Jenius Creations

Category: Caring for yourself

  • The Bucket List

    Some people have a bucket list. Of course, even more haven’t made one, but they probably have things they’d like to have accomplished by the time they’re done on the coil mortal.

    A bucket list is a compilation of all the things a person would like to have accomplished, completed, or dreamt of.  It is (yet another) goals list, pure and simple.

    You might think a Bucket List is a macabre thing to keep.  After all, most people think of it as a list of all the things you may (or might not) have accomplished in your entire life.  Ok, that would be macabre.

    But what if you instead think of it as a gentle reminder of what you think is interesting, curious, important, and/or worth pursuing?  If you look at it that way, it could be sort of interesting – and a little goading.  And probably worth keeping for quick and frequent reference.  For guidance.  And as a reminder to keep your head up (metaphorically…. although you should also do that physically while you’re playing!).

    Apparently loads of people have lists that include travel around the world, run a marathon, be a better person, write a novel, or pursue a passion.

    BUT – YOU ALREADY HAVE A PASSION.  You’re no desultory harper!

    What sort of things might you put on the list?  Well, that’s going to be fairly personal.  After all, it will be all the things you hope you will do before you are no longer able to play the harp. I have my own ideas (although, to be fair, I’ve been checking mine off as fast as I can!).

    How, you might ask would you go about making your bucket list? Well, it’ll take a little time and effort, but it’ll be worth it!  First, note that you might be making more than one list.  After all, once you start thinking about it, you might be making a life list, a harp list, a family list, etc.  And that’s ok – you can have multiple lists!

    I’d suggest making the list in your practice journal.  You have to keep it somewhere, so why not there?  That way you’ll see it each time you sit to practice – and be reminded of some of the reasons you’re about to practice…

    It’s your list – you can put anything you like on it.  Secret fantasies, deepest desires, put ‘em down.  You’ll never know when you’ll have the chance to check one of them off, but you’ll be ready for the opportunity if you know you want to (you won’t have to think about it when it happens – you’ll be ready!).

    Of course, also put down stuff you know you can do if you try.  Learn that piece you admire.  Write down that tune that you hear in your head.  Ask that well-known teacher for a lesson. You have nothing to lose!

    Then there’s the harder to define stuff – what do you want your harp legacy to be.  Don’t think you have one?  Oh, you do, you just might not have thought about it before.  Do you want to be sure that you have actually played for your friends?  Wish you would sit a Master Class?  Want to participate in that fabulous workshop everyone’s always talking about?  While these things might be more challenging, you can get there.  And writing them on your list will remind you to keep at it.

    Maybe the hardest thing about generating your bucket list is to prioritize it. What’s the most important to you?  What will take you the most time (or require new skills or significantly more practice)?  Does anyone in your life need to have an input (whether they be an audience member or a travel companion or some other adjunct to your thinking)?  You’ll need to factor that in. Also, is there any intersection of your harp and your life bucket lists?  Maybe you can take your harp with you as you travel around the world?  Always wanted to go to Scotland (always a good idea) – maybe there’s a workshop you plan around (or you could join us sometime in the future!). Two birds, meet one stone!

    What does not belong on your Harp Bucket List?  ANYTHING YOU ARE NOT INTERESTED IN!  Don’t want to play in an ensemble? Don’t.  Don’t want to play orchestra parts? Don’t even write it down!  Never wanted to learn that “must do” repertoire?  Then DON’T!

    You’re capturing what YOU want to do with your harp life.  Don’t worry about what anyone else thinks.  Maybe you’re not quite ready to do some of it, that’s ok.  You’ve written it down so you can be reminded of what you want to be so you can keep acquiring the skills or practice you need to be able to get there.  And remember – it’s your list.  Share it with others if you like, but you don’t have to.

    When you complete something on your list, savor that!

    Make your bucket list – so you can do all the things you want while you are able. Live your harp life!  What might you put on your bucket list?  Got a good idea?  Want to share it in the comments?

  • Getting out of the Land of Should

    I love teaching.  I learn so much from each of my students.  They all have their own strengths and challenges, but I find that there are sometimes overlaps.  This week, no less than three students have been trapped in the Land of Should – a dark and horrible place which is easy to find and sometimes hard to leave.

