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  • Summer’s a’comin’ in

    While it’s all well and good to be planning, dreaming and thinking about the upcoming opportunities that summer brings, you’ve got to be ready before it gets here!

    I think the “workout to look good in your bikini” stories and catalog layouts are a good point in time to start preparing yourself so you can be ready for all the fun that summer workshops bring. But “what could you possible do to prepare to have fun?” you might ask. The best answer is, “Plenty!”

    Here are five things you can do to be sure you’re ready to focus on learning instead of focusing on how you don’t feel well: Picture1

    1. Start doing legwork – spend an appropriate amount of your practice time working on the things you need to work on – scales, chords, transitions, speed, agility, sight reading – whatever “legwork” you need to have in your head and in your hands so you’re ready to learn and don’t have to be watching the basics.
    2. Build your stamina – most of us don’t have the luxury of spending an entire day at our harps – which also means me probably don’t have the stamina to be at our harps all day. Start early from where you are with practicing and SLOWLY build up to a much longer time on the bench. Practice sitting, upright, in good alignment and with your harp.
    3. Build your strength – most of us don’t get to spend a long time playing so while building up your stamina, play gently to allow your fingers to build strength (and to toughen up those callouses) so you have the tolerance to spend all that time not just sitting at your harp but also playing it.
    4. The best beginning comes out of a good ending – start mindfully stretching after each practice. Build in time in your schedule and in your thinking to actively stretch yourself after sitting and working hard at your harp. Be sure to work all the areas you exercised including your neck, shoulders, legs and glutes – and don’t forget your arms and fingers!
    5. Thimk – be sure to spend some of each practice time practicing practicing. Build within yourself good habits that allow you to spend your workshop time actually learning something. Spend this pre-workshop time identifying what you need help with so you can ask questions of the workshop tutors and be aware of your strengths and weaknesses so you can build from what you learn.

    Being prepared for the arduous work of having fun will help you have a more enjoyable time and will assure that your time and money were well spent on the workshop you chose!

  • The Swannanoa Gathering – Guest blog!

    I can’t possibly get to every harp event and there are a few that are on my, “one of these days, I’m going to get to …..” list.  Swannanoa Gathering is one of those events so I asked Mike Connors to tell you about it –

    Mike 1The Swannanoa Gathering Celtic Week July 12-18, at Warren Wilson College nestled in the Blue Ridge Mountains near Asheville NC is an unsurpassed week long immersion with some of the world’s finest Celtic musicians. It is always the week after the Grandfather Mountain Highland Games, also in NC. I attend annually to study Irish harp with Grainne Hambly and Scottish harp with Billy Jackson. In addition to beginning and advanced harp classes, there are courses in fiddle, singing, dance, bodhran, flute, mandolin, guitar, accordion, whistle, uillean pipes, banjo, bouzouki, banjo, and concertina. Students can register for up to four classes which meet every day, although I usually just take two so that I can have time to practice and learn to actually play some of the stuff while I am still there. Over the years in addition to harp classes I’ve had the chance to take a bodhran class, beginning pennywhistle with Billy Jackson, DADGAD guitar with Eamon O’Leary, bouzouki with Robin Bullock, and session guitar with Donal Clancy. Ed Miller teaches Scottish singing classes, and the biggest stars in Celtic instrumental and vocal music are there annually. With the likes of Martin Hayes, Kevin Crawford, and John Whelan and too many other greats to list here (see the roster for yourself https://www.swangathering.com/catalog/cl/celtic-week.html) the faculty concerts, extra “potluck” afternoon seminars, after supper slow sessions led by the staff, and late night sessions create such an incredible experience that you will not experience much sleep-there is just too much music.

    Mike 2
    Afternoon slow session with Billy Jackson, Robin Bullock, and Brian McNeil

     

    In addition to the quality instruction, the campus is beautiful, the food is outstanding, and the musical friendships that are created and renewed every year truly make this a gathering. The sessions last late into the night. Imagine a hillside dotted with open air tents and dozens of music sessions happening at once-complete with a beer truck supplying local microbrews, wines, and a grill cook serving up food and snacks. There are fast sessions, slow sessions, big sessions, Scottish sessions, Irish sessions, Breton sessions, small sessions, alpha sessions, and song sessions. The faculty gets out and plays, with each other and with the students. I have witnessed Battlefield Band reunions, gotten to sit in a slow session and play the Kesh Jig set with members of the Bothy Band, and played music, shared tunes, and made lifelong friendships with people that share the love for this music.

