Are we there yet?

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Remember asking that? “Are we there yet?  …How ‘bout now?  …yet?  I’m bored!”

Amazing some of us survived to adulthood!

But why did we always ask that question?

You already know – when you don’t know what the end looks like, it feels like you’ll n-e-v-e-r get there.  And that is a terrible feeling!

So, when we’re at the beginning of a tune, that road stretches ahead, uninterrupted – and you might feel like you’ll never get it.

What about when you have been working on the tune for a while?  Then you might ask yourself again, “Are we there yet?”

How do you know when you get there? How do you know you’re done? When is a tune “finished”?

The long answer is that you have to decide what you mean by finished. Is it finished when you’ve learned the tune?  Or is it finished when it’s perfect?  Or performance ready?  Competition ready?  Moved unceremoniously into the Bored with/Don’t want to play any more pile?  What is your definition of done?

I don’t have a definitive answer for your definition. It really depends on you, your level of development, the time you have available, your goals, your personality, and loads of other things that only you can answer for you.

There is also a short answer (but you might not like it).

Short answer – you’re never finished! WAIT – what?!?

Of course you’re never finished – the tune will never be done.  What? (I did say that you might not like the short answer)

After all, making music is a creative activity – you will have to decide for yourself what done will look/sound like.  Yup, it’s entirely up to you (and yes, I’m v-e-r-y aware just how uncomfortable that can be!).

If you stop working on a tune, it’s definitely done, but is that what you wanted for that tune when you started?  If you “finish” it and never let it be a living element of your playing, it will stultify and die (which isn’t really what most of us want from our music).

If a tune is “finished” then it’s done.  But why do you play and perform (even for the cat and the curtains)?  What keeps you coming back to your harp?  I’m guessing it isn’t because you want to be stagnant.

So how do you know when you are done enough? Here are some ideas:

  • You got where you were going (that is – you met your goal).
  • You have run out of ideas to continue to add to the playing – your arrangement is fairly stable.  But keep an open mind so you can continue to create as you go – forever!
  • A trusted mentor has suggested that the work is good.
  • You are comfortable when playing the tune for your audience (whoever that might be).
  • You’ve “got” the tune but you’re not enjoying playing it.
  • You feel “bored” playing a tune.
  • The holiday you learned the tune for has arrived(!).
  • Now that you’ve learned the tune, you just don’t enjoy it.
  • As much as you’ve worked on it, the tune is just not coming together (this is likely because it was a stretch for you in which case you should set it aside and pick it up later).

Think of tunes as being somewhere on a continuum from performance-ready or shelf-bound.  Either they’re good for sharing with others (performance ready) or they’re not going to see the light of day (shelf-bound).  There are, of course, various stages in between, but what that continuum looks like is up to you. 

Do you have any tunes that are finished?  How did you decide?  If you don’t, how would you define done?  I’m curious to hear your thoughts – let me know in the comments!

Quote, “

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At some point in planning I must have thought being on the go for two months was a good idea, because I booked myself up to do just that.  I’ve shared some with you (and some of you have shared with me which is great!). I’m still in the middle of all that and find myself with loads of good ideas but stuck in a bit of an internet desert, so I’m using my phone to post – ugh.  So this week, I’ve shared a quote with you.  It’s not much but I hope you enjoy it. I’m sure I’ll wander out of the desert shortly and I’ll see you next week!

Summertime Middle

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We’re a little past Midsummer and not quite to the middle of summer and it’s past the midpoint of the year, so here we are, Summertime Middle – or

stuck in the middle (with you)

 

Ok, bad song lyric semi-quotes aside, while it’s not strictly the midpoint of the year, we’re clearly in the middle of – everything and you are here.

Midpoint of the year

Summer workshops have been held and continue to be going.

The winter holidays are far in the rearview and sneaking up in front of us.

School’s not in, but we’re still remembering the good of last term while beginning to anticipate the coming return.

Hallmark is showing Christmas movies (oh, wait, that doesn’t tell us anything about the season, really).

And those who love it are starting to show the early signs of a candy corn craving!

So, it’s clearly time to do another important midyear thing – check in on our goals.  I have scavenged some useful questions we might consider at this point in time.  Of course, this assumes that we all have some goals for this year – whether they’re formally written (or over the top with a project plan) or informally noted in memory (or dreamt up like a wish).  Let’s go through the questions  – I am, of course, going to ask you to share with me what you come up with, but really this is an exercise left for the reader – what’s important is that you know where you are, where you meant to be, and if you’re getting there – although I have an abiding (and prurient) interest!