    You might have been there. You might be there right now.  You can tell you’re there by the signs:

    “I should practice more”

    “I should be more motivated (even though there’s a global pandemic and nothing is as it typically is)”

    “I should be able to ignore the things going on in my life and keep playing”

    “I should be able to play this by now”

    “I should be better than I am”

    I get it.  The Land of Should can be very seductive.  And sometimes it seems like it’s the only place the bus stops.

    But being trapped in the Land of Should is actually painful and not very comfortable.  After all, WHY should you (practice more, be more motivated, be more accomplished, and by extension, have a pristine home, have read all the “right” books, being wearing the right look, etc. – whatever)??

    But shoulds are often unhelpful – these thoughts don’t get you any further ahead. Telling yourself you should do (or be) something doesn’t change anything or suggest useful changes.  It only sets you up to feel like you’ll never get where you’re going.  The Land of Should is like that.

    One way to look at is that these thoughts are actually you bullying yourself!  You’re telling yourself you’re a disappointment.  Would you say something like that to your best friend?  I didn’t think so.

    And right now, we all need a little more TLC – especially from ourselves!  Even the most stalwart and resilient among us are feeling a little peaky.  So, it’s no surprise if the pull of the Land of Should is becoming stronger.

    How do you escape its terrible orbit?  Here are five ways to get out of the Land of Should:

    1. Journal.  You know I’m always exhorting you to keep a journal of your practice.  Here’s a good use for it.  First, you can document your practice time – what (objectively) did you work on, where did you leave it, where will you pick it up next time?  Secondly, you can also capture how you are feeling about the time you had (especially if you’re feeling like you have not done enough).  As always, keep your journal in any means that works for you – in a notebook, on your computer, as an oral history in your phone voice memos, as an abstract drawing – it doesn’t matter how you keep it as long as that medium works for you!
    2. Be realistic.  There’s a lot going on in the world, no matter who you are or where you live.  With the ongoing uncertainty and changing information as physicians and scientists learn more about it, it’s easy to feel like we’ll never have our feet on solid ground again.  You can use your time at the harp to help soothe your frayed nerves and the anxiety of not knowing.  Maybe this isn’t the time to double your repertoire or add those highly chromatic pieces you admire but don’t feel ready to take on.  But you do have repertoire already with which you can be fairly comfortable – play that.  Noodle!  Improvise.  Play nothing at all.  But don’t cut yourself off from your harp.  At a minimum, allow the reverberations of playing the notes impact your body.  Take some time and take some ease.  No matter your level of play, you can do this!  Are you a rank beginner, still trying to remember which finger is 2?  No worries, play a single string and let it ring while you feel the gentle vibration and hear the beautiful timbre!  Then play another. Think that’s only for beginners?  Nope – there’s a lot of soothing in a playing a single string and letting it reverb for you for as long as it likes…then play another one, etc.
    3. Reframe.  It is easy (especially in difficult times) to focus on the negative, to beat yourself up and as a result to feel bad.  Reframe your thoughts! It isn’t that you didn’t practice enough.  Rather, you made the best use of limited available time.  It isn’t that you aren’t progressing.  Rather, you currently have higher priorities requiring your time and attention.  It isn’t that you’re not motivated.  Rather you are dealing with a lot and will be back and focused soon.  But DO NOT tell yourself you’re not “good enough” because you haven’t done something.
    4. Study your history.  You haven’t always felt this way.  Think back to a time when you didn’t feel like this and understand that you have ups and downs and that’s ok.  Your truth includes being strong and resilient and sometimes it includes being a little bit fragile and that the fragility passes – and all of it is part of you!  And that’s kind of cool – because there’s interesting in there (to be found sometime when you’re transitioning from fragile to strong!).
    5. Be nice…and positive.  Be nice in general, but especially be nice to you!  And don’t torment yourself.  Instead, focus on the good (if only because it’s so easy to focus on the bad – and who wants to do easy stuff?).

    If you find yourself lost in the Land of Should, perhaps one of these might help.  If something works for you, please let me know.  And if you have another way to escape – please share in the comments below.

  • World Art Day is this week

    The silent siege rages on.  We the fortunate work from home, stay inside, and “do our part” (whatever that means).  Sadly, people are becoming more isolated, even while feverishly posting to social media – lighting a match to hold back the darkness.

    But this week can be just a little bit different.  This week we honor the fine arts by celebrating World Art Day on 15 April.

    Which is ever so much better than Tax Day (if you just had a moment of panic, relax, they moved the deadline to 15 July – you may resume your regularly scheduled delaying).

