Category Archives: Teaching and Learning

Off to Ohio

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Is not a tune title (although it could be!).

I’m so excited to be leaving for Ohio soon.  I’ll be teaching at the Ohio Scottish Arts School! An entire week of tunestunestunes and funfunfun!  I have some cool tunes, some new lesson items, and a crazy idea that just might work (a la McGiver).

Loads of excellent people, wonderful music, and lots of learning – can’t wait!  Oh, and snacks 🙂

And before that, the US National Scottish Harp ChampionshipTM.  It’s going to be a jam-packed week!

And a long drive – what a great time for a variety of types of practicing.  There’s listening to music, rehearsing in my head, “tapping out” the melody against the steering wheel, and my favorite – listening to something completely different looking for new ideas for arranging.

How do you use your car time? Let me know in the comments.

Next week – scenes from OSAS!

Summer’s a comin’

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There are so many things to do in the summer! And so many of them occur at the same time that you probably need to do a little calendar management, just so you can get to as many events as possible.

I’m excited to be thinking about all the fun things on offer this summer – especially the ones I’ll be participating in. I hope you’ll look this over and consider joining me for at least one of them!

  1. Harpa!

If you’re not already signed up, you don’t have much time – we start next week, 7 – 15 May. (OK, if you seriously want to go to this, please email me immediately, because, we’re already leaving!). If you can’t turn on that thin a dime (which would be almost everyone on the earth), you might want to start planning to come on the 2020 Harp the Highlands and Islands trip (more on that soon).

PS – watch my Facebook page and the Harpa FB page – I know we’ll post lots of fun photos while we’re in Scotland!

  1. Ohio Scottish Games

Stolen directly from the Games website: OSG will be held June 22, 2019 and there will be loads to see and do…but why would you when you’ll want to get there early and be at the Harp Competition all day long!?!?!

This games was established in 1977, and is presented by members of The Ohio Scottish American Cultural Society of Ohio, an organization dedicated to the preservation and promotion of their proud Scottish Heritage and ancestry. OSG highlights traditional dance, music and athletics of the ancient highland games.

And this year, Ohio is hosting the US National Scottish Harp Championship TM and I’m so excited to be one of the judges. If you’ve never been, it’s worth coming out – hear the train, meet new (to you) harpers. It’s a tradition! They also have all the other cool festival stuff like food, athletics, pipe bands, classic cars, and loads of vendors. But you won’t care if you miss that – because you’ll be at the Harp Competition! Go to https://www.ohioscottishgames.com/competitions for more details.

  1. Ohio Scottish Arts School

Once you’ve been dazzled by the competition (or delighted by your performance in the competition), you can head right over to OSAS. I’m so looking forward to teaching this summer. OSAS is celebrating 41 years of educating artists in the traditional music and dance of Scotland.

Again, shamelessly stolen from the website: The Scottish Harp classes will focus on basic harp technique for beginners and intermediates. repertoire at all levels, including tunes for competition sets, and Scottish style, including ornaments, lilt, and dance types. We will study Scottish dance music, airs, and songs, focusing on ornamentation, Scottish style, accompaniment, and learning by ear. Afternoons will include lectures, practice time, and playing in sessions. Classes will be available for beginners who have played for a few months, intermediates, and advanced players. And we’ll have a delightful Tea presented by Ringgold Harp Ensemble, a highlight!

I’m so excited to be teaching with the incomparable Sue Richards as well as the stunning and delightful Rachels – Rachel Hair and Rachel Clemente (an OSAS alum!).  There is probably no other place you can go to learn so much so quickly and s-t-i-l-l have a great time.

  1. Somerset Harp Festival

Somewhere on the Somerset website it says, “Play the Harp better” – and boy oh boy, will you! I am so pleased to have been invited to teach here and will be even more thrilled to teach with Donna Bennett.

Together Donna and I will deliver the Creativity Tools to Improve Practice & Performance workshop – and we’re building on some previous work teaching skills, tools, and techniques that bring the creativity secret to your music. We’ll show you how to use creativity tools and techniques to practice and play better, arrange more, compose, perform – however you let your creativity out! More Info

And I’ll be teaching a workshop we’ve entitled Sounding Scottish in which you will learn how to make your tunes sound more Scottish. I’m going to leverage all the stuff I’ve learned to date (especially while in Scotland!) to each specific elements and techniques to ensure your tunes sound Scottish. I’ll teach a tune (or two!) to learn and practice all the good juicy stuff that will highlight the tune’s authentic self. More Info

  1. Harp Quest

Harp Quest is a great opportunity to teach with my friend Kris Snyder in idyllic southern Pennsylvania.

We have moved from summer camp to pursuing our Harp Quest. And we are looking forward to this year’s journey! We have so much fun putting it together! As with any Quest, we each have a different journey as we seek to learn what our harp is there to teach us. Plan to join us for our 24th year and a new Journey with our harps – becoming what we’re meant to be.

