Room for more

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Catch up on the discussion – we started with a challenge here and then I shared the tunes I had read here. That lead to discussion which we have below. Feel free to start the challenge now and I’ll look forward to hearing how you get along! And, of course, it would be great if you subscribe here.

Last week I shared the list of tunes I had read through to prepare for the coming holiday season and mentioned that I didn’t love all of them but did plan to include a couple moving forward. The list I shared came from some of the books I happened to have on my shelf. I won’t lie, I didn’t use all my Christmas books, just the ones I could reach from where I was sitting (never underestimate my ability to work hard to stay lazy!).

Eagle-eyed Kate noticed that I didn’t tell you which tunes I liked and want to keep, and which were meh and I’ll ignore – and she asked which were which! So, I thought I would share that this week.

So, the list of tunes I’ll probably work on this year includes:

  • Angel Gabriel from Heaven Came (to be fair, I have played this but never really committed it)
  • The Holly and the Ivy (I have always loved this one but never play it)
  • New Christmas (which I had also found earlier in a bagpiping book and have been intrigued by, and Jo writes lovely arrangements, so I think it’ll be a keeper)
  • O Come Little Children (which I heard while in Germany at a Christmas market so it’s like a breathing souvenir!)

I also heard from Sharon Thormahlen who has a number of holiday books available too! I hadn’t seen them, but she graciously sent me copies to read through*. She sent me a book of Carols (Tis the Season) and a book of songs (Season’s Greetings) as well as a single sheet White Christmas. The carols book includes those that get a lot of play (Deck the Hall, Silent Night, What Child is This, Away in a Manger, First Noel) as well as some less often played (Celtic Carol, The Holly and The Ivy). The songs book included tunes I never think of (Christmas in Killarney, Little Drummer Boy) as well as the ones you can’t leave on the table (Let it Snow! Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Silver Bells, and a medley of O Christmas Tree/We Wish You a Merry Christmas). I found her arrangements to be approachable and readable, and best of all she has placed the lever changes really thoughtfully so you can actually play without panic! I think I’ll be adding the Christmas Song and maybe Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas as well as White Christmas!

You might note that I had suggested adding a couple of tunes this year and I have already compiled quite a list! I think it’s safe to say that some will be ready to play this year and some will be better next year – and I’m ok with that! There’s always room for more!

*Sharon also sent me a book of Jewish music and if I had occasion to play a Hanukkah gig, I’d dip into it. If you would like to dip into the holiday books, she has them available on her website. In that internet-y way (and to make sure I don’t break any laws), I need to tell you that I did receive gratis downloads of the books I mentioned. I will not get any (additional) compensation if you do (or do not) buy them. I do hope you will buy books from musicians you’re interested in (e.g. Sharon) (or me for that matter) because it’s the right thing to do.

Challenge met?

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So, did you take me up on my dual challenge to do a little (consistent) sight reading and prepare a little early for Christmas? I hope so, if only so you’ll be comfortable when that first (unexpected) request to play for some charity event the day after Thanksgiving comes in! If you’re ready, what would have been a shock can be turned into a tingle instead of electrocution!

I’m kinda pleased with myself. I set the bar low at just one Christmas tune a day, but like practicing in general, once I got on the bench, who can really have just one? As promised, I made a list of the Christmas tunes I read through this week.

I didn’t include those tunes that I could have read but have been in my repertoire for years, so I really don’t need to read them (that seemed like cheating anyway). I did include tunes I have played a few times but can never remember without looking at the page (either because (to me) they’re arcane) or because although they’re popular, I don’t like them!).

