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It’s autumn and the leaves have all turned color from green to reds and yellows and now brown.  They are falling from the trees to the ground…and so, it’s time for the raking to begin.

We, none of us, get younger.  And with year autumn that passes, raking those leaves may become more of a chore, leaving you sore for a while.  That soreness is from doing unaccustomed work – but it is also a result of not stretching after doing so.

fallBut you can get sore from not stretching after work to which you are accustomed as well – that includes after practicing or performing.  Even daily practice takes work – from your whole body!  You should continue that work into a stretching routine which will not only reward you but will allow your muscles to rest and be prepared for the next practice session.

Performing (even if for the curtains and the cat) adds stress which you will likely carry in your body. Therefore stretching is also important after each performance.  By adding a stretching phase to your practice time you will train yourself to do the stretches which will carry over into your performances.

You will want to stretch your fingers and hands as well as your arms. But you know that.  You will also want to stretch your large muscles – the ones that hold you up on your bench and give you the scaffolding to hold yourself and your harp.  That means you’ll want to stretch your back, legs, buttocks, and abdomen.

Adding a stretching routine will allow you to gracefully end your daily practice while doing yourself some good!

Celebrate Peace

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Today is Armistice Day, Veteran’s Day, Remembrance Day – no matter what it is called where you live, it is an opportunity to remember the fallen who gave their lives so we could enjoy ours in peace and freedom.

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That seems like a good reason to give them their due through music. There are so many things you could do at this point –

  • You could commemorate the original armistice and play the tunes of the day – there were some great tunes written at that time including Keep the Home Fires Burning, It’s a Long Way to Tipperary, or Carry Me Back to Ol’ Virginnie
  • You could play music from other post war eras including anything from Irving Berlin
  • You could compose your own pieces
  • you could play in a number of places including a VA home or for a veteran’s group or another civic group
  • You could, of course, do nothing

Just play – and enjoy that you can in peace!

Read widely

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I’ll read just about anything, even if, in general, I’m not that interested in the overall topic. I was recently reading an article in Men’s Health* magazine (see what I mean?) about Stephen Curry (basketball player).  Note, I’m not a huge basketball fan (ok, really, it’s my least favorite sport to play or watch). But this short article focused on how he worked hard to make it in his profession.

Now you might think that professional basketball has nothing to do with playing the harp, but what he said resonated with me so I wanted to be sure you saw it.

Apparently he wasn’t yet “basketball sized” as a freshman in high school so he had to work especially hard to get in to play (also, his father was a pro basketball player so you know that right off the bat he was going to have to be better than good to make the cut). It was what else he said that captivated me:

Picture2He spent a long time dedicated to crafting his skills. He’s quoted as saying, “It’s still a work in progress but with anything, if you stick with it and keep working at it, eventually you’ll figure it out.”!!! This is a man, considered to be at the top of the heap in his profession, who understands that fundamentals are called that because they support everything else you do while performing.  And he also understands that development isn’t a “one and done” proposition but rather the result of steady, consistent, intelligent work.

He also talked about doing specific things to make his practice harder than his performance – he practices on gravel so when he gets to the court, working the ball will be easier. This is the same as practicing in the dark, while people talk to you, on a scary carpet, in a variety of places, or some combination of these, so that when you’re in the gig you’re prepared and can play well.

The other thing he said that really struck me was this, “You either put the work in and reap the benefits….or you try to take shortcuts….But it doesn’t work that way…” Yikes – so true! We all know that no one wants to play exercises, but they do have a direct impact on your later ability to play.

The underpinnings of practice are the same, whether you play basketball or the harp. What you put in shows up in your results. The inverse is also true – if you don’t do the work, you’ll only get part of the way. This is true whether you are a full time professional, a part time professional, or an amateur content to play for the cats and the drapes.  Be as good as you can make yourself, know where you are going so you can get your hard work in and enjoy the rewards of good performance.

*Men’s Health, November 2015

Daylight Savings Ends – Five Ways to Stay Motivated!

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Daylight Savings Time ends in the US on Sunday morning – don’t forget to set your clocks back and enjoy another hour of well deserved sleep.

