Practicing Harp Happiness

Playing music is hard. Trying to evaluate how well you are playing it is even harder, much harder. 
If this were a sport, a game like baseball, our efforts in relation to those of the opposing team would be reflected in the score. In an individual sport like golf, your score is a marker of your performance against the challenge of the course, the weather and any number of other factors. In an artistic endeavor, such as art or music or dance, there isn't an objective numerical scale to score the outcome. I think that's why I am always ambivalent about Olympic figure skating judging. I understand that they have tried hard to find objective measurements for all the aspects of a skating performance, but there is still room for debate. There isn't always a clear right or wrong.
When we practice, we aim for "right;" we want to get the notes right, our technique right, the fingering right, the pedals right, the dynamics right. And as my friend MJ says, we get all wrapped up in right. When we get wrapped up in right, we lose our perspective on the music. It's not seeing the forest for the trees. I'm sure you get that. Yet somehow we still focus on being correct. In fact, I believe we actually overvalue being correct.
That's why, on today's show, I'd like to explore the actual damage that overfocusing on right can do, how it can sabotage the music you're trying to create. Never fear -  I promise I won't tell you to play wrong notes,  and I won't leave you without some ideas for refocusing. We'll get you back on the right side of right.
Links to things I think you might be interested in that were mentioned in the podcast episode: 
For another look at this topic, check out this article: Perfection or Performance? It's Your Choice
Experience the freedom of faster learning, more expressive playing, and the confidence to play like the harpist you know you can be with a My Harp Mastery membership.
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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-259

When was the last time you took a moment to just play some chords on your harp and let yourself simply enjoy them? When you hear that rich, resonant sound, you know that this was what your harp was meant to sound like. Perhaps hearing someone else play chords like that was why you decided to play the harp. It's goosebump territory, for sure. You can feel it in your bones, in your core. 
I don't know that there is a more beautiful sonority than a big beautiful harp chord, perhaps lushly rolled. But, I also know that there isn't a day goes by that I don't have to stop in my practice to check my chord placing to make sure I can play those chords the way I want. Just because they're beautiful, doesn't mean they're easy, but you already know that.
One of the first things we harpists learn about chords is that the key to a well-played chord is in the placing. Getting the right fingers on the right strings at the right time is the biggest hurdle we face. I'm reminded of a famous quote of J. S. Bach: "There's nothing remarkable about it. All one has to do is hit the right keys at the right time and the instrument plays itself."  This seems to me to reveal an over-developed sense of humility on Bach's part. Playing an instrument is definitely not that simple, but when it comes to playing - and placing - chords, getting our fingers on the right strings at the right time is certainly a good place to start.
Today's show is indeed about placing chords, but I want to offer you a different perspective, one that is less about the technique of placing chords and more about the musical situations that may call for strategic changes in the way we think about how and when to get our fingers on those right strings. In other words, I'm going to talk about when the usual "right time" isn't the right time, when you should consider breaking those rules I know you worked so hard to learn in order to make your chords sound the way you want. So get ready to break or at least bend some rules today.
Links to things I think you might be interested in that were mentioned in the podcast episode: 
Podcast Episode #205: Placing Chords: How to Find the Right Strings the First Time
For extra clarity on placing techniques: How to Play Four Note Chords Without Finger Fumbles blog post in the archives.
Experience the freedom of faster learning, more expressive playing, and the confidence to play like the harpist you know you can be with a My Harp Mastery membership.
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-258

A number of years ago, I wrote a blog post comparing practice styles to two breeds of dogs: a German Shepherd and a Greyhound. This was my metaphor for discussing a topic I found really hard to address with my students, the fact that their natural practice style was a determining factor in the speed of their progress. Let me explain.
I had some students who were committed to doing everything correctly and as a consequence learned carefully and thoroughly, but rather slowly. I had other students who wanted to play the music right away. Their enthusiasm and energy got them to the finish line quickly, but we often had to go back to pick up some important points they had missed along the way. Both learning styles were good, to a certain point. But at that certain point, each style needed to incorporate the strengths of the other one in order to get the music to the finish line.
So to help my students understand this better, I chose two wonderful dog breeds as representations of the two learning styles, a German shepherd and a greyhound, both wonderful dogs with very different characteristics. While the German shepherds maintain order and discipline, the greyhounds race to the finish. My goal was to give my students a non-judgmental way to think about the way they liked to learn and inspire them to step outside their comfort zone a little so that they could make more predictable progress and enjoy the process a little more. 
It seemed to work, to capture the imagination of harpists who had felt they were missing something but weren't sure exactly what it was. A few years later, when I started this podcast, I added a third breed of dog, the beagle, the joyful investigator, into the mix. In fact, that podcast episode was the very first episode of the show, and you'll find the link to that in today's show notes.
What I want to do today is to talk about what to do when your practice style needs to shift, or when you find yourself drawn to a new way of practicing that's different from your usual style. Of course, I'll review the traits of all three breeds of practice styles and I'd like to add a fourth, too, the golden retriever. 
By the end of our show today, you should have a pretty clear idea of your primary practice style and why it works for you, when it doesn't work for you, and how to step into the shoes, or should I say, paws, of another breed when you need to. It's a different lighthearted look at your practice today. Oh, yes…I'll share my own practice breed with you too, although maybe you can guess. We'll see if you're right!
Links to things I think you might be interested in that were mentioned in the podcast episode: 
Episode 1 of the podcast: Find Your Practice Style: Style No. 3 "The Beagle"
My Harp Mastery member resource: Practice Routine Refresh class
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-257