    Afternoon slow session with Billy Jackson, Robin Bullock, and Brian McNeil

    The only thing that could keep me away from the Swannanoa Gathering would be a trip to Ireland and Scotland-which is where I will be during this year’s gathering, although I’m going to be back in time to visit Friday night and reconnect with friends and jam into the night. How ‘bout a tune?

  • Kicking off Summer – SoMD Harp Competition

    Ok, technically it is still Spring until the end of June – but the best way to kick off your summer is with a good competition!

    April 25, 2015 marks the 37th year for the oldest Celtic celebration in Maryland.  The Festival is 10 am to 6 pm rain or shine on the beautiful Jefferson Patterson Park and Museum.  The field overlooks the Patuxent River – a lovely location for a games!

    We are fortunate to have Sharon Knowles as Judge this year! (www.fynesound.com).

    Come out for an exciting competition. You will find the online registration (there will be no on-site registration) on http://www.cssm.org/events/festival/competitions/highland-harping/.  You find additional information on the site as well including links to Scottish Harp Society of America’s competition rules and membership forms – your membership must be up to date to compete (memberships can be updated at the competition)

    If competing isn’t your thing please come out to support our competitors. We also always need volunteers and audiences!  We have a workshop, Harp Circle, and a Come-and-Try planned as well.

    The Festival is centrally located to the mid-Atlantic. Our Harp competition draws competitors from far away including North Carolina, Michigan, upstate New York and all around the Baltimore-Washington-Richmond areas.

    This comp has lovely prizes and is always a fun and friendly competition – an excellent venue for new competitors and more experienced players as well. Hope we’ll see you there – in just under a month!

  • What to do on your summer vacation – Harp Camp!

    You have so many things to do during the sweet, sweaty days of summer and it is only natural that you’d want to spend some of the time on your harp!  I hope you’ll consider joining us for the 20th anniversary Lever Harp Camp 2014, August 14th-16th – in South Central Pennsylvania. Harp Camp is easily accessible from anywhere and to harpers at any level.

    Kris and I work hard to provide a highly personalized, fun-filled and supportive environment so that you can extend your technical skills no matter where you’re starting. We also work on building a healthy sense of self-esteem and encourage our attendees to try new things while developing an understanding of the skills necessary to reach individual performance goals.

    Picture1We put together a format tailored to you: no frustration of not getting something that you aren’t ready for.  And no waiting for people with less experience to understand what is being presented. We tailor to you – where you are at the time we’re working.

    Each workshop you take will be geared toward your proficiency and comfort level. These three days will be filled with creativity and fun. Workshops cover diverse topics from learning to performance to composition and improvisation.

    We are working on the specific topics right now and we’ll post them soon.  Games, Creative and Directed Ensemble and age appropriate activities will all be included!

    If you have always wanted to try the harp without the commitment, we will have rentals available and a separate novice track designed to give you the optimum experience of trying the harp – with no strings attached!

    Harp Camp has small class sizes to give each attendee the personal attention for which we are known.  For more information, check our website for updates in April or contact us. Harperkris (at) hotmail.com or jentheharper (at) gmail.com

  • Early Summer Opportunity – OSAS

    I’ll spend the next few posts reminding you of great ways to spend your harp summer – in chronological order, that way you can plan your entire calendar!

    It probably isn’t summer without participating in the Ohio Scottish Arts School in Oberlin, Ohio!*

    OSAS is a week of intensive learning, music, sharing, making friends, and fun! You bring your own harp (of course!) and if you’re smart, you’ll bring all the things Sue suggests on her list – well hewn after years of being in the dorms! The classes focus on: basic harp technique for beginners and intermediates, repertoire at everyone,Scottish style, including ornaments, lilt, and dance types, and did I mention having fun while sharing tunes?

    Instructors this year will be Wendy Stewart (insert jubilant crowd cheer here), Haley Hewitt (keep cheering!), Ann Heymann (still more cheering!), Charlie Heymann (don’t stop to breathe now, keep cheering!), and Sue Richards (ok, you are probably on your feet from cheering at this point!!).