    The International Association of Art (www.iaa-usa.org)  declared 15 April as World Art Day (I cannot make this stuff up) to promote awareness of creative activity world wide.  They chose this day because it is also Leonardo da Vinci’s birthday.  And if ever there was a walking personification of the fine arts, ‘twas he.

    In case you’re wondering what this has to do with us as musicians – in a word, everything!  Many think the fine arts only includes painting, drawing, and sculpture, but it is much broader.  And you guessed it, includes music!  (and other things like literature, architecture, dance and more)

    In the US there’s a big celebration in Los Angeles with loads of events planned.  Well, there was to be a big celebration in museums all over the area.  But as you might have guessed, that will not be the case this year.  With museums and other public spaces closed, these events will certainly take a different from (if they occur at all). 

    So what are we – we fine artists – to do? 

    Let’s be creative!

    And let’s share our fine art.

    Because now more than ever, we need to be making art. We need to be making art to care for ourselves.  And perhaps even more, non-artists really need to be experiencing art!  So we need to be making art to care for others.

    So, let’s share our arts. Not to put too fine a point on it – our art is fine.  There are many things you could do.  Here are a cursory few:

    • Put on a driveway/balcony/porch concert for your neighbors and other passersby (and if you really only perform for the cat and the curtains – go onto your back porch – the neighbors will benefit and you will too!)
    • Make a YouTube/Facebook/Instagram sharing event
    • Write some music that shares all the feelings you are experiencing while being at home, waiting – or reflect your musical thoughts on the difficulty someone else may have shared with you
    • Curate a playlist of music that reflects your mood
    • Create a set list (maybe for your driveway concert) that celebrates our resilience and what we’re going to do when this is past us
    • Take some online workshops
    • Make all kinds of fine art and put it in your windows to share with your neighbors – paint, draw, write, act, play

    How will you celebrate World Art Day? Let me know and share photos!  And remember, if you want – every day can be World Art Day!

     

    Kate sent me this photo of her Covid-19 protected harp!  Kate’s a nurse and knows the importance of keeping healthy – 

  • Summer? Maybe not…instead –

    It’s that time on the calendar when I usually take some space to mention some of my favorite summer programs and activities so you can save your pennies and dates and plan to go to as many interesting, educational, and cool adventures as you can swing.

    This year – not so much.

    We’re still watching from the windows, waiting for the shadow to pass.  Hopefully it will leave us alone, but not before many of the summer activities will be cancelled or postponed.

    But we are the lucky ones – we have our beautiful instruments and our soul-touching music – our companions in times good and bad.  We have a port in the storm that feels like it will never recede.

    It will recede, as storms (and diseases) do.  And after a while we will timidly leave our homes and venture out.  Slowly, as we do, things will return to normal.  Normal – and all that it entails – too much going on, too much to do, too much to accomplish.

    Don’t be one of the people who, at the end of this confinement, looks back and wonders where the time went!  If you are home and you are not sick – what a gift – you have time!

    You can use this time chained to the constant blather of news that isn’t – or you can go to your harp!  But what will you do there?  Well, what would you like to do?  While the answer to that depends on you, here are some ideas to get you started:

    1. Basics.  Get our your favorite love to hate source – Grossi?  Friou? Salzedo? Sylvia?  Doesn’t matter (they are all useful).  Pull it out and turn to page 1.  YUP – Page 1!  Then do the things we know we are supposed to do, but somehow there’s rarely time for.  Go slowly.  Read carefully.  Be your own terrifying maestro – accept nothing short of excellence from yourself.  Close!  Watch your posture!  Breathe!  Do it right!  Then do it again!  Don’t speed through just to get to the next one.  Savor each exercise.  Ask yourself – what am I meant to learn here?  What tunes that I currently play can I apply this to?  There is no race – compare yourself to you yesterday and identify where you’d like to be tomorrow and find how will this help get you there.  And through it all – enjoy it.  Dig in and feel your growth.
    2. Read.  Reading is a skill you develop and a tool you can use.  Reading will help you broaden your perspective and possibly open you to new ideas.  Don’t use the excuse that you play traditional music to put off bettering your reading.  You don’t always have the luxury of hearing everything either.  Reading will make all sorts of things accessible – collections, other genres, stuff you read just to practice reading.  But you’ll only get more facile at reading by doing it (just like when you were in first grade!).
    3. Listen.  You learn so much by listening.  You’ll learn new music of course.  But, like reading, you’ll get better at listening if you practice.  What do you hear first?  What do you struggle to hear when you listen (I’m talking about what you process, not how well your ears work).  How do you transfer what you hear to the harp?  Listen to everything you can lay your hands on – other harpers but also fiddlers, pipers, drummers, classical music, modern music, traditional music outside your usual sphere – everything.  I’m listening to Depeche Mode as I write this and I’m keying in on the base line and wondering how I could adapt the idea to a tune I’m arranging just now.  Yes it’s a stretch, but it only takes the kernel of an idea to get started, if you work it (usually over time).
    4. Learn.  You’re never going to get this kind of opportunity again (I hope!) so pull out all those tunes you half learned, never really got up to speed, used to play all the time but have sort of forgotten – and set out to learn them.  Really learn them.  Don’t forget all the new stuff you haven’t even started on!  Like all the other stuff, don’t accept half way.  If you’re having trouble with something – go back to 1 (above) and find an exercise that will help you (or make the tricky bit into an exercise), find a source to look at (and write on!), find recordings (if possible), and work with your tunes until they can worm their way into your head.
    5. Enjoy.  Have fun – never forget why you play!