Here we go:

  • Wha’cha doin’? (definitely ask in a sing-song-y way!)  What have you been working on? Stuff you learned at a workshop this summer? Stuff you learned before the summer but needs polishing? Dusting your harp?
  • Done anything exciting lately? – what’s making you look forward to sitting to your harp?
  • What’s taking up most of your time lately? – what’s taking longer than you thought? Or are you dreading? Or keeping you away from your harp?
  • What’s your biggest challenge right now? – what’s a bigger bugbear than you thought? Getting up to speed? Committing to memory? Learning anything new? Sitting down to your harp?
  • What’s your day look like? – is there time for practicing and playing? Are you getting sunscreen on your soundboard? Are you looking longingly at the pool from your bench?
  • What are three interesting ideas you’ve had lately? (ok, I didn’t change this question at all – I like it just as it is!)
  • What are you doing to make yourself just a little bit uncomfortable just now? No, really – if you’re not a tiny bit discomforted, are you growing?
  • Did the goals you set earlier still make sense? If so, what’s next to keep going?  And if not, what would be a better goal?
  • What are you going to do next? If you’re proceeding apace on your goals, what’s the next step?  If you’re revising your goals, what’s the next step?  If you didn’t set any goals, what’s the next step?

If you’re pillorying yourself for not achieving your goals to do, stop it.  Rather, take a moment to review your old goals and identify what’s not right about them.  Because in this case, it’s not you, it’s the goal – either it wasn’t a good fit, it was too much of a stretch, it was a “should”, you just changed course, or something that made the goal not fit.  No matter, this is a great time to rewrite your goals.  Recraft the outcome, the path, the underlying rationale – whatever is needed to assure that you’re moving to your real goal, not an old/ill-fitting/unfortunately worded endpoint that isn’t serving you. 

If instead, you’re clapping yourself on the back in triumph, still take a moment to review your goals and assure yourself that you’re on the best path to the finish (for those goals), that the goal (even if you are moving deftly forward) is still the right one for you, and to identify that you still want to go where you’re headed.  Also, if you’re blown through your goals, you can take a moment to add to them!

As promised, a nosy question – how are you coming with your goals?  If you’re doing well against them, let me know!  And if you’re not, please share what was wrong with the goal and where you’re headed.  I’d love to hear about it in the comments!

Getting back to OSAS…Finally!

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Eventually, scientists will prove that each day of a covid year is longer than a normal day and that each covid year is multiplicatively longer than a regular year.  Until then, let’s just say that it was amazingly wonderful to be together for Ohio Scottish Arts School this year!

After two years online (in and of itself enough of a feat), it really was brilliant to be together making music, seeing old friends, making new friends, hearing pipers piping (especially at 7am!), drummers drumming, fiddlers fiddling, having snacks in the evening, playing (and winning!!!!) silly games, being cared for by Thistles – the whole sheebang!  Wow was it great to be back!

Our new “home” has similar but different interesting architecture – perfect to explore.

Better still, we f-i-n-a-l-l-y got to move to our new “home” at Baldwin-Wallace University.  We have a whole new world to explore – to find the nearest and best ice cream, to acquire the closest coffee, to spot the special architecture, and to suss out the mind-clearing walks – and boy, did we! 

Although we’re not very far from our old home, everything is different in Berea

As usual, I was fairly busy being in the moment, but I did do my best to take some photos.  I was just delighted to not be doing screen captures – and this year the OSAS photo is a real photo of all of us, together and laughing – having fun.

We revived some previous activities including learning to waulk fabric and sing the work songs with Seumas (and later weave that fabric into a beautiful cloth we could share. We held tight to some traditions – like Tuesday Tea. We thought we saw Nessie but it was just a stick.

I cannot thank my consociate teachers – Corrina Hewat, Sharon Knowles and Seumas Gagne – enough.  They did heroic work being amazing musicians, phenomenal teachers, and acrobatically flexible.  We even had captivating artwork for our lesson day when Corrina illustrated our names on the signup board.

And everyone together made the week into a bumper sticker – 

If you were at OSAS this summer – let me know what you liked best in the comments (but for complaints, send me a private email ).  If you weren’t there – I hope you’ll join us next summer!

Catching up

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I’m at the Ohio Scottish Arts School this week, teaching with the amazing Corrina Hewat, the incredible Seumas Gagne, and the marvelous Sharon Knowles.  After two years apart we and the students are clearly delighted to be here, together enjoying one another and being with other harpers.  We are also grateful to be with the other arts – piping, fiddling, drumming, and dancing.  The week has been chock-a-block so I am catching up with you but not with an OSAS report – that might have to wait until next week.

In the interim, I wanted to share that I had an extraordinary opportunity!  I am honored to have been commissioned by the Learned Kindred of Currie to compose a piece to commemorate the Platinum Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II. It is entitled Steadfast and you can hear it here. 

The Learned Kindred of Currie support the arts and Scottish culture. I encourage you to read about them on their website.  And when you participate in a Scottish Harp Society of America event, you might see their banner or meet a Currie – be sure to let them know how much we appreciate their Steadfast support!

