Jenius Creations

Tag: Practice

  • When SHOULDN’T you practice?

    You’re not going to believe that I’m about to tell you this!  You might want to be sitting before you read on.

    There are times when you SHOULDN’T practice!

    I did say that you that you wouldn’t believe I was going to say that.  But it is true.

    When shouldn't you practiceOf course, you know that you need to practice.  You know that if you want to move yourself toward playing more, better, faster, stronger – you need to practice.  The quality time you spend on the bench is directly related to your progress and development.  And even in those times when you not “feeling” it, you still know you need to do it.

    But there are a few very specific times when you should not practice.  Times when practicing has the potential to make the situation worse, or to derail all your hard work.  What are these very specific reasons to not practice?  Here are six:

    1. You are in pain – this should be a no brainer, and yet, I feel compelled to include it anyway.  If you feel pain when you are playing, no matter where you feel it, no matter what type of pain it is, stop.  Visit your physician, and have the pain addressed. I know, duh…but it had to be said.
    2. You are injured – this is like the above, but slightly different.  If you are injured, you’ll likely have had pain (ref 1 above). But at some point in your recovery, you might have little to no pain.  And because you are beginning to feel better you might try to get back to practicing, even though you know you’re meant to rest a little longer. But failing to give yourself that resting time might result in further injury.  Again, duh.  Don’t do it!
    3. You are exhausted – I don’t mean you’re tired, I mean you’re really really really tired.  You know the kind.  Not the, “oh I wish I had gone to bed a little earlier” kind of tired.  More like the “I haven’t slept for days because I’m over-stressed and I’m barely keeping it together” kind of exhausted.  You probably already know that being this fatigued will result in reduced cognitive performance.  You probably also know that it will be frustrating and annoying.  Neither of these emotions will help you deal well with the rigors of practicing.  Being so fatigued also means that you probably won’t really learn anything from your practice time.  So you’d be better off using the time getting some rest and returning to practicing later.
    4. You are really busy – here I don’t mean your normal everyday busy, but more like when you’re crushed with way too much to do and no time to do it (and likely not getting enough sleep – ref 3 above).  With that kind of mental load, you won’t be able to focus on the work you need to do in your practice.  And you might also spend your valuable cognitive practice energy fussing about not doing the things you should be doing rather than thinking about your practice – not very productive.  It would be better to forego practicing so you can concentrate on what you are busy doing and come back when you can be deliberate with your playing.
    5. You are experiencing exceptional stress – again, not everyday stress.  By this I mean you’re experiencing significant life changes or events.  You might, because you’re diligent, feel that you must, regardless of other things going on in your life, insert a practice.  But be open to not practicing, especially at the height of the stress.  If I wasn’t writing about when you should consider not practicing, this is where I would also suggest that you could, in this instance, play but not practice.  Your harp could provide succor in tough times, but just play, be with your harp and your music, don’t practice.
    6. You are stuck – we all go through times that we get stuck – when we just aren’t concentrating on the music we want to play.  Simply stepping away may give you the clarity to get unstuck.  Take a walk, meditate, or do something that you know will help clear your head.

    All of us have had experienced these things at some level.  And when we do, a bit of a break can help.  The real trick is to give ourselves permission to give our practice a miss briefly to gain clarity.  The other trick is to ensure that we get back into practice quickly after a tiny break so we avoid drifting into not practicing at all.  Use your practice journal to help you get through the break and get back on track with your practicing when you come back. 

    Have you taken a brief break in your practice for these (or other) reasons?  Let me know in the comments!

  • There’s always a curve

    There’s been a lot going on this year – for everyone.  It can be challenging to remain positive in the face of so much stuff.  But still you must…because there’s always a curve. Possibly just around the corner!

    We’re running up on the holiday season.  There are weddings and carol sings and church services.  There are a million things to practice for – including those that we can’t see on the calendar, but we do know will happen again soon (after COVID).

    Amy is sporting a fancy brace that allows more movement – but we might be limited to left hand only play for a little while. Good thing we know what to do!

    But what happens when something happens to you?  When life throws you a curve?  Just this week I have learned of two people in my harp world who are recovering from injury – one has suffered a broken arm!

