Make yourself practice – do some good

Posted on by

If I were to be honest out loud, there are more days when I have to force myself to practice than I care to admit. There are always so many other things that need to be taken care of and which require my attention. And often sitting and playing feels too decadent to be work – making it even more difficult to practice and do the work. I know many of us have this same challenge. (And we know this is different from the occasional, “I just don’t feel like practicing! <whine>” malaise we sometimes find ourselves in!)

I recently came across a quote that is modifying my perspective on all this. This is an excerpt – it was part of a talk delivered by Karl Paulnack, Music Director of The Boston Conservatory*. I thought he made a good point – about taking ourselves seriously. He said

Karl Paulnack our value as musicians

“If we were a medical school, and you were here as a med student practicing appendectomies, you’d take your work very seriously because you would imagine that some night at two AM someone is going to waltz into your emergency room and you’re going to have to save their life. Well, my friends, someday at 8 PM someone is going to walk into your concert hall and bring you a mind that is confused, a heart that is overwhelmed, a soul that is weary. Whether they go out whole again will depend partly on how well you do your craft.”

And he’s right!  There is little more rewarding than chatting with an audience member after a performance and learning that you have created an experience that touched that person very personally and specifically.

He goes on to say more, about our value as musicians, the effect we can have, the good we can do. All of these are important – and we need to remind ourselves of these truths. No matter our level of play or our amount of experience, we have something to contribute, a good to give – and we have to work to bring our best when we are sharing.

So, go practice – the world is counting on us to do our craft.

* read the whole address here

Give it a new twist

Posted on by

When you learn a new tune, there is a lot to learn and to remember. You are trying to keep a lot in mind as you play – what are the notes of the melody? What are the needed dynamics? What about the phrasing? And then there’s the accompaniment and harmonization!

You may recall that I am a big advocate for laziness and efficiency. To that end, I try very hard to reduce the amount of stuff I have to learn, memorize, recall, and reproduce. So it becomes essential to create a set of tools that allow you to wring the most playing and performance time out of each tune you learn.

One of my favorite tools is to stick to a basic chord progression – with a twist! What is the twist? Inversions!

Inversions

Not sure what an inversion is? It sounds complicated, but inversions are only a twist on a chord.  And with a little bit of practice, inversions can become second nature.

How do you play inversions? Here’s an easy tutorial:

  1. Place a root position C major chord*. [Lost? The root position is the 1 – 3 – 5 chord with the scale name on the bottom (in our example here it is a C – E – G chord). This is the Root.]
  2. Now, twist that C off the bottom of the chord and place it on the top (so now you have a chord in the shape E – G – c) – that’s the first inversion.
  3. To move to the second inversion, take that E off the bottom and twist it to the top (so now you have a chord in the shape G – c – e) – that’s the second inversion!
  4. And, you guessed it, one more twist and you’re back to the root chord, just up an octave!

As you play along (I know you rushed right over to your harp while you were reading!) you can hear that, while the chord is the same, each inversion is also different.  These differences meant that the inversions each give the tune a slightly different character!

Work on your inversions – practice them so they become second nature – and use them make subtle (but easy to remember) variations to your harmonies for the tunes in your repertoire and watch your repetitions become more interesting!

*I’m using the C major chord here but this applies to chords in any key – once you learn to do them, you can use them all over the place!

Reading is fun – duh – mental

Posted on by

I’m a big fan of learning by ear – it is easy, portable, social, and exciting. Because of this, I often encounter people who expect me to tell them that they do not need to learn to read music or that there is no need to develop proficiency in reading.

Nothing could be farther from the truth! Reading is  Fun – Duh – Mental!

Reading is Fun-duh-mentalReading is Fun: First, never forget that reading music is just like reading a book – there’s a story in there, intricately coded in a way that only those who know the cypher can understand, just waiting to give you a bucket of new emotions! There’s Romance, Mystery, Biography, History, from anywhere on in the world – something for everyone! What could be more fun than uncovering the story within?

Reading? Duh! Reading is a necessary tool for every musician. Music captures and retains those patterns that make the music.  And although people are typically very good at remembering patterns, you will be able to remember more, better if you have multiple ways to access them. So, if you have learned the tune by ear, you have all those audio patterns (including pitch, rhythm and tempo). But when you add printed music, you also have the visual patterns (including direction, shape, an structure) that really help solidify what you already know (or help you retrieve what you already have stored but ….just……can’t ……………reach……………….in your memory).

