Breathe

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There’s not much that I can tell you that you haven’t already heard about the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.  If you need information, there’s loads available in all the usual outlets.

What I can do though, is strongly encourage you to take care of yourself and those in your life.  There all the usual precautions – avoid others, wash your hands, disinfect surfaces.

You might be surprised I don’t have a lot to say – especially since I usually do.  In this case, I just don’t have a lot to add.

But one thing I can stress to you is that this is a time of turmoil.  And in those tumultuous times, the importance of spending time with your harp only increases. 

No, this is not my usual exhortation that you practice.  This time, I strongly encourage you to play for you.  To bolster your spirits – and the spirits of those around you.  Never underestimate the succor your harp can provide you and those in your household in times of turmoil.

The anxiety and stress of times of uncertainty may leave you feeling like you don’t want to (or don’t have time to) play.  Don’t allow stress and concern to convince you that you “must” practice – because you might not want to.  Don’t let your anxiety pull you away!

Whatever you do, just play.  Allow the music and the reverberation flow over you and soothe frayed nerves.  Enjoy the feel of the harp itself.  Revel in the meditation of tuning and the simple joy of warming up.  Play what helps you feel centered.  There are many opportunities to share your music and I encourage you to do that but if you’re not interested in doing that, just play.  If you are of a mind, share video in the usual places to help others (don’t have a usual place? send it to me and I’ll be happy to share it for you).

Help others by sharing your gift.  We will all be better for it.   And of course, if you’re playing, you are likely social distancing!  Are you playing for yourself? For others?  Let us know in the comments below.

March is National Noodle Month – I’m SO Tired!

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Who knew?!  Yes, March is National Noodle Month, and with the return to Daylight Saving Time, we’ll need it!

I always warn you about the time changes.  Especially those of you that live far from the equator where you gain or lose multiple minutes of daylight each day.  The imposed time change is hard on people, and we are no exception.

But you’re in luck!  If you’re playing along with the four week composition challenge, you’ve now established noodling at every practice session.  That noodling might just help save your practicing while you adjust to the new weird daylight that isn’t happening when it is supposed to.

March is National Noodle Month...Noodling can lead to composing!Because…

  • you can noodle when you are tired. 
  • there’s no right in noodling.  And possibly more importantly
  • there is also no wrong in noodling either! 

It’s just the thing for when your brain and your hands are just not up to working together.  Or working at all.  Perhaps best of all – noodling is still playing, so it totally counts as practice!

One of the first things I learned as a fledgling harper was the pentatonic improvisation.  I typically share it with my students in their first or second lesson (they might use a different verb than share – a verb like impose or coerce!). 

If you’re not familiar with pentatonic improv, the pentatonic scale has five notes (from the Greek – penta (five) and tonic (note)).  On the piano (if you’re so inclined) the black keys make a lovely, easy to find pentatonic scale.  On the harp, set yourself to the C major scale and PLAY ONLY THE WHITE STRINGS!  This will give you a lovely pentatonic scale from which to easily work.* 

Go ahead, give it a try.  I’ll wait.

What you’ll notice about a pentatonic scale is that there’s no “ugly”.  You truly cannot make a bad noise if you stay in the scale (that is, play only the white strings).  Everything you play within the scale sounds pretty good.

Isn’t that freeing?  Now you can noodle with abandon, regardless of how tired you are, because nothing, literally NOTHING you play will sound bad!

And because nothing will sound terrible, you have no reason not to click your recorder on while you noodle.  After all, you have a delete button so if there’s nothing inspired, no loss.  And you have a record button, so if you listen later and hear amazing – you’ll be able to reconstruct those musical thoughts and build them into a composition (or just keep them as something to amuse yourself).

All that from a little noodling when you’re too tired to practice!  Give it a try – and see if having a fun, easy poke around the harp doesn’t maybe give you a little energy boost.  Maybe even enough energy to practice when you’re tired. 

