Jenius Creations

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  • Day Three: Skye

    Skye is beautiful.  Any time of year it is breathtaking and wonderful.  David organized our day to take best advantage of the day and the weather and we moved from one amazing site to another – sites of geologic beauty, historic significance, and just cool stuff.  We went to Dunvegan Castle and after lunch we toured its lovely gardens and really, I should stop writing and just show the photos:
     

    Let me say we were certainly glad not to be this guy – instead we were whisked everywhere in a wonderful vehicle that carried us, our stuff – and the essential tea and biscuits – everywhere we wanted to go!  

    We got on immediately and we clearly enjoyed the
    close contact of the trip!

    They say you can never get too far away – and this phonebox – on the side of the road made us feel that we were in contact – and yet not!

    David stopped on request for photos or just to gaze on the scenery.  Here we stopped to have some of that tea (and a biscuit or 2!).  We were only part of the way around Skye and we had already seen so much – we were constantly exclaiming about the sites.

    We had a wonderful day on Skye and returned to the McKinnon Country Lodge.  We learned a new tune that was tied directly to what we had done that day (you’ll have to come along if you want find out what it was!).  We then went in for a delightful dinner – all three courses of it!  After dinner a little more playing, talking and coffee, then off to bed – the next day was going to take us on to our next adventure!

  • Day Two – Across some amazing scenery

    After our excellent first day, we awoke to a little more harp time and a huge breakfast!  We had grains and fruits, cheese and yogurt, eggs, bacon, toast, tomatoes, kippers, mushrooms – the whole gamut!

    Don’t be fooled by the apparent precipitation –
    we were having a great time – singing in the face of oncoming tour buses
    on the narrow bridge over the Falls of Dochart and just generally laughing at the weather!

    Then we gathered up and started out, away from Perth, north and west across the breadth of Scotland seeing breathtaking scenery and incredible historic sites.

    We saw Wade’s Bridge and the Falls of Dochart (see our photo).  Then we continued on to Glen Coe where we had an enjoyable pub lunch and got to explore a little – even finding a new tune to give a try.  Then on along the Caledonian Canal and through the captivating Glen Shiel.  And finally – Over the sea to Skye where we settled in and learned another tune!

  • Our First Day Out

    On our first day together on the Harp in the Highlands and Islands Tour David collected us all at Edinburgh Waverley train station.  The weather was not looking too promising, but we set off with light hearts and immediate laughter.  Although we did not all know one another, we quickly developed a bond of shared jokes and stories.  We headed to Scone Palace in the rain and got to know each other a bit better.

    Our travelers included two harp players, one fledgling (a person who was going to learn the harp as we went along and an audience member (the lucky devil who was going to listen to us play!).  We arrived at Scone and the weather cooperated, letting up a bit so we could get inside to see the incredible displays (as well as doing a little shopping and having some lunch).  We then went to Pitlochry to see the Dam and the Fish Ladder – again the weather held!  We finished the day by heading to our accommodation, getting quickly settled in our rooms and rejoining to play the harp.  We worked through Brig of Perth and got it down, despite a little remaining jet lag! 

    We share a tune in the lounge in the Parklands Hotel, Perth

    We then went on through to a delightful dinner in the Parklands, laughing and chatting throughout and made plans for our meeting and outings the next day!  We were tired from travel, playing and laughing but we had a bang-up first day!

  • Just to hold you over

    Well, we’ve finished the inaugural Harp in the Highlands and Islands tour and it was fabulous!  Our amazing tour guide David took us to hidden places and showed us the side of Scotland we all know exists but so few visitors get to see.

    Unfortunately, in the short run, I’m having trouble downloading the photos.  Some of our tour guests also agreed to share their photos so, keep an eye here and I’ll get them on line as soon as possible.  And as soon as I get my technical difficulties sorted out, I’ll post my photos and tell you all about our adventures!

    Until then, keep practicing!

  • I’m leavin’…on a jet plane

    Well, it’s finally here! It’s finally time to leave – to go on the Harp in the Highlands and Islands tour. My excitement has reached that fever pitch which borders on annoying (at least to those around me). I’m winging away to Scotland, looking forward to meeting up with our incredible guide David and the wonderful harpers who are joining us. I can’t decide which day of our trip I am most excited about – they all will be spectacular. And at the end I am certain I won’t have determined the best day still.

