What We Can Learn from Drummers

Posted on May 23, 2022 by Jen

People often ask if we are angels. That makes it easy to forget that on an orchestra chart the harp is part of the percussion section. As we tune our strings, we shouldn’t forget where we come from! We can learn a lot from other percussionists. Here are some things we can learn from drummers:

Precision is important – Drumming is often presented as fairly straightforwardly built on a series of “rudiments”. And that means exactly what it sounds like – they have building blocks and they build everything from them. To make those building blocks work together, precision is important. How many rudiments do we have? Do you think of them as precision pieces that can be fit together to make good music? That precise use of unambiguous elements is important, and you should mean it when selecting a specific element that is fit for its purpose. Put plainly – think ahead, plan and go with purpose. Don’t just shove some available finger onto a string, leap for that next note, and hope you got it right. Build a way ahead from your fundamentals!

Rhythm underlies everything – pay attention. There is a reason we count. I get it, it’s hard to count (whine). And there’s all that other stuff to do at the same time (like remembering and playing the right notes and all). And yet, there’s an exquisite sweet spot that only becomes apparent from counting accurately and really getting the rhythm that we all should be reaching for. This is a fundamental that we need to hone rather than dampen. Yes, it’s delicious to pretend that playing the harp is all running through meadows with butterflies, but… it’s not. When you are learning a new genre or idiom, pay close attention to the rhythms so you can match them to achieve the music you are pursuing.

Technical work lets you be you – when you have a strong foundation, you can do amazing things. Learn your fundamentals. Make sure you do all of the work, not just the things you like. Do the rhythm work, fingering work, phrasing work. Practice your dynamics, tempos, and transitions. There are loads of exercise books available to help you learn these things. I will tell you though, that you have to dig those books out because this stuff won’t come looking for you. Remember too, that as fundamental elements, some of that stuff will make you cry if you don’t take it one bite at a time! But once you’ve mastered the technical elements, you can build your own castles your own way for your own use. Once you have them licked, they’re yours! How can you break the rules if you don’t know them?

Being uncomfortable is not ok – there aren’t many instruments bigger than the harp, but the drum set is one that might be even more challenging to move around. Smart drummers reposition their instruments so they can play based on how they sit. NEVER form yourself to fit your harp. Move the harp to accommodate you. Remember, harps are cheap(er than back surgery!!!). Yes the harp is big but, it’s not so big that you shouldn’t make it work for you.

To be better you need to relax – tension doesn’t make anything better (except maybe scary movies… they are better with increased tension). But playing doesn’t improve with increased tension. Being tense can make you late – or early, and can make your chords squeak, your octaves buzz, and your melody notes fade away. R-e-l-a-x. B-r-e-a-t-h-e. And, often, slow down! Being tight makes it harder to play in control. And it certainly makes it harder to enjoy playing. Perhaps most importantly, continuing to play with tension might lead to injury. To note if you are tense, you have to pay attention to yourself (yes, while you’re also paying attention to everything else – no one said it was easy!). If you are tense – explore why. Are you concerned you’re not going to make it in time (playing too fast)? Or have you not yet fully learned the tune? Maybe you’re not breathing? Once you know why you’re tense, you can work it right out! Breathe, relax – you’ll get there in good time.

There is so much to learn from our fellow percussionists. If you met a drummer today, what would you ask them that might help make you a better harper? Let me know in the comments!

Which teacher do you need?

Posted on April 18, 2022 by Jen

In a previous episode we talked about what lessons are for (and what they’re not for) and a comment was made about learning going on forever. How true!

But you have to start somewhere. And we all have teachers. Even teachers have teachers! The question really is – which teacher do you need? Or perhaps more appropriately, which teacher do you need now?

Because we need different teachers for different stages of our harp life. These different teachers might all be housed in a single body, or you may move from one teacher to another. Or you might make a loop and eventually have the privilege of teaching your teacher! One important thing we’ve learned over the last two years is that we’re not constrained by geography any longer (which is excellent!) with teachers available online, you can learn a great deal. *

In your harp infancy, you need a Mother. A teacher who works with you to learn the things you need to know to be a competent harper without hurting yourself. This teacher gives you a foundation from which you can grow. You learn how to care for your harp, how to interact with it, and start to build a repertoire. Perhaps most importantly, the teacher initiates you into the tips and tricks that make playing easier (technique) and helps shape you into a musician. I think this is the most important thing people who are self-taught miss out on – these not so obvious things that make playing easier (Don’t worry self-taught people! You can get there too – read on!).

