Author Archives: Jen

Practice Hacks

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Practice Hacks

Everyone is passing along hacks for everything that happens in life.  Whether it’s a no-brainer like putting a paperclip under the tape so you can find the end the next time or a head scratcher like using Doritos as kindling when you need to start a fire (think that one all the way through), hacks are advertised as little things that make life easier (and the implication is that you should have thought of it already).  By extension, they make you smarter (for doing the weird easy thing).

There are even people talking about Practice Hacks.  But here’s the thing –

There are no practice hacks!

Yup, I said it.  There are no practice hacks.

Wait, before you become forlorn because I’m not going to give you cheap and easy ways to improve your practice, and before you start looking for ways to prove I’m wrong…

While there are no practice hacks, there are a number of ways to make your practice better!  These are all easy and cheap (or free).  And nothing I’m about to reveal should be a surprise! 

What are these mysterious methods that aren’t hacks?  How do you make your practice better? Here are a few things you can do/try/add to your daily practice:

  • Think – Structure your practice time so you spend a little bit of time thinking about what you want to do, what you need to do, and what you left to do from the last time before you actually start to work.
  • Plan – Based on your thinking, plan what you are going to do while you practice. Don’t leave it to chance.
  • Write – A practice journal in some form allows you keep track of what you have done, how it went, what you should do next, questions to ask at your lesson, and any other thoughts you have during your practice. This really is just for you so feel free to write anything you like here.
  • Listen – When I first started playing, I was working so hard to play the notes that I didn’t actually hear them! I had to learn to listen while I play – and you can learn that too. Sometimes when I practice, I focus on making the sounds and sometimes I set aside time to focus on listening so I can hear what I’m doing.  If you find you run out of brain space before you get to listening, then use your phone to record and listen to it separately – you’ll be amazed by what you learn!
  • Be present – Practice is often painted as drudgery.  But really, your practice time is time you’re spending on you with you. And you deserve it.  So be there for you. Put your phone away, turn off the tv, close the door, and be present for yourself.
  • Be prepared – If at all possible, have your instrument ready – out of the case and in front of the bench. It is always amazing to me how off-putting the harp can be if it’s enrobed in its case!  Also, have your journal, some pencils, pens, and post-its at the ready.  Make your tea ahead of time.  Preparedness is not just for Boy Scouts and the Coast Guard!
  • Be (time) Wise – Don’t think you must have 2 hours every day to make progress. Even if you only have 10 minutes here or there – those 10 minutes can add up.  And on “those” days if all you get is 10 minutes – use it!  Don’t talk yourself out of practicing because you don’t have a long stretch of time available.  By the same token, don’t write off an entire week because you missed a day or two.  Although we think about time in days, weeks, and months, these are artificial constructs.  In this case those constructs are not helpful.  The reality is that time is continuous – so you can continue too!
  • Chill – It is easy to get caught up in comparisons. Everyone you know has already learned that tune.  Or everyone is playing it way faster than you can. Or you have a simple arrangement, but everyone else’s is complicated.  Chill – it’s not a race! You do your thing, enjoy the successes of others, and play!
  •  Actually Practice – Practicing can encompass a lot of things, but the one thing it must include is that it is a time to knuckle under and do work. Focus and pay attention and do the things you need to do.  As mentioned above – it is time you are investing in you, so make it worth your while!

Like I said, there are no hacks.  There are no short cuts.  There are no ways to avoid the work.  But there are ways to use your practice time well and make progress – but you probably already knew that!  What are your “practice hacks”?  I’d love to hear – let me know in the comments!

Put it away

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Put it away

Do you have those tunes that seem to be made of rubber?  The kind that, no matter how hard you work on them, bounce right out of your head.  Boing – right out of your hands!  In fact, these tunes seem to have some sort of negative charge – the harder you work on trying to learn them, the farther from being learned they get.  Or maybe it’s just me that has worked and worked and worked and when I can’t stand it anymore, I <still> can’t remember or play it.  Grrr.  Worse – it’s almost always a tune you really want to play. Double grrr.

Like everything else, when you have this challenge, it’s good to have a strategy to overcome it.  But the “obvious” approach might not be the one you want to use.  Because when, as you sit on your bench, you feel like you should be able to play something, but you can’t – despite a great deal of brain work.  That’s when you might think you should double down and keep working.  Don’t!

It’s the perfect time to put it away.  Yup. Set it aside.  Put it out of your mind.  Don’t give it a thought. And definitely don’t work on playing it.  I don’t mean just a day or two – let it sit for a while.  Let it marinate.

How long is a while? Well, that depends on you.  I know for me it’s more than a couple of weeks.  If I can, I let it wait until it pops up in my head (uninvited – no fair “prompting” it!) and makes me crazy trying to identify it!  But when I sit to play it, I’m often pleasantly surprised!  Most surprising is that the tune that was just not going into my head is quickly worked up – like there never was a problem to begin with. 

So, the next time something’s giving you trouble, put it away and come back to it later.  Have you tried this?  Let me know in the comments!

Why do scales?

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Are scales your favorite part of practicing?  Do you do scales regularly?  Be honest.

