Practicing Harp Happiness

• Starting a Piece? Don't Take It From the Top - PHH 232

  So you decided to learn a new piece for the holidays - good for you! When I think of all the years I've been playing the harp, it's a little amazing that I still feel a little thrill when I pick up a new piece of music to learn, and I'm sure you feel the same. Starting a new piece is a voyage of discovery with the promise of adventure, new notes to conquer, a few challenges to meet along the way, and finally, a beautiful piece of music we can play. Of course, the voyage is often a little rougher than we anticipate. It can take longer than we thought and can be more discouraging. We can't always eliminate the difficulties or estimate exactly how long it will take us to learn a piece. However, we can give ourselves the biggest advantage we can by getting the strongest and fastest start we can to the piece. One of my frustrations with the way harp learning is often taught is that it teaches the student to be slow. Certainly playing slowly and learning carefully are necessary to developing good habits, to creating and maintaining a strong technique and to playing with relaxation and fluidity. But slow playing doesn't have to be the first step in learning a new piece; in fact, it really shouldn't be. It may be the way you learned to start new pieces when you were a harp newbie, but you have become a more experienced harpist since then. If you're still learning with the same processes, it's time for an update. So today, I'm going to give you a faster system for starting a piece. It works for any harpist at any level, and even if you've already started your piece, you can put this system in play now and you'll cut out days or maybe weeks of your learning curve. But don't think this is all about playing faster. It's about starting with the music, so you can end up playing the music, instead of just practicing it. Links to things I think you might be interested in that were mentioned in the podcast episode: Watch for our Getaway Retreat registration flash sale! Need help with your six week practice plan? Work with Anne! Harpmastery.com Get involved in the show! Send your questions and suggestions for future podcast episodes to me at [email protected] Looking for a transcript for this episode? Did you know that if you subscribe to this podcast on Apple Podcasts you will have access to their transcripts of each episode? LINKS NOT WORKING FOR YOU? FInd all the show resources here: https://www.harpmastery.com/blog/Episode-232

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• Your Simple Six Week Holiday Music Readiness Plan - PHH 231

  It's nearly the end of October and already my daily practice is revolving around what I will need to play this holiday season. Yours might be too. The smart harpist knows that this is the time to plan your practice carefully so that you don't have to cram practice time into an already overloaded holiday schedule. If we feel prepared to play going into the holiday rush, it makes everything about the holidays more fun. So now is the time to plan. We have about six weeks from now until the end of November. In my own planning I usually use our Thanksgiving as my target date to have my music ready. If you're not up to speed on American holidays, our Thanksgiving is the fourth Thursday in November, so date-wise, it's a movable feast, but as it marks the kickoff for our holiday rush, it's a great target date for music readiness. Today, I want to share what I think is the easiest and most realistic schedule for making sure whatever music you have to play this December will be ready. I start by looking at the three most critical decisions: what "ready" means (and believe me, it's different for each piece, each player and each performance), how much practice time you have and how to divide that time among everything you want to practice and play. Once you have made those decisions, it's about making a realistic and flexible schedule that allows you to get your music ready without the stress and lets you feel confident that you are ready to play your best. Links to things I think you might be interested in that were mentioned in the podcast episode: Arpeggios with E.A.S.E. Course - last chance to get in! Join the Community in the Hub through the Harp Mastery® app. Harpmastery.com Get involved in the show! Send your questions and suggestions for future podcast episodes to me at [email protected] Looking for a transcript for this episode? Did you know that if you subscribe to this podcast on Apple Podcasts you will have access to their transcripts of each episode? LINKS NOT WORKING FOR YOU? FInd all the show resources here: https://www.harpmastery.com/blog/Episode-231

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• Here's Why You Should Do It My Way: A Teacher's Response - PHH 230

  I once had a student say this to me: "But it doesn't work when I do it that way." We were trying to fix a passage in a piece she was learning. When she played the passage for me, there was an obvious stumble spot, and I had a definite idea about what was wrong and how to fix it. But after a week of trying to implement my suggestion, she came back to me, saying that her old way, even though it wasn't really working, worked better than mine and so she was sticking with her way. Please understand that the student didn't doubt the solution I was offering. She had tried it, just as I had suggested. She had confidence in my ability to help her surmount this difficulty. The frustration for her was not just that the solution I offered didn't work; it was that her old way was actually better for her, at least at that moment. At that point in our lesson, I could have responded with the all-time favorite response of music teachers everywhere - you have to give it some time. That would certainly have been a correct response in that it was true, but that doesn't mean it would have been very helpful. But if I didn't want to trot out that old standby answer, I had to provide a different one. It was clear to me what she needed to know. She needed to know why. This was years ago. I hadn't published all the resources that I have now. I didn't have the teaching experience that I have garnered in the years since then. But even back then, I was a good teacher, one who not only knew the right way to do things, but was skilled at seeing the underlying problem that a student needed to address. What I needed to learn, though, was how communicate my methodology, not a technique method necessarily, but how I knew my way of solving the problem would be better in the long run. When "just trust me on this," or "because I said so" aren't good enough answers, the better response lies in the reason, the explanation, and that requires a teacher to dig deeply into her own expertise. After all, it's likely been a long while since we teachers asked for those explanations ourselves. We're at a point where we simply know, and that's good for us, but less helpful for our students. So today, I'm hoping to share with you the reasoning behind some of those potential "because this is the way it works" answers. Whether you're a student or a teacher, or just a harpist who has an inquiring mind, I'm sure at least one of these will click for you. Links to things I think you might be interested in that were mentioned in the podcast episode: Sign up for the It's Not Working Webinar Join the Arpeggios with E.A.S.E. Quick Study Course Harpmastery.com Get involved in the show! Send your questions and suggestions for future podcast episodes to me at [email protected] Looking for a transcript for this episode? Did you know that if you subscribe to this podcast on Apple Podcasts you will have access to their transcripts of each episode? LINKS NOT WORKING FOR YOU? FInd all the show resources here: https://www.harpmastery.com/blog/Episode-230