As you continue, you grow and your needs change. Once you’ve learned to play make sounds come out accurately, now you need a Professor. You are ready to learn the why for the things you do. It’s important for you to understand how your initial technique underpins more advanced skills, how all the elements are related, and to point out areas for focus to nudge your progress forward. And to corral you when you (inevitably) move backward a little – to help form you into a musician.

Then you are ready for a Coach. ** This shift is important because this is where you shoulder most of the burden of steering your own boat. Rather than sitting like a baby bird, mouth open waiting to be fed, you know enough to ask yourself questions – what is still weak? What is becoming your “signature”? What music do you want to learn? What music do you need to learn to fill in your repertoire? As the student, you push the envelope while your teacher helps you to structure your questions, honestly evaluate your feedback, constructively apply what you learn, provides suggestions for your continued growth, and helps you discover answers.

Finally, the Peer. This teacher is someone with whom you share the joy of playing – trading tunes, making suggestions (as needed), encouraging trying new things, and energizing you to keep on growing. This is a less formal teaching relationship and reciprocal. Don’t be fooled – you are still learning (perhaps more than ever before), still growing, as a musician.

You might move back and forth along these lines – as needed. And you might find all these in a single body. You might be in a regular relationship with one person, or you might go to all the workshops you can manage to get different perspectives and approaches.

Now for the tricky part – which do you need now? A good teacher will provide a bit of each of these, as needed, and in varied measures as you grow. Of course, early on, you will need more mothering. But don’t be fooled, I have more than one student who has come for lessons because, although they are advanced harpers, they recognized that they needed to go back to shape up their technique. And frankly, I’m grateful, because that helps keep me focused on examining my own!

It is also easy to slip into a crack – you might “outgrow” a teacher and decide you’re good on your own. And you probably are for a bit, but if you’re not actively teaching yourself (by doing all the things we expect the professor or coach to add to your learning), then you may lose ground, lose motivation, lose excitement. That would be sad. But it’s easily fixed by finding another teacher.

Remember that, like hairdressers, teachers understand that sometimes it’s not a good fit, or something has changed and you’re ready to move on. And like a good hairdresser, a good teacher will be sad to see you go, but wave you a cheery fare-thee-well and look forward to seeing you at a harp event soon!

Do you have a teacher for where you are now? Which teacher is the right fit for you? Are you in between? Let me know in the comments!

* I will stick a caveat in here – if you are geographically constrained and don’t live close enough to have in person lessons, be sure that your online option is a good teacher. One downside to everyone having an internet connection is that anyone can say they are a teacher – and as a beginner, you’d be at their mercy. Caveat emptor. In addition, if you are taking lessons online (and any competent teacher will tell you this…in fact, if they don’t, reconsider their competence) – go to workshops to work with other teachers in person whenever humanly possible. There are amazing options like the Ohio Scottish Arts School, Somerset Folk Harp Festival, the Harp Gathering (which I’ve not participated in but have heard great things about), Feis Seattle (again, I haven’t been to this, but I know a guy), Catskills Irish Arts Week (again, haven’t been but I hear good things), or individual workshops anywhere near you – and you will learn incredible things, and not just about playing the harp! Go! This isn’t an exhaustive list, just a sampling, just go!

** The Coach refers to an approach to teaching and isn’t necessarily someone who is presenting as a coach. It’s about the approach not the title.

When do you stop taking lessons?

Posted on March 28, 2022 by Jen

The other day, someone asked me when do you stop taking lessons? Sounds like an easy enough question. If only.

There are a lot of reasons to stop taking lessons – money, time, fit with the teacher, and more. Money I can’t do anything about for you, so we’ll just glide past that.

