Category Archives: Practice

Tracking practice

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So here we are at the beginning of February.  New Year’s resolutions have probably petered out.  Winter blahs make it hard to keep focused or to be disciplined.  And there aren’t too many weddings or events as everyone recovers from the peak of the holidays and stores up reserves ahead of the burst of energy that the coming spring will require.

But you already know that being a musician, at any level, requires constant, steady work, even if it’s in small pieces.  We know that if we slack off a little, we likely will return refreshed.  But if we take off too long, we come back having lost proficiency and needing to work hard to catch up to where we were.

No matter how much time we let pass between practice sessions though, we have the same goal for each session – to make progress.  How we define that progress is up to us – and our teachers, coaches or mentors if we have them.  No matter how we define that progress though, we really on have one method for assuring that we make it – we have to write it down.

I have been advocating for documenting your progress in a journal.  Journals give you a wide-open place to write out all the good and the bad with your practicing in a single place that will allow you to review your thoughts in both the short and the long term.

But I realize that journal keeping is not for everyone. After all, it requires you to commit to even more time for your practice.  And if it takes that long, you will probably drop it (and the resolution goes by the wayside, like most resolutions do).  It is also fairly intimidating – What do you write? How? Where? For how long? What if you miss the important points?  In addition, a journal is just a diary – and you’re not a kid, so why bother, right?

However, capturing your thoughts about your progress is important.  There really is a lot of information in your head while you’re practicing and right when you finish.  In addition, you really need to keep track of what you have done, what you are doing, and where you (think) you are going.

Successful weightlifters use a simple tracking method to assure that they remember what they have done so they can plan what they will do.  There are loads of little details – What exercises? How much weight? How many repetitions? And of course, the underlying plan that, if followed, will get them where they’re trying to get, whether that’s the Ms. Olympia or just to be able to lift the dog food onto the shelf.

It bears repeating – they do this so they can keep track….and remember! what they have done.  If they can do it – you can do that too!

You can keep track of how many times you do a scale each day.  You can also keep track of which scales you do, how each hand performs, where the challenges lie, and, perhaps more importantly, what you’re going to try tomorrow to fix those problems.  You need room to write what was good, what was bad, and what was ugly, as well as what you might try tomorrow to make it better.  You need to capture how many times you worked on Twinkle Twinkle and how it went as well as how much you worked on the Ceremony of Carols and what it might still need.

Because tomorrow, it will be fuzzy.  Did Twink go as well as you remember? Or were you still having a challenge with getting the rhythm right?  Do you remember how much time you spent on it?  Was it proportionate with what you wanted to do this week?

You can also keep a “balance sheet” for your practice – so you can see that, although you meant to work on the Ceremony of Carols this week, Twink took up all your time.  Or that because you were so fashed with Twink, you never did get around to doing any of your exercises or technical work.   Or that because you spent so much time on Twink you never remembered to stretch either!

You can also document what didn’t go well. Still can’t get that fourth finger to close without flipping your wrist? Worked on it every day? Will you remember that when you get to your teacher’s studio?  Maybe.  Maybe not. But if you write it down, you will have the note there that you need help with this!  That will help your lesson incorporate everything you need to work on*.

Where do you need to write it?  Well, whatever works for you works.  But, if you don’t want to share the deepest thoughts in your journal with anyone or you’d be embarrassed by the sheer number of little slips of paper, napkins, grocery receipts and stickies you used to capture your day – you might need a tool!  One that is easy to use, easy to keep track of, and easy to share.  So, let’s leverage what weightlifters use – you need a tracker.  Well, I just happen to have one available!  Just Subscribe (or up on the left hand side of this page) and your FREE Practice Tracker will arrive in your email**.  You can print one out for each week so you have just one sheet to bring to your lesson.  You can collect them over time so you can review your development (this is especially helpful on those days that you’re left wondering if you should take up playing the kazoo instead!).

Give it a whirl for a few weeks.  Make notes at whatever level you like.  This is a tool for you to use – so use it your way!  Leave a comment below on your initial thoughts – I’m delighted to hear from you!

* and your teacher/coach/mentor will be delighted to know what the week has brought, rather than having to try to figure it out be watching and listening to you.  

** don’t fuss, I’m not going to spam your email or send you a million emails asking you to buy stuff but I will send you the Free Practice Tracker and each month I’ll send you an update newsletter.