I wasn’t fancy – I used books I have already. I focused on tunes I hadn’t ever read, mostly because I didn’t recognize them. I used what I consider “basic” books that you can easily find available. And I focused on the melody and harmony ideas not “straight” reading because 1. I’m lazy and 2. I know I won’t play those arrangements; I’ll find my own. Here’s my list of books (alphabetical by arranger):

  • Deb Friou and Julia Lane’s Yuletide Treasure
  • Jo Morrison’s Christmas Gifts
  • Sunita Staneslow’s Christmas Eve
  • Karl Weinand’s Christmas Music for the Lever Harp
  • Sylvia Woods’ 50 Christmas Carols for All Harps

So here goes, here’s what I read through this week (alphabetical by title):

  • A Child is Born in Bethlehem
  • A la Nanita Nana
  • The Abbot’s Bromley Horn Dance
  • Angel Gabriel from Heaven Came
  • Angelus ad Virginem
  • Birth in Bethlehem
  • Boar’s Head Carol
  • Cherry Tree Carol
  • Cold and Raw
  • Down in Yon Forest
  • From Heaven Above to Earth I Come
  • Green Grow’th the Holly
  • He Smiles Within His Cradle
  • The Holly and the Ivy
  • The Holly Bears a Berry
  • The Humors of Winter
  • Joseph Dearest, Joseph Mine
  • Masters in this Hall
  • New Christmas
  • O Come Little Children
  • Over the Hill and Over the Dale
  • Rejoice, Rejoice, Believers
  • Shepherds Hurried to Bethlehem
  • Wexford Carol
  • While Shepherds Watched their Flocks
  • Willie, Take Your Drum

Did I like them all? Not even a lot of them. But there are a couple I’m excited to learn this year. Not sure I’ll play them anywhere, but can’t hurt to have a leg up.

What’s not in here? More modern Christmas songs – I’ll have to source some of those because I like them and want to play them! Or I could learn them by rote (which should be relatively easy since I can sing the ones I like) (don’t worry, I won’t make you listen to my singing). If you find the sheet music for I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas, please do not send it to me.

How did you do? I’d love to hear about it, even if you don’t share your list! Let me know in the comments!

Challenge

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It’s the height of the summer and it’s hot. Do you know what that means?

It means it’s time to start thinking about what we’d like to play for the holidays! By then, it will be a stressful time, so we want to be ready. Of course, we have to balance out our need to prepare with ensuring we don’t let our enthusiasm for the repertoire get stale.

What can we do? How should we prepare so far ahead? How will we stay focused and motivated?

Let’s set ourselves a: READING CHALLENGE!

We know that we should be reading more because being proficient in reading takes practice. We also know that reading can be more challenging on the harp than on other instruments because the music isn’t propped up directly in front of us so we have to turn our heads to read the music and to see the instrument – on top of all the other effort of reading.


Many of us feel as though we don’t read well enough or fast enough or accurately enough. It’s easy to forget how hard we had to work to learn to read at all in the beginning. For most of us it was so long ago that we don’t remember how hard it was to get to fluid reading!

There is a way to make reading easier – PRACTICE!!

But practice is also easier if we have a goal. The holidays make a great goal – focused, limited, and they include a deadline – what’s not to like?

To make our holiday reading a more focused goal, let’s do (drum roll please) a 

Summer Christmas Reading Challenge!

The goal is to practice our reading so it becomes second nature (or at least is closer to second nature than it is now!) and to be ahead of the game when it’s time to hit the holiday opportunities to play.

But let’s not be too over the top. Let’s set this Challenge for just this week and keep focused on holiday music. The plan is to read through as much music as possible in that time. You can select music that you are interested in. You can read melody lines or both hands – whichever will get you further along in reading the music you want to read more easily. The point is simply to practice your reading so it will get easier while also preparing for the cold time.

My goal is to read at least one new tune every day! I’ll post my list at the end, you send me your lists and we’ll see how we do.

Hope you’ll join me! Start keeping a list in your practice journal and you can send them to me by next Monday (just a week) and I’ll post what we’ve got. This should be both motivating and motivational. Motivating because we’d like to have made a good start and motivational to see what everyone is planning on for the holidays.

Start reading – you have until 21 July! (PS – if you’re running late, send it anyway, we’ll get caught up!). Just use the button below to send me your comments and your list!

Highlight!

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OSAS is over for another year. Each year we say it is the best. That’s not hyperbolic – it’s just the way of it. Each year the students bring their enthusiasm and joy for learning and growing and making music. And the blend of enthusiasm from previous years’ attendees and the nervous anticipation from first time students is a heady mix that is hard to beat! It’s the experience of being able to come year after year learning something new each time that shows that each year has been better than the past – because we have all grown!