    Summer may be cancelled, but we still have our harps!

    Next week – ways to get yourself sorted, organized and keep from spinning around not actually learning anything!  How are you spending your harp time while staying at home?  Let me know if the comments!

  • From me to you

    The tyranny of the invisible thingies continues.  And this makes many remain feeling a little unsettled.  We pretend that words like AloneTogether make us feel better – but really, they don’t.  The upside is that we have the technology to keep reaching out to one another – to maintain contact and be together even though we’re at least six feet apart.

    Since we have this connection, I wanted to reach out to you my subscribers – with a little poster you might want to print out.  I made it to help cheer you when you’re not feeling so much like playing…even while you know playing will probably help you feel a little bit better and help you to count your joys.

    This whole thing won’t last long (in the grand scheme), so stay safe, stay the course, stay home.  And keep practicing.  Maybe take your harp out to the sunshine and play for your neighbors to help cheer them as well and share a joy for them to count as well.

    Not a subscriber yet?  You can sign up here.

  • Breathe

    There’s not much that I can tell you that you haven’t already heard about the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.  If you need information, there’s loads available in all the usual outlets.

    What I can do though, is strongly encourage you to take care of yourself and those in your life.  There all the usual precautions – avoid others, wash your hands, disinfect surfaces.

    You might be surprised I don’t have a lot to say – especially since I usually do.  In this case, I just don’t have a lot to add.

    But one thing I can stress to you is that this is a time of turmoil.  And in those tumultuous times, the importance of spending time with your harp only increases. 

    No, this is not my usual exhortation that you practice.  This time, I strongly encourage you to play for you.  To bolster your spirits – and the spirits of those around you.  Never underestimate the succor your harp can provide you and those in your household in times of turmoil.

    The anxiety and stress of times of uncertainty may leave you feeling like you don’t want to (or don’t have time to) play.  Don’t allow stress and concern to convince you that you “must” practice – because you might not want to.  Don’t let your anxiety pull you away!

    Whatever you do, just play.  Allow the music and the reverberation flow over you and soothe frayed nerves.  Enjoy the feel of the harp itself.  Revel in the meditation of tuning and the simple joy of warming up.  Play what helps you feel centered.  There are many opportunities to share your music and I encourage you to do that but if you’re not interested in doing that, just play.  If you are of a mind, share video in the usual places to help others (don’t have a usual place? send it to me and I’ll be happy to share it for you).

    Help others by sharing your gift.  We will all be better for it.   And of course, if you’re playing, you are likely social distancing!  Are you playing for yourself? For others?  Let us know in the comments below.

  • You’re not a cat!

    You know how cats are.  You can buy them a gagillion fancy (and expensive) toys and a princely bed and an over-the-top “cat condo” and they will eschew it all for a discarded cardboard box.  And typically, the mankier the box, the better they like it.

    Who knows why?  They’re cats, it’s what they do.

    But you?  You’re no cat.  At best, you’re staff to a cat, the human tasked with finding towers of treats, truckloads of toys, loads of litter, in the vain hope that your cat will deign to love you back.  So, why are you in a box?

