Sometimes the universe speaks distinctly, persistently, but quietly. This week in wildly divergent ways, the message was loud and clear – find what’s missing and fix it. That got me thinking…
We often spend all the time we have for making music reading or repeating or being anxious about practicing enough. We make a lot of noise in our heads (and hopefully from our instruments as well). We tell ourselves to focus (and I’m always going on about that here).
But do we ever stop to look around to see if we can find what’s missing?
What’s missing can be from any category but some are less obvious than others. What might be missing?
Well, an easily identified option would be a technique that you haven’t learned yet. You’ll know what these are because you come to a place where you just don’t know what to do or how to do it correctly. Easily fixed – ask someone, take a lesson, practice, fill that hole. Done.
Some of the others are a little more challenging to uncover. These might include –
Creativity – when you spend all your harp time practicing the stuff in front of you, you don’t have time to poke around, find new stuff, try new things. There’s an easy fix for this – reserve part of your practice time to do just that – poke around and see what happens. Maybe not every day, but a couple of times a week wouldn’t hurt. The challenge is to honor this time and not give it away for “something more important”. This is an essential part of practice. If you think you’re not creative or you’re not composing or arranging, that’s irrelevant – it is important to teach your brain to take what your ears bring in and keep moving forward with the idea rather than just coming to a juddering halt. The path to fixing erroneous notes when performing is right here!
Self-fulfillment – Many harp players are overachievers. Sometimes it is clear that the fixation is on “finishing” a piece rather than enjoying the ride. First the bad news – no piece is ever finished! Now the good news – you will (and should) be changing things over time – your interpretation should develop as you do and as your comfort with the music grows and matures. This development is going to lead to changes – so you’re never finished. And that’s ok.
Giving – you might not believe me, but I sat in my quiet room telling myself I wasn’t good enough to play for other people for a long time. I significantly overestimated what people might be listening for and thereby deprived them of a shared musical experience for much longer than needed. You have so many good things in your head, your heart, and your harp – let them out and give your music away. Play for others – because you will find more things that are missing.
Receiving – the flipside of giving is in receiving. You might be missing the opportunity of receiving feedback from others if you’re not out playing for them. Their responses may fill a gap you didn’t know you had!
Take a moment to look for the areas you are missing. Are you willing to share a peek with us? Let me know in the comments below!