Keep noodling even after you’ve adapted to the time change – it’s a great addition to your practice and it’ll get you used to collecting your thoughts!

 

* of course there are other pentatonic scales on the harp (or the piano) but the ones I’ve presented here are so easy that you’ll have a scale that requires no effort to find.  If you prefer something other than the G major pentatonic scale, go for it!

Theory Moment – Noodling Support

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So, we’re beginning week three of our composition challenge. How’s it coming along?

Hopefully you’ve found some stuff you like in your noodling and have begun to string some of those ideas together. And hopefully you’re enjoying the creating and not pooh-pooh-ing every idea you have generated!

Some of you may be ready to keep going in your compositions and to add some harmonies. There are lots of ways to do this. You could generate countermelodies or simple harmonies. Or you might want to stick in some chords to build harmonization. Here’s where being familiar with music theory could help you along.

Come out from under the bed. Music theory isn’t scary! It sounds scary, but it really is just a way to talk about what we already know (yes, of course, we could make it scary – but why?!).

What might help you with your noodling composition? Maybe knowing what scale you’re using?  Is it one of the frequently used scales (major or minor or one of the other modes)? Or have you used (or made) a different scale? Once you know that, you can begin to fit some chords that will enhance your melody*.

Scales are defined by the relationships of the notes in them.

Whaaa?

The intervals (whole and half) are the way scales are “measured”.  Intervals are the distance between notes (if that doesn’t mean anything to you, no worries, it will eventually – you just keep noodling…and reading!).  So, a Major scale is Whole, Whole, Half, Whole, Whole, Whole, Half. The Major scale is also called the Ionian mode. Meanwhile, a (natural) Minor scale (or Aeolian mode) is defined as Whole, Half, Whole, Whole, Half, Whole, Whole. The Dorian mode is another popular scale which starts on the second with the intervals Whole, Half, Whole, Whole, Whole, Half, Whole. A number of traditional tunes from Scotland, Ireland, England (and others) are Dorian. We’ll stop (for now) with the Mixolydian mode which starts on the fifth and is defined as Whole, Whole, Half, Whole, Whole, Half, Whole (note it’s very close to the major scale). This is the bagpipe scale so loads of Scottish (and Irish) tunes are in this scale.

What about the chords? Well, that’s sort of up to you, but if you were looking for a “rule of thumb” you might consider that for the Major (Ionian) scale, you might like using the I (root/tonic), IV (the fourth), and the V (the fifth). You could actually use this for everything, and it’ll probably work.  But if you’re clearly in the Minor (Aeolian) scale, you might try the I, the VII, and the vi. And if you’re in Mixolydian, maybe the I and the VII.

Of course, there is no wrong. There might be jarring or sweet or “interesting” or perfect or harsh. This is when it’s time for your trusty recorder. Get your ideas down and listen to them over and over and over. Do they actually sound like you thought they did? You might find that what started as jarring becomes less harsh and more interesting as you listen to it more – all because you’ve become accustomed to it.  And you might find that what seemed perfect is actually a little uninteresting…

So don’t throw out ideas. Capture them. Nurture them. Let them marinate in your ear and in your mind before you decide what to do with them.

What have you heard? What did you do? Did you modify your growing melody or it’s developing harmony? Let me know in the comments.

* this post is not meant to be a comprehensive theory lesson. There are many theory resources available in bookshops and online. But this isn’t meant to be an excuse to hide in a book – go forth, be bold, make mistakes, make memories, have fun, just enjoy…the theory words can be fitted later – just make some music!

Putting the Ah in Ostinato

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Ostinato as meditation – you know, like in Ahhhh-stinato!

One thing I love about ostinato is its origin – it is from the Italian…for obstinate!  Which is exactly what you need to be to get this very useful element locked into your head and your fingers.  An ostinato is a pattern that repeats and can be a repetition of pitch or of rhythm.  And while some people find them terrifying, there’s another way to look at them.