First, let’s get time off the table and let’s separate time available and time duration. We have to assume that you have time available – both for lessons and for practicing between lessons. As for time duration, you can’t really expect to set a timetable. If you’ve been playing the harp any length of time, then you already know that learning the harp is anything but a linear process. And that some things feel easy while others feel like insurmountable obstacles. If you haven’t been at it for long, you might still think that there’s an end – a point at which you’ll have nothing left to learn (quick hint – there is no end). Those of us who have had more experience already know – you will always have something more to learn!

OMG – is she saying that I’ll be taking weekly lessons forever?! No, that’s not what I’m saying. That’s not the right question.

The better question is:

What are lessons for?

There are at least four reasons for lessons:

Lessons can give you a foundation. The harp isn’t easy to play. It requires finesse and skill to play well. A teacher in regular lessons can help you build the foundations you can grow from so that you can (eventually) play the music you are moving toward.

Lessons can help to protect you – Leon Fleischer called musicians “athletes of the small muscles” and in lessons you’ll typically learn good technique which can help protect you from injury.

Lessons can teach you a framework – We don’t make music in a vacuum and lessons can help you build your own framework from which you can develop your musicality and musicianship.

Lessons can help you learn to teach yourself – I’m going to let you in on a dirty little secret – teachers don’t want to have you in lessons forever! (for a lot of reasons) But no teacher will want to “graduate” you until you have learned how to teach yourself.

A teacher can use the time in lessons to help you navigate the pratfalls of playing, make clear those things that are opaque, and illuminate the path so you make progress faster.

Of course, the flip side is just as important. So another good question is:

What are lessons not for?

There are at least four things lessons aren’t for:

Lessons are not to keep you motivated to keep playing. In the end, music is a solo pursuit. Even if you’re in a group, ensemble, band, or orchestra, there’s only you playing the harp. Only you can motivate you to play and while lessons might contribute to your motivation, they will not act as your sole motivation.

Lessons are not to provide you with accountability. Relatedly, if you only practice because you’re afraid to look bad at a lesson, you haven’t solidified your self-accountability. Lessons won’t change that.

Lessons are not to keep feeding you music. While we expect child students to need a lot of guidance on music, adult students would have increasingly greater latitude in music selection – which would include selecting the music you want to move toward. But you need to figure out what that is for you.

Lessons are not to prevent you from being a responsible musician. Lessons are not a substitute for thinking for yourself (ref earlier comment about teachers wanting to help you learn to teach yourself). This goes beyond selecting music and includes analyzing the music, self-critiquing (not self-criticizing!) your playing and developing your repertoire.

What other reasons are there to take lessons? And to not take lessons? Let me know what you think in the comments!

It’s time to plan – Summer Camp!

Posted on March 14, 2022 by Jen

I know, I know, it’s only mid-March and we’ve just turned the clocks back so it’s still dark through breakfast! But…

SUMMER IS COMING! Time for Summer Camp!

I know it seems like summer is really far away. But really, summer starts in just 99 days (when I wrote this, so even fewer by the time you read it!). So, if we want to be ready, we should start planning now.

There are a lot of summer programs available. You can tailor your planning to your type of playing. I have some real favorites and I’d like to encourage you to join me at all or some of them!! These are all adult friendly, beginner friendly, and well, just friendly! Here’s a chronological list:

The 41st Edinburgh International Harp Festival, 8 – 11 April 2022. Ok, not strictly summer, but… This year has a hybrid program so you can participate in classes and workshops, attend concerts all from the comfort of your home computer or you can be there in person! This is very exciting because so many of us have wanted to go and have now had our appetites whetted with two years online but with travel still a bit snarled, this is a great option for those of us who don’t live in the UK. There are a number of exciting presenters and the concerts are fab – even if you are watching on your computer. The events are available online during the Festival and on demand afterward. The price is very reasonable – and a la carte! All the info is available at harpfestival.co.uk

