One of the most disheartening things is when you work really hard on something and it still doesn’t come. It’s enough to make you crazy – especially if you convince yourself that it should be easy. We have all sorts of things we tell ourselves – but are we identifying the right things to improve?

I found a quote from Eric Lindros (Hockey player for those of you who just said, “Who?!” – remember how I like to cast a wide net!), ”It’s not necessarily the amount of time you spend at practice that counts; it’s what you put into the practice.”

How true!

So, what do you put into your practice? Here are some things you could do to help you practice more effectively:

1. Know what you’re doing! What is your plan? What do you need to work on? Reading? Rhythm? Fingering? Know before you sit down.

2. Make a plan. Don’t just sit on your bench and hope for inspiration – once you know what you need to work on, plan out how you’ll work on it in this practice (of course a longer term plan will also be helpful for staying on track).

3. Work at your own speed. Want to play that new reel at wicked speed? Do you really think you’ll be able to do that while you’re still struggling to remember what comes next? Work at a pace that allows you to think, to work through the intricacies, the hard stuff! The speed can come later.

4. Include warm ups and exercises – these are not just drudgery. Exercises and warm ups allow you be ready to work and to develop skills and techniques that allow you to develop while working.

5. Recognize the difference between working through and playing through. Working through is the tough work of breaking the music down so you can build it back up again.

6. There is no one right way to practice. But you can learn a lot from teachers and other more experienced harpers – so it might be a good idea to listen!

Put the right stuff into your practice and make it count!

Practicing is a lot like brushing your teeth. It isn’t fun, but it is good for you. And it’s important to do it every day! So here are some reasons that practicing everyday is important:

• Practicing gives you an opportunity to develop a better relationship with your harp and with your music. For at least 200 years (from the earliest credit I found, although lots of people are credited with saying it) musicians have been quoted as saying, “Miss one day of practice, I notice; miss two, the critics notice; miss three, the audience notices.” Each day of practice helps strengthen your relationship with your tools – the harp and the tunes.
• Just like you need the repetition of brushing your teeth every day, your practice needs repetition. The repetition is a good foundation for a structured practice that allows you to focus on the work you’re doing while you’re practicing.

• When you brush your teeth each day, you tend to do it the same way every time. This structure is good for your practice too. Doing your practice basically the same way each time helps to assure you do a warm up, some exercises to build technique, music you are learning, play something for fun each day so you don’t skip something or spend too much time but rather do a little of each activity of your practice each day.
• That structure also helps you transition from the hustle-bustle of the rest of your day and settle into the good fit of your practice structure.
• And just like brushing your teeth, your goal is to do a good job, not to be perfect. In each practice you do work and develop – you don’t get to perfect…and that’s ok. It gives you a place to start the next day.
• Practicing every day, like brushing your teeth each day, gives you a consistency that you can build on, day after day.

So, each day, before you brush your teeth, sit to your practice – it’s good for you, every day.

We have been very fortunate all month to have Sue Richards generating guest blog content. As we approach the end of February, we have some closing thoughts from her. She has shared some excellent thoughts about practicing and preparing tunes for performance. We have learned the importance of patience and of choreographing our fingering. The last bit she has to share with us is the importance of thinking! She tells us,

“Brain focus. The hardest thing to teach to harpers is to think ahead to where you need to be in the next measure. You don’t need to watch your hands play because you are playing by feel, right? Think ahead! Don’t think about the audience unless you are playing something slow and have the time. In reels, you have to think only about the tune. If there are jumps in the tune, spot them with your eyes until your hand gets there.”

Your brain is working for you, doing the heavy lifting while you shine! But you have to support it. Not only while you’re performing as Sue said above, but also each day as you practice and prepare. She has a very do-able method to help her practicing,

“So I keep a book with every page listing the ten or so tunes I am working on for that month. They come and go, and sometimes come back. I think I’ll get some star stickers for the ones that graduate. It feels like a big accomplishment that only I know about, and am very proud of. It is good.”

