Yea – it’s coming winter and the days are shorter and the nights are ever so long – so there should be plenty of time to practice! This weekend you will set your clocks back (OK, some of you did that last weekend) and you start the season with that extra hour of sleep unless you use the hour to practice rather than to sleep).

But those early nightfalls can actually make it more difficult to fit a practice in because it is prime time to snuggle into a blanket, drink hot chocolate, and read a good book! And nature is telling you to go to bed, so it can seem like no matter how much you know you need to practice, you just can’t fit it in. Do you have that problem? Maybe it’s just me, but if you feel it too, here are six things you can do to get through the time change relatively successfully:

• Change the batteries in your smoke detectors – you know if you don’t they’ll start that annoying chirping in the middle of your practice and disrupt you!
• Be sure to prepare your car for the winter – you don’t want to be caught without your harp cart, your space blanket, a flashlight, gloves, or shelf stable snacks! And if you live in a cold place don’t forget other useful stuff like a shovel, and jumper cables.
• Pick out your favorite practice sweater! Make sure it’s comfy and allows you play without binding!
• Keep your hands warm before you start playing your warmups – it is difficult to get through a warmup if you can’t feel your fingers!
• Make sure you have started using a good cream or lotion on your hands – your skin is not only your first line of defense but also the part of you that touches the harp – so take care of it. Split skin and strings do not mix.
• Be kind to you – some people take a little while to adjust to the changes in the day. If you are sleepy or logy or notice you’re not playing very well – give yourself some time to adjust (no, that is not permission to skip practicing!)

Enjoy the lengthening nights, the coming cold, the looming busy winter season – all starting with this beginning of autumn marked (again) with the clock falling back!

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

And 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!

While it might take a little getting used to after an interminable winter, one upside to Spring is the lengthening days. All that natural light provides so many opportunities. And most of those opportunities can only help you to improve your harp playing. Here are five ways to let Spring in that just might also help you grow as a harper:

• Take a walk 1 – get some sunshine. There are plenty of articles available to remind you that getting a little sun each day will improve your mood and possibly make you healthier.
• Take a walk 2- get some exercise. There are also plenty of articles available that document the importance of getting a little exercise. Not only is it good for your heart but also your posture, and your mood. All you need, according to the popular press is a 30 minute walk each day (or more if you are more fit) to build strength which will allow you to sit at your harp longer and more comforably.
• Breathe – all winter you have been inside in heated rooms. Go outside and breath some fresh air!
• Open a window (or at least the curtain) – natural light is more available as the days get longer each day and is a welcome change from all those winter light bulbs! Longer days also mean that you feel like you have more time to practice!
• Learn – use that extra time each day to practice a little longer, learn a new tune, prepare for a new event, get ready for summer workshops.

Use these longer days to build your strength, stamina, and suppleness so you can play all season long!

It’s winter time again – and the weather can be the monster you’ll do battle with for at least the next few months.

To do that battle you have to be ready to defeat the ravages of cold air, dry air, rain, snow, and fog. You have to be vigilant and careful. Not only is winter skin annoying, it can be dangerous. Dry, cracked skin breaches your defenses and leaves you vulnerable to getting sick. In addition, when your hands get dry and chapped they are painful which interrupts your playing. So, here are seven things you can do to help your skin defeat the winter weather monster:

– Wash up! You still need to keep your hands clean so be sure to wash up thoroughly. But in the winter, wash up as quickly as possible to avoid keeping your hands in the water any longer than necessary. Be sure to dry your hands thoroughly too, to avoid chapping.

– If you’re a hand sanitizer user – buy a hydrating version rather than one with alcohol. Alcohol is drying and moisturizing sanitizer allows you to do two things at once (sanitize and moisturize).

– Scrub up – exfoliation is good for your face, but it’s also great for your hands. You can make your own scrub by mixing honey or olive oil and sugar. Sloughing off the dead dry skin will allow your moisturizer to work better and will leave your hands feeling soft as well.

– Moisturize – a lot! If necessary, put a bottle of hand lotion next to every soap dispenser! But don’t just put it there – use it. And don’t forget to put lotion not only on your hands but also up your wrists and forearms.

– Dress up – when you’re going outside – wear your gloves. They can be fancy dress gloves but warm winter gloves will keep your hands warm which will ease their journey through winter.

Dress up for bed! After you wash up and dry and moisturize your hands, you can also don gloves to “seal in” the moisture. One of the easiest (and warmest) ways to do this is to wear gloves to bed – you can buy inexpensive cotton gloves that are just the thing for this. And there’s nothing wrong with giving your bedtime the white glove treatment!

– Moisturize on the inside. Drinking water is essential for so many things and one of those things is keeping you hydrated which also helps your skin make it through the winter more easily – drink water!

Use these techniques to care for your hands so you can play comfortably throughout the winter.

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.

But 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!