Now what?

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Hopefully you believed me and at least started making your index card file. If so, you’ll have started the cards going, and once you’re caught up, adding your new material will require a less herculean effort!

But you’ve asked – now what? What are you supposed to do with this?

Well, there’s a reason I suggested this card catalog rather than just a list (however, if you opted for a list, that’s ok too – keep reading, it’s down below!). If you’ve made a card catalog, no matter if you are sorting by title or by tune type – you should also include another set of divisions:

Know |  Don’t Know  |  Needs Polish

(you can also add additional dividers if you want to be more specific or to fit the way you think about it)

At each practice, you can pull the cards you need. Clearly, you will put the things you are actively working (from the “Don’t Know” section). The tricky bit is what else to pull. It is tempting to think the “Needs Polish” should come out infrequently, but you’d be wrong. These should be in your regular rotation for practice.

“Needs Polish” is code for, “I’d like to think I know this, but if push came to shove, I’d have to admit that I don’t really know it cold”. So, add those tunes to your regular practice. Also acknowledge that “Needs Polish” may be the weirdest/broadest category, so don’t despair. You will get there if you keep working on these tunes!

But how do you use the “Know” cards? Pull one at random from the box at each practice. Play the tune and see how it goes. If you play it well – Yea! and put it back into the box. If it is wobbly when you play it, it goes into the “Needs Polish” section so you can get it back to scratch. And if it is a struggle (or you don’t remember large chunks of it*) put it back into “Don’t Know”. The number of “Knows” you pull out in each practice is up to you (and typically based on how much time you have each day).

If you’ve made a list (or set of lists) here are some other ideas. I’d suggest you use a spreadsheet (so you can move tunes easily from one section to another), but any format that works for you is the right one! You’ll still need to identify your categories and all that is above still applies.  When it comes to choosing a tune from the “Know” pile, just close your eyes and point to a title. Or use a random number generator. Or roll some dice. Whatever works – just so you can select a tune to include each day.

No matter if you make cards or lists, you might want to make another, more flexible category and label it ❤ – these are the tunes you’re currently in love with (or just infatuated). We all have them. They are like summer loves – they make your heart go pitter pat just thinking about them. You play them obsessively and to the exclusion of many others. They quickly make the “Know” category. You can even put a ❤ on the card – you love them that much! I suggest this because, as so often happens with summer loves, they flame out quickly, only to be forgotten. When you pull one of these out, it is fun – like pulling out old summer photos. You can play these with a bit of wistfulness, and a chuckle at what you had become so obsessed with at the time. Some will make it back into your repertoire which will be fun. And even if you don’t put it back into your regular repertoire, it will be fun to see how you’ve grown!

You need to manage the number of pieces you’re working on at a time. It is very easy to attempt to work on too many tunes (especially after a great summer event like Ohio Scottish Arts School when you come home with boatloads of new tunes!). You want to work on them all – but you need to pace yourself or you’ll end up with nothing.  Using the cards gives you an easy way to keep track of what you need to work on, what you need to polish, what you need to review, and what you want to get to soon.

If you make a plan for each practice you will be able to add tunes, move them along in learning and make strong additions to your repertoire. What are you adding right now?

How do you know that you know what you know? The trap of the large repertoire

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There is a false freedom in having a large repertoire:

  • You feel more confident when every tune in your set is a well-honed workhorse.
  • You don’t have to work too hard to play a wedding, a funeral, a tea party, and a concert back to back because you have the rep in hand.
  • The looks you get from other musicians when you play a three-hour gig with just a set list (yes, it is juvenile and silly…but also honest (and lighter than carrying a music stand and a binder or ipad)).

But that same large repertoire is a trap!

  • Because you are “set” to play just about any set, the motivation to add tunes can be pretty low.
  • Because when you play the same stuff all the time, it will get stale, no matter how much you love it.
  • Because when you put a long time between learning new tunes, it begins to feel harder to learn the tune, to master it, to smooth it out, and to eventually perform it.
  • Because when you’re not growing…you’re dying!