    Get out of your box!“What box?” you ask.  The box of your playing life!  We express this box in many ways:

    •  “I’m not very good”
    • “I’m going to be a beginner forever”
    • “I could never learn by ear”
    • “I’ll never be able to read”
    • “I will only ever play in my living room”
    • “I know lots of tunes; I just can’t play them”
    • “I’ll never be prepared enough to play on stage”
    • “I don’t want to get too good”
    • “There’s so much I haven’t learned yet – I’m not ready”
    • “I only play well documented, ancient, traditional cadenzas published by Schirmer”

    I have heard all of these (ok, except that last one, I made that one up).  But here’s what I hear you actually saying:

    “I’m afraid”

    I’m scared.  That’s why I sit here in this manky, tattered old box.  I have convinced myself that I like it here.  And even though it’s small, I’d rather be smooshed in here than free in the unknown. 

    Because fear is a powerful force.  Just a tiny kernel of fear can paralyze a fully grown, capable, talented, inquisitive smart person.  And we plant that little bit of fear in the box with us so we can grow together – so we forget where we end and the fear begins. 

    So, how are you going to break out of the box?  There are many ways but here are seven that are may help with your harping:

    1. Acknowledge you’re in a box.  It’s not a bad thing, it just is (unless it’s preventing you from growing and moving – then it is bad).
    2. Define the box(es).  What does your box look like?  Remember that a box can be made of many things and have multiple sides – so try to get them all.  Always play solo/alone?  Never really mailed down a particular phrase?  Only play one type of music?  Always playing a 1 – 5 – 8?  Never leave your home?  Call your box by its name.
    3. Pick one of the less terrifying fears you’ve just identified.  Really break it down – why does it scare you?  Be honest.  For example, are you afraid to read because everyone else reads better?  This common fear has a fairly simple solution – first, remember that reading takes practice (even though no one wants to do stuff that is hard – keep practicing and it will get easier…remember first grade? you learned to read books by practicing e-v-e-r-y day) so add some reading into your practice schedule.  Second, the next time you’re with other people reading music, spend a moment watching them – and notice that you are likely not the only one having a bit of a struggle.  Don’t compare yourself, just notice that you’re not alone.
    4. Get to work!  Now that you know what you’re fear is and how to take action on it, actually take it on!  Do the work.
    5. As the fear recedes (and the sides of the box get lower) – rejoice!  Enjoy the feeling.
    6. Move on to the next fear – lather, rinse, repeat.
    7. Be vigilant – these little fears can build a box so quickly and quietly, you might not notice a new fear building a new box around you.  So, check in occasionally, see what you’re avoiding and take it on.

    And if you’re not really ready to get out of your box, you can still acknowledge that it exists and learn what it looks like – then you’ll be that much farther ahead when you decide you’d like to move!

    What’s printed on the side of your box?  Willing to share it in the comments?   Think your musical fear is a little more than you can take on by yourself?  You can work with me to learn and apply approaches to take those fears on and cut down the box – just contact me for coaching.

  • It’s “Make Your Dreams Come True” Day – don’t waste it!

    Today is “Make Your Dreams Come True” Day.  Wow! 

    Ok, first, who knew?!?  Second, how cool is that?  A whole day dedicated to that thing everyone always says they want.  Third, I could not make this up!

    Which begs the question – how will you observe this auspicious day?  Because, hey, it says right on the calendar that this is the day.  And it only comes once a year.  I didn’t set to to go on about development again, but hey – you might as well use this day as intended.

    Make your dream come true dayOf course, to make your dreams come true, you have to know what your dreams are.  I have found though, that when I ask people what their dreams are, the answers are often empty unsatisfying nonexistent.  That is, either I get a (clearly) ridiculous answer (“my dream is to be the Queen of Siberia” – duh, not a country, and no monarch, and no pathway!)  or the more likely response which is…no answer at all.

    That’s horrifying to me.  No dream?  Not “I’d rather not say” or “I don’t want to tell you, you’ll think it’s silly”.  Just a blank stare.  Ouch!

    I hope you have a dream for your harp life.  A desire (secret or not) for yourself and your harp.  If you don’t, don’t despair – you can make one.  Today is not too late.

    Having a dream will help keep you motivated and can help guide your growth…and by extension, your entire harp life.

    Need to build a dream?  You can.  And more importantly, you can build dreams again and again.  What you dreamt of as a baby harper (as a friend of mine likes to call budding beginners) may not be what you dream of as a musician of mature harp years.  If you were a child when you began to play, you may view the landscape of your dreams differently later in your life.  If you began to play as an adult, you might have thought you needed to govern your dreams because you were starting later (BTW – don’t fall for that cop out!).