Ohio Scottish Arts School, Saturday, June 25 – Friday, July 1, 2022. Aaahhhhh – to me, OSAS is the quintessential Harp Summer Camp! This year OSAS is breaking in a new venue – with Air Conditioning!! Woohoo! An entire week of great in-person instruction, wonderful tunes, amazing people, and Scottish music coming out your pores! I liked Scottish music before I came the first time, but I LOVED it by the end of my first week. I think the best sales pitch for OSAS is the number of students who have come year after year after year – both adults and kids (and adults who started as kids!). This year’s instructors are Corrina Hewat, Sharon Knowles, Seumas Gagne, and me. Registration has started and will close when the class fills so don’t wait. For those of you who have come in the past (or specifically haven’t come) – I’ll highlight – AirCon! All the details at ohioscottishartsschool.com

Somerset Harp Festival 21 – 24 July (in person and 1 July – 31 October online). Somerset is possibly the most flexible event I’ve seen – even in this new world of working! There are in person events, online events and subsequent events that will occur throughout the open online period! There are options to fit every schedule whether you can travel or not. And there are still the additional events like Harpers’ Escape and special add-on workshops. Be sure to read the registration page and sign up for the best fit for you. I’m excited to be teaching two workshops this summer in person and I hope you’ll come see me! All you need to know is here: somersetharpfest.com

There are loads of other summer programs as well. I can’t list them all here. Many are pedal-y-er and oriented to younger harp players (by which I mean kids). Most are listed in the Harp Column with info available here: harpcolumn.com/summer-harp-camp-directory

If you have never come to a harp summer camp, you have missed out! I can’t tell you how much you will learn, but you’ll definitely learn a load of great music, applied theory, excellent arrangements, and what a great community the harp world is. If you are hesitant, give yourself a little push and give it a try. I think you’ll be surprised – and delighted!

Are you going to a harp camp this summer? Which one(s)? What made you choose it? What did I leave out? Let me know in the comments!

Do You Count?

Posted on September 13, 2021 by Jen

I often think about tunes in “layers”. All the layers are important, but some are easier to master than others. The layers include the notes, the fingering, the phrases. And then there’s the counting. There are loads of elements that define the music, but time might be the most challenging to really get learned and honed – to get right.

When you get to brass tacks, music is really a sequence of sounds and not-sounds (rests) over time. And so, to be true to the melody, share the message, and communicate with our listeners, we have to keep the count.

Sometimes, as harp players, we become inured to the silence – we get so little of it with our wonderful resonant instruments. Harps love to keep on playing and that lovely sound “hanging around” may make us lazy – it may feel like it will be easy to get away with not counting. But that is an illusion.

Counting can be a challenge when you first begin to learn a tune. There is so much to learn and all of it important. We have to keep the important stuff in mind – actively use it. Time is challenging but it can be so rewarding! It will help your audience follow your message, it will make playing with other musicians a greater joy, and it will help ensure your tune is what the original composer meant it to be.

Previously, I have said that I don’t advocate rigid adherence to the beat. That wasn’t really accurate. Rather, it is essential to know that timing of the piece and work within that. With poignant airs you might bend the time to build the expression, but that works best by manipulating the times. Laments need to be sorrowful, but it should never be lamentable! But the difference will be in how you deal with the time.

It is essential that you learn to count. Ok, I know you can already count. You have to learn to count while you’re playing…and keep counting, maintaining your counting throughout your playing. Only when you have mastered this tool of communication can you begin to modify its application as appropriate to tell your story. I know counting can be hard – it’s one more thing to do while you’re also trying to remember what notes come next, which fingers to use, that you need to breathe, etc. Pesky layers!

So how do you add counting to that task? Carefully.

First, start slowly. This really is another task you will have to perform while also doing all the other things you have learn. Counting is another thing you have to think about as you bring the tune together – make sure you go slowly enough that your brain can keep up!

Second, practice. Counting while you’re playing takes practice. You want to practice counting enough that it becomes automatic – no matter what you’re playing or where you are in learning it (just starting, polishing, anywhere in between!). One method I suggest is to include this in your practice away from the harp. An easy way to practice is while you’re walking or running. This gives you a physical beat to follow so you can work on counting.

Third, be consistent. You can’t practice counting the tune once and be done! Make practicing counting a regular part of your practice. If you really are not counting at all – start with simple tunes you already know. As it gets easier, move on to more challenging tunes and tunes you are learning. You will get better!