OBTW – If you are doing journaling, good for you!  Keep at it!  But you might still consider this tracker – as an addition.  You can take just the one sheet to your lesson and you can use the format of the tracker to assure you’re capturing all the important things you want to remember from practice to practice, lesson to lesson, month to month, goal to goal.

Pieces of Practice

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Like you, I have a schedule which often defies description. And I don’t know about you, but one thing my schedule lacks is consistency. Not only is every day of the week different, every day is different – this Wednesday will look completely different than next Wednesday. And sometimes, despite meticulous planning, I have no idea what happened – some random thing changed the whole shape of my day.

You’d think I’d be used to it by now, and yet each and every time I remain amazed and a little irritated that nothing has gone to plan. This is exasperating and impacts all the activities of the day. One activity that almost always gets impacted (in a bad way) is practice time.

Having the day “eat” the time for practice is almost as annoying as the day changing when you had already planned for it to change on you. Mostly this annoyance arises from having gone all day and still not making any progress. With no regular practice time, you’ll find that you don’t learn a lot of new tunes. You don’t feel confident in the tunes you have. And you don’t have the time to be creative either!

For a long while I would let it slide. I would try harder to get to practice the next day. I would get up early.  I’d stay up late. I would practice for a long time on an “open” day but then miss three days in a row. Lather, rinse, repeat and pretty soon you’re not ready for any events. Worse – even your go-to tunes start to suffer.

That’s not just annoying, it is frustrating. When your day is bent out of shape, you need to put the pieces back together! But what do those pieces look like? Well there are two types of pieces: the Basics and Details.

The Basics pieces include those things that underpin all of your playing. (yes, I have come up with another way to disguise fundamentals!) This is a small but essential part of your practice.

The Details pieces are all the other work – reading, rhythm, remembering (the tunes you’re working on), and rough spots! And that can be a big and vital part of your practice.

But, there’s still the problem of getting the pieces to fit into the day. Schedule and planning gurus always tell you to make an appointment with yourself and to keep it! This is actually a sound strategy. Except…well, then the day gets away from you and you get busy making sure you make all your “real” appointments (why do we dis ourselves like that? That’s a topic for another post!). So, you may find that you need to finagle the practice pieces back in. Give it a try – and you’ll probably be well on your way.

One thing working in pieces does is giving you built in structure. Each of these pieces is something you need and want to work on (ok, I use “want” loosely).  This structure includes working on both the basics and the details – in a balanced way by selecting pieces of each.  Another thing pieces give you is built in breaks (which you know you need to help keep you healthy and to give the music time to get into your head). But perhaps best of all, working in pieces means that you can practice in smaller wedges of time. You are unlikely to have an hour (or more) to practice. But you probably can find 15 minute unoccupied chunks throughout the day. No one wants to get up an hour early to practice, but just 15 minutes early sounds pretty do-able. You probably won’t miss your favorite show, but you might want to use 15 minutes of the sitcom that comes on just before it. Or 10 minutes. Or 5 minutes! Just think about the pieces of your practice in the bite sizes that work for you. (by the way, you can also bump the pieces together when you actually have an hour (or longer) to practice!)

But even if you have the time, you still have to figure out how to spend it. Here are two different suggestions based on practicing for an hour each day, but divided into pieces. The time should be kept with a timer. That can be from the timer function on your watch, or a kitchen timer, an alarm clock, or the clock on your phone. No matter what kind of timer – make sure it sets off an alarm to tell you that the time is up. Set the timer for a segment of the available time (e.g. 15 minutes). Do NOT overrun the clock! You are working to the time you have so the piece has to fit. Most important – for each piece of practice time, identify – before you start – what you will do in each segment.

Here are some ideas if you can use 15 minute pieces:

  1. In segment 1 – warmups, exercises, and careful technique work and review
  2. In segment 2 – Sight reading. No matter what type of music you prefer, reading is a skill you need to develop, cultivate – and practice this frequently. Just do it and don’t whine
  3. In segment 3 – learn new music – parse the tune, find the “hard parts” and work through anything that gives you a hard time
  4. In segment 4 – work on “polishing” tunes that you have gotten into your fingers, end with free play

But you probably have a busier day than that, so you might need to work in 5 minute pieces, so here are some ideas for those smaller bites:

  1. Warmups (stretch, air harp, small movements)
  2. Scales – be careful, mindful, watch your technique
  3. Arpeggios (or other warmup/useful shapes work)
  4. Exercise book work – just do this, no whining
  5. Reading away from the harp (this is work you should do and you know it. It really will save you time, but you have to do it to get the benefit)
  6. Reading at the harp (like what I said for 5 above – just do the work)
  7. Listening/ear training away from the harp (another piece that you just need to do – do not sell this piece short!)
  8. Ear work at the harp (either from a recording or from memory)
  9. Repertoire review (clearly it will be a small slice, but still)
  10. Free play – Remember why you play the harp? ‘Cause you enjoy it? Then spend a little time enjoying it!

