her to death would help.  And all those questions surely wouldn’t woo her back and might just push her farther away. 

I just needed to be sad.

Sad because I’m likely to lose a friend.  When your friendship is built on sharing music, will it survive without it?

Sad because the harp gives me such joy (while also being a challenge) that I can’t conceive of leaving it, yet I have to allow her to do just that.

Sad because I felt badly that, although I think she’s a fine harp player, she had evaluated her own harp life and found it lacking.

And I’m still hopeful that it’s just that she just needs a break and that she’ll come back to the harp – and her harp friends.  That she’ll miss playing and just sort of migrate back to it.  That the simple act of playing will remind her of the joys to be had. 

But if that’s not the case, I really hope that she finds something that is a balm to her like I find my harp is to me – in good times and bad, it’s there for me and I want my friend to have that too.  Even if it’s from doing something else.

Because it’s about her and her happiness – and satisfaction – with playing.  If that’s not happening, then she probably should move on. I don’t know what she’s going to do with her time now that she won’t be practicing, going to workshops, playing, and all the other things we do.  It’s a lot of time to fill.  I’m not sure that when we’re in the middle of it, we realize how much time we spend – sometimes it really is more time that we spend with other people (not that there’s anything wrong with that! 😉).

And although I’m sad about all this, I also fervently hope that she is not sad at all.  That her choice to move along is standing her in good stead and that she’s finding something that makes her heart sing.  I’ll get over it.  I’ll play my harp to do so.  Maybe I’ll feel compelled to write a tune about it. Or maybe I’ll just play things that we had played together – as a commemoration of sorts.

I know I shouldn’t be sad – things change.  And I’ll move past it.  But for now, I’m going to be just a little bit sad about it while wishing my friend all the best. 

How are you? Let me know in the comments!

Harp Day 2022

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Harp Day 2022 was presented by Harp Ireland (Cruit Éireann in Irish) which is an Irish charitable organization established in 2016 by a bunch of harpers with a good plan!  They focus on promoting the instrument and its music while attracting more performers and audiences.  They have been busy!

Harp Day 2022 was this weekend with the theme – Harp Together.  It’s one of those activities that makes participation in their activities more accessible to all of us, around the world.  It’s not a hardship – after all Irish music (and Irish culture) is loved around the globe!  And if there’s one thing we learned over the last couple of years – we have enjoy getting together via whatever means is available to us.  I liked what they had on their website about it:

For the sixth year in a row, Irish harpers extend a warm invitation to harpers everywhere to join with them in celebrating the 1000-year-old Irish harping tradition, which is recognised on UNESCO’s List of Intangible Cultural Heritage.

Now you can catch up with all the good stuff.  Harp Ireland has put loads of good stuff online, freely available. 

It was exciting to make a video to be a part of the celebration.  A group of us was gathered for something completely different but decided it would be fun – so we did it!  I was delighted to be playing with Sue Richards, Therese Honey, Donna Bennett, and Martha Hill and we had a hoot playing an American tune – Sandy Boys.  You can see it here, at 1:02:23 – but definitely watch the whole thing.  There are four videos so pace yourself! You can find all the videos here.

I think my favorite part of the finished product – beyond the fun of watching some incredible harping – is that they also put together an interactive map so you can see where everyone was coming from.  Since we made the video in North Carolina, we are represented there even though we’re from around the US.  It’s delightful to see everyone in their locations https://www.harpireland.ie/interactive-map/

Hope you enjoy it – we sure did.  If you want more information about Harp Ireland you can find it here.

Did you participate in Harp Day 2022?  How many people do you know that are in the videos?  Let me know in the comments!

Celebrate!

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I got to be at the Scotland Connecticut Highland Games this weekend – and I had a fantastic time!  There were loads of harpers there and we got to spend the entire day doing harp-y things.  As usual – although I promised myself that I’d take loads of pictures – at the end of the day, I fell asleep that night thinking, “oh phooey, I never took my camera out!” (again). 

One of the things I enjoyed so much about being there was the wonderful energy that everyone brought.  Some people came to compete again.  Some came to compete for the first time.  Some came to be part of the group, enjoy the time, learn a tune, and share in a beautiful event. All that good stuff got me thinking about our harps events as the celebrations they are.

Celebrations?  Yes – we really were celebrating nearly continuously – we learned, we played, we shared music – all of those are celebrations of sorts.  But we don’t normally think about it like that – and we probably should.  We make advances (large and small) each day that we get to spend time at the harp.  We need to find a way to celebrate each of those achievements! 

What kind of achievements do I mean?  Well, how about:

  • Learned a new tune
  • F-i-n-a-l-l-y got a technique element we were learning (or we “ironed it out”)
  • Practiced one hundred days in a row
  • Or, practiced five days this week
  • Remembered to trim our nails – before we started practicing!
  • Accomplished all our weekly practice goals
  • Performed in public (for the first time?)
  • Conquered a tune that had been resisting being played (or am I the only one that sometimes feels like that?)
  • Actually remembered to use dynamics while playing

So, how should we celebrate? How about:

  • Tell your closest “harp friend”
  • Play a fanfare to your success…on your kazoo
  • Post a video to Facedegram
  • Make yourself a sticker chart (like when you were a kid)
  • Wear a tiara or crown while practicing the next day
  • Have a cookie!
  • Go to a harp event (and have a great time)

It doesn’t really matter how you celebrate – as long as you DO celebrate your little wins.  It will help keep you motivated and remind you that you get to play the harp!  What could be better than that?   

I am sure you have more/better achievements!  What would you like to celebrate?  What would you choose as your reward?  Let me know in the comments!