As usual, I didn’t take any (useful) photos to share – there’s so much to do in real time in real life that I don’t take the time to snap pics. I did, however, really like this one from Stephanie Claussen which I unceremoniously pinched from her facebook page.

The students aren’t the only ones who change the atmosphere – the teachers totally bring it! These are people who are already incredible performers and fantastic teachers. But later in that they are genuine people with breadth and depth and passion, and the mix moves from heady to intoxicating!

I think, though, that all this comes together to build and gel a community. Humans are best in community – a shared love with a support system. And when we’re together at OSAS we can layer context as we learn more about music, history, heritage, and our places in the world.

We learn tunes, technique, expression, and more of the idiom. We learn harp tunes, fiddle tunes, and pipe tunes. We sing songs. We play with other harpers which is a rare treat for so many. But we also get to play with fiddles and small pipes. We walk to meals, chatting and then talk through the meals and continue catching up on the way back.

As a teacher, I watch lights come on, see new ideas take hold, confidence grow, skills develop, and joy build. Don’t be fooled, I also see the occasional burst of frustration, and… fatigue, but they are quickly eclipsed by contentment and even delight!

I’m going to spend this week rolling in the afterglow while it’s fresh. Next week we’ll start planning for next year – collecting what works, examining what should change, collaborating with the other teachers and leadership to craft the best OSAS ever! Hope you’ll join us – and if you want more, just ask me. If you’re just back too, share your thoughts in the comments!

Scale Up

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In the tech and pseudo-tech worlds things work at scale and to scale, and scaling up is very important. For us, working at scales is not just important – it’s essential!

When you think about it – scales make up all music. They represent the available notes, define all the intervals, and by picking and choosing they also sketch out every possible shape.

Given the power scales hold, why do some people roll their eyes at their mere mention? And why do still others avoid them like the proverbial plague? Is it because they are tedious? Or is it like flossing – something we have all been told will both improve and prolong our lives and yet, less than 30% of us do it!

Doing scales should be a part of your daily harp hygiene. But we might need a subtle mindset shift to make the whole thing more palatable. Here are a few ideas you might try if you find you’re not doing scales daily – one for each day of the week!

1. Beginner’s Mindset – If you are a beginner, or if you remember your very early playing, scales are not easy. There is so much to do – placing your fingers, checking that they are one the right strings, playing carefully, closing all the way, learning what a scale sounds like (correct and incorrect), making adjustments, pretending you can go faster (than you really can), and more. It’s all hard. But eventually, with practice, it gets easier. And soon, you either rip through them or forget to do them all together. I challenge you to – at least once a week – put your beginner’s hat on and do your scales slowly (ponderously?) as you did when you learned to do them. They aren’t as eyerollingly droll as you might think when you pay attention.

2. Meditation at scales – If you’re not a beginner, your scales are probably on autopilot. So, I challenge you to do them once a week as an opportunity to breathe and check in with yourself. Transcend the details to observe the totality of your scale. You’ll learn a lot which you can plow back into your playing!

3. Scales can be challenging – There are so many ways to break out of boring, rote scales. One of my favorites is “Russian Scales” which I totally stole from piano. These are simple scales that move from parallel motion to contrary motion throughout the exercise. Easy-peasy (ha!). From Russian Scales we go to “Chasing Squirrels” which is much more free form but still shifting between parallel and contrary. You can make your own patterns – maybe have fun by shifting keys (to change up the visual cues).

4. Threes – I learned this from someone (maybe Maeve Gilchrist?) one hand plays a 2-octave scale in 3s, while the other plays a straight 1- octave scale. You’re done when both hands end up where you started.

5. Consistently Contrary – Do your scales always in opposition (contrary motion). No funky rhythms or change ups, just be contrary.

6. Push your weight around – Use a dotted rhythm to give your scales a little swing. Use different rhythms, try polyrhythms, challenge yourself!

7. Book scales – Get out your fav – Grossi, Friou, Hannon (I know – piano, but still useful) and do it! I also really like the books from Maeve Gilchrist, Gillian Fleetwood, and Sue Richards. There are loads of these technique exercise books – use them!