You need to have a regular “diet” of these pieces to make up a practice. You might not get every piece every day, but the combination (over days and weeks) needs to be even and must move you forward. Each day you can fit the pieces together to make a practice that fits your time and your goals.

I’m sure you already have some pieces you like to use to practice – share them here so the rest of us can give them a try too!  Use the comments section and let us know –

Winter is coming…..

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It’s solidly December – and nearly winter. And with that we’ll have the continuing cold that feels as though it will never end. Ever. Never. (If you’re near me on the US Eastern Seaboard, you know that hard to believe, since it’s been so cold already!)

We seek warmth – Cups of tea.  Mugs of coffee. Fireplaces. Sweaters, coats, scarves, socks. We do so many things to fend off the cold.

And for us as musicians and harp players, keeping warm – especially our fingers – is so important.

You are designed to keep yourself warm and one way to do that is to close down circulation to your appendages – your hands and feet and specifically your fingers and toes. Of course, you also may get cold hands and feet when you’re practicing because you are focused and sitting still which does not encourage circulation to your extremities.Being able to feel your fingers is so very helpful when playing! With impeded (or vacated) tactile sensation, you must look at the strings to continue playing. You also lose cues as to what you’ve played, where you are, where you are going. You may find that you can’t manage the harp very well – you may not know until after the string has sounded if you played fortissimo or piano, legato or staccato – or if you even played the string at all! Being cold will require you to use all your senses, even to get through tunes you know cold (pun intended).

So, how can you keep warm, since Winter is Coming…

  1. Do not book outdoor gigs. Even Florida has winter! When the temperature dips below 55o you will be clumsy and less able to feel your fingers. Personally, I set the threshold at 65o so that I am warmer and there is no worry about being too cold once I start playing. Spring and summer and even early autumn may be fine, but winter is right out. Make it part of your contract so that there are no questions.  Just don’t.
  2. Dress warmly. If your core and head are warm, your body will have less need to divert blood to your core, which will keep the capillaries in your fingers (and toes) open – and warmer. As you may have heard as a youngster, “Put on a sweater, I’m cold” – if you need to, designate a “practice sweater”.  And have a scarf ready in case you need it to ward off chill.
  3. Plan breaks in your practice time. I’m sure you already do this, but in colder weather, take more frequent breaks. Be sure to move and stretch. Wiggle your fingers. Get up from the bench and walk around a little. If you are thinking, “just a little longer, I’ll practice just a little longer” stop and take a break.
  4. Wear fingerless gloves or wrist warmers. Ok, this is standard advice, but I don’t use these, because, usually my wrists are inside my shirt and sweater sleeves and they are already warm. It’s my fingers – the parts not covered in fingerless gloves – that are cold! So, I don’t find these helpful.  However, I know loads of people who love them, swear by them, and wear them. They’re definitely worth a try.
  5. Turn up the heat. I’m a cheapskate but even I turn up the heat when it’s practice time. Because otherwise I just waste my time (being cold). Even more thrifty and parsimonious than I am? Sit in a window and let the sun do its thing (but be sure to move your harp out of the sunlight when you’re through).
  6. Invite friction. If you start to lose feeling in your fingers, rub your hands together for a little friction warmth. This will give you a little more feeling of warmth. And if you’re smart about it – it will double as a light hand massage!

These things will allow help you keep warm when playing throughout the winter. How do you keep your fingers warmer? Let me know in the comments.

Give it a rest!

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There are so many things we can do with our harps to make a noise – typically beautiful, but not always. And there are all the effects – from bowing the low strings to PDLT to damping to glissing – we have all kinds of ways to disturb the air and get sound.

We each spend time practicing our favorite sounds. Or those required by the score (Bernard Andres comes to mind quickly, but there are others…). We might even spend time actively seeking out new noises to make from our instruments or perfecting our technique to assure we get the effect we meant (harmonics come to mind). We work hard to get noises from our harps.

And of course, we spend a great deal of time learning to play so that we know exactly how to touch our instruments, so we get what we wanted – beautiful tone, deep, sonorous chords, compelling melodies, captivating harmonies.