I think one of the biggest challenges in music study is that it is very difficult to really measure our progress. It's so easy to lose track of what we've accomplished when we're faced with new challenges that often seem to be more of the same ones we've been struggling with all along. The notes are still hard. Our fingers still aren't moving fast enough. We still can't make our music flow. 
The reality of music study is that we will continue to face the same challenges at every stage of our harp journey. At the same time that we find new levels of facility or expression, we find new levels that we want to attain. It can feel as if we aren't getting anywhere, even when we truly are making significant progress. I like to think of it as a spiral staircase, where we are dealing with the same skills but at increasingly higher levels.
Naturally, there are ways we can remind ourselves of the strides we have made. Reviewing pieces we played long ago or reading old practice journals can be powerful evidence that what was hard for us then isn't hard for us now. Participating in exam systems can give us the stamp of approval from an objective source that in effect certifies our progress.
But it can be frustrating to feel like you're not progressing, even if you actually are. And it can be more frustrating to wonder if you will be always stuck playing beginner level music, even advanced beginner level music. Or course, we know that these levels aren't standardized in any way, and we must recognize that our own skills have strengths and weaknesses that make some pieces easier than others for us. Even so, it would be nice to know what skills really mark the step up from beginner to intermediate. That's what I want to help you clarify today.
I've talked before about skills that I consider "level up" skills, but today I want to look at a wider range of skills and show you how they translate to that important, if ill-defined, jump from advanced beginner to intermediate music. And if you're a solid intermediate level player and you'd like to push yourself to a more advanced playing level, this will show you how to move up that skill ladder too.
Links to things I think you might be interested in that were mentioned in the podcast episode: 
For My Harp Mastery members: Climb the Scale of Success.
Related resource: The Line Between Difficult and Too Difficult blog post
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-256

Spring is finally settling in where I live. You might be weeks ahead of me or behind me or in a totally different hemisphere, but in the spirit of sharing what's on my mind and what's happening in my world, I want to talk about spring cleaning today. Naturally, though, I'm not talking about cleaning windows and carpets and closets. I want to talk about spring cleaning your harp life. 
When I first decided to focus on spring cleaning for this podcast, I didn't want to take the easy way out. It would be easy to talk about harp care - changing strings, cleaning your harp, the right products to use, etc. But I wanted to go deeper and look at what matters to your harp playing even more than new strings or polish. I want to talk about your playing, your practice, your music. 
We all get into a practice routine, and in general, having a routine is a good thing. It helps us stay on track more easily by creating a habit that can be nearly effortless to follow. But those same habits that support our playing can become ineffective when they go from being effortless to being mindless, and sometimes we aren't even aware of It happening.
Here's a simple example. Maybe you like to warmup with a particular scale or arpeggio pattern or perhaps a favorite short piece. There's nothing wrong with that at all, unless you find yourself playing it so automatically that you aren't paying attention to those things we want to watch in a warm-up: our posture, our relaxation, our finger action, and so on. Sure, we're still warming up our fingers, but our focus is really elsewhere. 
This is where we can decide to do a little spring cleaning. We can try a different warm-up, or rotate between several warm-ups. We could play our warm-up in different keys. There are a million things we could do, but the refresh is the point. 
So in our spring cleaning planning today, I want to focus on two big objectives. One is refreshing or renewing some of what we are doing, whether it's part of our practice routine or maybe the music we're playing. We want to spruce things up a bit.
The other objective is to simplify, to investigate what's working for us and what isn't, to eliminate extra work so that we can do more of the playing we love. Think of it as decluttering your harp playing. We will start by simplifying and then we'll get on to the renew and refresh part. And it's going to be fun.
Links to things I think you might be interested in that were mentioned in the podcast episode: 
Check out this blog post from the archives: Spring Clean Your Technique: 5 Days to Fresher Fingers

A five day guide to understanding music at a deeper level: Playing More Musically: 5 Days of Discovery

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-255