And get prepared because that early darkness at the end of the day can be extremely unmotivating – it will feel like you should be in bed when it is only 5pm! Yikes. In addition, it’s also the beginning of the “Curl up on the Couch with some Tea and a Cozy Throw” days which makes it so easy to flop down and watch TV or read a book. But you know that you need to practice and that every day you do not practice means it will be that much longer until you get where you want to be.

Picture2So, here are five ways for you to stay motivated during the dark time –

  • Don’t wait until the end of the day to practice. It will be just as dark in the morning but changing it up might be just what you need to stay engaged and practicing!
  • Fool yourself. Add more lighting to your practice area to fool yourself into feeling like it’s not the middle of the night.
  • Plan your time. If you know what you’re going to do when you’re practicing, it won’t feel so much like it will never end!
  • If you can’t think of anything to work on, make something up (stretch yourself, prepare to play for a new audience, push yourself to grow).
  • Start with easy stuff you love…and then doing the hard work (exercises). Make it enticing to sit down, start with the fun (and then knuckle down!).

If you can “fake it ‘til you make it” through the first few weeks, you’ll get through the tough end of daylight saving and you might even be well on your way to an even better holiday repertoire.

On the road to Nationals!

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I am so honored to have judged the Scottish Harp Society of America‘s 2015 US National Scottish Harp Championship!  In addition, it was exciting to have the opportunity to work with Seumas Gagne (the Distinguished Judge, friend, fab performer!) as well as the organizing coordinators of the Harp Competition at the Stone Mountain Highland Games.  And, of course, a special thank you to the Title Sponsor – Clan Currie Society whose generosity has significantly contributed to the success of the comp.

So this week’s post is short while I continue to bask in the glow of having gotten to see some amazing talent, meet some new people, see old friends, play and share and laugh, and get hand cramps from my pathetic penmanship (or pencilmanship really!).  Concerts, fun, and of course, an EXCELLENT competition with a large field of competitors.

What could be more fun?

Happy Boss’ Day!

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It’s Boss’ Day – certainly a holiday worth celebrating!

“Why?”  you might ask – because at your harp – You are the boss of you!

You make all the decisions at your harp.  What will you play? How will you play it?  How long will you practice? When will you take lessons?  From whom will you learn?  What new tunes will you tackle?

Picture1You are the decision maker…and you have all the responsibility!  You should do all those things good bosses do:

  • Be appreciative of hard work
  • Acknowledge a good effort and reward good performance
  • Point out areas for improvement in a constructive way
  • Deliver useful and appropriate feedback
  • Encourage growth and development
  • Encourage creativity
  • Expect good work

After all, you need to be a good boss – you can’t fire you!

Planning for everything

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Recently, a harp friend died. This was a tragedy as she was a lovely person and a very good harp player. I had known her almost all of my harp life.

Not long after that, her family wanted to move on and part of that was to assure that her harps went to good homes. And so I was fortunate to be able to help the family in finding each harp a new loving home. But it got me to thinking.

Picture1It was very difficult for the family – it’s a difficult time as it is, but having to figure out how to move these harps along was just another burden for them. Because we love our harps and our harp friends/family so much, we may forget that to our “real” family isn’t as plugged in to our harp world. They don’t know how we communicate, how to “shift” a harp, where to go for help, how to move on.

In addition, while our families might try to meet all our wishes, we may not have shared what we would like to happen to our harps (and their assorted detritus!). You may want to be sure that your harps go to a chosen friend or you might want them embedded in a local organization’s harp rental program, or you might want your local (or favorite) school to receive your bounty. But if you don’t tell anyone, no one will know. Be specific – remember that it is likely a loving, non-harper will have to attempt to do what you want, so guidance from you would be a big help!

Therefore it is important to document and share your harp wishes with your family. Think about (and plan for) where you’d like all your harps to find a new place when you will no longer need it. If you will donate to an organization – be sure that the organization knows it will eventually receive your bounty. Be as lovely and generous as you always have been and others will appreciate your kindness.

Holidays are coming up!