Finally, always be working on it. Once you can consistently and accurately count, start making things more complicated and related to other music. Remember to count to the smallest note value (e.g., the eighth notes if they’re present or 16ths – you will have to do some analysis). Use whatever counting device works for you – vocables, fruits and veg – whatever works!

Of course, there’s (always) more to the story, so send me your questions and share your insights in the comments. In the meantime, stand up for your music – make sure you count!

Color outside the lines?

Posted on August 2, 2021 by Jen

It’s all there in Black and White.

The treble lines, the bass lines.

Five lines of instructions (actually, 10 for us – plus ledger lines!). Play this note at this time…and all those other notes too, in order, as written.

So let it be written, so let it be done!

Except…wait a minute – last week we talked about the importance of asking questions…including my favorite – why? And a few weeks before that we talked about how sometimes meter and tempo get conflated and confused. So, this is sort of the same idea – We often make flawed assumptions about how we know what to play. And this week, we’ll talk about another flawed assumption that can make playing more difficult (and a way around it!)*.

Sometimes we mix up the register and the hand. This is especially easy to do because we are taught that way. And, to be honest, about 99.99999999999999999999999999999% of the time that is the right solution. But sometimes it’s just silly. Imagine if you were presented with this**:

Your experience, your practice and your efficiency all drive you to play all that mess in your left hand – even as the music tells your right hand to pack a bag and go on vacation! And you will likely tear yourself inside out trying to make it happen – possibly with the right hand sympathetically gripping the sound board tightly in terrorized support, hanging on like a terrified passenger on the back of a wobbly Harley.

Or what about this?

Same thing, only this time it’s the left-hand packing for a trip to the Bahamas!

Why do we do this? Well, because the ink said to, so we must.

It has always been thus.

But do we really? NO!!

Because while the ink tells you What and When –

it actually says n-o-t-h-i-n-g about How!

Read that again.

Of course, it’s easy to think like that –

Bass = Left hand and Treble = Right hand

And it’s easy to not think about what hand makes sense to be playing at that point. After all,

Melody = right hand and harmony = left hand

Sic semper tyrannis

But does it even make sense to do it that way?***

After all, you have one harp and all the sounds come from it. Harmony and melody – all from one source – so really, which hand you use doesn’t really matter.

Now, I’m not advocating that you throw away all that practice and tradition. Instead, I’m suggesting that when you are struggling to make some fingering work, try to work smarter rather than harder.

I’ll remind you: the staff tells you What and When but

not How!

There’s another benefit of thinking about “breaking” the arrangements differently – and that is that the more ways you can look at the music (divergently), the more you will see new ways to play it. You’ll also “discover” patterns that were previously hidden from you that can then be leveraged, and the more you will think creatively (yea divergent thinking!).

Remember that the ink is a guide, but you must make the journey!

Do you ever color outside the lines? What wonky passages have you struggled with and how did you overcome that? Let me know in the comments!

* Special thanks to Rachelle Morgan who asked this question in Ask a Harp Pro on Facebook!

** Unceremoniously pinched from Rachelle’s question but slightly modified

***I need to credit Sue Richards for teaching me to think this way. Otherwise, I’d still be fighting to make stupid stuff work out and playing slowly, unable to catch up.

Perfect – It was so much better at home

Posted on May 24, 2021 by Jen

As a teacher, one of the funniest things you hear in lessons is,

“It was so much better at home!”

It’s funny because we have all uttered those words as a student at some point. Of course, at this point in time, it’s especially funny because… we’re in zoom lessons – you ARE at home!

This does speak to an important point – it’s easy to be comfortable and low key about everything when you’re home, by yourself, doing your thing practicing or playing for yourself and it’s Perfect.

But it is completely different and more difficult when the situation changes and you’re in a lesson (or your family is actively listening, or you have a visitor who begs you to play for them, or the window is open and the neighbors might hear).

Back to the lesson – isn’t making mistakes in a lesson precisely the place you want to make an error? Why do we always fret when we make a mistake in a lesson?