    But that doesn’t mean no playing! However, it does mean taking time for injury recovery. There are plenty of ways to continue with music and plenty of reasons to persist*

    First the reasons:

    1. You can be your own therapeutic musician
    2. You can only watch so many Christmas movies as you recover (or whatever your mindless guilty pleasure is!).
    3. You know you need to practice (and you know that there are ways for your to do so, even without playing your harp)
    4. You can gain a new skill – you could be the only one at your next harp circle that can actually pull off what will look like a party trick – playing an entire tune in one hand!
    5. You know that it will just make you feel better to spend a little time with your harp!

    And now, the ways:

    1. You’ve only injured one hand/arm/shoulder – but the other one is fine.  You can’t go wrong by keeping that side playing.  Work on skills that are more prominent in that hand – drill frequent finger patterns, work on rhythm, focus on articulation – there’s loads to do!
    2. Don’t fret over what you can’t do – focus on what you can.  You’re fortunate that this is an injury from which you will recover so you will be able to get back.  Your best bet is to not lose ground through inaction and atrophy.
    3. Dust off your theory – if you’re only using one hand, you will need to leverage all your understanding of chord structure to build a harmony in that hand.  You can use simple harmony, practice more complex chords or maybe explore jazzier harmonies.
    4. Dust off your basics – you might have gotten away from fundamentals – basic technique, strengthening, and stretching.  Add this back into your routine so you don’t end up with another injury to overcome. 
    5. Dust off your other basics – you might have gotten away from structural work on intervals in one hand.  So, work that in – do the exercises to work your thirds, fourths, fifths, sixths, etc.  You will be making all your harmonies from these intervals, so you might as well focus on making them as good (and solid) as you can – no fumbling around!  It’s never too late to open Sylvia Woods’ Teach yourself book, Maria Grossi’s book, Sue Richards’ exercises, or whatever your favorite basics book is**.
    6. Dust off your musicality – here’s a real opportunity to focus on the tune and rendering more musically.  Without all the other stuff to focus on (two hands mostly!) you can really hone in on your musicality.
    7. Work on (and write down!) your arranging skills.

    You can see that focusing on one hand might be a bit of bother while you recover but it can open your eyes to some other important aspects of playing.  You might even consider giving it a go before you’re injured!  And it can’t hurt to have a plan in the event of injury – and you’ll have something to look forward to!

    One final thought on recovering while injured – be very careful to monitor your posture and technique while you’re recovery – no need to develop an overuse injury on top of everything else!

    Have you been injured and needed to modify how you play or practice?  What did you do and how did it work for you?  If you haven’t been injured, do you have a plan just in case life throws you a curve?  Let me know in the comments below.

     

    * please don’t do anything dumb – I’m not that kind of doctor, this is not medical advice.  If you are recovering from an injury or surgery, follow the instructions of your physician, physical therapist, occupational therapist, and other health care providers.  But don’t forget to ask those same providers to help you recover by explaining that you are a harp player and you are keen to get back to your harp – for your mental, emotional, and physical health.  They can’t give you useful advice if you don’t tell them you need to play your harp!  Be prepared to explain what you need to be able to do while you’re playing.

    ** Not a paid endorsement and there are lots of books – I like these and I think you might too.

  • Go Wide

    One of the best things about teaching is how much you learn from your students.  I’ve told you that before and it only becomes more true with each passing day.

    Another thing I’m always going on about is practicing.  Of course you need to practice.  You know that.  You know you need to practice most every day.  The more you practice, the better you’ll play – you’ll know more, you’ll be more confident, and you’ll just have more to show for your time.

    Duh.

    But then I have a student say something really profound in its simplicity.  And I realize I have to tell you more.

    Go WideMy student and I were talking about “old stuff”.   The stuff she knows.  The stuff she didn’t really practice any more.  Tunes she knows, maybe even loves, but have fallen by the wayside of her mind/list/index card library.  The stuff is dying in her repertoire.  She was struggling to figure out how to keep those tunes from dying!  You have probably also had this experience.

    What?  How should you structure your practice?