The fabulous Maeve Gilchrist is a wizard of ostinato (check out her book Rhythm and Hand Separation Exercises and Etudes Book 1).  She has worked hard to master all sorts of patterns and she is rock solid.  One of the things I love about her playing is the unexpected things she can weave over that bass pattern – and you the listener can just sit back and enjoy, buoyed and comforted by that underlying rock of sound.

Because ostinato is difficult time consuming to get solid, many people avoid it.  But it totally worth the time.  A real challenge though, is to first focus on the ostinato itself.  It is very easy to think you’ve got it when it’s not quite there.  And it does take a little grit and determination – because it’s like other foundational elements – it has a hard slog in the middle where you feel stuck.  But you will get there if you keep at it. 

Nope, I’m not going to tell you it’s worth the time because it’s useful or builds strong finger or hones your rhythm (although it does).

Ostinato is a great tool, once nailed down, to check out.

What?!?!?

Yup, think of it as a meditative thing.  Once you have got the basic idea inculcated, you don’t really need to watch the pot (so to speak).  And that frees up space capacity in your brain so you can do one of a couple of other things:

  1. Just rock the ostinato and let your mind wander around.  Make it a meditation.  Really.
  2. What might be cool if you put that pattern with it?  Where would you go?  How might you get there?  This could lead to noodling and eventually to a great improv, some really useful vamp or an entirely new composition (which you could also do by looking at great art, a la last week’s post).
  3. Once you have the pattern down, you can mess around with the pattern itself – see where that leads.  You might find more cool stuff down that rabbit hole. 

Start with an easy pattern – maybe an Alberti bass or find a pattern from an technique book), jut to get the idea.  Keep working it.  Maybe think about it as you noodle on the 4 week challenge we set last week.  How might you noodle over that pattern?  Give it some time and you’ll see how it can become hypnotic – go with it.  Let it ride, find the ahhhhh and see where you end up.

And let me know where you end up in the comments below!

Why should Mary Poppins have all the fun?

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Do you remember that scene in Mary Poppins where they join hands and jump into a sidewalk painting?  They become part of a new world that was wondrous and fantastic.  It was great and they were totally immersed in their art – LoL.

There is a frequently suggested exercise for composing that is the same idea.

Composition seems to come so easily to some.  Not to me.  But I do know people who seem to compose a new tune with each breath they take.  I’d hate those people if I wasn’t so enamored with them!

This disparity in apparent ease can quickly and easily become an insurmountable wall.  The barrier between us and them.  But it doesn’t have to be.  Because composition, like anything else, improves…with practice.

Jump in with both feet using art as a prompt for compositionEven if you don’t want to be a composer, you might want to give composition a try.  It’s certainly not the same as playing and simply by dabbling, you might learn a lot.

But let’s say you do want to give it a try – to make some small thing that is truly yours.  Here’s a way to go about it –

Try this exercise.  Find a piece of art that captivates you.  Any piece of art.  Could be a work by the Old Masters.  Could be a photograph or a sculpture or interpretive dance.  Or an ad on a bus stop.  The form is irrelevant – that it piques you is essential!

Now, sit at your harp.  Turn on a recorder.  Look at (or think about) the artwork and just noodle.  NOODLE – DO NOT COMPOSE!  Noodle only.  Keep your recorder going. Keep thinking about the artwork and what about it captured you.  Just keep noodling.

Any time an “I can’t” surfaces in your mind reply with, “Thank you for your input.  Don’t call us, we’ll call you.”  Then take a deep breath and jump right back in and keep noodling. 

If you’re having a hard time, set your harp to C and play only the white strings.  Think about the art.  Keep going.

Will this result in a composition?  Probably not…the first time.  But keep at it.  Make it a part of your practice time.  Set 10 minutes aside each day.  You will find that it becomes easier to do it the more you stick to it.  When the art isn’t speaking to you any longer, choose a new work.

