Swananoa is an event that I have never gotten to – but I am looking forward to the time that I do make the trip.  However, I have heard such great things about it that I invited Mike Conners to write the blog post this week and tell us all about it.  Hopefully he will inspire you to give it a go!


Mike learned a great deal  from Willaim Jackson

Immediately following Grandfather comes Celtic Week at the Swannanoa Gathering at Warren Wilson College. It is total immersion with some of the most noted vocalists and instrumentalists in the world. I study harp there annually with William Jackson and Grainne Hambly. Although one can register for up to four classes a day, I opt for two so I can have time to practice while I am there.  I prefer that to being overloaded with new material on the spot that I might not to get to learn when I get home. In addition to harp I have in past years enjoyed daily bodhran classes, “pennywhistle for the complete beginner” and Robin Bullock’s bouzouki class. This year I’ll take a DADGAD guitar class. Swannanoa Celtic week is the place for fiddle, flute and tin whistle, harp, fretted instruments, reeds, song and folklore, percussion, and dance. The staff/performers are friendly and accessible.

Grainne Hambly gives a fantastic workshop

There are a variety of afternoon “potluck” classes, afternoon slow sessions directed by the guest artists, evening concerts, and literally dozens of sessions happening simultaneously outdoors all night long across campus with the Blue Ridge Mountains as a backdrop; complete with a snack cart, wine and local craft brew beer truck, vendors hall and hundreds of great Celtic musicians to listen to and jam with. Continuing education credits are offered for teachers, the food is great, and the instruction outstanding. Can you tell I’m excited about the upcoming Swannanoa Gathering? Here is a link to a PDF of the Celtic Week catalog. http://www.swangathering.com/catalog/cl/celtic-week.html

Somerset Folk Harp Festival is a loverly way to get immersed in a wide variety of techniques, modes, genres, approaches, types, and kinds of harp music.  Instructors are always incredible and there are so many choices it will literally make your head swim.  While it has a long and appropriate title, you’ll hear it referred to simply as “Somerset”.

There are more than 100 workshops and classes (a record number!) from 33 presenters with the theme Narrow Your Focus or Expand Your Horizon.  Somerset is a 4-day conference celebrating the diversity of music, talent and experience of the folk harp world.  The Exhibit Hall is the best harp and music shopping under one roof you’ll find anywhere on the East Coast – and will leave you drooling!  And over 30% of the workshops qualify for MHTP Continuing Ed units.

Most of the workshops are 90 minutes in the 3 main workshop periods on Friday and Saturday.  In addition, there are mini-workshops scheduled for things like Harp Tastings and Do It Yourself Harp Maintenance.   You can attend any of the other workshops. There are downloadable files tools to help you put your Somerset itinerary together.

This year’s focus areas are:

• Accompaniment & Arranging
• Beginner
• Business & Career
• Body & Harp
• Celtic
• Historical Harp
• Jazz & Blues
• Latin Music
• Rhythm
• Skills & Technique
• Therapeutic Harp
• World Music

and you’ll have tons of fun at:

• The Carolan Marathon
• La Fiesta!
• Jams
• Saturday Banquet

And if you are interested you can look into private lessons with your favorite instructors!

I am sorry that I won’t be able to go to Somerset this year, but I hope you don’t miss it!

See the website: http://www.somersetharpfest.com/

It’s May!  Already!  Wow, 2012 is proceeding apace.  OK, really, it’s flying by.  So, you too may be thinking about what to do this summer.  I have some favorites that I want to remind you about.  So for the next few weeks, I’ll tell you about them in their order of appearance.  I hope you’ll consider joining me in some of my favorites.  Harp events are always a lot of things – informative, energizing, exhausting, and FUN!  You will see old friends, meet new friends, learn about your harp, take in all sorts of new music, and did I mention, you will have FUN!

The first of my favorite summer activities is the Ohio Scottish Arts School or OSAS.  You might also hear it referred to as simply “Oberlin” (after the college that houses all the yummy harpy goodness).   Much of what you will read below is lifted directly from the OSAS website: http://www.ohioscottishartsschool.com/

OSAS provides comprehensive instruction in traditional arts of (a lot of tangentially related stuff and) harp.  At the end of the week, the students will have increased their knowledge of theory, improved their basic skills and technique, and been exposed to new material (and will be delighted and tired!).

Participants must be at least 10 years of age and adult students are encouraged to enroll. Students should have some knowledge of their particular art, but people of all skill levels are encouraged to  enroll.   Classes begin on Sunday morning and are held from 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. and 1:15 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. each day. In the evenings students can enjoy various supervised athletic and social activities as time permits. An informal variety show is held on the last night and all are encouraged to participate.

Harp students are expected to bring their own instrument. 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. There are classes for both nylon/gut harp and wire strung and historical harps (bray harps welcome).  We will also have a “band class” for all instruments.

This year, there is a new incredible option to assemble, finish and string your own 27 string wire harp – see the website for details. And the evening jam sessions offer students the chance to develop accompaniment patterns and learn more tunes.