    You already know that the longer something you have learned sits, the less well it’s going to go when you give it a dust off.  You might be able to pull it out of your head, buy you’re likely to be unimpressed.  Or (in my opinion, worse) it’s brilliant…the first time.  But when you play it again immediately after, it’s a nightmare!  So discouraging.

    But if you spend all your time practicing your old stuff, you won’t have time to practice your new stuff.  You’ll be stuck.  Ugh.  How are you ever supposed to move on?

    Well, the path forward is through practice.  (You knew I would say that).

    We often talk about practicing – but we focus on the daily level – the simple, day to day of sitting down, warming up, doing exercise, working through tunes, polishing, and finalizing music before finishing by playing a little something for yourself.

    But after you have learned more than about five tunes, this schedule is going to leave you with not nearly enough time to work on every tune based on where in development each tune is.

    So you’ll have to go longer each day.  Or you can change your focus.  Your practice planning will have to expand beyond what you do each day.  You will need to think about your practice time across the week.  And across the weeks!

    Rather than the list we have above, your week plan might include a different focus for each day.  That means that while each day holds the basic outline (from warm up to playing for you), the “work” part in the middle of the practice might have a specific concentration.  Some examples –

    • Monday Musing – make sure your plan for the week fits what you’d like to work on just then
    • Tuesday Technique – you know the little bad habits sneak up on you, this day helps conquer that
    • Wednesday Work – focus on really working the tunes so you identify the fingering, rhythm, etc you need to work on
    • Thursday Throughplay – play through all your old tunes (you don’t have to save this for the weekend!)
    • Friday Furbish – take a day to burnish the tunes that are nearly there
    • Saturday Survey – assess what you’ve worked on and tweak things from the week that might need a little more time and attention
    • Sunday Sport and Merry-making – you need to have one day that you just play for fun!

    This is just a set of suggestions.  You know where you want to go, so build your map for you.  Taking this wider view of your practice may help you to be proactive while learning.

    Of course, you probably also have your sights set higher.  If you’re in a development phase (for instance), you might need to think even wider and build a collection of weeks.  But this week’s suggestion will work just fine for learning new tunes to increase your repertoire and help you keep your tunes in your hands.

    How would you structure your week?  Let me know in the comments!

  • Ways to do it wrong!

    I’ve told you that I am immensely lazy, and I hope you are beginning to believe it!  Take the holidays, for instance.  My favorite time of year – pretty much the same music year after year.  Once you learn it, you are good…f-o-r-e-v-e-r! (cue maniacal laughter).

    Holiday music – easy-peasy.  Or is it?  Same thing with your regular repertoire, of course, but it’s at the holidays it becomes really clear.  There are still loads of things you can do wrong – here are just 10:

    1. Don’t start practicing until right before you have to deliver.  After all, you’ve played it all before, so it won’t take too much time.  By assuring you don’t have enough time to practice everything you will be left feeling less confident – and who doesn’t like to perform feeling less than ready?  It also assures you don’t actually know the music cold – especially important because everyone you play for will definitely know the tunes, so you really have to deliver.
    2. Don’t add any new tunes.  One sure way to keep it dry is to play the same stuff year after year after year after…  That way all the tunes can be stale and as boring to you as you can get them.  And that won’t show when you play – really.
    3. Don’t keep up your “non-holiday” repertoire.  By the time the holidays are actually occurring, the people you’re playing for definitely won’t have been hearing holiday music since Halloween and they won’t be sick of the stuff.  And you won’t want to keep their interest by including a few non-holiday tunes, just to keep it fresh for them.
    4. Play everything like you always have. One of the best things about leaving practicing until the last minute is that you also won’t have time to insert some new ideas and you really won’t be able to work on new arrangements…and that way everything can be boring!
    5. Pick one holiday and stick with it.  After all, it’s not like people from varied traditions don’t all have holidays at the winter solstice time.  If you are in a widely diverse community or if you know you are likely to need music from different traditions – you wouldn’t want to be ready to serve everyone.
    6. Spend all your practice time on tunes. After all, what else is there to practice?  Working on exercises and technique builders certainly won’t help you play or learn new music.
    7. Don’t think ahead to next year.  It will be so much better to come out of the holiday season flat footed.  After all the hubbub of the season, you will not experience a motivational low or just the doldrums of the dead of winter, so failing to think ahead will definitely keep you from getting off to a good start in 2021.
    8. Definitely play all one type of tune.  There are so few options at the holidays that you will definitely want to only play Christmas carols.  Or the old tried-and-true Christmas songs.  That way you and everyone you play for can be railroaded into boredom.
    9. It’s just your family, it doesn’t have to be musical.  After all, they’ll have heard you practicing day after day –they won’t really need anything special from you.  So definitely just bang out the notes but don’t waste time on making it musical, just for them.
    10. Don’t forget that gifts are all about stuff – so no one (family, friends) would want a gift you’re your gift…or would they?