So, you need to walk the line between settling into a large repertoire you can confidently and comfortably pull it out at a moment’s notice and living (maybe on the edge while learning new stuff that you may not have completely comfortable with it before you walk it out on stage!*)

If you’re going to escape this repertoire trap, you need to do a couple of things:

  1. You need to know what you already know. Write down that repertoire! You can make a list, or you can make a caldron: For each tune you know (and eventually those you are learning) write an index card. Include the title, composer (if appropriate), tune type, the key you play it in (or the number of sharps or flats to set), the source, and if you need it, copy the first couple of measures (and anything else that will help you remember the tune so you can play it). You can file the cards any way that helps you – alphabetical by title or by tune types (all jigs together, all reels together, etc.), or by use (all wedding prelude tunes together, all “party pieces” together, all tunes “in progress” together (helpful hints – don’t mix filing types (some by title, some by tune type); no matter what language the title is in, and no matter how many titles the tune might have, file the card under the title that you think of for the tune (for instance, although it is best titled “Crodh Laoigh nam Bodach”, I know it as “Old Man’s Young Calves” so I filed it under “O” not “C”). Once you have it going, you have a representation of your repertoire in one place and in a form that will help you make up set lists, practice, and know what you know.
  2. You need to know what you do not already know.  Make a list – of all the tunes you don’t know, but wish you did. You can wish you did because they get played in your session all the time, or because you really like the tune, or because someone has requested you play it, or because you need more hornpipes. The reason is immaterial – so long as you know what you’re going to work on next! This list will always be dauntingly large, will always grow, and will be constantly reshuffled. So, it might be a good idea for these to also be index cards (so you can seamlessly move them into the learned pile!).
  3. You need to move tunes from one group to the other.  Use these lists to organize your practice – you already know you don’t keep that much music in your head without refreshing it – but now you can actively structure your practice to include refreshers and just plain fresh (or maybe “under-ripe”?) – but this way you’re learning and building and keeping up with yourself.

What are your repertoire traps? How do you escape your repertoire traps? Let us know in the comments below.

* here you need to be completely honest with yourself – don’t put yourself into the situation of having to perform something that just is not ready! It is not kind to yourself, to the audience, or to the tune itself!

Speaking Theoretically – Inversions

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I know, I have said the “T” word (theory). But you’re still reading, so that’s a good sign! And you know that when something starts with the “T” word, you might not enjoy it, but it will probably serve you (and sooner than later). So, let’s just wade in.

I received a nice compliment the other day when someone noted that I never play a tune the same way, even in the repeats. This struck me because I had just been thinking about how I needed to really work on changing things up while playing so tunes won’t get stale to the listener! While thinking through the juxtaposition of these comments, it became clear that the space between was based on our different perceptions of the chords that underlie the tune. And that’s how we ended up here in the “T” zone.

There is an easy way to change up the accompaniment and harmony (typically in the left hand) so you to will never play something the same way every time. But it does require that you not only know some theory, but that you practice it too!

You know this stuff – let’s just make it front of mind! Let’s work in the key of C major (it works in every key, but let’s stay with a relatively simple example).

First we have the triad – in C that will be C – E – G (played with 3 – 2 – 1). This is called the “Root” position and the “name” of the scale is in the root position. This is a nice solid chord and gets used a great deal. However, after a while, you might want something new. So what to do?

Well, we could move to the “First Inversion” in which we take the Root note and pop it on the top of the chord. So now we have E – G – c (we moved the C off the bottom and replaced on the top). Listen to that – you can hear that it’s the same, but different. So now you have another option.

But only one option is just not going to be enough! So we can move the third (which is now on the bottom) up to the top – and now we have the second inversion! You’ll note that this again sounds the same, and yet has a really different “ear – taste”.

Go sit at your harp (you don’t fool me, I know you are reading and haven’t actually heard this yet!) and play these inversions (they are in the graphic if looking at the dots will help you process this). You can work your way up the harp – start by playing the Root, then reposition and play the first inversion, and then move again and play the second inversion. And it might sound a little “off” so go ahead and move the 5th to the top – and now you’re back to the root, just an octave higher.

Now, play through again and really listen to the differences between the inversions – each of them has it’s own “flavor”. See which ones you like or which ones evoke specific moods or feelings. With practice, you’ll remember which is which and you’ll be able to match that to the feeling you want to invoke with a specific tune. Of course this is more likely with an air but fast tunes also benefit with some thinking about the feeling the chord imparts to the tune.