    You have dreams that change.  You can have multiple dreams.  You can have evolving dreams.   They’re your dreams – make them what you need and want them to be!  But I hope you have some. 

    How do you form a dream? First, you don’t force it.  Just collect some ideas. Spend a little bit of time (probably quietly and by yourself – but do it your way).  Gather your thoughts about what you dream of doing. You could sleep and actually dream of your dream.  Or make a dream board of images that express your dreams.  Or draw/paint/sculpt a representation of your dream.  Or write it out.  The point is simply to capture that dream so you can hold onto it.  You may discard this later if needed, but as your dream is forming, this will help you hold on to the wisps of it.

    Your dream does not have to be enormous or grand – it just needs to be yours.

    Ok, now that you have a dream, how do you move toward it?  Well, if you have captured it (as above) you might be getting some ideas.  But perhaps most importantly, you have to believe that you can actually move toward this dream. 

    Note – I didn’t say achieve.  This is not another whack at goal setting in a different guise!  This is about identifying what you think would be a cool potential outcome and moving in that direction.  I dream of playing Smetana’s Vltava at the Musikverein in Vienna.  It might seem unlikely, but at least I could define a path to make that dream come true! (for instance, I could start by learning Vltava!)

    Define what about the dream is the “dream” part and what is the “work” part.  You can definitely do the work part.  You might have to break it down into small, manageable, bite-sized chunks, but you can do it.  Of course, making a plan will help – otherwise, you’ll only dream but never make a dream come true.

    Always keep dreaming.  When I was a pup (in harp years) my first dream was simply to not suck.  I think I can say that I got that dream.  My next dream – that I was confident would n-e-v-e-r happen – was to play on a stage with one of my harp heroes.  I got that one wrong.  Turns out the dream wasn’t to get to play with an amazing musician – it was to have that person as a close friend…and play on stage together! 

    You can keep moving toward a dream and perhaps you’ll achieve it.  Whether you achieve it or simply hold on to working toward your dream, the important thing is to be enthused and to use that enthusiasm to keep on keeping on – usually with joy! 

    So, Make Your Dreams Come True Day is specifically for doing just that.  I know you won’t want to waste it so, what will you do to further your dreams?  Willing to share your dream? Leave a comment below – I’m looking forward to being inspired by you!

     

  • Clear vision for 2020

    It is now 2020 – Welcome to the new year and the new decade!

    Just like every new year, we are encouraged from many sides to develop resolutions – to define those things we need to “fix” to improve ourselves.

    How about this – in 2020, the year of clear vision – just give it a rest.  Resolve to make no resolutions. Don’t set any goals.

    After all, if the goals were important, you’d have set them right when they became clear.  If you need to work on specific things, you would have started right then – if you wanted that to become a goal!

    There’s nothing special about short cold days for achieving anything.  Up to 91% of people who set resolutions drop them, most before the middle of January!  So, setting resolutions is really not a useful thing to do, unless you like to set yourself up for failure and to give yourself a specific thing to beat yourself up about not accomplishing.

    New Year 2020Then what should you do? How about you take on just these four things:

    1. Just Stop. New Year’s resolutions really seem to be about false notions of self-improvement and possibly about self-aggrandizing virtue signaling. And really, unless you made a significant wager with someone, no one else really cares if you make it, so stop pillorying yourself about having resolutions, goals, visions, whatever.  Use that energy to – just play!
    2. Be Nice. Be kind to yourself – if you’re not where you want to be, you probably not only know it, but you likely also know how to get across that gap.  You might just not be ready to spend that energy. And if you are not sure how to get there, work with your teacher (or me!) and keep reading (because you know that here, we’ll talk about ways to improve!).
    3. Take a smarter path. The path forward that begins by recognizing the reality of your life will be a smarter path. And possibly there’s more to your life than playing the harp – like family, friends, day jobs, other hobbies, other instruments, and myriad other things you prioritize ahead of the harp (otherwise, you’d have more time to practice).  By examining your real life – and using that as the foundation of your thinking about your playing – you will be more likely to be able to find the time to practice and to better fit your harp playing into your reality!  Your life is a system and it needs to be kept in balance so that you can accomplish the requirements of each of its parts.  That balance starts by understanding where all the pieces lie.
    4. Practice! You know it will all come down to this – but you need a wider definition – you have to practice:
      • Practice the instrument – probably that old saw of spending at least 30 – 90 minutes a day (depending, again, on where you’re trying to get, your level of performance and development, and your real life)
      • Practice fitting everything else in too (you know, like dinner, exercise, sleep, work, chores, etc.) (after all, 3 above will not happen by magic, it will take a little work to analyze what will fit, where it will fit and how you might have to adjust things to get it all into the day).
      • Practice having balance
      • Practice being kind to yourself
      • Practice stretching
      • Practice learning
      • Practice spending time away from your harp productively
      • Practice being present
      • Practice practicing – you can’t just sit on the bench and have magic pour out your fingers – you know you need to warm up, work on fundamentals, analyze music, think about your approach and strategy for new music, work on learning, learn new things, develop musicality, hammer out new burbles, etc.
        • Practice the tunes you love
        • Practice the tunes you don’t love
        • Practice the way you play and developing your technique
        • Practice becoming more accomplished
        • Practice sharing your music
        • Practice being better
        • Practice enjoying the process
        • Practice capturing your progress so you can see your improvement
        • and practice identifying where you need to improve and practice