    Both wire strung and nylon strung harps are taught with focus on Scottish dance music, airs, and songs, as well as ornamentation, Scottish style, accompaniment, and learning by ear.

    There are also lectures, practice time, and playing in sessions, as well as Charlie’s well known  “band class” for all instruments so you can learn to “play well with others”!

    In the evening there are jam sessions as well as treats, games and other fun.

    If you’ve never been to OSAS, you definitely don’t know what you’re missing.  If you think it sounds intimidating, it is anything but (and I understand – before my first year I was terrified!). OSAS is a great learning opportunity that keeps students engaged and coming back (some for more than 15 years!). Hope to see you there –

    * All the factual information in this post unceremoniously stolen, without permission, from the OSAS website: http://www.ohioscottishartsschool.com/osasharp.htm where you’ll also find additional information and registration materials.

  • It’s March already!

    I know many of us are having hellacious winters no matter where we live and that makes it difficult to imagine spring or to begin planning our summers. But summer will be here in no time, so now is the time to start planning what lovely harp events you will attend. There are many more than there used to be which is helpful – choice is always comforting. But finding the summer event that is the right fit for you can be daunting. In addition, sometimes you have to read carefully to assure you’re going to the event that will fit your needs and your harp.

    Picture1There are loads of summer camps for harp players – typically for those under the age of majority. And while that’s great and I applaud the ongoing education of our youth – many of us are both harp players and well above the age of majority. Also, many events cater to pedal harpers – again, I applaud their ongoing edification but typically lever harpers may not be comfortable at these events.

    It’s comforting to be stretched at an opportunity that fits your goals, level of play and interests. These events do exist and many are likely close to you (or at least near enough to make the trek!). I will spend the next few weeks highlighting the events I find especially useful, fun, educational, entertaining, and worth the time and money to attend. I clearly benefit from sharing the events with which I am associated but the others are just good in my opinion, pure and simple – no cross marketing, not compensation, no bennies, just my thinking on events I attend or have not yet gotten to but reliable sources have confirmed are a great time.

    If you have a favorite, let me know – ‘cause you know I’m going to tell you mine!

  • The Dr. is in

    Last week we talked about the environment you can set to help assure your harp’s health so this week let’s talk about getting your harp to the Harp Doctor – your luthier. You want to keep your Harp healthy after all!

    While many harp maintenance tasks can be performed at home, I prefer to take my harp to my local luthier* just to be sure I don’t break anything!  What do you mean you don’t have a luthier?!?

    There are some standard maintenance items you should take care of annually – regulation and restringing.  Regulation is the practice of calibrating your levers so that, when engaged, they raise the pitch of the string one half tone.  Not about a half, not, like a half, not halfish, but a true half tone.  This assures that when you tune and when you play you get the tones you expected and desire. Regulation is a delightful and desirable thing because after you spend all that time tuning, it’s nice to set the levers and be in tune still! But I ask my luthier to do it because regulation is a fiddly business and I don’t have the patience to get it right**.

    Picture1

    Restringing is needed because your strings will get dull with age and wear.  You might have a hard time hearing it because you play on them every day. Sometimes the string will let you know it’s time, refusing to hit or hold a pitch for very long or sounding “thuddy”.  Its as if it is saying, “I’m soooooo tired, I just can’t hold this pitch any longer.” Restringing is not difficult but it is time consuming and can be hard on the hands.  Your luthier can do this for you (for a well-deserved price) or you can do it yourself.

    Now annually might be a bit of a convention because how often you need to restring or regulate is a function of many things including how much your play your harp, how hard you are on it, how much it travels, how often you tune, and the harp itself.  Use “annual” as an estimate. Keep an eye and an ear on your harp and perform maintenance as needed.

    So, take your harp to the Harp Doctor for regular checkups to keep it harp healthy!

    *my local luthier is Rick Kemper (http://www.sligoharps.com/misc) and he does excellent work. There are other great luthiers throughout the country and there is likely one near to you – let me know who works on your harp and we’ll give them a shout out here too.

    ** knowing yourself is important in this – I am not patient, nor do I do well with tedious, repetitious, fine work.  If you are good at this sort of thing (clock repair, zymurgy, or other fine work) you’d probably do a good job.  I’m not like that!

  • In the Bleak Midwinter….