Reading is Mental: Just as paper music can help you remember music as an additional pathway, the act of reading music is also a great mental exercise. Again, just like reading the letters to generate the words of a story, reading the notes to generate the phrases of the music in the visual domain provides another means of working along with the other modes including motor and auditory. All this mental work is, well, work. However, this work will really help you develop as a musician.

So, go read a good book (of music). And if it helps you to read better, try reading loud – that is read along with a recording before you ever sit to your harp…because Reading is Fun- Duh! Mental!

What makes a good musician?

Posted on by

One can be a good musician even if one is not a full time professional . What makes a good musician? If you’re a regular reader, you might think that this is where I would say, “practice, practice, practice”!

But there is so much more to it than that! You see, musicianship is a journey not a destination – which is cool because it always gives you something to work toward! In that vein, here are six things that make a musician different from someone who just plays an instrument:

Musicianship

  1. Persistence and Practice. One could argue that practice is the working definition of persistence. But really, persistence involves more including focusing on continuing to grow, finding new music that inspires you, and pursuing places to play that fit your goals and still let you grow.
  2. Knowledge and Learning. There is so much to learn to be a better musician and real musicians are always learning. Whether it is gaining new tunes, mastering a new technique (coupled hands anyone? solid harmonics? you get the idea), or studying music theory, gaining knowledge can only result in stronger playing.
  3. Community. Even soloists are part of a community! We have communities of harp players as well as the greater communities of musicians (orchestra, sessions, workshop participants, etc.) and the environments in which we play – those communities help us grow and provide milieux in which development can be nurtured. Communities give us a base for our other developments.
  4. Listening. Just as we make sounds, we listen to sounds (music) from others (and ourselves). And as we listen, we learn more about music, what we think of it, what we like (and don’t like) and other perspectives on the music we make – you cannot listen to music enough!
  5. Be willing to take (and use) critique. Whether it is family members, audiences, or judges, gaining feedback, analyzing those inputs and using that information is a sure way to become a better musician.
  6. Enjoy the challenges you set for yourself – related to all of these is setting challenges for ourselves and enjoying stepping up to them. These challenges don’t have to be big – they just have to be yours (and they do have to be challenging!) so that we can learn and enjoy them.

So, the next time you think you’re not a musician, check to be sure your wrong! And just keep being you while you continue to develop into a good musician.

Greeting from OSAS!

Posted on by

Ok, really I did put this together ahead of time so I could completely focus on OSAS.  I’ll post updated pictures soon.  Until then, a “postcard”!

OSAS

Make a move: Tranposing

Posted on by

One of the skills musicians need (for a whole lot of reasons) is the ability to transpose tunes. Transposing is when you move from playing a tune in one key to playing it in another. For instance, If you have learned to play Happy Birthday in the key of D but when you go to the party everyone else is playing it in C – you either have to transpose it or you have to sit out. And who wants to do that? No one, that’s who!

So, it is clear that being able to transpose is fairly important. It is also somewhat intimidating to learn to do it – typically because we wait until we’re at that party to give it a try…and we know that everyone else can hear us either playing in the wrong key or desperately searching for a tune we already know in a key we never even thought to play in!

Tranposition

But, how do we learn to transpose?  Well, you already know – we practice! And as usual, I suggest a small steps approach:

  • Play the tune in the key you know. Might as well build up a little confidence to get started.
  • Next set your levers to the next key down (for instance if you always play a tune in D, with two sharps, you’d move into C with no sharps).  Now play the tune just one string down from where you normally play it. This is one of those times you’re going to wish you played without looking, because almost every time you make a mistake it will be because your eyes are getting in the way.
  • I also suggest you just worry about getting the melody. Give yourself a break and just get the tune down first.  Add the left hand later.
  • PRACTICE doing this – at first, focus on a single tune. Work on playing it on the new key. Eventually transpose the left hand too (same thing, move down one, be gentle with yourself).
  • Once you’re comfortable in the new key, work on moving back and forth between the two (yes, this is a little kludgy, but it works to get you confident and solid on both keys!).

Once you feel comfortable going between these two keys, you can practice transposing all the tunes you know (well, you know that might be a little bit of hyperbole – but practicing will make it easier and you will get better at it). Then you can also move to bigger jumps (for instance moving from G to D) which will strain your brain a little but will be easier if you have practiced the smaller moves.

So, keep practicing your transposing and soon it will be so second nature you can do it on the fly at all the birthday parties!

Who you talking to?