    I know there are many other ways to do it wrong – at the holidays or any time through the year.  Let me know in the comments what I forgot…and what I got wrong!

  • You are filled with a sense of urgency. Be patient.

    – thus spoke my fortune cookie

    It is the end of August, that magical time of year…when it has been so hot that it is nearly impossible to believe the winter will ever come.  When the holidays feel so far away that you can’t even think about them (even though Halloween candy has been on shelves since the afternoon of July 4th).  And this year, any planning will be done while wearing a mask, contemplating how to have your usual holiday celebration while everyone is inside small boxes on your phone screen.

    So, it is exceedingly difficult to get motivated to begin to practice holiday music!

    But really, it’s already September, and with accelerated schedules, some might normally be expecting to play Christmas music by early November.  Of course, this year, everything is off.  But even that isn’t much comfort – because people are trying desperately to be out and about and back to normal and we don’t know when what we have always considered to be normal will return.  Which means that just when you’re sure you’ll have nowhere to play, someone will contact you begging you for help!

    Any of these can really tarnish your willingness to bring your holiday repertoire up to snuff while simultaneously possibly putting you in the situation of not being ready when the call comes.

    And no matter what angst others have expressed, I’ve also heard a lot of people saying some variation of, “I’ve had all this time, I should have already mastered an entire new repertoire, but I haven’t even warmed up!”  And that’s about when the Fortune Cookie seems to be prescient!

    It’s entirely possible that you will have absolutely nowhere to play holiday music in 2020!  It’s also possible that – even if you only play for the cat and the curtains – they won’t be really up for holiday music this year.  And although I don’t have many, I am already booking for holiday events, so –

    2020 is definitely going to be a test of your internal motivation!  Here are a few reasons that I’d like to encourage you to start working on holiday music now:

    1. You already have most of it!  One of the best things about holiday music is that, after the first few holidays, you pretty much have the repertoire licked.  That isn’t to say that you don’t need to take it out and dust it off and give it a good polish.  But you really don’t have to start from scratch – score!
    2. Since you’re only having to polish and shine, you really can use this part of your repertoire to both evaluate your growth in the previous year AND to work on expanding what you already know.  If you’re not struggling to remember the melody and the chord progression, you can work on new bits of arrangements, adding introductions and codas, making holiday mashups, etc.  And with most of the tunes already in your memory, you can select a few to add for this year.
    3. Think of it as an easy exam!  This is rep you play every year!  You can use it as an opportunity to see how you’ve grown over the year.  (If it helps, pinch your own cheek while saying “My, how you’ve grown” in a sing-song-y voice).
    4. Fake it ‘til you make it.  I don’t usually run into the holiday season squealing with glee…if I could drag my feet any more on it, I totally would.  But the reality is that the tunes are friendly and that can be uplifting.  And while playing holiday tunes doesn’t make me giddy with excitement, they do help propel me out of the darkness of the expanding night.  So, practice the rep, paste a smile on your face, and I’d be surprised if you didn’t start to get the holiday spirit (no matter how hard you try to avoid it).
    5. You really may have no where to play this year – but that’s ok.  Having a package of holiday tunes will give you the opportunity to play for yourself.  I don’t know about you but, especially in the busy holiday season, it can be really nice to reconnect with your instrument…and remember why you fell in love in the first place…and easy, well-learned tunes can help with that.
    6. And, if you are socially distant from everyone you love, like, or tolerate – you can have a ready-made gift from the heart!  Even I have managed to make a ton of videos – mostly for students, but some for other things.  If I can do it, you can do it.  Prop your phone up on your music stand, turn on a lamp, and make a video to share.  It’s easy to share with those you love/like/tolerate – and it makes a lovely holiday gift at a very reasonable price!