We’re afraid our teacher will be unimpressed with our work effort for the week, or we’re embarrassed because we think all the other students were perfect.
We feel like we haven’t practiced as much as we should have and so we are unimpressed with our own work effort for the week.
We have set some arbitrary schedule for ourselves and we haven’t met it. As in, “I learned Katie Bairdie in a week, so I should only need a week to be able to play the harp solo from Lucia di Lammermoor!” Maybe that’s a bit unrealistic?
We didn’t set aside the time to practice and so we know we’re not as prepared as we would have preferred to have been for the lesson.

Does making mistakes in lessons matter? YES – but maybe not for the reason you think. Your teacher does not expect you to play perfectly (and if your teacher does expect you to play everything perfectly, you might want to find someone else to work with).

What do you learn from mistakes? LOADS

First, repeat after me – each “error” in a lesson is a learning opportunity…AND a teaching opportunity!

You learn where the music in your head is a little thin. When you’re practicing you get through it just fine but add just a smidgen of stress (now that you know your teacher is listening and your performance anxiety kicks in) and the veneer of “knowing it cold” may dissolve to “barely hanging on”. That helps highlight where you should focus as you continue to practice the music.
You get a different point of view. I used to have a student who always answered the question, “How did your exercises go this week?” with, “Perfect!”. Hmmm, maybe not so much. Sometimes you get a different perspective, or a calibration of your perspective. And that tweak to your perspective allows you to practice better and possibly to learn more.
You get feedback. It is frustrating when you keep hitting the wrong string or can’t preplace fast enough or just can’t remember the phrase. But your teacher will see all that from a different angle – and give you insight into what you are doing (and/or not doing) and what you might do get around the issue.
You get to learn from your teacher’s experience. One thing you can be sure of – your teacher has more experience than you do, both at playing well…and at making mistakes! The point of the lesson is not only to share that experience but to pass it down to you. It gives you a chance to learn about hard won gains so you can go on to make other, better errors!

Each time you make a mistake in your lesson, you have PERFECT opportunity to learn. In addition, you present a teaching opportunity for your teacher. And as you learn, what you can learn shapes and grows what you will be able to learn next. And frankly, as a teacher, I kinda live for that moment when it’s clear that you “got it”! I think all teachers feel that way. Some are exuberant about it, some are sotto about it, but the thrill of seeing that light bulb go on is central to teaching.

So, as you look forward to your next lesson, I challenge you to predict which mistake you might make, why you’ll make it, and what you think you will learn from it. And you know that Practice Journal I’m always going on about? Those are the sort of thing you might consider jotting down in there.

You stand on the shoulders of those who came before you so you can see over the wall, not so you can be on the top of the pile! What mistakes will you make in your next lesson? I’m looking forward to hearing about it – let me know!

Zoom! Bang!

Posted on April 26, 2021 by Jen

As a harper, I have been reading with interest the “sudden” spate of articles on the ills of working from home for over a year. As a Human Factors Psychologist and Systems Engineer, I am only surprised it took this long for the articles to hit.

Everyone who couldn’t get away from me has received lectures (from my professional perspective). I have related the importance of chair height and table height, arrangement of keyboard, monitor, mouse, lighting, and other elements of the workspace. I have hectored friends, neighbors, and people I don’t even know about drinking enough water and not drinking too much coffee; the importance of avoiding incessant snacking; building a schedule; getting some outdoor time; and keeping work-work and home-work separate (not trying to do household chores between meetings) – all things I know from my professional specialty and as a person who has worked from home for over 15 years.

But now, I’m going to direct all that energy at you … and suggest a way forward!

I know you’re used to me prattling on about injury at the harp, but one thing you might not have thought about is what our current altered reality has done to us. There are so many things we either did differently before or things we haven’t been able to do at all over the last year. That that time away can build the potential for losing focus and technique…all of which may result in injuries – at the harp or away from it.

Just this week I have learned of harpers who have sustained injuries away from the harp that are impacting their playing – ugh. One is a student who fell off a skateboard. Even if that wrist isn’t broken, it will need to heel. And that will be weeks away from the harp. Another was telling me about a big work project – at home, on a laptop doing work that would normally have been done at the office on a desktop – with its ergonomically designed desk and much bigger keyboard. So now we’re working on caring for the overuse injuries from typing in this new position – injuries to the same structures that are central to playing the harp.