It’s easy to be jaded about scales.  After all, you’ve probably been doing them most of your harp life.  But do you know why? 

Well, obviously, scales have technical potential.  They do embody so many important elements – placing, planning, crosses, rhythm, control, and more.  But there are other things about scales that make them so important.

Scales are the embodiment of practicing a small habit every day to build strength and resilience.  Doing your scales every day not only ingrains the technical elements but also gives you a dependable small win each day that you can leverage to keep yourself on track for your big goals.

Scales have a clear functional purpose but they also have a philosophical purpose.  They can help create a bubble in which you can be present and focused.  They also are a simple act of great potential.  They are the type of easy activity that allows your mind to work.

So it is important to do scales.  But don’t just do them – do them right.  Identify what your focus will be, the outcome you desire.  Keep the small goal in sight, but keep the “grand goal” in mind so that all your work one the simple stuff is always pushing you along the path to your selected stop.  Focus on what you can do today, with an eye to where you’d like to eventually get.

So, do your scales.  Do them well.  Enjoy them – examine what you do and what it means as well as what you could do next.  Do what you can do today as a step to where you are going – the journey has many steps – you might as well enjoy them.

Do you do your scales every day? Where are they taking you?  What could you do better?  Let me know in the comments.  

It’s a new year!

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It’s a new year – that time of year when, after heartily wishing you a Happy New Year, I would normally start blathering on about goal setting.
This year I thought I’d give you a bit of a break (gasp! Is she losing it?) (Nope, just taking a new tack).


The problem with goal setting is that it’s fraught with baggage. We think of goals as things we don’t meet. Or even finish. Or we think that we have set lofty goals and then we don’t “grow into them” like we thought we would. All of which leaves us feeling like we have failed.

Ugh.

This year, I’m going to suggest something different. And yes, I’ve totally stolen this from a million other places. This year will be different (for loads of reasons). So, let’s start differently so we can end differently!

This year, why not write a letter to your future self? Not too future – just to the you that you will be in December. That you will be different from the you as you are just now. Be a good correspondent. 

But, how are you going to do that? how do you compose a letter to someone who you have yet to be meet? Well…

Close your eyes and imagine yourself at the end of the year, preparing for a New Year’s Eve party to welcome in 2024. You are so justifiably proud of the year that was. Let’s do the retrospective as we get dressed. Just like in the movies, watch the montage of your year in review.

What have you learned? Where did you go? What have you done? What changes have occurred (both good and bad)? What worked?  What didn’t? What did you not get to that you kinda wish you hadn’t missed?

Write all those things to your future self – make it a nice, long, juicy letter! Give yourself the details of not only what you did but how you got to each of those actions. Take some time to think about what you will need to do to become the you you’re writing to. Don’t forget to include where you are (and who you are) at this point. Remind you where you were and why you wanted to cross the gap between who you were and who you’ll become.

And remember, that person who will read this is very dear to you – so be nice. Be positive. Be kind!  Pop the letter into an envelope and put it in your planner calendar to be opened in December. 

Of course, between now and then, you can keep notes in your practice journal – just to help your future you have a better recollection of the year gone by. 

Want to share what you’re going to tell you? Leave a comment!

Makin’ a List

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Makin’ a List

Since the end of the year is coming, many people are spending a moment taking stock (which is a great idea, BTW!).  My own led to a list of random thoughts that I, of course, felt compelled to share with you!

1. If you need gift ideas (or hints?) I stand by this list for ideas. I should have added index cards to keep a running collection of tunes you have learned (I talk about that here).

2. Regardless of whether you play for your own edification, the cat and the curtains, your church, paid audiences, or you’re opening for the Rolling Stones, never lose sight of the reality that you not only have a gift, but you sharing that gift with others simply magnifies it. Playing music is never a waste of time or resources.

3. Take care of you. Beyond basic self-care, never play through pain or in pain.  Use good techniques, use the tools your teachers have shared with you – placing, fingering, posture, etc.  But no matter how long you practice each day, there are still the habits of the other hours of your day that can gang up on you – darn day job!  If you are developing discomfort or if you have allowed that discomfort to grown into pain, of if something else is impinging on your playing (I’m looking at you desk job keyboard un- functional posture) seek help from a Certified Music Ergonomist – like me*!

4. Take time to enjoy. Even as the hustle and bustle, the premanufactured stress of the season, the actual stress of life, and the chores pile up – you play the harp!  Play the tunes you like (or those that come easily to you).  Really listen, feel, and resonate with your instrument and draw some peace to you, in you, and around you.  If it’s midnight and you’re keyed up, sit for just a moment and put a little disturbance into the air.  Let the ick of stress, etc., ride those sound waves right out of you!

5. Is it possible to say thank you enough? I doubt it.  So, sincerely, thank you for sharing your year with me.  I really enjoy your thoughts, observations, and comments, and I remain delighted and grateful for you and your willingness to share!

Told you, just a jumble of thoughts.  What’s on your list?  Let me know in the comments!

 

 

* Shameless plug.  But seriously, if not me, let me point you in the right direction~

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!