Will this turn you into Williams or Telemann or Bach or Schumann?  Maybe not.  But it might just set you free from constraints you didn’t know you had.  For example, I did an impressive impression of Cage one day! (Cage is credited with copyrighting silence as a musical composition entitled 4′33″)

So, a challenge.  Let’s give this a try.  Choose a piece of art that inspires you.  Then for the next four weeks, follow that plan above.  At the end of four weeks (that’s 14 March) send me a picture of the art and an audio file of what you’ve come up with.  This isn’t a contest, so your work doesn’t have to be complicated or polished – or even finished.  We’re just encouraging each other to be bold and experimental and creative and open to sharing.  We will all win by trying! 

Are you in?  Shall we jump in with both feet and see what happens?  Let me know in the comments below –

Watching your nails grow – Two steps for progress

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We’re already into February!  That magical time when reality has set in and all our lofty plans for betterment have been shelved.

Typically.

Because, even though lots of people don’t set New Year’s Resolutions, with all the hype around the start of winter and the new year, it’s easy to think about whether one might find areas worthy of tinkering.

Not you, of course.  You’re just right as you are.  But others, certainly.

One of the reasons people feel that way (not you, of course, but others) is because they cannot perceive any changes in their ability to play.  And that is frustrating.  For them, of course, not for you.

Because these changes typically come about very slowly.  You might call them “micro-changes” (nano-changes?).  The farther you are from your first experience playing, the smaller the changes are in absolute terms.  And this might make those changes difficult to detect.

Watching your nails growWhen you first start playing, every day brings new discoveries!  Closing your fingers is an amazing activity.  Placing ahead is a magical mystery which actually does make getting the music out of the harp a little easier.  What you tried to learn yesterday is actually recognizable today!  All great victories.

But after a while, days of work may not result in a change you can observe.  You don’t remember when you started learning that tune, but you’re sure it was weeks ago (or was it yesterday?).  When did your technique take a nosedive?!?  Why is your repertoire not growing by leaps and bounds?

It’s like watching your nails grow.  You know they are growing.  But you can’t feel it.  And they sure look the same today as they did yesterday.

If you measured that growth and marked it on a chart, you would find that your nails grow about 2 hairsbreadths a day.  And yet, while you can see two hairs (in the brush, in the sink, on your sweater, whatever) you don’t see your nails growing.  But they make slow steady progress…and soon you need to cut them!

The growth is there.  Every day.  You just can’t see it.  But there is a way to get a better view and it has two steps.

Step 1.  Decide what you’re looking for.  Too often we decide we’re going to watch e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g.  We’re going to perfect our technique while learning ten tunes all at once, sight read another 7 arrangements and work on our posture, finesse gesturing, while practicing 2 hours more every day.  And we’ll know – and remember – everything from today when we next sit to practice tomorrow (or the next day) so we know where to pick up again.

I get it, there’s so much work to be done!  But focusing on everything is actually focusing on nothing.  Focus, by definition, is paying attention to a narrow swath.  You are already multitasking by the nature of playing since you need to place both hands, remember the tune, keep ahead of what comes next, stay upright on the bench, breathe, etc. 

If you have a lot of things to work on – write each of them down.  Then prioritize them.  Be smart – prioritize so that the fundamentals (technique) will be ironed out first, since everything else will grow from there.  After you have finished prioritizing, for each item, write down what “done” will look like.  DO NOT WRITE “always in work”!  If your technique is terrible (!), break it down into the components that need attention and decide when you will declare victory so you can move on.  [BTW – “I’m bored” is not victory!  Being able to perform some element accurately might be your victory.]  Decide if your focus needs an action finish or a time end. 

Step 2.  Mark that!  Do what works for you – you could write in your practice journal.  You could make a progression video recording.  You could make a chart with colored stars.  It doesn’t matter how you do it, as long as it works for you – and you do it.

So, the important parts of watching your nails grow? Focus and document.

What are you going to focus on?  How will you capture it?  Share your ideas in the comments! 

 

PS – yes, I know the nails in the photo are horrifyingly long, but you try to paint harps on shorter nails!  And I was trying to make a point!