As we have all languished at home, it has also been easy to allow our basic skills slide. If you don’t have in person lessons, your thumbs might fall, your shoulders might cave, your chin might jut, and your spine might crumple. In addition, so many of the cues teachers can pick up on from in-person lessons are missing or are flattened online. So, it is likely that there are elements of technique that are dissolving from your daily practice and are not highlighted in your lesson.

And that’s not good – ragged technique and poor posture are not just a challenge to overcome – they can be a gateway to injury.

So, what can you do? Have a zoom call……with yourself!

If you’re not familiar with zoom (zoom.us) it is a free application that allows you to have a video interaction with others. *

At the beginning of each day I do a zoom meeting with myself to verify my cameras are pointing in the right direction, that the lighting is good, and that everything is set up before my first student. As I’m teaching, I watch my student. That means that if I need to look at my harp, I would have to look away. But, I can see my harp on the screen which means I can still see both my student and my harp. After all, I want to be sure they are able to follow and understand what I’m doing or to verify that I need to do it again. One day while teaching, I noticed (and was really pleased with) my hand position (I know, silly things make me happy).

And that got me thinking about how on the screen I could see things I can’t see from “behind the harp”. Moreover, I could make small changes and see the effect right away.

You can do the same thing. How? You just have to host a meeting with yourself. Yup – host a meeting, but don’t invite anyone else! You have the full screen, you can see yourself clearly, and while you watch, you can make small adjustments. As you make these adjustments (move to the middle of the string? raise your arm just a tiny bit? create greater space between your thumb and fingers? actually preplace or use the fingering you worked out? the list could go on…) BANG! – you can immediately see the effect of each change.

And seeing can certainly be believing.

I often suggest that you video your practice so you can see what you’re doing…and what you’re not doing. It gives you a different perspective (and may make teacher comments mean more to you). I also always remind you of the big red delete button…because the point of the video is to learn, correct and go on, not to hold it for posterity. However, I also know that many of you still don’t do this. So this similar (but completely ephemeral) idea seemed like a good one. Watch yourself play but don’t record it. See what you’re doing (from the vantage point of your teacher) and make small adjustments until what you see matches what you’ve heard in all those lessons – high thumb, relax, close, place…breathe!

DO ALL THE THINGS! SEE ALL THE THINGS!

I also find that the meeting view is better – clearer and brighter – than on the video.

So, are you willing to zoom with yourself to help be bang on? If you do, let me know how it goes and what you learn. And if you’re not willing to try, I’d like to hear that too. I’m always looking for better ways to teach and I learn so much from your comments!

* And no, of course I’m not getting any compensation – but this is also not an endorsement. I have used zoom, skype, facetime, and messenger – as long as you have the function without actually having someone else on the line, it’ll work.

What Will You Do on Your Summer Staycation?

Posted on April 19, 2021 by Jen

With all this pandemic-ing going on and on and on, it’s easy to let planning for summer to fall out of your head. But that would be a mistake! While not everything will be happening this summer, there is a not-to-be-missed harp event that I would commend to you –

The Ohio Scottish Arts School will be online again this summer!

Now, you might think that it might not be as fulfilling as the in-person experience. You’d be wrong. Ask last year’s attendees – we did many of the same things we do when we’re in person. There were notable exceptions, but these were slightly ameliorated by being things we would have had to replace anyway.

Why would we need to replace things anyway? Because next year (fingers crossed) we will be in our new location at Baldwin Wallace University. We are very much looking forward to this change…and not just because it is air conditioned against those June-in-Ohio heatwaves! We will have to find new things to replace singing under the tree, wandering Gibson’s and the Ben Franklin, and going to the Bead Shop. And we will – we will have a new place to explore and enjoy!

But first – this summer.

This summer we have are so fortunate to have an amazing collection of teachers. Rachel Hair and Rachel Clemente will be with us again. And I’m so excited that we will also be joined by Sharon Knowles too! Oh, and me!

We are all excited about seeing everyone from near and far. We were so excited to have students from as far away as Europe but we can try to break that distance record! We’ll be like the Brady Bunch again with happy faces in small windows. And the tunes we’ll be teaching – Ace! (as we have learned to say from Rachel Hair). We will have teaching sessions and lecture sessions and fun sessions. There will also be opportunities to learn from the other arts (Pipes, Drums, Fiddles, and Dance). The evening activities will include the Instructor Concert as well as some new goodies the Thistle Family are cooking up. And – we will get to start each day as we traditionally have – with the piper!