Posted on by

So, there we sat, a fledgling harper and I, having lunch. She’s had a number of distractors in her life, all of them good and important (children, health, work…you know, life!) and therefore has not had as much time for the harp as she probably envisioned when she took it up.

Our conversation was peppered with her self-assessments of her ability to play and included words like:

  • Stink
  • Bad
  • Terrible
  • No talent
  • Never going to get better

Positive SelftalkAnd others that were not as polite. We laughed about it, but why? What a bunch of hooey for one thing – we all know that we need constant, gentle pressure to form into the musical diamonds we wish to be – if that heat and pressure don’t happen, we don’t transform!

But more importantly, who would ever say something like that to someone?!?! It is not only mean, it is demeaning. It is also impolite (and we can all do with more politeness!)

Stop it! Just lay off! When you hear yourself begin to pick on you, stand up to your inner bully – you wouldn’t allow someone to pick on your children, so you need to be sure that you don’t allow you to pick on you!!

When you hear the litany begin you can do one or all of the following to stop that negative self-talk and get back to focusing on your practice:

  1. Ask yourself if what you said is really true? Or is it just a habit? You know it’s not true, but you might have conditioned yourself to go along with it.
  2. Ask yourself if you are being realistic?  Could anyone learn an entire concerto, memorize it and play it to perfection after the first run through? Nope, so knock it off!
  3. I like variations on, “If you wouldn’t say it to a child/your mother/your best friend, then stop”

Instead, ask yourself how your favorite Harp Hero, mentor or teacher would handle the situation? Would they berate you, call you names and grimace? Not if they are good teachers! They’d say something gentle, thoughtful, caring and supportive – do that instead!

I’m having an affair with Seth!

Posted on by

It started when I was 12. My parents introduced us. Seth and I had a rocky relationship for a long time. I was convinced that he hated me and I never really respected him. I let him stew, alone, for years.

But recently, I developed a begrudging respect for him.  And lately, that has blossomed into a raging love affair. I have learned to love him – Seth Thomas, my metronome!

MetronomeI had noticed that as much as I tried to ignore it, and as often as I played it, there was a tune (ok, really a set of tunes) that were just random at best. They gained momentum every time I played, and no amount of toe tapping, counting aloud, or getting dark looks from those around me seemed to help. In addition, I could never play them cleanly – there was always a mistake somewhere. And some of those mistakes were not random. Further, I love the tunes, so I really wanted to clean them up.

Enter Seth. Now, these are reels mind you. I set Seth on the bench next to me and selected 64…for the and! Yes, that meant the tempo was 32. If you’re one of my students it has now dawned on you that this is not just something I made up to torture you – I actually made it up to torture myself! At that speed I noticed all kinds of things. First the tune totally fell apart, so I had to rebuild the tune so I could remember what came next, not just let it happen. Also, my fingers and hands were tense and not ready for what was coming. Finally, because I had played it below standard so many times, my posture was hunched while I waited for everything to come apart.

Now, Seth sits by me, stoically, working with me (although sometimes it still feels like its against me!) to help me do the work to make the tune come out of the harp the way I hear it in my head. We’re taking it slow, me and Seth, and building a future together. I’m so glad to have Seth in my studio – it must be love!

Do you make your practicing harder than it needs to be?

Posted on by

I’m not a neat freak. In fact, I’m not very neat at all. I sort of thrive on a little bit of a mess. But I have a very selective mess – I have sheet music piled everywhere, and music books mixed with reading books.

clutterBut I also have a lot of bright lighting and a wide clear space for my harps, nothing on my benches and typically pencils and pens on the stand shelf. It is my kind of organized – I have what I need where I need it when I reach for it – and when I reach, I don’t knock over piles of stuff!

How about you? What does your practice space look like? Have you made yourself a space in which to work or is your harp stuck in a corner? Can you sit and play or do you have to move a lot of things (furniture, books, shoes, etc.) to get to it so you can do your work?

This might seem silly but actually, your workspace is important. You will not practice if you can’t get to the most important tools you need – your harp, your bench, your music! You might think you will move things out of the way and get your harp out each and every time you want to practice.  And perhaps you will, sometimes.  But few people are consistent in digging something out to use it and you are unlikely to be consistent.

So, if you are not practicing as well, as consistently, or as regularly as you think you should, take a good hard look at the location of your practice space, your harp, and the tools of your work. Make any changes that will reduce the amount of fiddling around you have to do to get to practicing and see if you gain some consistency and improved practice! Don’t put your baby in a corner – and don’t make your practicing harder than it needs to be!