Tag Archives: Teaching and Learning

Summer’s a comin’

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There are so many things to do in the summer! And so many of them occur at the same time that you probably need to do a little calendar management, just so you can get to as many events as possible.

I’m excited to be thinking about all the fun things on offer this summer – especially the ones I’ll be participating in. I hope you’ll look this over and consider joining me for at least one of them!

  1. Harpa!

If you’re not already signed up, you don’t have much time – we start next week, 7 – 15 May. (OK, if you seriously want to go to this, please email me immediately, because, we’re already leaving!). If you can’t turn on that thin a dime (which would be almost everyone on the earth), you might want to start planning to come on the 2020 Harp the Highlands and Islands trip (more on that soon).

PS – watch my Facebook page and the Harpa FB page – I know we’ll post lots of fun photos while we’re in Scotland!

  1. Ohio Scottish Games

Stolen directly from the Games website: OSG will be held June 22, 2019 and there will be loads to see and do…but why would you when you’ll want to get there early and be at the Harp Competition all day long!?!?!

This games was established in 1977, and is presented by members of The Ohio Scottish American Cultural Society of Ohio, an organization dedicated to the preservation and promotion of their proud Scottish Heritage and ancestry. OSG highlights traditional dance, music and athletics of the ancient highland games.

And this year, Ohio is hosting the US National Scottish Harp Championship TM and I’m so excited to be one of the judges. If you’ve never been, it’s worth coming out – hear the train, meet new (to you) harpers. It’s a tradition! They also have all the other cool festival stuff like food, athletics, pipe bands, classic cars, and loads of vendors. But you won’t care if you miss that – because you’ll be at the Harp Competition! Go to https://www.ohioscottishgames.com/competitions for more details.

  1. Ohio Scottish Arts School

Once you’ve been dazzled by the competition (or delighted by your performance in the competition), you can head right over to OSAS. I’m so looking forward to teaching this summer. OSAS is celebrating 41 years of educating artists in the traditional music and dance of Scotland.

Again, shamelessly stolen from the website: The Scottish Harp classes will focus on basic harp technique for beginners and intermediates. repertoire at all levels, including tunes for competition sets, and Scottish style, including ornaments, lilt, and dance types. We will study Scottish dance music, airs, and songs, focusing on ornamentation, Scottish style, accompaniment, and learning by ear. Afternoons will include lectures, practice time, and playing in sessions. Classes will be available for beginners who have played for a few months, intermediates, and advanced players. And we’ll have a delightful Tea presented by Ringgold Harp Ensemble, a highlight!

I’m so excited to be teaching with the incomparable Sue Richards as well as the stunning and delightful Rachels – Rachel Hair and Rachel Clemente (an OSAS alum!).  There is probably no other place you can go to learn so much so quickly and s-t-i-l-l have a great time.

  1. Somerset Harp Festival

Somewhere on the Somerset website it says, “Play the Harp better” – and boy oh boy, will you! I am so pleased to have been invited to teach here and will be even more thrilled to teach with Donna Bennett.

Together Donna and I will deliver the Creativity Tools to Improve Practice & Performance workshop – and we’re building on some previous work teaching skills, tools, and techniques that bring the creativity secret to your music. We’ll show you how to use creativity tools and techniques to practice and play better, arrange more, compose, perform – however you let your creativity out! More Info

And I’ll be teaching a workshop we’ve entitled Sounding Scottish in which you will learn how to make your tunes sound more Scottish. I’m going to leverage all the stuff I’ve learned to date (especially while in Scotland!) to each specific elements and techniques to ensure your tunes sound Scottish. I’ll teach a tune (or two!) to learn and practice all the good juicy stuff that will highlight the tune’s authentic self. More Info

  1. Harp Quest

Harp Quest is a great opportunity to teach with my friend Kris Snyder in idyllic southern Pennsylvania.

We have moved from summer camp to pursuing our Harp Quest. And we are looking forward to this year’s journey! We have so much fun putting it together! As with any Quest, we each have a different journey as we seek to learn what our harp is there to teach us. Plan to join us for our 24th year and a new Journey with our harps – becoming what we’re meant to be.

This year’s Quest will be focused on Planning Ahead. As always, our Quest will remain easily accessible to harpers from anywhere and at any level. Our focus will be a short and intense experience that we will each take with us into the coming months and years – perhaps not fully appreciating what we have learned until much later. But secure in knowing that we will get there – each of us. And we’ll get there together!

The Quest will be August 16, 17, and 18, 2019 and we are looking forward to a very personalized time of sharing and learning. We will have fun, support one another, and work together to get as much from our lever harps as we can get! Because a quest is pretty intense, we will fill up fast, so be sure to get your reservation in.

So you can see that it’s going to be a busy summer – hope you’ll come spend some of it with me! Let me know what you’re planning to do this summer – in the comments below.

Summer Plans 4

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Cromarty Harp Village

So this week, we’re stretching to include summer all the way to the equinox!

And to include a slightly broader view of workshops.

I cannot recommend Cromarty Harp Village* highly enough!

Cromarty is in the Black Isle – yup, you read that right – it’s in Scotland (and where better to learn Scottish music?). It is a village on the Moray Firth and while the village is captivating and interesting, the Harp Village is even more compelling.