    So, throw off the ennui, plaster a smile on your face, dig out your holiday standards, and blow off the dust.  Be patient as you work through the doldrums of the time and allow yourself to have enough time to do the work.  What are your favorite holiday tunes?  Do you feel like you comfortably know how to make a video and share it?  Am I fishing for ideas for upcoming blog posts?  Let me know in the comments!

  • When practice time is fundamentally inadequate

    Do you know anyone who feels like they’re not getting anywhere with their harp playing?  Someone who practices and practices and practices.  That person believes themselves to be the poster child for getting enough practicing.  Yet, despite this, they feel like they’re not making any improvement. 

    Sound like anyone you know?

    Sometimes, it isn’t your practice time itself.  Sometimes it’s what’s happening during that time.

    Some people use a brute force approach to practice.  They sit on that bench and whack away.  They do things over and over and over.  They end their practice exhausted and frustrated.  All that time and the needle hasn’t moved, the tune isn’t any more aligned with their vision for it, and it’s certainly not any more ready to be performed!

    No wonder they’re frustrated!  If you keep that up long enough, you wouldn’t want to play either!

    But why is that happening?  Aren’t the 10,000 hours needed to “master” this gained on the bench?  Shouldn’t more practice lead to more accomplishment?

    Wellllllll…. It depends.

    It is really easy to focus on the pretty, complex, moving parts.  To try to play faster.  To try to play complicated harmonizations.  To smell the sizzle but not see the steak.

    You need to include your fundamentals.  In – every – practice.

    Harp is seductive like that.  Unlike the piano, all our scales and arpeggios are the same, no matter what key we’re in.  I see a lot of harp players turn that simple truth into this internal conversation, “since all the scales are the same, I only need to do them the one time, learn them, and I’m done – easy peasy!” 

    And yet, it’s not that simple.  We need to continually work on the fundamentals.  We need to keep them sharp and ready to go. Why is this?  Well – simply –

    FUNDAMENTALS ARE THE BEDROCK OF ALL YOUR PLAYING!

    You cannot do anything well without those fundamentals – that’s why they’re called fundamentals! 

    If you critique your hours on the bench – what will you find?

    Is your fingering shoddy?  Do you chase the strings, using “just in time” as your placement strategy so that you’re never really confident that you’re where you need to be?

    Do you have “roach antennae” fingers? Or do you close and relax your hands when you are between finger shapes?

    Are you a slouch?  Or do you have strong posture that allows all of your body to support your music?

    Are you breathing?!

    Are you critiquing your work without being judgmental?  You can pay attention to what you’re doing, be critical, and only accept good complete work as “done” without condemnation!

    If this is new to you, start simple.  Can you play a well-executed one octave scale with quiet strings, and accurate fingering?  Can you do it in both hands?  Can you then do a two-octave scale?  Can you play scales the length of your harp?  Can you do it in time, on tempo, without errors?  If not, start there!  If so, go on to add the chords, inversions, arpeggios.   Remember that you’re focusing on the fundamentals of playing the harp.  While you want this to become automatic for your fingers, you don’t want your brain to be on autopilot!

    There’s no need to face these elements of your practice with dread.  I said you needed to do them.  I didn’t say they had to be boring or horrible!  You can spice them up – work in complementary keys, around the circle of fifths, bring over activities from other instruments you play (I’m always recreating my piano practice on the harp). Just do it in a way that allows you to pay attention, learn, improve.

    It is worth scheduling time in your practice to work on these (and other) fundamentals every day.  By doing this you will not only improve the specific activities but also help them to become habitual and automatic.  Only then will you have the mental bandwidth to work on the “fancy” stuff!

    By adding this bit of fundamental work to your practice, you’ll find that you are able to improve your tune acquisition and retention.  Need help with your fundamentals?  I’m happy to work with you!

    What fundamentals are you going to add to your practice?  Let me know in the comments below.

  • Practice Gratitude

    I hear that we should all be practicing gratitude.  Especially now.  The sentiment seems to be everywhere. 