    It’s going to be a busy year, and you’ll do exactly as much work as you fit in (and no more).  Setting improbable or impossible goals will not help and could actually get in the way (by making you feel like you’re failing or not making progress when you actually are).

    What will you do with all the energy you have from not developing resolutions or goals that won’t work for you?  Let me know in the comments!

  • When injury strikes – plow on! (but carefully and smartly)

    One of my students recently broke her arm*.  Really broke, with surgery and plates and screws, and other barbaric medical necessities.  It was not pretty.  She needed time to heal, and I encouraged her to take the time to recover so healing would go faster and more successfully. 

    And with good care and physical therapy (and more patience that I would have shown), she’s been on the mend.  I’m delighted to have her back at the harp (with clearance from the physician and the physical therapist).

    But, she’s a trooper and while she was recovering, she didn’t lay on the couch and moan!  Nope – she plowed on!

    When injury strikes - plow onNow, let me explain what I mean by “plowed on”.  What she did not do is ignore the physical therapist or the physicians.   She did not just sit around.  So, what did she do?  She did the work she could do – carefully and smartly.

    1. She listened to music – because she knows this is a good way to perform mental practice.  You may have heard the old saw, “if you can sing it, you can play it”.  Listening to the tune helps you get the melody in your head, learning the patterns of the notes, the relationships of the phrases, so that you can anticipate what comes next – in your mind!  So when she was healed up, she had a lot of the brain part of learning already done and she was ready to go on to the finger part.
    2. She did her physical therapy – She told the PT that she’s a musician so the therapy could be tailored to her needs.  And she actually did the exercises her PT taught her – both during their sessions and as prescribed between those sessions.  She knew that although the exercises were no fun, they were fun-damental to her recovering and being able to get back to playing sooner.
    3. She continued to play with the other hand.  My students know that we will work to play the melody in both the right – and the left – hands.  Sometimes we also ask the right hand to play the harmony.  We do this both to exercise the left hand to make it more limber but also to make our brains more limber by switching the roles of the two hands.  She was able to keep that up throughout her injury.
    4. She rearranged some tunes – when you can only play with one hand, you rethink your harmonization.  This is an interesting exercise in inversions and it’s a good opportunity to think about the shape and structure of the tune.  Earlier work on hand shapes also meant that she was comfortable building harmonies in one hand…and she knew these would help transition to two hands when the time was right.
    5. She thought before she played – asking so much from your hands really does mean that thinking first makes sense to save unnecessary movement and work.  She analyzed the tune before playing to figure out how to accompany with harmony in just one hand.
    6. She thought after she played – gaining a new perspective from playing with one hand results in new possibilities to analyze your playing, the structure of your practice, and the outcomes.
    7. She rested – after all, your body needs time to recover so resting is certainly necessary for recovery.  And practicing in a new way meant becoming more tired sooner.
    8. She was patient – she understood that this was a serious injury and that, not being a child, it would require time to heal and to knit back together.

    Being injured is never fun and injuring yourself may impact your playing.  But once it has happened, it is what it is – so take care of yourself while you heal – but don’t abandon your harp!  At a minimum it might soothe your hurt to play what you can!

    * like any good article, this is based on a fiction derived as a composite of students.  But if you break an arm – I’d suggest you be smart – just like my composite student!