The Cromarty Harp Village will be held 22 & 23 September at The Old Brewery. This is a two-day workshop (and if you’re going to go all the way there, you might want to spend a little more time – you could organize to learn more or just sightsee!)

There is such a broad trove of talent – the instructors include innovative harpers Rachel Newton (www.rachelnewtonmusic.com) and Cheyenne Brown (www.cheyenneharp.com) along with the irrepressible Corrina Hewat (www.corrinahewat.com) all leading a special weekend of harp workshops and sessions. It will be a magical weekend of tunes, songs, accompaniment ideas and tips to recognize the distinctive gifts you bring to your instrument. And – there is a workshop for beginners taught by the wonderful Issie Pendlebury (www.isbelpendlebury.com). The workshops are very reasonably priced and out of towners can also organize accommodation (book early to be sure you get in – the Brewery is a lovely venue and that includes the accommodations!).

I think the best thing about Harp Village – beyond the great venue and the amazing instructors – has to be meeting and making friends with harp players I would never have met otherwise. I am so fortunate to have remained in contact with a few of my classmates which is not only fun but also so encouraging to know harp players from other countries but with shared experiences.

For more information and to register go to: http://www.cromartyartstrust.org.uk/the-harp-village.asp

* as before –this content (less commentary) has been unceremoniously lifted directly from the Cromarty Arts Trust Harp Village website.

It still feels so new! Life in Leonardtown

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I am very excited that I have a new(ish) studio space! I’m having a great time teaching Harp and Piano to a whole different group of people and having the opportunity to be active in Southern Maryland again.

I’ve been kitting out the new space little by little. First it was carting the harps from Virginia (or borrowing…or both) and working from a delightful electronic keyboard. But time has been passing and I had gotten a piano specifically for the studio space (all 88 keys and everything!) as well as the keyboard. Having both really opens up some possibilities – so we’ll be able to do some interesting stuff as we progress.

Southern Maryland harp harpist lessons LeonardtownBut this weekend I got the icing for the cake – a new harp (ok, new to me – but that’s excellent because someone else has done all the hard work of breaking it in!). So now the studio harps are a Dusty Strings Crescendo 32 in Walnut and a Dusty Strings FH26, also Walnut. It sounds so smooth and mellow when we’re playing!

Of course, the unexplored space is between the harps and the pianos – with the electronics going, maybe we’ll do some overdubbing and see what kind of musical mayhem we can make – but that’ll come later, if there’s interest.

The studio is in Leonardtown, with its great small-town vibe and eclectic shops – and we’re so near the river we can look right out the window if we need inspiration! I’m delighted to have been invited to use this space at Coaching for the Voyage – what a great group of people to get to spend “work” days with! We are always looking for interesting potential collaboration spaces and I know something creative will come out of this – there’s a purpose for every opportunity! And being in Leonardtown – a recognized Arts and Entertainment District – there will be plenty of fun to share both at First Fridays soon to come and other events we haven’t even thought of!

Until then, lesson times are available and I’d love to work with you. I’m also pleased to be offering coaching as well. Coaching is for those who are relatively proficient at the instrument and don’t need or want regular lessons, but on occasion would like to “tune up” technique. I’m also offering consulting for those who are looking to stretch and flex their repertoire and would like feedback on presentation, composition or arranging. If you’re looking for a teacher in Southern Maryland leave me a comment and let me know – and I’ll look forward to meeting you!

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas –

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It’s barely begun to cool down, the days have hardly gotten any shorter and the trees haven’t really begun to show their colors. It’s October! But it is also definitely time to start preparing for Christmas! From parties to church services, from fundraisers to celebrations, ‘tis the season to be asked to bring a little joy to people by playing for Christmas. Will you be ready? Here are 8 things you can do to be prepared this season:

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  • Start now – Christmas is right around the corner, but the holiday season is even closer. Holiday decorations had appeared in big-box retailers before Labor Day and the Christmas events will start after Thanksgiving if not before so you need to start now to be ready.
  • Make a preparation checklist – write down those things you need to do to be prepared (some of the items in this post might be helpful for that). Use your checklist to help yourself prepare.
  • Budget your time – be sure to manage your time effectively – refreshing tunes you’ve learned before, learning new material, whatever you need to spend your time on – arrange to have that time available.
  • Select your tunes – know what you are preparing for and use that information to generate a solid set of tunes (and specific tune lists).
  • Schedule practice – not kidding. The holidays are notorious for days filled up beyond reason, earlier than expected, and with way too much to do. Be sure to schedule your practice time in – or you won’t get any!
  • Use your practice time wisely – because your practice time will be at a premium, be sure you plan for that time so you can get the most out of every moment. No shillyshallying at the harp, no unfocused playing through – actually practice when you’re practicing.
  • Make notes for next year – some of your preparation will be very good, some will be no help whatsoever. Make notes to yourself for next year so have even better preparation in the future.
  • Enjoy yourself – the preparation is challenging, and the added stress of performing may get to you, but be sure to enjoy yourself. And also be sure to acknowledge any improvement in your performance, the level of difficulty of the music, the speed of refreshing tunes you had learnedin previous years – all those positive indicators that arise from your preparation.

Christmas comes but once a year – fortunately, it stays for a while and provides you a great opportunity to prepare and to play for family, friends, and customers.