    But I’ve heard it so much that my mind started bending it a little – shifting the emphasis.  I can’t hear it the way everyone means anymore because in my head it’s:

    PRACTICE gratitude

    As in, be grateful for your practice time.

    Hmm.

    Practice GratitudeWhy would we be grateful for practice time?  I can think of a few reasons:

    • It’s time we spend on ourselves to grow in an area we find important
    • It creates a little oasis of time in our otherwise busy days
    • It provides an element of normality when things around us are unpredictable or uncertain
    • It is a moment of self-development (and not a self-indulgence)

    So, we can pretty much dispense with the any puerile comments on how we “have” to practice “again”.  Instead – we “get” to practice again!

    Practice is clearly not only good for us, but something we want to do, no matter how it might not feel like it in the moment. How might we do that?  Here are 15 ways we can practice and enjoy the time and be grateful for our practice time:

    1. Enjoy the ritual of tuning. Rather than seeing it as a chore, take the time to slow down and reconnect with your instrument.
    2. Don’t waste your time doing garbage practice. When you’re practicing, focus.
    3. Don’t accept anything less than your best effort.
    4. When something is not coming, reframe that frustration as gratitude for the opportunity to learn.
    5. Enjoy the little things – each time you practice, remind yourself of at least one thing you enjoy about playing.
    6. Take note – identify the progress you’re making and notice the improvement day on day.
    7. While you’re practicing – breathe!
    8. While you’re practicing – smile at least once.
    9. While you’re practicing – feel it. Enjoy the touch of the strings, the sound of the music, the feel of the harp as it vibrates on your shoulder.
    10. Practice with an aim to being able to share – this can be with your cohabitants, your neighbors, or the world at large – but keep it in mind.
    11. After you have worked on something particularly tough, whether you’ve gotten it or if it still needs some time – provide honest praise for the work. Yes, I mean tell yourself you did a good job!
    12. No matter how little time you have, end each practice with a tune you know and love and like to play.
    13. Take a moment in each practice session to tell yourself something you enjoyed or are grateful you can do.
    14. Take a moment at the end of your time to jot down what you’re grateful for in your practice journal.
    15. Find time to play every day.

    I’m sure there are a zillion other ways we can be grateful for our practice time and express that gratitude.  What do you do to Practice Gratitude?  If you haven’t been having Practicing Gratitude, which of these will you start to get you on your way?  Let me know in the comments below!

  • Take it in smaller bites

    My good friend and I were chatting the other day and she asked, “What’s the tune of the week?”  To which I replied, “ummmmmm” (because I’m a clever conversationalist like that).  And because I had started working on five tunes all at once, I couldn’t answer the question because I wasn’t really learning them very well.  Ok, really I hadn’t learned any of them (up to and including not being able to remember any of the titles!).

    That got me to thinking – when you’re trying to learn new music, do you often have that sinking feeling that you are never going to get it?  Does it seem like every tune you learn is longer than you thought (or maybe the harder you try to learn it, the more the number of phrases telescopes!).  Do you laugh inside your head and blame increased age?  Do you secretly think maybe it’s just going to be too hard to get into your head?  Does it seem like everyone around you is always learning about 50 tunes really quickly while you struggle to get just one?

    Asking for a friend.

    Smaller bitesSo, how can we make the whole process of learning a tune a little more palatable? Take smaller bites!  You’ll enjoy it more.  And it’s better for you.

    There are so many ways to get the music into your head but you can be sure that the “all at once” approach is one of the most frustrating.  Let’s think about this.  Ok, I really mean, let’s extend my eating metaphor.  For your next tune,  try taking “smaller bites” and like fine dining, arrange your learning into “courses”.

    First, we’ll have the Appetizers – Study the music.  No matter if you are ingesting the tune from printed music or learning by ear, take time to actually study the music.  Analyze it.  What is the structure?  Where is it?  What type of tune is it?  What are the small motifs? Are there larger patterns or “story arcs” (if it were a TV show would you know who did it at the end of the episode or the end of the season?).  Do not skip this course – it may feel like all you’re doing is killing time, but it is actually the start of learning.  This is also when you might start listening and beginning to try to sing along.