The instructors are always amazing with Seumas Gagne, Ann Heymann, Charlie Heymann,and Sue Richards teaching this year.  And I am thrilled to have been invited to join this illustrious faculty this year.

I hope you will join us for a fantastic learning opportunity that will make you fall in love with your harp all over again!

I wonder where the birdies is.  So goes the poem I learned as a child…everything according to plan. 

We’re nearly through the first quarter of the year.  The trees are blooming.  The flowers are coming up.  How are you coming along with your grand plan?  I am sure you did a lot of goal setting at the new year.  You might have been goal setting along with me, or you might have generated some resolutions.  Either way, here’s your chance to check in and see how it’s going.

So, if you haven’t gotten moving on your goals for this year and you’ve determined that the goals were sound, and you’ve identified your path or plan, you should be good – as long as it fits you.  If it doesn’t, change it.  Goals are your tools – make them work for you!

We all want to have a prodigious repertoire that will allow us to play for hours with little to know effort.  But how do you get there?  You know that it will take some time to develop a deep repertoire but there are three steps to getting there quicker.

1.       Play the classics.  While you know “Twinkle” because you learned them at your first lesson, that doesn’t mean that your audience won’t love it when you play it!  Bring out and play all those eight-bar tunes!  The tunes you know are the ones to play – they’re not trite, they’re fun…and…you know them!

2.       Rearrange your tunes.  Whether you learn by ear or a strict page reader, you can make more of your repertoire by “letting go”.  You can use the same chord progression (which means you only have to remember the one progression) but present it in different ways – 5ths, octaves, blocked chords, broken chords, rolled chords, various collections of these).  This will allow you to play a tune through as many repeats as you need.  If you’re playing off the paper, you might want to write in the chord names – make it your own lead sheet.  And, if you can, add in some alternate chords for variety.

3.       Timing is everything.  Music is a means of communication.  What you choose to communicate is up to you.  The tunes you know can often do double duty – especially when you have no time to prepare.  Most of the “fast tunes” you know can be slowed way down – way down!  This will instantaneously increase your store of airs.  But remember too that your store of airs can be sped up – thus increasing your cache of fast tunes (this does take some practice!).  And it’s relatively easy to do – the biggest challenge is to actually play slowly!  The chord progressions stay the say, but break the chord up which will help you stay slow.

All these will, at a minimum, double your repertoire – as quickly as today.  Don’t forget to write out a list of your tunes – don’t want to forget any of them!

Each year we have an excellent experience and when it’s time to go we are certain that the next year can not possibly be better.  And each year we are wrong!

OSAS was brilliant this year – I wish you all could have been there.  We learned some great tunes – can’t wait to really get them under my belt!  Lots of time singing – and we waulked a length of cloth which we later shared as a group. 


Tiffany Lingle got this photo of Karen, Wendy and me having a great time in session

We learned some lovely tunes, including snappy pipe tunes from Jo Morrison, songs from Seamus Gagne, a fantastic air from Sue Richards. Ann Heymann introduced us to the Sterling Heads roundel and the possibilities that it contains as well as sharing the Bunworth harp replica – a stunning copy guided by history.  We had lectures on teaching and technology, fiddle history, reading Gaelic, and rhythm.

I was delighted to act as master of ceremonies for both the instructor concert and the “OSAS got Talent” variety show, as well as having the opportunity to be the counselor for the girls on the first floor!  Our harp kids are just cool people – which is always nice. 

And there were sessions, cookies, more sessions, games, knitting, singing with the weeping beech, and the practically mandatory trip to the bead store. I was too busy having a good time, soaking up music and culture and language to remember to take photos.  

There’s some wonderful photos and reminiscences in the latest Kilt and Harp which is posted at the SHSA members site, the forum – www.shsa.org/forum

And I am beyond delighted to have been invited to teach at OSAS next year.  I already have ideas and I hope I’ll see you there in 2012!

No big post today – I’m at the Ohio Scottish Arts School having my head stuffed with new tunes, seeing old friends, making new friends and playing like there’s no tomorrow.  Maybe you can come next year?

I’ll post some highlights of OSAS next week – in the mean time, give us a tune!

I’ve taken the month of March to tell you about some great harp opportunities that are available this summer. I mention these particular events because I have participated in each of these events in the past.  I am confident that if you choose to go to any of these you will have an excellent learning opportunity – and you’ll have fun!  There are many harp events throughout the summer and this was not meant to be an exhaustive list – just a sampling, so I’ll end with the last of my suggestions – Harp Camp.

I’m particularly partial to Harp Camp because it is not only where I have such fun teaching and sharing – it is also where my harp life began.  This will be the 16th consecutive year for Harp Camp and each year Director Kris Snyder puts together a wonderful teaching staff.  I wasn’t at the first few, but I am delighted to be invited back again this year.  Lucy Stevens, the wonderful arranger and performer, will also be teaching this summer. I am so excited – we have done all the planning and have put together a really nice workshop for you – if I may say so myself!