But there is something else that we should practice that will enhance all this. We always let this get by us, and yet, it is often the secret sauce that really “makes” the tune. It allows the audience time to reflect. It gives you a space to think. It helps insert life into the tune. And it seems to terrify so many of us.

What is it that we’re so afraid of?

Is it a technique that is difficult to master? Nope

Is there some “signature composer” that we should have already thought of (but we haven’t)? Nope

Is it some advanced riff that only the best musicians get? Nope again.

It’s the magical, useful, and all too undervalued rest.

You know – silence.

The space b-e-t-w-e-e-n the notes. The ones you might shave in the fast tunes (which is why you end up playing faster). The ones you wish you didn’t have so many to count in ensemble. The ones that can completely make (or break) your competition air. The ones that, when used appropriately, get your audience right where you want them, in the moment, with you.

Why do you need to practice your rests? Well, mostly so you will be comfortable – with the silence. We often “clothe” ourselves in the protective wrapping of notes. We think that we will be protected if we have the notes or that we are vulnerable and exposed in the space between.

How about you turn that thinking on its head. In fact, the rests are the most free part of the melody. Rests add a strength to the harmony that the sounded notes cannot. And they give you a little bit of a breather.

You already know how to make a rest. You just don’t play (or you also damp). And you don’t play for some finite amount of time (as described by the music). You create an absence of sound. You don’t generate any sound.

Of course, as you practice a piece, you would generate a rest if required by the composer in the piece. But, there are other useful times for silences – between pieces? Under thunderous applause? When you want to get the attention of the audience?

So, how really do you get comfortable with rests? Especially the long ones. Because, contrary to popular belief, that is not time made available by the composer so you can fidget! That’s true whether it’s a 16th rest or a thousand bars of rest in an ensemble piece. No matter how long or short, you need to wait, be quiet, and be ready, but not overeager, to come in.

Short rests are relatively easy to practice because they are a direct part of the melody.  You can practice them with your metronome, just like every other element of the music.

For the longer rests, between tunes or to create a mood, here’s a suggested practice element.  This can help you become more consonant with the emptiness of the rest. Use your watch (but only sparingly).

One of the most difficult things to do is to estimate how long you have been sitting, making silence. I had the opportunity to play for a meditative event. In this playing, it is important to leave a little space for thinking, praying, and contemplation.  So, the rests become ever so much more important! A full minute is not too long to wait. I actually used my watch.

And learned something so important – when I had finished a tune and was waiting to begin the next, I had thought, “oh crikey, I better get going or they’re going to think I’ve fallen asleep.”

Watch check – 18 seconds. What?!? Only 18 seconds? It felt like a week.

I was aiming for 90 seconds. It felt like forever had gone by. Boy was I wrong!

After that, I start practicing estimating the amount of time that had passed since the end of the tune. (Reality check – to you the tune might end when you start to play the last chord, but to the audience, the tune ends when they can’t hear the lingering reverb any longer (or you complete your gesture) – which could be a while!)

My hack for estimating time – because it’s rude to check your watch over and over – is to sing the Birthday Song in my head.  It takes about 10 seconds to sing (don’t rush it just because you’re not singing aloud). I breathe. I position (and then check) my fingers when I’m ready to play again. I don’t rush. Want to leave a minute? Sing the song six times through.  To get 90 seconds sing it 9 times.

This ability to “tell time” without telling time will also make your presentation easier on your audience and on you. You can assure you leave some “breathing room” between your tunes.  When you are not in a rush, you are more present which makes your music more lifelike and fuller. And what’s not to like about that?!?

So, incorporate full rests (no shaving of note value) and waiting rests (silences between) into your playing and Give it a rest! How do you make space for the silences?

What are you afraid of?

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Many of us took up the harp (or knitting, or golf, or baking, or something else) as a hobby – something we enjoy. Something that makes a pleasant way to spend time whilst also making us happy. Because these activities are fun and happifying (why yes, I did think that I had just made up that word…which made me happy, but it’s in the dictionary – it’s a real word which makes me happier still), sometimes the pleasure drives us to keep at it – allowing the activity to consume more and more of our time and other resources.

To whit
“What is the right number of harps to own?”
“One more!”

The pleasure. The fun. The happiness. The enjoyment. The drive to learn more, experience more, enjoy more – the thirst for the activity, only slaked by more of it. Ah, so sweet! Playing the harp is a most excellent hobby!