So, there you have a week’s work of scales – with no boredom, constant challenge. And none takes more than their fair share of practice time. No excuses. What are your favorite scales? Let me know in the comments! Want video examples? Send me a note and I’ll get it to you!

Feynman was right

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There is one more place available to come with us to Ireland and Scotland in October! You know you want to go so check out the details and get your spot secured!

You already know that I really enjoy teaching. I have wonderful and amazing students, and I am certain that I learn more from them than they learn from me!

Richard Feynman (the genius scientist – and yes, I am an unabashed fan girl) was well known for pointing out that the best way to learn something (and to be certain you had learned it) is to teach it. The part he didn’t really highlight was that your own depth of learning would grow by teaching the same material to different people. Each of them will start where they are (where else could they?!) and take in what they are able in the order that they need to make sense of the world as you (the teacher) have presented it.

This means that I, as the teacher, must break out of my own place to provide what they can accommodate in a sequence that makes sense – to them. That’s a challenge – and I love it! Simply by being themselves, they push me to bend and stretch and reach for the stars. And when a student “gets it” – whether it is a tune, a harmony, a phrase, or even an interval – I rejoice! Because learning is demanding work and I’m grateful to be a part of it.

I sometimes worry that they will think I’m mocking them – and that’s when I wish we had LED displays on our heart – so they could see the joy for what it is – pure delight!

All that sounds like it’s all about me. And true, some of it is. After all, it can be brow breaking work to be flexible and creative hour after hour, day after day on the bench. But more importantly, 99% of is all about the student. Each thing they learn makes a brick to build the bridge from where we are to where we’re going – the next step of their journey. I’m just the tour guide.

Is there anything more fulfilling than being that guide? I don’t think so! You can have that too – I’d like to suggest that you offer a “come and try” (or “harp petting zoo”). You can make it part of your Music Day or Random Acts of Harping event. Because, for all my blether here, you – yes, you! – could share the same joy by teaching someone about the joy of making music and of playing the harp in particular!

Here’s your lesson plan:

  • Put your harp in Cmaj (no sharps, no flats).
  • Invite them to sit.
  • Hold onto your harp and guide it to them. Remind them not to lean forward (no, really, everyone does it).
  • Tell them to use their pointer finger on either hand to play any white string.
  • Demonstrate that they can’t really break the harp by pulling really hard on a string. Do NOT let go of the column (so you can stay in control of the harp).
  • No matter how much you want to jump in, (and as long as everyone is safe) let them explore for a moment – even the timid. Pay attention to their cues to pace yourself.
  • After a decent interval, teach them to Gliss (everyone one loves to do that most harpy of things).
  • If they seem keen, you can teach them Twinkle Little Star or Frere Jacques (using just the 2 finger).

It’s about them learning and enjoying. Don’t pin the reluctant to the bench and encourage the engaged. And on occasion check in with your heart – it’ll probably be full of joy!

Have you done a come and try? Tell me about it! Never done one? Are you going to try now? Let me know with a comment! BTW – I’m excited to be doing a come and try at the Ohio Scottish Games on Saturday, 28 June at 3pm. Come to the Harp Competition which starts at 9am and stay for the fun!

National Music Day is Saturday – perfect opportunity to get out there! Pair it with Random Acts of Harping and you’ve got a slam dunk!

Random Acts of Harping

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If you’ve played the harp for any length of time you might have heard of Random Acts of Harping. Joanna Mell started it years ago. It used to be a specific day that people would randomly go out and play – in a park, at a nursing home, wherever. The idea was to make a generous contribution of your music to the world and post it to social media. Nowadays we would call it a pop-up concert!

This year she called for it to be any time in the month of June, which is a great idea, because of course there’s no one day that’s good for everyone all over the world to have the opportunity to go out and play. And I’m sure it hasn’t escaped you that it is, in fact, already June.

While I’m good for popping up unannounced and randomly to play for passersby, complete strangers, and even-stranger strangers, I’ve never been good about the social media part (doubt me? check out my social media pages – very thin).* Frankly, when I’m playing, I’m not thinking about posting or even getting photos or video. Yes, I’m just not great at having an influencer presence, it’s true. But that’s ok, because I’d rather be playing anyway.