If you haven’t done this before, you might have to work a little bit to move between the inversions. But with a little practice you’ll be able to make those movements easily. And with that practice, you will get faster at remembering which notes are included and which notes go where. The exercise can be blocked chords – Root — > 1st Inversion — > 2nd Inversion — > root (either the octave above or where you started – it’s up to you). Just remember to place, play, move, and place the next shape. When you’re solid on these blocked chords you’ll be ready to move onto broken or arpeggiated versions.

Once you’re comfortable with the inversions themselves, you can start inserting them into tunes you already know. Replace your same ol’-same ol’ root chords with the inversion you like and listen to the difference. Play around – you can also get out of the inverted triad and use ideas that might come up as you play. You could use a 10th or play just the 3rd – you get the idea. Find the things you like and work them into the tunes you play.

What do you like best? Share your ideas in the comments below.

Travel is Broadening

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You already know that all of us are back from the Harpa Scotland 2019 Retreat. If the photos, videos, comments, and smiles are any indication – it was another brilliant success. Harpa is so much fun because it has a simple formula:

HARPA = 

amazing musicians + fantastic tour guide + incredible roadie = 

sharing music joy + enjoying each other + adventure!

You’ve heard the maxim that travel is broadening – and not just from delicious cakes and scones! As you travel with your harp, you develop or hone many sterling qualities including forbearance, faith and patience! Whether you like it or not, you must let go, trust the Fates, and be patient (outside the “Oversize Luggage” belt mostly!).

Most of us are control freaks (especially about our harps). Many of us do not know this about ourselves (or if we do, we underestimate).  Few things will test your mettle like traveling with your instrument and entrusting it to the TSA. And while American (airline) may hate guitars, I’m pretty sure it’s the TSA that hates harps. Or at least, hates harp cases. I qualify this, though, to say that although I have gotten my harp back partially latched or completely unlatched, it has always weathered the journey (Forbearance?  Faith?  Probably both).

But more than that, traveling with your harp opens doors you might not even know were there otherwise. We have been places we likely would have gone right by – simply because those places opened themselves up to the possibility of us playing there! We have never played anywhere dull. This openness on their parts helps us to be more open on our part – to see new things or to see familiar things differently (including toilets, refrigerators, and door locks!). And once we are opened, adventures appear around every bend.

Our trips are always small – this time we had seven. This allows us to go places often overlooked or bypassed. It also ensures we don’t travel as a band of tourists – simply observing, never venturing outside our comfort. But it also generates a community and engenders sharing with one another – we gel in ways that big groups never get. We become a traveling family, if ever so briefly. We share our experiences – and our cookies! And that sharing is part of the fun. And the more fun we have together, the more fun we find. And so it grows!

But perhaps the best bit is that we meet other people – in restaurants and cafes, at attractions, in our accommodations. We were invited along to a stramash by someone we met at one of our concerts. See how that works?! At the time we weren’t sure we knew what a stramash is, but we kinda thought we did, and we went along to it. It was a blast! We got to play tunes with local musicians, we heard some new ones, played some shared favs and heard some lovely singing. We got to share the joy of making music – in a fun, organic, very Scottish way! (Just to confirm, a stramash is a seisiun).  We met a delightful couple at a fish and chips restaurant…because they photo bombed one of our group selfies! It is these brief interactions punctuating the trip that not only make great memories, but really define good travels. While chatting with an audience member we learned of a museum that none of our research had unearthed. And later, once there, we met and chatted with more lovely locals and learned more than just looking at some displays would ever have wrought.

All that leads to learning more about yourself. You learn where your unknown assumptions and ignorances lie and have the opportunity to examine them. These assumptions and ignorances are not good or bad, but examining them means you can rethink their utility. I’m not talking about bigotry but rather biases like what we select for our concert program, how we introduce ourselves and our music to the audience, and how we meet them where they are when we perform (and appreciating when they’re not where we thought they’d be!). A small group also learns to accept more – the morning person must be patient while the not-morning person strives to not be cranky at the start of the day (and vice versa at the end of the day).  We help one another – with luggage, and art supplies, and fingering, and leftovers, and making tea (and more tea, and yet more tea!).

And best of all – each trip is different. The harp attracts all kinds – players and appreciators and audiences. We make lifelong friends and brief – but enriching acquaintances. Even if we return to a place, it is new, and we grow in it. And being invited back is a pleasure and a privilege.