This year’s Quest will be focused on Planning Ahead. As always, our Quest will remain easily accessible to harpers from anywhere and at any level. Our focus will be a short and intense experience that we will each take with us into the coming months and years – perhaps not fully appreciating what we have learned until much later. But secure in knowing that we will get there – each of us. And we’ll get there together!

The Quest will be August 16, 17, and 18, 2019 and we are looking forward to a very personalized time of sharing and learning. We will have fun, support one another, and work together to get as much from our lever harps as we can get! Because a quest is pretty intense, we will fill up fast, so be sure to get your reservation in.

So you can see that it’s going to be a busy summer – hope you’ll come spend some of it with me! Let me know what you’re planning to do this summer – in the comments below.

Planning ahead – for the Somer(set)

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I’m very excited to share that I will be teaching at this year’s Somerset Folk Harp Festival in Parsippany NJ!   I’ll be presenting a workshop on my own.  And even better – I’ll also be co-teaching another workshop with Donna Bennett! It just gets better and better – two workshops!  Yea!! There will be more than 100 workshops and I’ll be in great company with an amazing pantheon of presenters!

In case you have missed it, the Somerset Folk Harp Festival is amazing. It is a 4-day conference that celebrates diversity in music, as well as the talent and experience of the folk harp world. It provides a great opportunity to do what you need to move forward, whether that is to focus on one type of music, or to solidify specific skills, or try out something new. There are opportunities to learn new things in every–single–session! And the Exhibit Hall – yikes! It’s jammed with harps and music and accessories and stuff and more stuff…so much harp shopping in one room!

The festival begins on Thursday and runs through to Sunday. I will be teaching Friday afternoon. First up is a workshop called Sounding Scottish from 1:30 – 3pm. This will be a hands-on workshop, for all levels of play. We’ll be working and learning by ear. And yes (don’t worry), there will be paper too! Here’s the write up so you know what you’re getting into:

Love Scottish music? Wondering how to make your tunes sound more Scottish? Scotland has captivated people for hundreds of years and inspired composers, artists, and authors. In this workshop you will learn specific elements and techniques to ensure your tunes sound Scottish. Jen will teach tunes to apply and practice those techniques and use images, video, language, sounds, geography, myths and legends of Scotland as muses to provide inspiration for your own take on the music.

And then, in the very next workshop session, Friday from 3:30-5pm, I will be working and teaching with Donna! This will be so much fun!! We’ll be teaching Creativity Tools to Improve Practice & Performance. This is also an all levels (including companions!) hands-on workshop exploring your creativity – and you know we are all creative, so bring on the companions! Here’s what you’ll find in the workshop description on the website:

In this workshop, you will learn the skills, tools, and techniques that bring the creativity secret to your work as a musician or a teacher. Find out how to actively apply creativity tools and techniques to improve your personal work processes and your overall approach to harping. These tools can prepare you for projects and gigs, regardless of your level of accomplishment or years of experience. Jen and Donna will give you techniques to help generate better ideas and expand your arrangements and repertoire without adding to your learning load.

If you haven’t looked yet, the hotel is already available and there is a lot of information already available on the Somerset website. You can also register at the early bird rate until 1 May (which is a really good approach – not only do you get a lower rate, you get your summer planned!). The registration includes all the workshops you can fit into your day, entry to the Exhibit Hall (otherwise known as Harp Shopping Nirvana), tickets to the concerts (where you will see and hear Harp players you probably always wanted to see in concert). If you can’t make it to all four days, you can register for individual days too (Kathy has thought of everything!). To register, you can go here.

I hope you’ll come along to the Festival – and come to my workshop! Will I see you there?  If so, let me know in the comments below. Hope I see you there –

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!

OSAS 2018!!

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Having too great a time at Ohio Scottish Arts School 2018 – the 40th Anniversary to spend too much time writing!  Here’s a quick snap of some of the goings on*.  So delighted and privileged to work with such fantastic and talented people.  Pinch me – it’s totally real!

Snaps of Ohio Scottish Arts School 2018 – 40th Anniversary. Teaching with Sue Richards, Seumas Gagne, and Gillian Fleetwood.

Start planning for next year!

*Special thanks to Therese Honey for many of these photos!

Summer Plans 4

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Cromarty Harp Village

So this week, we’re stretching to include summer all the way to the equinox!

And to include a slightly broader view of workshops.

I cannot recommend Cromarty Harp Village* highly enough!

Cromarty is in the Black Isle – yup, you read that right – it’s in Scotland (and where better to learn Scottish music?). It is a village on the Moray Firth and while the village is captivating and interesting, the Harp Village is even more compelling.

The Cromarty Harp Village will be held 22 & 23 September at The Old Brewery. This is a two-day workshop (and if you’re going to go all the way there, you might want to spend a little more time – you could organize to learn more or just sightsee!)