The best things about Random Acts of Harping are that they encourage us to get out of our way, get out of our own heads, and get out into the real world. They also give us something to look forward to and an opportunity to share, even those of us who don’t have many of those come up that often.

If you’ve not done this before (or even if you have), while you’re playing be sure to look at the faces of the people that hear you. You might be surprised and delighted to see the surprise and delight on their faces and the happiness in their eyes. And, even if you typically only play for the cat and the curtains, it is truly wonderful to share music to receive that response. That alone will help you to see that it’s not about you – and how appreciative people are of the gift you make for them.

I’d like to encourage you to take part in Random Acts of Harping this year. You have the entire month remaining. It really is freestyle – the only rules are that you’re not meant to announce that will happen, just make it happen. Joanna’s facetwigram post exhorts you to “take your harp out into the world and delight the general public with its magical music!”

If you would like to be included in the Folk Harp Journal article she’ll write, snap a pic and send it with a paragraph about your random harp adventure by July 30 through her website www.joannamell.com. Remember: this is RANDOM acts of harping! And if you want to do it but don’t want to go through that rigmarole, I’d love to hear about your adventure (with or without photos!). Just send me a comment!

* It occurred to me upon editing that you might take me seriously, so https://www.facebook.com/CreativeJeniusHarp or https://www.instagram.com/jentheharper/

Finger Independence

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My brain likes to think that it’s in charge. If often issues imperious edicts like, “put that cookie down” or “we’re going for a run now”. Typically, the rest of me falls in line and meekly does as it’s told (I’m looking at you arms and legs!).

But we’re musicians, athletes of the small muscles. When my brain seeks to order those little muscles around, they can be insolent. You know how it goes – the melody needs rapid direction changes and there you are with no more fingers in the direction we need to go! In these situations, the “usual” straightforward fingerings just won’t work. And in response, those small muscles don’t just balk, they rebel!

One can hardly blame them – they’re scared because the brain is asking them to do something they’ve never (or rarely) attempted (and typically with very little time to get there). It can get nasty with the brain becoming more strident while the fingers cower like sheep becoming paralyzed with fear. Poor fingers need to move in weird combinations or odd order of play.

Those fingers would be less afraid if they were strong, independent fingers! So, how do we help them gain that independence? Nothing a little exercise can’t fix to build strength, confidence, and most importantly, independence!

If you’re tired of reading (or think this doesn’t apply to you) go crack open Grossi, Richards, or Salzedo and prepare to sweat! But this is a little different, so hang in there with me!

Still here? Cool! We’re going to do two sets of exercises, but first you need this chart and two dice:

I know it’s intimidating – but hold on! Roll the dice to find the part of the chart you’re going to use – one for the row and the other for the column (if you roll two 6’s you can pick any column!).

Put your hand on a table, fingers curved – like you’re going to drum them on the table or like you’re typing. Now, tap your fingers in the order listed in the cell you have identified – lift each finger off the table in turn and put it back down. Go slowly, gently, in control, relaxed. Fingers follow our usual harp playing (1 = thumb, 2 = index, etc. and 5 is your pinky (even though we don’t play with it, it still needs to be included). Keep your wrist off the table in a neutral position. Relax. No, really – relax all of you, your fingers (obviously), your hands, arms, shoulders. Breathe.

Start by setting a time for about 15 seconds and work your way up to the entire table. Build slowly and focus on keeping your hand relaxed with your fingers moving (and changing) smoothly. When it becomes effortless – then you can add more rows or go faster. Start with each hand, then progress to both hands doing the same order.

I cannot stress enough – stay relaxed and in control. This is not about speed but about focus and on building that finger independence. You want each finger to move on its own without the others moving at all (this might be more challenging for some fingers than others).

When it becomes easy, move on to the next step – chose one order for right hand and another order for left hand.

Relax – it’s not Rocket Surgery – it’s more challenging!

Now, the next level, which is actually easier! Don’t move to this until you can do the previous exercise easily. Move to the harp. Same idea but we need a new table (since we don’t play with the pinky).