So Harpa 2019 is in the books – an unqualified success. We’re all home, laundry cycled (mostly), gifts given, postcards received (mostly). And we look forward to the next time!

Once we sleep off our jetlag, we will start planning the next Harpa outing!

But we’re also finalizing plans for the 2020 Harp the Highlands and Islands trip – details coming soon. Would you like to be broadened (by travel and cakes)?  Want to be part of the action and first to know the details? Leave me a comment to that effect below!

PS: Photo credit for this week and last go to the Harpaniks and especially Donna Bennett, Therese Honey, and Robin Pettit.

Harpa 2019 wraps

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Harpa 2019 is drawing to a close and with that comes the big jumble of emotions – so much joy and discovery and laughter…and cookies!  And just a touch of sadness – another lovely vacation trip with new and old friends is in the books.  Memories to share and cherish, plans to mature for the next time and the gap of quiet once we have departed each other.

Harpa may not be what you think it is. It is likely so much more!  Yes, it is a vacation with friends and harps.  Yes, we tour and visit and chill.  We perform to help raise money for local charities, but mostly we perform because we love to!

But Harpa is also a spirit, a way of being, a way of life.  Harpaniks (as we affectionately refer to ourselves) seem to use our harps to frame our view.  We spend time looking at the world from many perspectives.  From behind the harp we see where we can touch the world, to delight an audience, to help a charity, to draw a smile or a tear.  From beside our harps we introduce people to our instruments and our amazing music.  With our harps we meet new people- at concerts but also at the local stromach (session) or in a fish and chips shop.  And from under our harps as we carry them from the airport, to and from venues, and everywhere in between, we see the kindnesses of strangers (sometimes after they gawp at us!) who have helped us get through airports and train stations, into and out of taxis and elevators.  And through all of this, in between times we share with each other – playing tunes, rehearsing, showing off.

All because we aren’t just people who play an instrument.  We love it!

Harpa is more than a vacation – it’s a way of seeing and being.  And we have looked and we have seen!  Of course, there is so much more to look at!

 

We are privileged to have helped others and by extension have made our lives a little better. We are grateful for the opportunity and we just had fun doing it!

 

 

And in our down time, we made art together, ate a lot and laughed a lot, from titters at lame jokes to the guffaws of funny stories and separate yet shared experiences.

Through it all we missed our founder, but she’ll be healed up and ready to go for the next time.  And we’re already thinking about what next time is going to look like.  Watch this space for updates.  And visit our Facebook page for more photos and videos.

Harpa is a concept and a state of mind – travel, friends, new things, old ties, and the music that binds us all… I cannot wait for the next one!  Want to join us? Leave me a message to learn more.

 

 

 

 

Harpa Retreat 2019 has begun!

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Harpa 2019 has started! We have all arrived in Scotland and are already having a blast. We are seven this time – five harpers and two appreciators, as well as David our intrepid guide and Heather, our harp-playing roadie. We are significantly missing our lead Harpanik. Beth Kolle, who founded Harpa, is home recovering from a demonstration of gravity and we are missing her terribly. But we press on, carrying the Harpa flag!

This year we decided that we would benefit from a “vacation from our vacation” type trip and began developing the Harpa Retreat concept. We came to Scotland because – well, Scotland!! We have two concerts for different charities scheduled. And we’re planning on more down time so we can really savor our time here, make art, jam and really enjoy each other musically, and just breathe. Because that can be the problem of a vacation – you go somewhere interesting, that you want to see and soak up, and share with friends, and really experience, and you spend some short but manageable time there. But you’ve spent a lot of money to get there and you want to see it all! And you really do try, but you can’t succeed and you get very tired trying! And worst of all, in all that trying, it’s easy to miss the very thing you went there for. So this year, we are trying to take it a little slower, to chill a little. So far it’s been a great idea!

We have just started yesterday and we have an amazing group. Our performers are Sue Richards, Therese Honey, Martha Hill, Donna Bennett, and me. Sue, Therese and I started a little early in Glasgow so we could meet some of the members of the Glasgow Branch of the Clarsach Society and share a workshop (which was just an incredible day – thanks to Gillian Fleetwood for making that happen!), see some great museums, and ride trains with harps.

We took a Preparatory photo to help explain to taxi people what we were looking to get into the cab . It didn’t help the planning, but was fun to take. Photo by Therese Honey – who is a much better photographer than I!