    I assume, if you’re reading this, that you have a harp and likely you love it very much – all the joy it brings to your life, the opportunity to share your gift with others, the just plain physical pleasure of playing.  I think we would all say that our existence would be diminished without our harps.

    So, the obvious question becomes, are you taking care of your harp?  In this, the bleakest part of the year, you can’t be harp healthy enough!

    Picture2

    It is winter – a time when the air is very cold and dry.  Be sure to heat your house enough to keep your harp room warm enough.  Don’t let it get below 55oF.  Ok, that’s not so much for your harp as for you – below 55o you will not have enough feeling in your fingers to do the fine work of playing.  You don’t have to keep it excessively warm but I do find that below 65o it’s a challenge to sit still long enough to get any practice in.

    Whether you have electric, gas, or wood heat, the air is being dried – and that’s not good for the wood of your harp. If you get a shock every time you touch something, your house is too dry.  Try to keep the humidity up between 45 – 55%.  I suggest investing in a room hygrometer (inexpensive ones are available at your local ginormous hardware store) so that you will the humidity in your harp room. You can also invest in a humidifier – this could be anything from a pan of water (best if you have a wood stove), a small water fountain (best if you have the room for it), or a humidifier (best solution although the most expensive) for the room.

    Take good care of your harp in winter so you can enjoy it year ‘round!

  • Aim is true

    It’s February, and everywhere in the Northern Hemisphere, it’s grayer than sunny, the days are still short…and we’re far enough in to the year that most of us have already lost interest in working toward the goals we set just a few weeks ago – our own goals! It is much more satisfying to curl up in a chair by the fire with a cup of tea and read. Which is what I was doing…reading that intellectual journal, “Family Circle”* when I saw this:

    “A goal is not always meant to be reached.

    It often serves simply as something to aim at. – Bruce Lee”

    Wow! Was that man was right!

    Picture2Sometimes, especially if you’re goal oriented, you might forget that the goal is not the thing; it’s just the plan on how to get where you think you’d like to go. And where you wanted to go might change. How you think you’d like to get there might change. What you’re willing to do along the way might change.

    All along, Bruce Lee knew that sometimes the goal would morph, change, and become a guide light rather than the target. And that’s ok – you need light to see your target. This thought might be just what you need to move you along.

    So, while I might harangue you about setting and achieving goals, remember Bruce’s wise thought. Your aim can be true even if your target is moving.

    * March 2015, page 13 – it pays to look at the whole page! And I’m not sure I get any more wisdom (or blog fodder) reading a professional journal…

  • Travel can break your harp – air

    If you have ever contemplated going on a trip with your harp (like HARPA 2015 Scotland?) you will quickly come to realize that you have to get your harp where you are going too! Like air travel isn’t challenging enough! There are a few questions you need to ask yourself:

    First, you need to assure you have the right harp for your trip. Are you going to be playing to amuse yourself? Will you be sharing with friends? Will you be performing? Are you taking your only harp? This will help you decide the size harp you’re going to bring.

    Picture1Second, you’ll have to decide where your harp will make the journey. This will be decided primarily by the size you’re your harp. If your harp is small enough, you can carry on and use our soft case.

    Although there are small harps that will fit, typically even small harps are too large to go into the overhead. Be sure before you go if your harp will fit. Do not wait until the day you travel – it would be disappointing to get to the airport assuming you will carry on, learn you will have to check, and have nothing more than the soft case. In addition, while I used to be an advocate for carrying on, nowadays with packed planes and overhead hogs aplenty, it is a bad idea to pack assuming you will get bin space – you should be ready to have to gate check!

    Third, if you are going to send your harp as checked luggage, it is essential that you get a hard protective case or crate. In some cases, the case is a crate with a handle! However, a good hard case will protect your harp and allow you to carry your harp through airports, train stations, and hotel lobbies safely and comfortably. And remember that you will need to include the possibility of oversized luggage fees in your planning.

    There are a number of case makers available with different approaches so you can select the case that looks to support your budget and style of travel. Consider the following elements – the overall weight (include the harp in your thinking!), the placement of handles (really think about how you’ll move this through the airport, into and out of the car, bus, taxi), and the good sense of including wheels, pockets and identifying marks. All of these things should factor into your decision when selecting your case.

    Flying with your harp does require some planning but don’t let that stop you – get out there!