 Finger Order on the Harp
 1234
11,2,3,42,1,3,43,1,2,44,1,2,3
21,2,4,32,1,4,33,1,4,24,1,3,2
31,3,2,42,3,1,43,2,1,44,2,1,3
41,3,4,22,3,4,13,2,4,14,2,3,1
51,4,2,32,4,1,33,4,1,24,3,1,2
61,4,3,22,4,3,13,4,2,14,3,2,1

At first, simply place and move your fingers to tap the strings. This is a new task (even though it feels the same). Relax, go slowly, build up. Only when you can do that easily, then you’ll play.

This is all about independence and control which we can build and develop by staying relaxed and focused. As Marcus Aurelius might have said (had he been lucky enough to play the harp) “I don’t have to like it, I just have to do it.”

Being able to control your fingers independently will stand you in good stead in all types of tunes and all manner of arrangements with sticky wickets. Give this a go and let me know how you get on. If you’re more advanced and think you have this licked, try it, and let me know how it goes! I am also interested in how frustrating (or not) you find it so please share your thoughts – let me know in the comments!

Memorial Day 2025

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Each year we receive this opportunity to reflect on those who have made our freedoms possible and to be grateful to those who paid the ultimate price to protect us and those freedoms. They made it possible for us to have a day off, a cookout, to enjoy the unofficial start to summer, and to play our music, free from arduous circumstances. Remember and honor them.

Grow

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We musicians are always learning, developing, growing. That may be the best part of being a musician. Our constant growth is good for us – keeping our minds working! And that keeping active still leaves us with room to grow!

And yet, we often hem ourselves in. We want everything to be easy and quick. Sadly, it doesn’t work like that. We need room to grow, and we have to take it. We need to acknowledge that need – and take that space.

We’re good (typically) about having the physical space for playing. Square footage for our creative growth and our musical life is a given. We also need to accept that we also need another type of space – time.

It can take a long time to thoroughly learn our music. There is so much to get under our belts – all those notes, fingerings, rhythms, harmonies, rests. The right order, repair points, and just plain ol’ remembering. Yikes!

The answer, of course, lies in giving ourselves enough room (time) to know the music. Because it’s much more than simply getting the notes into your head. How do you do that? Practice time of course, but also by using a strategy called distributed practice.

Distributed practice requires that you have a multilayer view of your practice time. Distributed practice is a more macro level of thinking about your practice time while daily practice is a finer view. Daily practice will be part of building each tune but it’s the summation of all those days over weeks and months that really solidifies the music in you. The other prize in distributed practice is repetition (and lots of it!).

Now, as a champion procrastinator, I’d be the first to tell you that allowing practice to be distributed over time is hard. It’s easy to tell ourselves some variation of: I learn really quickly! Look, I can play it! Christmas is forever away! Been there. Done that. Designed the T-shirt!

But is it really learned? Or are you fumbling along on momentum and luck?. Are you really playing it? Or are you jerking through the sore spots and hoping the left hand is faking it good enough?. Christmas gets earlier every year (at least it doesn’t start until after Halloween!).

It’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking you’re good and that you have fully learned your music. How do we assess our progress if it’s happening over time? That’s not as easy as watching our daily progress because we have to take the long view – but you can do it. How do you know?

I have a new (to me) metric for growth and progress that I use and figured you might be able to use it too. I look for “ease.” Yes, that’s vague and yet, you know it when you feel it. When you start learning a tune, there is so much to learn (as we mentioned above) that you struggle to keep it all in mind while you work on it. It’s like herding cats – everything is moving, you can’t keep track of where you are, and who knows which one to pick up next!

As you spend more time practicing, you know each of the elements a little better, and (if you’re patient) you’ll realize that your brain isn’t working as hard. It does start to feel easier. Later, it’s easy enough to comfortably play the melody and accompaniment at the same time – with ease. Eventually, it becomes easier to play the tune accurately under pressure (like in a lesson or when performing).

Eventually is the essential word there – because it is the most challenging part of establishing the room to grow. You can’t get there without it eventually coming together in the time space you created. And with time and space, the tunes really do solidify and become easy to play, no matter what else is going on.

Do you notice tunes getting easier as you continue to play? Do you think you could use ease as a metric for progress? Is there something that would be better? You know I want to know what you think – let me know in the comments!