    I wish, as I have often stated before, that you could all go with us. Some of you have contacted me about going next year – we are planning on it (and more details on next year when I get back!). But for now, just be ever so slightly envious! And start planning for the next trip.

    We will be having a grand time and I will post as we get the opportunity. I anticipate that we won’t get all our posts out during the week, so expect them to be strung out over time a bit. We’ll upload photos and let you know what music we’ve been playing. I can’t wait to share with you!

    Until then, keep playing – pick up a new tune! We will be.

  • Harpy Campers, Part II

    Well, Harp Camp had a spectacular run for its 15th Aniversary! I was so fortunate to be invited to teach with Kris Snyder again.  She also invited Marianna Nystrom to present and Lucy Stevens lead some excellent learning games.  We had wonderful students, supreme teachers (if I may say), brilliant lessons, and a whole lot of fun! We were in bucolic Glenville, Pennsylvania. And I mean bucolic – no better punctuation on your diminuendo than a rather loud mooooooooooooo from the field next door.

    We had workshops on Composition and Improvisation, Sticky Wickets, and Putting on Airs. Students also enjoyed learning more about being creative and learned techniques to improve their creativity both at the harp and abroad! We participated in breathing and stretching exercises so we can expand our abilities to play. We also learned more tools to improve our daily practing to achieve more of our goals while wasting less time. In addition, starting from a poem, a piece of music or from scratch, students worked in small groups or alone to generate delightfully fresh music.

    We made crafts – it’s not Camp without crafts, after all! And in between we had a lovely pot luck dinner, snacks and breaks as well as a breathtaking “kasbah” where we enjoyed wine and cheese and played for one another, generating a wonderful atmosphere in which to enjoy one another’s company.

    We finished off with our traditional Harpers’ Circle, sharing the bounty of our learning and creativity with one another and then playing in ensemble all together – sharing some amazing arrangements of well known tunes, including some American classics such as Shenandoah, America the Beautiful, and the Shaker tune and some OCarolan and others.

    It was sad to see everyone go, but they were so enthusiastic and ready to recommit to working hard and playing well, reconnecting with other Harp Friends and making new friends, that Kris and I were glad to see them off to their respective homes – to practice of course!

    If you’d like to be part of this incredible learning experience, I hope you’ll be able to join us next year. We learn so much, have so much fun, laugh a lot, and you could be a part of it. Join us in August 2011!  We’ll be posting more information about next year’s Harp Camp on our website http://www.jeniuscreations.com/Harp_Camp.php after we’ve recovered from 2010 – so watch that space.

  • Harpy Campers!

    I am on my way to Southeastern Pennsylvania to work with some amazing people at Harp Camp 2010.  This is the 15th year for Harp Camp.  Fifteen years is a long time and I am so honored and pleased to be invited to teach again this year!  I have a soft spot in my heart for Harp Camp because it is where it all began for me – this is where I began to become a harper.  So, I am especially delighted to be there as a teacher – being given the amazing opportunity to share some of my love affair with the harp with some incredible students.

    And I’m grateful to be teaching with Kris Snyder who was there at the beginning and has had been a presence in my development as a harper.   Marianna Nystrom and Lucy Stevens will be presenting as well.  We will have some incredible teaching sessions as well as the usual fun that comes from learning together.  Good students, great topics, excellent teachers – it will be fantastic!

    I wish all of you could join us!  I know you would learn a lot and I would learn a great deal from you.  Maybe you’ll be with us next year?  Let me know if you’re interested and I’m happy to give you more information than you thought possible!

    And next week, I’ll share the outcomes with you.  This week, learn something new, share it with someone else – and enjoy being a Harpy Camper!

  • Holding it in!

    Your phone number is seven numbers long (plus the area code now). It is seven numbers long for a reason – because psychologists learned, a long time ago, that the average person can remember about seven things are a time. George Miller published a paper in 1956 entitled, “The Magical Number Seven, Plus or Minus Two: Some Limits on Our Capacity for Processing Information”. Now we just call it Miller’s Magical 7+/- 2.