And then, someone prevails upon you to play at church, or a wedding, or a tea, or a funeral. And you agree. It’s just this one event. You’re helping someone else. You’re bringing solace, or contributing to joy, or setting an atmosphere, or creating a milieu. What fun.

And then it hits you. You’re not a performer. You’re not a pro. What have you done?!?

The safety of being an amateur falls away.

And you’re left, terrified. What will you play? Do you have enough repertoire? What if you make a mistake? W-h-y did you agree to do this?

The fear creeps in…like a freight train!

Does fear grip your joy? Does it chase away the happiness? Does the color drain from your delight?

But wait! What are you afraid of? No, really. STOP!

Identify – and name – your fears. By naming your fears (e.g. “I’ll be laughed at”, don’t name it “Harry”), you begin to hold them up to the light. To see what they actually are and to work around them. Maybe start by reminding yourself that loads of people share your fears. And no, that’s not different for you – despite you telling yourself that…just like all the other people do!

Afraid you’ll make a mistake? Some mitigations are available against this. Practice more, only play things you feel strongly confident about, create (and practice) repair points throughout the music, practice “playing through” the mistakes you make, and practice improvising on the tunes. Don’t plan to play anything shaky (do not plan to “pull it out of a hat” while performing – that very rarely goes well!). And build your program to support you – start strong, back every (relatively) weak tune with a “comforter” (a strong, well learned tune) and end strong. Practicing these things will help you feel more confident and help to fight off the fear.

Afraid you won’t be good enough? You’ll be fine – build a strong program, prepare and practice, remember it’s only one day (and that we all have good days and bad days, even your harp hero!). Remember the point of each practice session is to get a little better, stronger, more poised than the practice before. No, you’re not _____ (insert name of current harp crush), but they didn’t ask her to play their event, did they? Nope – they asked YOU! Get out of your own way and play!

Afraid of the audience? That they may laugh, or boo, or leave? Or worse, that they feel nothing. Remember that you are communicating, and they are eager to get the message! Remember too that you are giving and it is not a contest. If you intend to give, what you give will be just right to meet that intention. Also remember that while about 20% of kids (and even fewer adults) have music lessons to learn an instrument, over 80% of adults report wishing they played an instrument! They are too impressed, in awe, and/or envious to laugh or boo. [SIDE NOTE: I hope you have one of the most amazing antidotes to this – to have an audience member seek you out to tell you how much they enjoyed your music. It will make your heart swell with pleasure and pride! And before you dismiss their comments as them “just being nice”, remember this – that person so enjoyed your music that they fought their own fears to come up to you, possibly face your rejection of them(!), to share with you that you made a difference to them (sometimes effusively, sometimes haltingly) and that they are grateful. Honor that, use it build your own confidence – and DO NOT THROW IT AWAY! {Haven’t had this experience? Be patient}]

Afraid you’ll embarrass yourself? The only way to do this is to be unprepared and to not bring your best effort with you. Do the work, and don’t let the fear stop you.

What are you afraid of? Don’t be! Instead enjoy all the things you learn, feel, and share and really get into it. And don’t let fear steal your joy – just enjoy.

Do you get fearful when you sign up to perform? How do you go about getting past it? Was it worth it? Let me know in the comments!

Just one thing

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I don’t just play the harp because it’s there. I really enjoy it. I look forward to the time I get to spend, whether it’s practicing for an event or just playing around. Of course, sometimes it’s work. And I do remember the very early days so clearly – when the certainty that you’ll never “get this” is ever so much higher than the surety that you will. But time passes and that feeling subsides.

Given that, but even so, I was taken aback when a new student asked me what would be the ONE thing that should be done within the allotted daily practice time that would take that student from a beginning beginner to intermediate harper in the short term?

It took me a bit of time to think of an answer. The easy – and inaccurate – answer came to mind immediately. I wanted to say – PRACTICE is the one thing. But that’s not only unkind and flip, it’s also wrong! Because practice – in and of itself – is not the one single thing that will make that movement from beginner to intermediate quick or even possible.

What?!? you say! That doesn’t sound like something you would say here in the blog. After all – look at all the blog posts you have written about the importance of practicing! You must have made a mistake there. But I haven’t. And I’m not contradicting myself either.

Because there is a one thing that every student can work on – starting from the first practice after the first lesson…and on and on until it’s time to stop playing (is that even a thing?). What would this magical one thing be?