If you’ve not been to OSAS, you have missed a treat! But you can fix that! OSAS is intended to provide students with comprehensive instruction in their chosen traditional art – Harp in our case. All the instructors in each art are nationally and internationally recognized. You will learn theory, skills and technique, and new material.

You do not need to be a significantly accomplished harper, but OSAS is not pitched to rank beginners – you should have some knowledge of harping. However, if you are comfortable learning and playing, come join us!

OSAS will be Monday, June 28 – Friday, July 2. Registration is now open – go to https://ohioscottishartsschool.com for all the details.

Please note that the class sizes are limited, and registration closes June 11^th. Don’t delay – get your spot! We were pretty full last summer. Have harp specific questions? Planning to be there this summer? Let me know you’re coming in the comments below.

Reading Reading Reading

Posted on February 22, 2021 by Jen

Last week we talked about music from paper. But for adults who don’t read yet, this can be intimidating. Reading does take practice. It always has. It’s just been a (long) while since you were at this same stage with letters. But if you think back to when you learned to read words, you will remember the big pictures of the letters over the board that showed you (constantly) what the letters looked like. Over time you learned to associate each shape with “its” sound. Then you learned how the shapes could be joined together and that you could link the sounds for the shapes and soon they were just like the words that came out of your mouth. And you learned the rules (and the exceptions!). You practiced every day. With time you got much better at it!

Let’s do a little math – if you practiced reading for 20 minutes every day at school when you first started reading, that means that you practiced about 60 hours just in the first-grade! That doesn’t count weekends. Most of us are significantly past first-grade, so if you did about 20 minutes of reading every day (granted, an estimation) you will have practiced reading nearly 500,000 hours by the time you eligible to retire! So, if you’re just learning to read music, you may still be at the stage of identifying shapes and linking them to their associate meaning. And if you get 60 hours of practice reading in the year, you will likely be at that first-grade proficiency. If you get more practice, you will become more proficient.

Keep in mind that each musical note has more information than each letter – you get pitch and rhythm and direction, so you might expect it to take more time to get easy with reading. And that’s ok – because it’s something you can add to your practice time!

If you’re struggling with your reading, here’s a suggestion. Find a piece of music (or use a Notespeller). Make a few copies so you can repeat the page – yup, we’re making “workbooks” just like we had in school. Start at the beginning and for each note:

Point to the note on the paper.
Say the name of the note out loud.
Point to the string on the harp – make sure you’re in the right octave!
Play the note.
Use all the tools/help you have (e.g., if you know the “tail” of the G-clef wraps around the G line, then start there and use your finger to move up or down the staff until your finger is on the right note. If you know the blue string is the F use your fingers to keep track of the distance to the note you’re pointing to on the paper.
Double check your work.
Move on to the next note.
Lather, rinse, repeat.

Because I’m parsimonious, you can do this “straight” (the way you would normally read the page) and then later, turn the page upside down – and make the staves whichever you like (treble or bass) and go through again (a whole new workbook page!).

One reason to do the same page multiple times is to just get more practice at the same level. You might remember that Dick and Jane ran up and down the street a lot. So, you can point to and play the G above middle C just as many times as Jane said, “Oh, look!” (or more)! And the more you do it, the better you’ll get at it. Another reason to do the same page again and again is to get more confident – the more you do it, the more comfortable you’ll be as you test and then incorporate those linkages.

Don’t be cowed by dense music either – when you’re learning to read, use music made for young readers – the notes are bigger and there are fewer of them so you can practice your reading more easily. Even if you’re a significantly experienced human, you might be very young in harp years and possibly even younger in music reading years! And just like word reading, as you get more practiced and confident you can work your way up to the “chapter book” types of music (densely populated with too many measures on each line and too many lines on a page!).

So, how about you? Do you practice your reading? Do you read as well as you’d like to? If not, what’s holding you back? Let me know!

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Tag Archives: Teaching and Learning