Since you asked… Connections and Patterns

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In December, I wrote about learning versus memorizing.  You left some great comments, and one of you asked how one would go about actually doing this (learning rather than memorizing).  You graciously waited through the madness that is the holidays and the reset that is the new year.  But now, it’s your turn!

Let’s start by acknowledging that learning music is not really different from learning anything else.  And just like in school, when you try to brute force memorize – everything deserts you when the pressure is on.  And because memorization is so fragile, you can’t even salvage the memory gap – because there is noting of substance behind it.

So we’re back to learning.  The first thing to understand is that learning is not passive.  You have to be engaged, checked in, and thinking to learn!

Patterns and ConnectionsThe easiest way to do this is to do some analysis.  I don’t mean a big research study.  To analyze – ask yourself some questions.  these questions will help you make connections and discover patterns.

  1. Does any of the piece remind you of anything else?  That could be anything.  Those of you who have had lessons from me have experienced this – “chocolate chords”, “the Oreo phrase”, “the donut part”, “the walk in the park”, and “this is just like in that other tune”.  These are all just things the tune remind me of (never mind that most of them are food!).  Do parts of the tune bring something to mind – waterfalls? sheep? fairies? storms at sea?  If so, these are all things you can connect to that bit of the tune which will help you hang on to it (learn it!).  You can also say the connection (e.g. “this is the Oreo part”) out loud while you’re playing that part will also create another connection that you can learn.
  2. Find the shapes.  This can be as basic is up or down.  Or as complex as “this reminds me of Katahdin” – I didn’t get that, but he did, and that’s what matters.  If you’re reading, you can see the shape.  You can also see the shape when you put your hands on the harp.  Have you already learned the shape in some other tune?  Does the shape repeat through the tune.  Learning the shapes is another way to learn.
  3. Find the story in the music.  If you’re not sure, make up your own.  That story can be another set of connections.  Tell yourself the story as you play.  You can also do this with songs.  Sing the lyrics as you play – they are another set of connections that will help you learn the tune.
  4. Break it down.  If you are more advanced, you may be able to learn an entire 8-bar phrase in one go.  If you are less experienced, you may need to look at one measure at a time.  Size doesn’t matter – break the music into pieces you can successfully ingest.  Because….
  5. You’re going to stick those pieces back together eventually!  As with breaking it down, stitch it back together in portions you can handle.  Don’t overdo it.  These are more connections…and patterns – and you have a chance to connect the patterns!  This is true for challenging tunes, but its also true for “easy” tunes with their nearly identical phrases which come together differently in parts of the tune.  Make specific links between the parts – be sure to connect the various pieces to each other.
  6. Savor.  Take it slowly We are always in a rush.  We want it to be instantly performance ready, faster, more complicated, showier than anyone else – we want to have the tune now!  But rushing leads to a half-learned tune that is wobbly with wishy-washy fingering and phrases built on momentum not confidence, all of which can lead to heartache. 

Need more specifics?  How about:

Fingering is one of the greatest losses of not analyzing your music enough before you start and then moving out too fast.  I wish I could remember who taught me this trick (and if you know who it is, tell me so I can give credit!): place the shape (all the fingers needed in that direction…all of them, even the 4 if needed!); squeeze the strings a couple of times; then play the shape.  Think about the shape, where it sits in the phrase and the tune, where else you might use that same shape in the tune.  Replace the next shape, and repeat. Yes, it can be frustrating (especially if you didn’t actually analyze it first). Yes, it means you can’t just bang out the tune. 

But equally, yes, you will get the fingering.  Yes, you will be preplaced and ready to go.  Yes, you won’t be chasing strings with fingers that weren’t quite ready.  And yes, you will learn the tune more quickly – because you don’t have to relearn any of it!