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Those people who are planners will note that it’s about time to start getting ready for the Holiday season. Since the retailers have decided that Labor Day is when Christmas stuff comes out, we should probably take a hint. The holiday season is a time that you can expect to be asked to play. If people know you play the harp, you’re going to be asked (If you haven’t told your immediate family that you’ve taken up the harp, you need to come clean!).

Whether you will play for your dog, your family, or parties and other gigs, you need a plan that will allow you to get through the season of holidays with minimal stress – and still leave time for your shopping.

Here are a six things you can do to be prepared:

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  1. Make a list – what tunes are you going to play? What have you played in previous years (these will come back quickly)? What did you have requests for last year that you need to learn?
  2. Get out your calendar 1 – when are you available? When do you have other obligations?
  3. Decorate – what will you wear for your gigs (even if its your dog, think of it as a gig)? Can you actually play in that outfit? If you’re pulling out your annual holiday outfit, a year is plenty of time to shed, find or redistribute weight – does it still work for you? .
  4. Get out your calendar 2 – when are you going to practice? When will you be too busy to fit in time? Where does that fall relative to your obligations to play?
  5. Get it together – do you have any music or notes you need pulled together? Are they attractive or do you still have a collection of stickies and scraps of paper?
  6. Breathe – do you have enough time to do all the other things you might do for the holidays (such as baking, visiting friends, wrapping gifts, etc.)?

Get started now so you can have a relaxed enjoyable holiday season – you’ll be glad you did!

Double Digits Day

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Today is double digits day – there are only 99 days remaining in 2015 – so we are losing that feeling like the year will never end and entering into the part where the year seems to be flying by faster than we can see! So the question is – have you done all the harp things you set out to do this year?

If you have, good on you! But more likely than not, there might be a couple of things as yet unfinished. The good news is you have plenty of time to get going on them and likely finish before the end of the year!

Picture1Apparently most people don’t meet their goals (a desired outcome) because they didn’t have enough time. Of course, we all get the same 24 hours each day – it’s how we use them that we need to look at. It is easy to get overwhelmed by the sheer number of things we think we will accomplish in a day (with work, school, chores, tasks and other stuff) – and in that overwhelm we don’t always get to our harps.

Which is a shame since the simple act of playing would probably significantly reduce that feeling of unending overwhelm.

There’s no challenge implied here. But imagine what kind of progress you could make if you mindfully moved yourself forward, just a little bit, every one of the remaining days in 2015. It’s a great opportunity to start journaling your practice or actually practicing each day (even if only for 30 minutes!). It’s a chance to do something for yourself, that isn’t bad for you and just might do you some good! At a minimum, it will help you count down the days (and will help highlight how close the holidays are – yikes!).

There’s nothing magic about having 99 days remaining in the year – it’s just a milestone, a time to stop and reflect, to determine if we’re doing the things we want to be doing with our time. Are you in?

2015 US National Scottish Harp Championship at Stone Mountain Highland Games

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Come to Atlanta, Saturday and Sunday, October 18 – 19, 2015 for the 2015 US National Scottish Harp ChampionshipTM SHSA logo

The Scottish Harp Society of America’s US National Scottish Harp Championship will be hosted at the Stone Mountain Highland Games outside Atlanta, GA and is open to all SHSA members.

This year’s judges are the amazing Seumas Gagne (Distinguished Judge) and me (!).

Rules and categories are available on www.shsa.org.

For more information on the 2015 Championship, visit:  http://www.smhg.org/details-Harping.html

Saturday’s Schedule – 9 am Registration, 10 am Competition

Sunday – Harp Tasting at 10:30 am and 3:30 pm with workshops at 1 pm

Special thanks to the Title Sponsor of the National Scottish Harp Championship of America – Clan Currie Society. The Clan has generously agreed to sponsor the National competition through 2019. It is especially rewarding to be supported by a clan with such an ancient and distinguished history of Gaelic poets and musicians.

Clan Currie continues to sharpen its focus on the arts and not only sponsors our competition, but also has established an annual harp scholarship at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland in Glasgow, Scotland. To learn more about Clan Currie, go to: http://www.clancurrie.com/

Hope to see you there!