Why yes, you c-a-n get two harps into a cab, onto a train, still have fun and enjoy the ride! Another Therese photo – she’s good about taking them!

We all met up in Endinburgh and yesterday we set off on another adventure.

And yet another photo from Therese – she finds the best photos – just the way she looks at the world is amazing!  We had the easy job. David and Heather had to figure out how to get the harps into the vehicle – puzzle for the day.

We have been posting photos on Facebook here and on the FB Harpa group. Wish you were here! More later, we’re busy having fun!  Wish you could see Scotland through a harp?  Leave a comment and let me know!

 

PS – just like if you have more than one harp, you have a favorite, I have a favorite computing device…and I chose to travel with the other one, so please forgive any errors.  I’m blaming them on the #%~*^ ipad!

Summer’s a comin’

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There are so many things to do in the summer! And so many of them occur at the same time that you probably need to do a little calendar management, just so you can get to as many events as possible.

I’m excited to be thinking about all the fun things on offer this summer – especially the ones I’ll be participating in. I hope you’ll look this over and consider joining me for at least one of them!

  1. Harpa!

If you’re not already signed up, you don’t have much time – we start next week, 7 – 15 May. (OK, if you seriously want to go to this, please email me immediately, because, we’re already leaving!). If you can’t turn on that thin a dime (which would be almost everyone on the earth), you might want to start planning to come on the 2020 Harp the Highlands and Islands trip (more on that soon).

PS – watch my Facebook page and the Harpa FB page – I know we’ll post lots of fun photos while we’re in Scotland!

  1. Ohio Scottish Games

Stolen directly from the Games website: OSG will be held June 22, 2019 and there will be loads to see and do…but why would you when you’ll want to get there early and be at the Harp Competition all day long!?!?!

This games was established in 1977, and is presented by members of The Ohio Scottish American Cultural Society of Ohio, an organization dedicated to the preservation and promotion of their proud Scottish Heritage and ancestry. OSG highlights traditional dance, music and athletics of the ancient highland games.

And this year, Ohio is hosting the US National Scottish Harp Championship TM and I’m so excited to be one of the judges. If you’ve never been, it’s worth coming out – hear the train, meet new (to you) harpers. It’s a tradition! They also have all the other cool festival stuff like food, athletics, pipe bands, classic cars, and loads of vendors. But you won’t care if you miss that – because you’ll be at the Harp Competition! Go to https://www.ohioscottishgames.com/competitions for more details.

  1. Ohio Scottish Arts School

Once you’ve been dazzled by the competition (or delighted by your performance in the competition), you can head right over to OSAS. I’m so looking forward to teaching this summer. OSAS is celebrating 41 years of educating artists in the traditional music and dance of Scotland.

Again, shamelessly stolen from the website: The Scottish Harp classes will focus on basic harp technique for beginners and intermediates. repertoire at all levels, including tunes for competition sets, and Scottish style, including ornaments, lilt, and dance types. We will study Scottish dance music, airs, and songs, focusing on ornamentation, Scottish style, accompaniment, and learning by ear. Afternoons will include lectures, practice time, and playing in sessions. Classes will be available for beginners who have played for a few months, intermediates, and advanced players. And we’ll have a delightful Tea presented by Ringgold Harp Ensemble, a highlight!

I’m so excited to be teaching with the incomparable Sue Richards as well as the stunning and delightful Rachels – Rachel Hair and Rachel Clemente (an OSAS alum!).  There is probably no other place you can go to learn so much so quickly and s-t-i-l-l have a great time.

  1. Somerset Harp Festival

Somewhere on the Somerset website it says, “Play the Harp better” – and boy oh boy, will you! I am so pleased to have been invited to teach here and will be even more thrilled to teach with Donna Bennett.

Together Donna and I will deliver the Creativity Tools to Improve Practice & Performance workshop – and we’re building on some previous work teaching skills, tools, and techniques that bring the creativity secret to your music. We’ll show you how to use creativity tools and techniques to practice and play better, arrange more, compose, perform – however you let your creativity out! More Info

And I’ll be teaching a workshop we’ve entitled Sounding Scottish in which you will learn how to make your tunes sound more Scottish. I’m going to leverage all the stuff I’ve learned to date (especially while in Scotland!) to each specific elements and techniques to ensure your tunes sound Scottish. I’ll teach a tune (or two!) to learn and practice all the good juicy stuff that will highlight the tune’s authentic self. More Info

  1. Harp Quest

Harp Quest is a great opportunity to teach with my friend Kris Snyder in idyllic southern Pennsylvania.