FUNDAMENTALS!

Now, I’ve nattered on about fundamentals before, but…from the mouths of harp babes (as it were) we hear the true questions emerge – and the answer is the same – always the same.

So, no matter what level you find yourself – there are always fundamentals to revisit and address. If you’re just beginning, your one thing might be assuring that every finger goes back to your palm. And if you’re more than a beginner but not very advanced your one thing might be placing ahead. And if you’re very experienced, I really hope you’re not smugly thinking that this doesn’t apply to you because you can always be working on thinking ahead, and leveraging those skills you practiced as a beginner to inject more musicality into your tunes.

So take a minute to really think about what your one thing to focus on should be. Don’t be flip – really assess what you could best work on to improve yourself enough to move to the next level. Don’t forget to capture it in your journal so you can see your development. And having this in your journal will allow you to move from the first One Thing onto the second One Thing, the third, etc. Because you know there will always be a just One (more) Thing to work on.

What’s your one thing? Let me know if the comments!

Lights! Camera!! IMPROVE!!!

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I frequently suggest that you record yourself playing because it gives you an opportunity to evaluate your progress. An audio recording can be so helpful because it lets you truly hear yourself. And all it takes is a free app on your phone or tablet.

Of course, you can listen to yourself while you play, but there are so many impediments to actually hearing yourself while you’re playing – you are in the moment, you have to wrangle your harp, maintain your posture, manage your breathing, ride herd on your fingers, remember the music, and so much more! All that makes it so hard to listen and to hear while you’re producing music that it is no wonder you miss so much and it is clear that being able to listen and attend better can only help.

But recently, I’ve come to appreciate the amazing utility of video recording! It has all the benefits of audio recording that allows you to hear yourself. But video recording also allows you to see so many additional things – so clearly!

Does your teacher consistently (or repeatedly) tell you to get your thumbs higher? Even though you practiced and practiced.  You did all the the work – why can’t she see that? Do you get the same thing with placing? Do you get told – a lot – to place ahead all while thinking that your teacher isn’t paying attention, because you know you place! After all, you did practice – over and over – so why doesn’t she see how high and well placed your fingers are?

The video tells all!

This picture is of one of my students – recording herself while she played. And she was astounded! She was able to see her hands – in situ. And even though she’d been looking at them – now she could see them! She watched in amazement…and horror! Because she saw what I see – and comment on – in every lesson. All the while she thought she had done all the things I suggested, thought that she had nailed it – only to be told, again, that her thumbs were dropping. Suddenly she knew! And she said at her next lesson, “when I fixed all that, it really was easier to play…just like you said!” (such words a teacher loves to hear! ♥)

The amazing part of this is learning that your teacher isn’t a broken record (nor a hateful shrew!). But it is understandable – while you’re playing you have so much to which you must pay attention that you have no spare capacity to attend to one more thing. It is a brain thing and we all have these limits. It’s not good or bad, it just is.  And video can help you overcome it!

Note – these don’t have to be high quality “National Geographic” videos – prop your phone or tablet on your music stand, get some good light – and voila – you have videos that are good enough – to see what you are doing when you think you’re doing everything right!

You can use the videos to see what you’re doing so you can improve. The video also provides a record so you can (hopefully) see improvement – and see bad habits as they are developing so you can nip them in the bud before they become habits. And you can bring the video to your teacher to help you squelch untoward stuff before it hardens and to show what has transpired since you last met.

If you don’t have a teacher you can use your video to tame your inner critic while identifying what needs work. You can evaluate your video and then work kindly with yourself to improve. And if you have the opportunity to have a lesson after a workshop, you can share the video with the visiting teacher to help give a better idea of where you are and what you need help with – which will make your lesson go so much better!

So, by using equipment you already have (phone or tablet), you can significantly improve your playing, help your teacher help you, and create spare capacity to think – all of which will serve you well to improve your playing. And all it takes is – Lights! Camera! Improvement!

Made a video? Want to share? Leave me a comment – can’t wait to see it!

Go Ahead – Make My Day

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Teaching is a very fulfilling way to spend one’s time. There are few things as motivating as seeing a student “get” something the first time, to share the joy of a person playing more confidently or accurately, to experience the culmination of a student’s hard work right there in your studio.

I enjoy sharing the harp with others. I always get a thrill when I see progress and it’s enhanced when they see that they have made progress! Such a feeling!