    Then we’ll have the Entree – Bring out the knives!  We know that music is a collection of patterns.  But also keep in mind that it is a bunch of small patterns that banded together to make bigger patterns and those bigger patterns banded together to make up the tune.  The smaller patterns might be phrases and the larger patterns might be the parts.  And of course, the biggest pattern is the overarching tune.  While the smaller patterns maybe be easy to find, these larger patterns may be difficult to discern (or to remember) as patterns.  So if necessary, break those larger patterns into smaller bites.  And just like the entree, you need to be sure not to eat one thing at a time on your plate before going on to the next – DO NOT spend all this time playing from the first measure – break it up and work on the parts that need work.  Start at the end and work backward, or pick a measure in the middle and start there.  This is, of course, where the bulk of what feels like work will occur.  Do not be fooled…the other courses are also work – value that time!

    Like any fine meal, no matter how tasty or satisfying the Entree is, one simply does not leave out the finale. 

    Dessert!! – How sweet it is.  If you have taken the time to do the work of the previous courses, you will find that the music has become easier to learn and that you learn it more quickly – what could be sweeter than being able to play the music you like so well!  However, this is just as much a part of the meal as the other courses – the sweet stuff is when you are polishing, finishing, and finalizing your music.  Be sure to include the dynamics and expression, develop your accompaniments, and put your touches (or interpretation) on the tune.  Really enjoy – no, revel – in the dessert!

    Once you’ve tried this bite sized approach a few times, just like meals, you’ll find you have favorites – those approaches that you enjoy and get the most from.  That’s a great idea – these are the “macaroni and cheese” of your practice, but be sure not to stick just to the comfortable dishes – be sure to have a balanced diet of techniques, analysis, and thinking about the music as you continue to grow.

    Of course, like a full course meal, you want to take your time, savor the delicacies, and really enjoy the process.  Unlike a fine meal, when you are practicing, you don’t have to worry about which fork to use!

     

  • Half the way there!

    It’s mid-July and you know what that means?  Yup, we are just a little more than half the way through this year.

    And, yes, it has been an epic year so far…I won’t enumerate – you’re living it with me, so you already know.  And I mean epic in the classical sense – a (typically long and possibly unending) story of the deeds and adventures of heroic people! 

    And yes, we’re only half the way through it.  Ugh.

    But being halfway through is a good time to stop, pick our collective heads up, take a deep breath, and look around.  How are we doing?   

    But think back…in January, we didn’t know any of this was coming and we knew the year was full of promise.   And we talked about the 2020 vision we’d have this year.  You might remember that we talked about this here.I suggested you take a smarter path that started with examining your life (your whole life!) and finding the balance for your harp within that.

    And of course, I exhorted you to practice.  And then I gave you a long list of things to practice.  I also pointed out that you would do exactly as much work as you fit in and encouraged you to form goals that would be do-able.

    So, half the year has gone by.  Do you remember your goals (because I am confident you wrote them down as I suggested)?  How are you coming?

    Did you, at any time throughout the current upheaval we are all experiencing, modify those goals?  Did you look at your world and how the world outside you is impacting your world, and modify what you expected to accomplish as a harper this year? 

    Gosh, I sure hope so!  Because this has been a doozy of a year!  We certainly didn’t see it coming.  And all of us have been impacted in one way or another (or by a number of ways, in quick succession, in a seemingly coordinated attack!).  And we have all had varying levels of success with coping, adapting, and overcoming everything. 

    I’d like to encourage you to revisit the things you set out to do for yourself.  Then do the following:

    1. Bring out a big marker (or eraser) and (at least mentally) cross off those things that just are not going to serve you in the six months or so we have remaining in 2020.
    2. Sift through your goals and keep the ones that still make sense…and are do-able.
    3. Capture, but hold for later, those that are still important to you but are not currently realistic – especially since we don’t know when things will revert to what we were expecting.   And
    4. Boldly, ceremoniously and with a great deal of fanfare, toss the ones that just are not serving you!  (yes, you can do that!).

