Tag Archives: Learning

It’s coming soon!

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I hate to break it to you, but next week is October!  While there’s been pumpkin spice muffins, pumpkin spice coffee, pumpkin spice tires, and more available for over a month, you would not be seen as unreasonable for not realizing that the most terrifying time of the year (for harpers) is racing up fast – the Holidays (cue Halloween music – after all, that is the next holiday, despite what you might see in the stores).  If you think I’m being dramatic, I have already seen tv ads for Christmas trees!

Now, you might be wondering why I say this is the most terrifying time of the year.  It is, after all, the season of twinkly lights, candy everywhere, pretty ribbons and bows – what’s not to like?  It’s also the busy season (which is nice and helpful to affording gifts to put inside the ribbons and bows).   Well, here are three reasons it can be terrifying:

1. While all the professionals are booking events (yea income), non-harp-playing people also have no problem, upon learning that you play the harp, attempting to press you into performing.  This is all well and good…if you want to be performing.  But if you’re not interested in performing, are extremely nervous about performing, or have only been playing for a month – you might not want to be pressed into service!  And people (who don’t play an instrument but are adept at organizing) are relentless.  I’ve also found that their relentlessness is inversely proportional to the amount of money they are willing to pay you!

2. Everyone knows all the music!  Yup, when the entire audience knows all the tunes, that’s a little intimidating because you are certain they will hear every artistic deviation (not mistake!) from perfection that you introduce.

3.  The holidays can be fraught – fraught I say – with stress.  Even if, like me, you lead a stress-free existence*, it’s difficult to avoid the feeling of stress rolling off all those around you. 

So, it’s time to start preparing!  Here are four things you could practice being ready:

1. Saying “No”.  I know it’s hard but, if you don’t want to be playing for whatever reason (you’ve only been playing for a week, you are embarrassed by sweating navigable puddles when performing, because you just don’t want to) – practice saying “no”.  Sound too abrupt? Then say, “No, thank you”.  You don’t owe anyone an explanation (well…maybe if it’s your mom, but no one else!)

2. Christmas music you’ve played before.  Since you’ve learned it before, it will come back easier than the last time.  Yes, I know it might not feel like it, but it will.

3. New Christmas/Winter.  Well, new to you.  You don’t want to be playing the same stuff year after year.  You need to keep learning.  New things will help you stay fresh and keep you interested.  Adding in winter music will also help you bridge gaps for audiences and give you things to play past Christmas (after all – winter goes for about 80+ more days after Christmas day).

4. Other music.  Since the Christmas music will probably start sooner than later, by the time the holidays actually arrive, everyone is a little fatigued of hearing them.  Keeping your wider repertoire ready to go will help you add to your set lists and avoid burn out…and will keep you ready for the rest of the year!

So, dust off your Christmas books and binders, start reworking your old tunes and deciding on what you’ll add this year.  Be proactive when deciding what you will let slide in your regular repertoire (for now).  And spend a little time with your calendar so you’ll know when you are (and aren’t) interested in playing.  Keep in mind that most of your friends and family would be delighted if you shared your gift of music with them (even if you’ve only been playing for a week – they love you!). 

What are you going to be playing this holiday season?  Which are new to you?  Let me know in the comments!

 

*LoL – I wish!

Since you asked… Connections and Patterns

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In December, I wrote about learning versus memorizing.  You left some great comments, and one of you asked how one would go about actually doing this (learning rather than memorizing).  You graciously waited through the madness that is the holidays and the reset that is the new year.  But now, it’s your turn!

Let’s start by acknowledging that learning music is not really different from learning anything else.  And just like in school, when you try to brute force memorize – everything deserts you when the pressure is on.  And because memorization is so fragile, you can’t even salvage the memory gap – because there is noting of substance behind it.

So we’re back to learning.  The first thing to understand is that learning is not passive.  You have to be engaged, checked in, and thinking to learn!

Patterns and ConnectionsThe easiest way to do this is to do some analysis.  I don’t mean a big research study.  To analyze – ask yourself some questions.  these questions will help you make connections and discover patterns.

  1. Does any of the piece remind you of anything else?  That could be anything.  Those of you who have had lessons from me have experienced this – “chocolate chords”, “the Oreo phrase”, “the donut part”, “the walk in the park”, and “this is just like in that other tune”.  These are all just things the tune remind me of (never mind that most of them are food!).  Do parts of the tune bring something to mind – waterfalls? sheep? fairies? storms at sea?  If so, these are all things you can connect to that bit of the tune which will help you hang on to it (learn it!).  You can also say the connection (e.g. “this is the Oreo part”) out loud while you’re playing that part will also create another connection that you can learn.
  2. Find the shapes.  This can be as basic is up or down.  Or as complex as “this reminds me of Katahdin” – I didn’t get that, but he did, and that’s what matters.  If you’re reading, you can see the shape.  You can also see the shape when you put your hands on the harp.  Have you already learned the shape in some other tune?  Does the shape repeat through the tune.  Learning the shapes is another way to learn.
  3. Find the story in the music.  If you’re not sure, make up your own.  That story can be another set of connections.  Tell yourself the story as you play.  You can also do this with songs.  Sing the lyrics as you play – they are another set of connections that will help you learn the tune.
  4. Break it down.  If you are more advanced, you may be able to learn an entire 8-bar phrase in one go.  If you are less experienced, you may need to look at one measure at a time.  Size doesn’t matter – break the music into pieces you can successfully ingest.  Because….
  5. You’re going to stick those pieces back together eventually!  As with breaking it down, stitch it back together in portions you can handle.  Don’t overdo it.  These are more connections…and patterns – and you have a chance to connect the patterns!  This is true for challenging tunes, but its also true for “easy” tunes with their nearly identical phrases which come together differently in parts of the tune.  Make specific links between the parts – be sure to connect the various pieces to each other.
  6. Savor.  Take it slowly We are always in a rush.  We want it to be instantly performance ready, faster, more complicated, showier than anyone else – we want to have the tune now!  But rushing leads to a half-learned tune that is wobbly with wishy-washy fingering and phrases built on momentum not confidence, all of which can lead to heartache. 

Need more specifics?  How about:

Fingering is one of the greatest losses of not analyzing your music enough before you start and then moving out too fast.  I wish I could remember who taught me this trick (and if you know who it is, tell me so I can give credit!): place the shape (all the fingers needed in that direction…all of them, even the 4 if needed!); squeeze the strings a couple of times; then play the shape.  Think about the shape, where it sits in the phrase and the tune, where else you might use that same shape in the tune.  Replace the next shape, and repeat. Yes, it can be frustrating (especially if you didn’t actually analyze it first). Yes, it means you can’t just bang out the tune. 

But equally, yes, you will get the fingering.  Yes, you will be preplaced and ready to go.  Yes, you won’t be chasing strings with fingers that weren’t quite ready.  And yes, you will learn the tune more quickly – because you don’t have to relearn any of it!

That might sound suspiciously like practice.  Because it is.  Learning must be active.  Analysis is not a nice to have – it’s one of the things will distinguish your learning.  Each time you run through the piece you will be building connections – in your brain but also you’re your eyes, ears, fingers, and your entire body.  If you have some knowledge of theory, that will also help you make connections and notice patterns.  Talking out loud creates connections in another modality.

The more connections you have and the more patterns you have found, the easier time you will have learning the tune.   And by extension, the more confident you’ll be when you play it – because it won’t desert you under pressure!

Give some of these ideas a try and let me know what you think.  Do you have any other ways to learn you’d like to share?  Make the connection via the comments below!