Part of teaching is to share hard earned knowledge. By passing on the wisdom of previous harpers and other musicians, we teachers seek to help students build shortcuts through those tedious (but necessary) things. We don’t want to watch you struggle. It’s not that we won’t help you get out of the struggle – but if we can help you avoid it, then you have that much more energy to tackle the next challenging thing!

And so, weekly, we tell you to keep your thumbs up, your hands closed, your elbows up, your back straight, your head up. We entreat you to place your fingers, to slow down, to pay attention to the myriad details that are central to making each note.

And why do we do this? Because we want you to succeed. We want you to master the instrument – in as straight a line, as quickly as possible. We have been there – that’s why we’re sitting beside you!

And I know that you believe yourself to be doing all the things I ask of you. That you wonder if I’m not being a little bit too harsh with you. Or perhaps that I have run out of things to say and so I repeat myself. After all, you have got this!

And so I sit beside you and try to come up with new ways to say all those things that I have noticed you might improve upon. I don’t want to beat you up about the same things week after week. I don’t want to beat you up at all! I want you to play as well as you can, as soon as you can – and then move on to learn even more. If only I could get you to place and keep your thumbs up!

Teachers share this frustration – the gap between what we tell you and what you think you have done. And we laugh because we know that we can tell you something a thousand times but if a workshop presenter comes through and says it, you will likely come back to your lesson, clutching this pearl of wisdom and share it with us – as though we hadn’t suggested it in the past. It’s actually sort of a laugh we share. I actually put together a workshop based on this idea. And really, we don’t care where you get the information – as long as you use it!

One thing I often suggest to my students and to you here is that you record yourself. Your recording doesn’t have to be fancy – you can use your phone, a voice recorder meant for meeting – you could you use a cassette tape. It doesn’t matter, as long as you can hear yourself!

So, imagine my delight and surprise when one of my students came to her lesson last week with the opening – “I recorded myself playing as you suggested” (internal gasp! She was listening!). What floored me though, was what came next, “ I’m not keeping my thumbs up – just like you keep telling me” to which I wasn’t sure what to say. “Told you so” didn’t seem like a useful way to move forward!

But what was the most endearing and important was what she did next. Throughout her practice sessions that week – she continued to work. And continued recording – so s-h-e could see that she was making improvements! What a delight to hear! What an affirmation! What lovely hand position! And what fantastic tone!!!  She totally made my day!

So, please – use the information your teacher shares with you – the techniques, the tools, the tips. And incorporate all those nuggets into your work time. You’ll learn more, you’ll see improvement, you’ll know where to focus as you move forward and learn more about how you play. And you’ll make your teacher very, very happy.  But remember – it’s not about the teacher. It’s about you – learning to play, enjoying playing, and doing the work that you need to so that you can play better!

How do you capture your practice, incorporate your teacher’s suggestions, and evaluate your playing? Leave me a comment about how you move forward – I’d love for you to share your ideas – and progress – with me!

What are your worst habits? Four ways to identify and then fix them

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Habits are supposed to serve us. They are behaviors we perform without thinking.

Habits can be good – like brushing your teeth, putting on your seat belt, or going to bed on time.

Or habits can be bad – like eating ice cream every day, biting your nails, checking your phone during dinner.

Habits are like callouses – forming slowly over time. They form when we’re busy paying attention to other things.  And so, insidiously, they creep into your processing, your playing, and you never notice.

And while you are not noticing, the bad habits grow stronger. Until one day – you see a photo, a reflection, or a friend laughingly points out that you look like a troll with a harp! Or worse, you develop pain in your neck, shoulder, hip, hand, arm that you d-e-f-i-n-i-t-e-l-y notice after you’ve been playing. Or sometimes you notice it when you’re away from the harp – and you wonder what you’ve done.

Bad habits can be general – you’re slouching on the bench or your head is thrust forward as you look at the strings. Or they may be quite specific – your hands are not closing on your elbow is dragging your forearm along the edge of the soundboard, your feet are not flat on the floor. But all bad habits are called “bad” for a reason – these habits are not serving you or your harp playing!

What? You’re not screaming in pain? No one has laughed at your bad posture? Maybe you don’t have any bad habits…or maybe you just haven’t noticed! Insidious, remember?