That might sound suspiciously like practice.  Because it is.  Learning must be active.  Analysis is not a nice to have – it’s one of the things will distinguish your learning.  Each time you run through the piece you will be building connections – in your brain but also you’re your eyes, ears, fingers, and your entire body.  If you have some knowledge of theory, that will also help you make connections and notice patterns.  Talking out loud creates connections in another modality.

The more connections you have and the more patterns you have found, the easier time you will have learning the tune.   And by extension, the more confident you’ll be when you play it – because it won’t desert you under pressure!

Give some of these ideas a try and let me know what you think.  Do you have any other ways to learn you’d like to share?  Make the connection via the comments below!

You’re not a cat!

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You know how cats are.  You can buy them a gagillion fancy (and expensive) toys and a princely bed and an over-the-top “cat condo” and they will eschew it all for a discarded cardboard box.  And typically, the mankier the box, the better they like it.

Who knows why?  They’re cats, it’s what they do.

But you?  You’re no cat.  At best, you’re staff to a cat, the human tasked with finding towers of treats, truckloads of toys, loads of litter, in the vain hope that your cat will deign to love you back.  So, why are you in a box?

Get out of your box!“What box?” you ask.  The box of your playing life!  We express this box in many ways:

  •  “I’m not very good”
  • “I’m going to be a beginner forever”
  • “I could never learn by ear”
  • “I’ll never be able to read”
  • “I will only ever play in my living room”
  • “I know lots of tunes; I just can’t play them”
  • “I’ll never be prepared enough to play on stage”
  • “I don’t want to get too good”
  • “There’s so much I haven’t learned yet – I’m not ready”
  • “I only play well documented, ancient, traditional cadenzas published by Schirmer”

I have heard all of these (ok, except that last one, I made that one up).  But here’s what I hear you actually saying:

“I’m afraid”

I’m scared.  That’s why I sit here in this manky, tattered old box.  I have convinced myself that I like it here.  And even though it’s small, I’d rather be smooshed in here than free in the unknown. 

Because fear is a powerful force.  Just a tiny kernel of fear can paralyze a fully grown, capable, talented, inquisitive smart person.  And we plant that little bit of fear in the box with us so we can grow together – so we forget where we end and the fear begins. 

So, how are you going to break out of the box?  There are many ways but here are seven that are may help with your harping:

  1. Acknowledge you’re in a box.  It’s not a bad thing, it just is (unless it’s preventing you from growing and moving – then it is bad).
  2. Define the box(es).  What does your box look like?  Remember that a box can be made of many things and have multiple sides – so try to get them all.  Always play solo/alone?  Never really mailed down a particular phrase?  Only play one type of music?  Always playing a 1 – 5 – 8?  Never leave your home?  Call your box by its name.
  3. Pick one of the less terrifying fears you’ve just identified.  Really break it down – why does it scare you?  Be honest.  For example, are you afraid to read because everyone else reads better?  This common fear has a fairly simple solution – first, remember that reading takes practice (even though no one wants to do stuff that is hard – keep practicing and it will get easier…remember first grade? you learned to read books by practicing e-v-e-r-y day) so add some reading into your practice schedule.  Second, the next time you’re with other people reading music, spend a moment watching them – and notice that you are likely not the only one having a bit of a struggle.  Don’t compare yourself, just notice that you’re not alone.
  4. Get to work!  Now that you know what you’re fear is and how to take action on it, actually take it on!  Do the work.
  5. As the fear recedes (and the sides of the box get lower) – rejoice!  Enjoy the feeling.
  6. Move on to the next fear – lather, rinse, repeat.
  7. Be vigilant – these little fears can build a box so quickly and quietly, you might not notice a new fear building a new box around you.  So, check in occasionally, see what you’re avoiding and take it on.

And if you’re not really ready to get out of your box, you can still acknowledge that it exists and learn what it looks like – then you’ll be that much farther ahead when you decide you’d like to move!

What’s printed on the side of your box?  Willing to share it in the comments?   Think your musical fear is a little more than you can take on by yourself?  You can work with me to learn and apply approaches to take those fears on and cut down the box – just contact me for coaching.