    There’s one more thing you need to do and that is to note all the things you have done so far this year.  Especially the ones you never even imaged!  Things that come to mind:

    • Learning to play to your computer
    • Learning to not play for other people (!)
    • Learning where to look so you look like you’re looking at the other person (and dealing with not being able to see them so that you look like you can).
    • Figuring out new software to have lessons or harp circles or play dates
    • Learning that you really do have to wait for the other person to finish – and wait your turn.
    • Learning to deal with the fatigue which seems to be unique to spending all day on your computer, even if previously you thought you spent all day on your computer!
    • Coping in the face of unending uncertainty (and helping others do the same)

    So, on balance, you’re probably having a good and productive year.  Let’s make sure your goals match and that you’re taking credit for what you have accomplished so far.  I’m sure there are even more things you have learned – both related and unrelated to playing the harp – share them in the comments.

     

  • Spruce up your practice space – 8 ways

    We’ve been inside a lot already with winter, the spring that tried hard to not come and then the virus running roughshod over the earth.  And now it’s the height of summer and many of us are doing our best to stay in the air conditioning!

    All that being inside may lead to ennui.  And that ennui may lead to your practice space needing a little sprucing.  Do you find that you’re not drawn to your practice space?  Are you just not sitting down to practice as much as you’d like?

    Spruce up your spaceYou might need to spruce up your practice space!  Why might you want to do this?  Well, here are four reasons – I’m sure there are more, but ones that come to mind are:

    • It’s your space so it should reflect you!
    • You’re a creative and being creative in various ways boosts all your creativity.
    • You want to want to spend time your space so it should be attractive!
    • You want your space to meet your needs so you can actually use it.

    How might you go about this sprucing?  Well, you can go all out and paint, get new flooring, and completely redecorate.  But that’s a big project!  You might need a little less than that – how about contenting yourself with a little reorganizing?  What might that include?  Here are eight things you might try:

    1. Rearrange the furniture.  You might be surprised how much simply moving your harp (even just turning it around) could change how you use your space.  Yes, it could be that simple!
    2. Does your sheet music storage make it easy to use?  I have come up with a way to organize individual tunes – I have them in dividers, alphabetical by the title I think of the tune by.  And yes, that means that some tunes are filed by their title in English and others are sorted by their Gaelic title…but it doesn’t matter….as long as I can find what I’m looking for.  There is no “optimal” organization – only a system that will work for you.  My books are a hopeless mess – I haven’t figured that one out yet!
    3. Do you have enough lighting?  I added a lamp which surprisingly made a huge difference in my already-brightly-lit room.
    4. Is your space neat enough?  That is, neat enough for you – it only has to work for you.  But make sure it actually is neat enough for you…or develop a way to keep it to the level that allows you to be comfortable (or you’ll avoid the space and not play as much as you’d like).  If you have to, re-home tchotchkes, get organizational stuff (boxes? files? bins? baskets? Whatever you will use), add (or remove) furniture) so that you have a level of neat you can live with.
    5. Are your tools close to hand?  You know there are things you need frequently – tuning wrench, tuner, pencils, etc. – are they were you can easily reach them, or do you need a place to put them?
    6. Does your space serve your learning process? Do you have a place to put things you’re going to learn, are learning, have learned, are polishing, are refreshing?  One that helps you keep those sorted and in work?  I’ve suggested a couple of options – from file folders to recipe cards – just something that helps you “move” tunes through their development and into your repertoire.
    7. You want to spend time there so make sure you like it – do you have art you like to look at? A comfy chair if you have room? (hey, you need to listen to music too!).  Do you have a plant?  Make sure you are enjoying the aesthetic you set!
    8. Does your space serve more than one function?  Do you have the luxury of a harp room or do you have a harp corner?  Either way, make sure you organize in a way that not only assures you have a place to play but also protects the harp when you’re not playing.  For instance, if your guest bedroom is also your harp room, what do you do with your harp when you have company?

    Remember, your space has to work for you – in your life and your practice.  There is no “right” answer – only the answer that allows you to practice and to enjoy your harp.  And don’t shy away from making changes if you find that you “just don’t feel like being there” or you find that you go into your space, but you don’t stay long.  That just lets you know you might need make some changes!

    Spruce up your practice space so you actually practice!  What will you do for your space?