Harp Camp is a great learning environment.  The setting and the facilities allow participants to be comfortable.  That comfort allows you to safely try new things, meet new people and ideas, and grow regardless of your level of experience and expertise. In fact, Harp Camp is an excellent place to come if you have never played the harp before and are not certain it is for you. At my first harp camp, two of us were in that category…one is now a harper (me) and the other decided that it wasn’t really for her, but don’t worry, she had another instrument to fall back on.

Harp Camp will be in the lovely Glen in Southeastern PA which is beautiful (that’s not really what its called – but that’s what it reminds me of).  This setting lets you breathe and be creative.  In addition, we have a variety of activities that all contribute to our growth,  In case you’re worried, we don’t spend 8 hours a day slaving behind our harps – we spend the days in a variety of activities and we have FUN too! We approach developing our musicianship in a number of different ways and in many modalities – it’s exciting and I am very thrilled to be returning!  We have a variety of learning experiences, exploring basics of music, technique, performance, as well as creativity, ensemble play, arranging and writing, improvisation, and other aspects of being a solid musician. We also play games, enjoy good company, and play a lot of great music together. It’s a busy workshop – jam packed with harpy goodness!

We’ll be updating the website so you can find all the particulars and I’ll post here when the information is available.   Don’t forget the date – join us for Harp Camp 28, 29, and 30 July!

The Somerset Folk Harp Festival will be held in Parsippany, NJ July 14-17 and in conjunction with the Historical Harp Society Conference.  Somerset is a great conference – see people you know, meet people you’ve only dreamed of meeting, and learn from some of the brightest stars in our modern harp pantheon.  With over 90 workshops to choose from the question is not will there be anything to go to but rather how will you ever decide on just a few in the available time.  In addition, the vendor area is a veritable cornucopia of temptation and delight with products ranging from delightful jewelry and trinkets to harps that are beautiful, mellifluous and harp-lust inducing!  And if it needs it, you can even take your harp to the doctor – and have it regulated!  All in one place and for an excellent price.

No matter your interest area – historic, wire, Celtic, Latin, classical, bedside – there will be workshops.  There are sessions on business, teaching, and other “tools of the trade” for professionals and those contemplating becoming professionals.  And there are excellent concerts each day of the event.  And even more – there are jams, the Carolan marathon, fancy dinners,  meeting old friends, making new friends, and harps everywhere! 

Somerset is well run, fun, informative, and worth the trip.  Early Bird registration offers a great deal on the registration price and is open until May 14th.  For all the details go to the website (being updated frequently with even more information, presenters, performers, exhibitors and more) – http://www.somersetharpfest.com/.  Don’t miss it!

Those of you who know me personally know I’m really big on going to school to learn cool stuff. So it is essential that I tell you about/remind you about/encourage you to come to THE OHIO SCOTTISH ARTS SCHOOL. I have been fortunate to participate in OSAS for a number of summers and each year I learn more than I thought possible – so you need to know more about it too!

This year, OSAS will be held June 25—July 1, 2011 at the quaint Oberlin College campus in Oberlin, Ohio (just south of Cleveland). OSAS is sponsored by the Scottish-American Cultural Society of Ohio, Inc.

From the website, “It is the intent of the OHIO SCOTTISH ARTS SCHOOL to provide comprehensive instruction in traditional arts of Highland dancing, fiddling, harping, piping and drumming, by nationally and internationally recognized teachers. At the end of the week, the students will have increased their knowledge of theory, improved their basic skills and technique, and been exposed to new material.”

OK, originally when I pasted that in I was going to delete all the other arts, but you need to know the full scoop! The school provides a great opportunity not only to improve your harping but also to learn from other students as well. And we learn all sorts of things all day – from breakfast straight on through ‘til the end of the sessions that erupt each evening.

Again, from the harp portion of the website:

All Students are expected to bring their own instrument. The Scottish Harp classes will focus on:

• Basic harp technique for beginners and intermediates.
• Repertoire at all levels, including tunes for competition sets.
• Scottish style, including ornaments, lilt, and dance types.

Evening jam sessions offer students the chance to develop accompaniment patterns and learn more tunes.

The nylon/gut harp classes 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.

Ann’s class will focus on fingernail and damping techniques for the wire-strung clarsach but any harp is welcome since such techniques were also standard fare for gut harp. Repertoire will range from beginning pieces to ports, strathspeys and reels. The creation of two level-appropriate groups will allow for individualized instruction and practice opportunity as well. Afternoon lectures will include an overview of fingernail technique, the “coupled hands” technique, and a discussion of symbolism in harps.”

And the instructors this year are, as every year, AMAZING! This year we will have:

Seumas Gagne, Jo Morrison, Ann Heymann, and Sue Richards! It’s enough to make your head explode in excitement!

Don’t miss this incredible opportunity to learn more about the harp, the culture, the music! For more information go to the OSAS website: http://www.ohioscottishartsschool.com/home_files/osas_harp.htm

And if you’ve never been to OSAS before, give it a good think – it is a warm, inviting learning environment that might feel daunting if you’ve never been – but that could not be further from the reality – don’t let the thought of all that yummy Scottish harping scare you – its a blast you’ll never forget!