Another great trip!

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Well, I’m home again but have one more set of photos to share.  We had a wonderful time, lots of fun and laughs and tunes!  Last week we were nearly done but not quite, so here’s a little more:  Then it was time to come home.

The funky Edinburgh wall paper from my last night’s hotel, I never miss the beach! Another landscape, and the ultimate Edinburgh view – the Castle

David wasn’t finished! We went to Ballindalloch Castle, seat of the Laird of the Grant.  We shared tunes in the beautiful dining room, toured the house, the gardens, and the tea shop!  We (finally) got a group shot – happy harpers and harp appreciators!  Here I mixed in some other photos from before I left – a glorious sunset, the Queen’s Jubilee display from the Princes Street Gardens in Edinburgh, that breathtaking sky.  And another tiny sink – this one in the hotel I stayed in before my flight home.

You already know I love the sky in Scotland, so another look.  The tiny sink from St. Andrews. A shot of the port of Stonehaven.  Nearby is Dunottar Castle ruin.  We spent a lot of time going places, so the road deserves a shot!

It really was a fantastic trip with good company – I can’t wait to go again.  But this week is a turn around – because next week we’re at Ohio Scottish Games and Ohio Scottish Arts School!  I’ll be teaching so I will probably be back to my usual forgetting to take photos but I’ll try!

Scotland through Strings

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We met up as a group just after last week’s post and I’ve been posting to facebook but I know that not everyone is on that platform so I promised more here.  This week, just a collection of photos I’ve taking.  We’ve played harp every day and had a great time. We’re not done yet, so I’ll be posting a few more, but for now…

W

We were in Perth and went to the very interesting Black Watch Museum – where I found sheet music and heard some tunes I know and some I didn’t!

Gratuitous waterfall and mountains as well as Wade’s Bridge which I always love seeing!

I found historical harps in Fort William’s small but mighty museum after watching the magical viaduct for approaching trains and a couple of gratuitous nature shots.

While in Skye we were intrepid travelers, even in the face of pelting rain and gusty winds – which lead to beautiful rapids. We got enough clear to see Portree and the Tongadale Hotel – that was reel-y fun to see.

On Skye, the weather made us all want to sing sea shanties about being caught in a storm! But it lead to great views, including the Old Man of Storr who was hiding in a cloud. and my impression of a sheep…

Back to the (much drier) mainland for Fort George, some wildlife, an amazing sunset and another harp!

Since we’re not done yet, there could be more – I’d love to hear which photos you liked and what you’d like to hear more about!

And so we prepare

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I’m really excited to be in Scotland!  David will get us started on our trip soon but until then, I’ve been visiting friends and seeing the sites that have always seemed not quite important enough to have fitted in before.  Boy was that dumb!

So this week (and next) rather than my usual wordy posts about practicing or playing or theory or technique – mostly photos of lovely days out!  The weather has been exceptionally hospitable since I’ve arrived (although I’m expecting more “authentic” weather soon – you know, “fine, soft days”).  And to be fair, up to this point, I’ve not had a harp in hand, so I’ll get caught up on that soon – for now, I’ve been indulging in other pleasures!  Hope you enjoy these as much I as I enjoyed experiencing them!

Clockwise from top left: entry to the Scottish National Museum of Modern Art; Dean Village and the Water of Leith Walkway; yummy hot chocolate (no cocoa for me!); a lovely day for a walk; and an interesting restaurant sign that could be considered enticing…maybe!

Scotland photos before harping 1

Clockwise from top left: Whale in Dundee; V&A and it’s facade meant to recall the cliffs of Arbroath; part of a work by Barbara Hepworth;;sometimes the best art is a mashup of nature and nurture, proto-whisky (barley in a field); and although I’m not really interested in flowers, these poppies really caught my attention

I’ll do my best to occasionally stop gawking at the wonder around me and take photos – and I’ll post them on facebook throughout the week – so keep an eye out there if you’re of a mind to. I’ll also post some more here next week. 

Until then, I’m itching to play – how about you?

Memorial Day

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This week we celebrate Memorial Day in the US.  Celebrate is a funny word to choose since Memorial Day is about honoring those who have died defending our nation and way of life in all the wars and conflicts to date.  But celebrating is probably the right thing to do – those people didn’t give their lives so the rest of us could stand around being morose but rather so that we could continue enjoying the life we’re so very privileged to live. 

Memorial Day

I hope you have a wonderful Memorial Day.  Enjoy your events.  Play your harp with glee and maybe note that the strings are Red, White, and Blue.  And spare a moment to think of those who came before to make all this possible.

Later this week I’ll be heading to Scotland for this year’s Harp the Highlands and Islands trip – finally!  After two years of planning and replanning and postponing and waiting, we’re finally getting to go.  I’ll be posting about that next.  So excited to going – watch this space!