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• The 3 Things All Harpists Need to Do Well - PHH 229

  If I were to ask you what you think the most important skills are for any harpist, what would you say? There are lots of obvious choices. You might include technical skills, like scales or arpeggios or putting hands together. You could mention skills like note reading, or sight reading, or rhythm skills or knowing basic music theory. What about working with a metronome or playing expressively? All of these are important, and none of them is particularly easy. While all of these are crucial, I consider them all just part of playing the harp. Every harpist develops these skills continually, every day, over a lifetime of playing. Some of them come more naturally than others, but we become more skillful in all of them over time. It's also a fact that neglecting one of these essential elements - and my list was by no means a complete one - will limit our playing at some time in some way. Today, though, I want us to think about a different category of skills, skills that are less about actually playing the harp and more about the mindset we bring to our playing. Our ideas and attitudes play a big part in the pace of our progress, the ease with which we practice and play, and the satisfaction and fulfillment we experience along the way. I've seen too many harpists struggle in their playing, simply because no one ever told them how musical growth really happens, or shared with them the specific instructions that will enable them to make the progress they want, to play the music they want. These aren't musical instructions; they are mindset instructions. They relate to our playing, but they also guide the way we work, how we spend our time at the harp. So while they aren't "do this, don't do that" directions, they are "put this on a sticky note on your music stand" reminders, and I've picked three big ones to talk about with you today. So get out your sticky notes, and let's get going. Links to things I think you might be interested in that were mentioned in the podcast episode: Join the Arpeggios with E.A.S.E. Quick Study Course. Get connected! Join the My Harp Mastery community. Harpmastery.com Get involved in the show! Send your questions and suggestions for future podcast episodes to me at [email protected] Looking for a transcript for this episode? Did you know that if you subscribe to this podcast on Apple Podcasts you will have access to their transcripts of each episode? LINKS NOT WORKING FOR YOU? FInd all the show resources here: https://www.harpmastery.com/blog/Episode-229

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• The Real Reason to Memorize Your Music - PHH 228

  Do you have to memorize your music? Of course not. How's that for an easy answer? Okay, the podcast is over and we can call it a day. But of course, the answer isn't that simple. No, you don't have to memorize your music, but the fact that you're asking the question tells me that you're almost certainly thinking about memorization the wrong way, or at least very differently from how I have learned to think of it. What I want to help you understand today is the role that memorization can play in your musical growth, how it can make you a better musician, how it can help you learn music faster, not necessarily because you are memorizing, but because the act of memorizing brings your focus to the music in a different way. But not if you're trying to memorize the way you may have when you were young. The kind of effortless assimilation that came so easily to me when I was younger, and perhaps to you too, doesn't happen with my aging brain. I still memorize, but I use a process that is more conscious, less automatic, and I can tell you that the conscious process is easier, more secure and more interesting. When I memorize this way, I know I know my music. That's practically confidence in a bottle. What I'm going to help you understand today is the true value of memorization, whether or not you ever play without your music, and how you can develop your powers of memorization, even if you can't remember where you left your glasses. Memorization isn't about remembering. It's about learning and knowing, done purposefully, and it's not as hard or as scary as you may think. If you're already a confident memorizer, then that idea won't be new to you, but keep listening, because there will be a few important ideas and strategies in this episode that will help you too. Links to things I think you might be interested in that were mentioned in the podcast episode: Join the Arpeggios with E.A.S.E Quick Study Course. Want more memorization tips? Check out podcast episode 158, Memorization Basics: How to Make It Stick Harpmastery.com Get involved in the show! Send your questions and suggestions for future podcast episodes to me at [email protected] Looking for a transcript for this episode? Did you know that if you subscribe to this podcast on Apple Podcasts you will have access to their transcripts of each episode? LINKS NOT WORKING FOR YOU? FInd all the show resources here: https://www.harpmastery.com/blog/Episode-228

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