    Miller was looking at the capacity of short term memory – how much information could you hold on to while “converting” it to long term memory (the place you store your home phone number for later). What’s important is the Miller found you could hang on to about 7 things. I say things for a reason. Each of us defines “things” differently.

    So, if you’re learning a new tune, the seven or so things you can remember will be different if you’re a very experienced musician or if you’re just new to the harp. If you’re new, for you each thing will be a note. If you’re very experienced, your thing could be a phrase.

    How much stuff is in a thing (no, this is not a very technical discussion – I just want to get the point across!) depends on how much experience you have, how much you practice remembering things, how you think about the music you’re learning, and other things like your experience at the harp (as opposed to experience with other instruments), how stressed you are in general and about learning the music in particular. Other things may impact your learning – are you hungry, tired, busy, etc? All of these will affect how well you can remember and which side of seven plus or minus two you’ll be on that time.

    So as you’re trying to learn new music, be sure to be mindful of what you’re trying to learn, how much stuff you’re trying to cram into your head at once, and how much stuff is in the things you’re trying to remember. Don’t worry about holding it in – just keep working at it.  And don’t forget – like playing your harp, your memory will get better with practice!

  • Say what?

    Many people think that learning by ear is either very difficult or very pedestrian. Some think it is very difficult because the one or two times they have attempted it, it seemed much harder than just reading dots from a page. Some think it is pedestrian because folk music is often taught by ear and is mistakenly believed to be less complex or of lower difficulty than other types of music. People who go down either or both of these trains of thought are mistaken and they may not have an appreciation for the challenges of learning by ear.

    Learning by ear can be very difficult, especially when you’re new to it. Being in your first learning by ear workshop can feel a lot like being in a coffee shop in Bratislava – you can hear the language, but it’s all a mishmash of sound – it means nothing to you, although you recognize it to be speech (trust me – I’ve been in that coffee shop – they are speaking a language, but not one that I know!).

    One mistake many people make is to think that learning by ear will be easy. It seems that it should be – after all, you know how to play the harp and your know how to listen. Or do you? Do you know how to listen to the music so that you can learn it?

    It is important to listen to the music carefully – and frequently. When I am learning a new tune, I will typically listen to it at least a couple of hundred times (I think it’s about 1000 times, but I usually lose count). The other people in my car only wish I was exaggerating. It is only then that I have heard it enough to have found the tune (and separated it from the harmonies and variations), found the pieces of the tune (the phrases, patterns and other elements), and begun to remember those pieces and how they are linked together. This is especially true if I’m learning a tune from a fiddle player or a piper – they play very fast – I have a hard time listening that quickly!

    After all that listening, there’s still a lot of work to be done. We’ll get to that another time. But for now, be gentle with yourself, especially if you’re just learning to learn by ear. Take whatever time it requires (and if you’re paper trained, remember how long it took you to become proficient and then quick at sight reading! Be honest!). And enjoy the new vistas on the music, learning it by ear affords you.

  • Are we there yet?

    In less than six weeks we launch Harping in the Highlands and Islands! I was already excited, but now, it’s palpable. I am really looking forward to seeing the beautiful scenery (I’m partial to water, but I also like towns, mountains, fields, valleys (straths and glens!), people…yup, pretty much all of it.

    I have been working on the tunes we’ll share – arranging, re-arranging, and re-re-arranging until they are just right for the people that will be with us. We will be a small but merry band. And I am especially proud of the traveler who will be learning not just the music but also the harp! She’s intrepid and I’m so excited to have her along with us. I think she’ll help us focus on the wonder of our gifts. You know how it is when you’re learning tunes – you sometimes forget to revel in the joy of making the music – but I expect we’ll stay grounded.

    I am also sorry that so many of you couldn’t join us this year. It has been a challenging time for so many people. I wish I could take you all. But never fear – everything will come around – and soon. So keep watching this space – we’ll go again next year and I hope you’ll join us. If you’d like to go then, please send me a comment letting me know when in the year you’d like to go (we’re still in the planning stages for next year but are considering more summer times – so if that’s a better time for you, just let me know and I’ll see what I can do!) .

    We’ll be posting photos and comments as we go, so be sure to check in. And I’ll be back next week with more about playing and the amazing music of Scotland.