How would you know? Here are four surefire ways to find your bad habits –

  1. Check it out.  Hang a full-length mirror where you can check your look while you’re practicing. This is not a decorating tip (although you can also use it to help light your space better too!). Whether you hang the mirror or get a cheval glass on a stand – put it where you can look up and see what you look like while playing. This requires no help or technology.
  2. Have a photo shoot.  Enlist a friend or family member to photograph you “in the act” when you don’t expect it. This is the same idea but might be a little less discombobulating – having the photos will also tell you things you might rather know before you sit to your next practice session.
  3. Star in your own show.  Videotape yourself – this is relatively easy now – just prop your phone on your music stand and prepare to learn all sorts of things (that you might rather not know – but will help you!). The second step is the most important – watch the video! See what you’re doing when you aren’t watching.
  4. Play freeze tag.  Remember freeze tag? When you begin to practice, set a timer for some random number of minutes. When it dings – freeze! Then very carefully check yourself out – look at your hands, arms, legs, head and back – are you where you want to be? How’s your posture? Make corrections, reset the timer, and go back practicing. If you are sitting for a long practice session, plan to do those a number of times including toward the end of your practice when fatigue will contribute to bad habits – you might even have some that don’t come up until later when your fatigue enhances them.

Any of these ways will help. A combination of them will give you a fuller picture of what you need to fix.

How do you fix your bad habits? Go back to the fundamentals! They are called fundamentals for a reason!

When you started playing, you learned these fundamentals – go back to them. Pull out your beginning book – whether it’s Sylvia Woods, Deb Friou, Bonnie Mohr, Maria Grossi, or any of the other beginning books – and head to the beginning, working slowly and carefully on the exercises that first helped you to learn those fundamentals.

Of course, there’s a whole other set of musicality bad habits but we can deal with those another time. Work on the fundamentals of playing first.

What are your worst habits? Let me know and we can compare notes!

 

 

Practice made simple – Make and Keep a Schedule

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I’m always nattering on at you about how important practice is – for lots of reasons. And you probably laugh and think (or say out loud?) “easy for you – that’s what you do for a living!” Well, let’s pull that thread, shall we?

First, like you, I have a life – a home and house that need care and tending. And perhaps like you, I’m not big on housework or tending to anything! But these things must be done. Groceries, call my Mom, laundry, prune the dog, take out the trash – it’s all there.

Second – only in my dreams do I have all day to play the harp! Yes, I’m a professional, so yes, it is work and it is a business. And yes, that means I often get trapped in Administrivialand – doing paperwork, making phone calls, sending email.  On the package its all flowers and hearts, but on the inside, it’s still work! Booking students, gigs, networking, advertising, blogging, website maintenance, teaching students, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera*.

Third – I have a day job too – just like you. With its commutes and joys and challenges.

And somewhere in there – I still need to fit in practicing. So, how to do that?  I find a schedule is very very helpful. But you need more than that. You need to keep the schedule. And in doing that you will allow yourself to meet some other gates as well:

  • You will be better able to focus – this is time you have set aside, so you don’t need to be thinking about how it’s time to wash the dog or vacuum the garden. Focus on your practicing.
  • You will have built in time for self-evaluation – because you have dedicated time, you can apportion it to include self-evaluation. Are you playing as well as you’d like? If not, how should you change your practice to improve? If you are playing as well as you’d like – what should you take on as a new challenge?
  • You will have time to get stuff done – because you have identified time to work, you won’t have to just “cross stuff off the list” but rather, you can bear down and work on individual elements of your playing until they are smoothed out while you also identify other things that need work.
  • You will have time to be generous – to yourself (and by extension others) you will have dedicated time to play more fluidly so you can be more comfortable while performing, all the while learning to be nice to yourself as you progress and develop as a harper.
  • You will have time to schedule for your best – you control your schedule so you decide when to practice. If you’re not a morning person, do not bother scheduling your practice for 6am! It’s your day, if you need to practice from midnight – do it! Just be sure you work with yourself. And be flexible – if you need to change the schedule, change the schedule!
  • You will have built in time to capture everything – be sure to include journaling and recording as part of your practice time. They need to be – and if you plan them that way, they will get done.
  • You will have built in time to be creative – creativity requires time and tools and time – if you add creativity time into your practice – you will have the time!

That is a lot to schedule in so it’s important to remember that there are seven days in a week. You don’t have to do the same thing every day.

Having a schedule means that you can have hard days and easy days, days that focus on a specific thing and days when you “play around”. Having a schedule means that you know which days are which, and that you are actually getting to all the things you have identified as important.

Be prepared to do work when you have scheduled it and include some “free time” to enjoy yourself! And what could be more simple than that?

* be the first to identify  the source of this quote in a comment for a prize!