We have moved from summer camp to pursuing our Harp Quest. And we are looking forward to this year’s journey! We have so much fun putting it together! As with any Quest, we each have a different journey as we seek to learn what our harp is there to teach us. Plan to join us for our 24th year and a new Journey with our harps – becoming what we’re meant to be.

This year’s Quest will be focused on Planning Ahead. As always, our Quest will remain easily accessible to harpers from anywhere and at any level. Our focus will be a short and intense experience that we will each take with us into the coming months and years – perhaps not fully appreciating what we have learned until much later. But secure in knowing that we will get there – each of us. And we’ll get there together!

The Quest will be August 16, 17, and 18, 2019 and we are looking forward to a very personalized time of sharing and learning. We will have fun, support one another, and work together to get as much from our lever harps as we can get! Because a quest is pretty intense, we will fill up fast, so be sure to get your reservation in.

So you can see that it’s going to be a busy summer – hope you’ll come spend some of it with me! Let me know what you’re planning to do this summer – in the comments below.

Stay between the lines!

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I was driving down the highway the other day. I was going about 1000 miles, so on one particularly long, straight stretch, I started remembering when I learned to drive.

For me, one of the hardest things to learn was staying in the middle of the lane. When you start to drive, you know you need to stay in the lane – and between the lines. The lane is defined by the lines, so I looked at the lines – constantly. But you know how that goes – the more you look at the lines, the farther you are from your desired position – in the middle of the lane. The best advice (or training) I got was to look down the road – look way down the road. After I (finally) learned that, staying in the lane was so easy. Now, as an experienced driver, I don’t even see the lines close to me and keeping the vehicle in the middle of the lane is something I take for granted.  It seems that I just go where I meant to be.

The reality is, no matter how good a driver you are, you will never stay in your lane to get where you’re going if you don’t look ahead.  So, what does that have to do with playing the harp? Everything!

When you’re learning a new tune – what do you do? I don’t know about you, but when I’m having trouble getting a tune into my head, I naturally narrow my thinking down to just what comes next – what’s the next note. But this doesn’t actually help me learn the tune. It just frustrates me (thus drawing my focus away from what I’m trying to do – learn the tune). If I lift my head and keep my focus “down the road”, then I can think of the phrases (as phrases, not as a trickle of sounds). When I can hear the tune in my head, the notes that come next become so much easier to remember.

When you’re reading music, the notation (the lines and everything else) are helpful – but can be distracting. Again, sometimes just having all that ink only serves to draw your attention to the individual blops – and you lose track of where you are on the page, in the phrase, in the music. When you lose your place, your hands may not end up in the right place, or they might be going the wrong direction or be overstretched! Keeping the long view will allow you to read the music rather than focusing on the ink and better allow you to be more able to play.

When you’re playing, you have learned the tune or become familiar with the dots on the sheet. When you’re playing, you want to be “in the moment” – and that is important. But remember that music isn’t static or fixed.  Music is serial, it comes out over time – like the road!  It can’t come out all at once (although there are some composers who clearly do not agree with me on that!). So being in the moment has to include the plans for this moment, and then for the next moment, and then the following moment, and on and on until the end of the piece – as a flow. This is not contradictory, rather, you need to hold the music in your head as a piece rather than as a set of notes. Looking at the whole of the music, rather than on just it’s representation (that you learned or are reading), will help keep you on track.

When you’re performing, you really are taking all that you have learned and putting it out there in the world to share. This is more than just playing in that now. Because now, in addition to being in the moment with the music, you must also be present with the listeners. Whether there are 2 or 200 or 2000 in the audience, your focus has to be “farther down the road” to include not only the music but also the hearers and what your message to them/with them is. Here, your long view includes them, the music, and the presentation.  Keeping an eye on where you want to take them with the music, what it is you want to share, and how you mean to do that will help give you a smooth ride.