There is such a broad trove of talent – the instructors include innovative harpers Rachel Newton (www.rachelnewtonmusic.com) and Cheyenne Brown (www.cheyenneharp.com) along with the irrepressible Corrina Hewat (www.corrinahewat.com) all leading a special weekend of harp workshops and sessions. It will be a magical weekend of tunes, songs, accompaniment ideas and tips to recognize the distinctive gifts you bring to your instrument. And – there is a workshop for beginners taught by the wonderful Issie Pendlebury (www.isbelpendlebury.com). The workshops are very reasonably priced and out of towners can also organize accommodation (book early to be sure you get in – the Brewery is a lovely venue and that includes the accommodations!).

I think the best thing about Harp Village – beyond the great venue and the amazing instructors – has to be meeting and making friends with harp players I would never have met otherwise. I am so fortunate to have remained in contact with a few of my classmates which is not only fun but also so encouraging to know harp players from other countries but with shared experiences.

For more information and to register go to: http://www.cromartyartstrust.org.uk/the-harp-village.asp

* as before –this content (less commentary) has been unceremoniously lifted directly from the Cromarty Arts Trust Harp Village website.

Summer Plans 3

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Harp Quest continues in 2018

Ok I’m a little biased on this one.  I am delighted to once again be teaching with Kris Snyder as we continue on our Harp Quests!

After a number of years of Harp Camp, last year we moved to pursuing our Harp Quests.  We are looking forward to this year’s journey – we know those that participated last year enjoyed it because you told us so!  And we have so much fun putting it together!  As with any Quest, we each have a different journey as we seek to learn what our harp is there to teach us.  Plan to join us for our 23rd year and a new Journey with our harps – becoming what we’re meant to be.

This year’s Quest will be focused on Looking Ahead.  Our Quest will be easily accessible to harpers from anywhere and at any level and our focus will be a short and intense experience that we will each take with us into the coming months and years.  We may not appreciate all we learned until much later – but secure in knowing that we will get there – each of us.  And we’ll get there together!

The Quest will occur in the beautiful and bucolic valleys of South Central PA 27 – 29 July.  The setting is pastoral and relaxing – just the thing to learn and grow and go a little farther on the road we travel.

Kris and I will be your Guides and we are looking forward to a very personalized time of sharing and learning.  We will have fun, support one another, and work together to get as much from our lever harps as we can get!  We will work to expand technical skills and exercise our brains and as always, we will work on building healthy self-esteem, encouraging ourselves to try new things.  We’ll start where each of us is and build on that to develop a better understanding of the skills necessary to continue going and growing.  We’ll work individually and together experiencing three days of creativity, sharing, and fun.

The Quest is limited to only 10 spaces, so everyone gets personal attention, time to learn their own way, and has the space to flex their musical muscles. Interested in having a spot? For more information or a reservation form, Contact us.

Summer Plans 2

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Somerset Folk Harp Festival

Not long after OSAS – many of us gather again at the Somerset Folk Harp Festival*. Somerset has become a “must go” event for harp players! It is an amazing 4-day conference celebrating the diversity of music, talent and experience of the folk harp world. Whether you want to focus on one style or type of music, solidify some specific skills, or try out something new, there is something for you. The breadth of workshop offerings is sure to expand your musical horizon. The Exhibit Hall is the best harp and music shopping under one roof you’ll find anywhere on the East Coast. There are daily concerts that will inspire you. I strongly suggest that you plan to come for the whole festival but if you can only swing one day – do it! There are loads of registration options.

Somerset is coordinated by Kathy D’Angelo and is pulled off by a small but mighty band of people.  But what makes it such a good way to spend your time? Well, I think they answer this well in a section entitled – What is the Festival Like? And the answer is – it’s awesome! It is like a three-ring circus, a harp feeding frenzy, a family re-union, and your wildest harp dreams come true! You get to meet and talk with and play with other people who are also addicted to harp. There’s time to swap “war stories” “craziest wedding stories” and “why I started to play the lever harp” stories. There are loads of good harpy things going on but the one thing that really makes the Festival so great is all the other harpers there! You will have an instant group of best friends at the Festival – including the stars of the harp world. You will find that you can talk with icons just as easily as you would talk with the other harpers in your harp circle. No matter what your level of harp experience, you will be welcomed most warmly and drawn into the family!

And – did I mention the Exhibit Hall? There’s loads of stuff to try, read through, buy, dream about, plan for, and take home including harps, CDs, sheet music, doo-dads, jewelry, artwork, music stands, carts, and more. And then there are the concerts which are designed to give you a diverse and broad exposure to the non-pedal harp world. There’s Celtic of course, but there’s also lots of other ethnic music, early music, classical, jazz, popular, and many sorts of harps including Paraguayan harps, bray harps, cross-strung harps, wire strung harps, double strung harps, harps with other instruments, and more! Diversity everywhere!

The workshops are incredible and span a wide range of levels and interests. Some of them are really substantive and challenging – some will pique your curiosity – some will inspire you to play better and some will be an occasion to let your hair down. The worst thing about the workshops is that you cannot take them all.

You do need to pace yourself! Somerset is held in Parsippany NJ 19 – 22 July and all the details are available at: http://www.somersetharpfest.com

*once again – all this content (except my gushing and comment) unceremoniously stolen directly from the Somerset website.