Now that you know some of the ways that a Harp Hero makes it looks so easy – you can add some to your own toolkit. Give your brain and your fingers a boost in practice and on stage – and you don’t even have to wait for March!

In last week’s post, Sue Richard’s mentioned “choreography” of the fingering for a tune. This week, Sue expands on the importance of practice and getting your fingering right –

“Part of smart practicing that I think people don’t pay attention to is the way the tune feels, phrase by phrase. Memorize the way it feels when you have a crossover or an odd fingering. Memorize the feel of the occasional chords and relish them. If it is an Irish tune where you should play variations, practice them. Don’t just expect them to pop up. And don’t play the tune exactly the same way every time. Have at least one variation of a measure or two on hand, all practiced up. And most importantly, relaxing is part of the choreography. Know where you need to loosen up, and where you need to play hard to make a phrase exciting and interesting.

“Choreograph your fingering! Try difficult phrases many ways, using all the available alternatives. Crossovers, slides, taking a note or two in your LH, skipping a note or substituting a note are all good. Pay attention to the heavy and light notes, and figure out where you might want cuts. Then move into the stage where you play it the same way every time, for 500 times. (That’s what takes seven years.) Also, understand that many things like triad patterns and runs of 5-6 notes and walk-down LH are common to many tunes, and will transfer.”

Are you ready to learn your choreography and dance on your strings?

You will remember from last week that all this month I’ll be sharing some excellent thoughts put together by the incredible Sue Richards! She is a consummate professional and you will never see her perform when she doesn’t resemble a swan – serene, gliding from note to note.  She is clearly enjoying herself. It is highly likely that only we other harpers have any concept of just how hard she is working.  Like the swan, that serenity belies the “paddling below the water” – working hard but giving no outward sign of it. She tells how that can be:

“I recently debuted a couple reels that I have been working on for several years. That is, I played them in public. I have been working on them for about seven years, off and on. No I didn’t play them every day, but I did practice them for a few weeks at a time, then took a break. And what I was really doing was tweaking the choreography- fingering. I knew they were ready when they had “flow”. That doesn’t mean I can play them perfectly every time, but that they had the right feeling and I mostly didn’t make mistakes. And I know that as I perform them this year, they will become solid.

“While it may seem that famous Celtic harpers are fluidly swimming when they play jigs and reels, it is probably an illusion. Those notes are probably pretty carefully choreographed, and their brains are trained to look ahead to where they will be going. The fluidity comes from smart practice, concentrated relaxation, and brain focus.”

SEVEN YEARS!?! Yes, you read that right. She works long and hard to bring the tune out. So the next time you leave a workshop or lesson feeling like a failure because the tune you learned is not ready for prime time – remember what Sue has said – and be prepared to work on it a good long time to get it ready to see the light…so you too can glide along (like that swan).

I recently had an opportunity to be chatting with the fantastic Sue Richards over lunch She is what I call a Harp Hero. She attained this status over time by being not only a sensational performer but also a sensitive teacher, a good coach, and a lovely friend. I have had the privilege to learn a lot from her – some of it related to playing the harp!

She graciously wrote up some ideas for me to share with you and we’ll do that over February. Why February? Well, I find this is one of the most challenging times of the year – we have turned the corner in winter and the days are detectably longer, but the weather is not overly nice and it still feels as though we will never get out of the darkness. There are not as many weddings or parties so gigs may take a hit, the rush of Christmas is over. This time of year can be a real motivational nadir. But if you’re not practicing now, you will be behind when wedding, competition, and summer camps seasons get into full swing.

But this time of year is a great time to focus and to hone your practice skills – for all the same reasons – Christmas is over so it’s time to learn some new music, the days are short so there’s plenty of time to practice with fewer outside distractions, and those weddings aren’t going to play themselves so you need to be ready to book the gig with confidence.

Over this month, I’ll share with you some of the great insights I have received from the amazing Sue! I hope they will inspire, encourage, and enlighten you as they have me. And you’ll learn about practicing in a whole new light! She’s given us some great thoughts on practicing smart and I’m looking forward to sharing them with you!