Of course, this is a simple analogy.  There are many things on the road that require attention (like stop signs, traffic, pedestrians, etc.).  And just like that, music (written or aural, practice or performance) has details (like dynamics, tempo, timbre, etc.) which enrich the ride and improve the experience.  But, just as staying between the lines becomes second nature, learning, reading, playing and performing can also become second nature so that your music grows, flourishes, and delights. And just like any journey, when staying between the lines comes naturally and effortlessly, you can enjoy the journey so much more easily. What are the lines you have a hard time not looking at? How do you stay in the lane? When you look down the road – what do you see? Leave me a comment and share how you do it!

Permission Granted x20

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Playing the harp is more challenging than it looks. You already know that. That’s why we work hard during practices. It’s why we try to practice regularly – so that we enjoy small, incremental improvements each day. And this is one reason I’m always suggesting that we track our progress – to acknowledge, accept, and grow from that practice.

Practicing certainly gives us a way to work on the technical aspects of playing, but there is so much more to playing – things that go beyond the technical. However, to get to those things we sometimes need to get out of our own way.

So, how do we do that? We start by giving ourselves permission. Permission for lots of things. But mostly, you have to give yourself permission to be YOU!

Here are 20 types of permission you might consider giving yourself:

  1. Permission to fail. It happens. Actually, if you’re learning, you’ll fail a lot on the way. But if you refuse yourself the opportunity to fail, you won’t learn…and that would be a shame.
  2. Permission to be silly. There is so much seriousness in music, but a little silly will probably help you enjoy more.
  3. Permission to give it rest. Sometimes you need to percolate – and taking a little break will give you the option to do just that.
  4. Permission to be as good as you are (and no better). You are where you are. Be there.
  5. Permission to work on just one thing (until you get it right). Sometimes we think we have to master everything, all at once. But this doesn’t really do much except frustrate you.
  6. Permission to do scary things. When you scare yourself, you learnt that it didn’t kill you to try something new. We’re usually most scared that we will embarrass ourselves – you’re going to embarrass yourself one way or another, so embarrass yourself your own way!
  7. Permission to get out there and share. We often huddle in the safe cocoon of our harp room at home. But the music is best shared – so get out there!
  8. Permission to fail again (and again and again and again). You can’t just stop at one failure – do it over and over and over – and each time you’ll learn more that you can apply to the next failure.
  9. Permission to make art in multiple ways. This can be as small as playing a new kind of music or as big as learning to sculpt or paint or write. All your art will work to help you in the others.
  10. Permission to create “first drafts” (and second and third and on and on as needed). You know that what you see on stage or on YouTube is not spontaneous, right? So why do you expect your initial efforts to be performance ready? Think of the pre-work as your “drafts” that you will continue to refine and develop – until they are ready to share.
  11. Permission to have fun. Ok, this is pretty self-explanatory!
  12. Permission to laugh at yourself. No really, you should be able to laugh at yourself. Keep it light – it’s not rocket surgery after all.
  13. Permission to expect more from yourself. You don’t have to be content with your lot – you can want more (as long as you’re willing to work for it).
  14. Permission to be good at some things, not good at some others, and even to be terrible at a few. Here’s an example – I’m good at playing the harp, I’m not as good at cooking and I’m terrible at gardening. I’m ok with that – I allocate my time and resources accordingly (e.g., I practice for hours, I heat soup for dinner, and I pay a kid in the neighborhood to tend the garden – that’s that sorted!).
  15. Permission to practice as much as you need – and no more. I know some of you struggle to get your butt on the bench, but others spend too much time there – practice while it’s productive, and then go do something else. Got a deadline? Try a little practice multiple times in the day.
  16. Permission to be happy with where you are. This might seem counterintuitive (or counter to development) but it’s not – you are where you are. Be there. Right then. Realize too that time is a river – there is only constant change and you are changing when you are where you are – give yourself permission to accept that.
  17. Permission to want more. You think I’m contradicting myself – but remember I said there is constant change – if you want more, want it – and work for it!
  18. Permission to change your mind. Playing classical music and tired of it? Trapped in session tunes but longing for something more “substantial”? OK. It’s ok to change your mind about what you want to play. Just do it.
  19. Permission to keep track of what you are doing…and what you want to do next. However, you need to – keep track in your own way and build on that.
  20. Permission to spend your valuable time doing what you love. After all, time may be your most precious commodity – so spend the time you have doing what you love.

There are plenty of permissions to give yourself. What other ones do you give yourself (or do you need to give yourself)? Share that in the comments!