It’s Memorial Day today here in the U.S. and that marks the unofficial beginning of summer for us. The pace of life slows down a little, especially the pace of harp playing. The concert season is over, and although the wedding season has begun, you  may be feeling a little at loose ends where your harp playing is concerned. 

I realize it might not be summer where you are, but our topic today will be relevant for you too. I want to talk about what to practice when you don’t have anything to practice for. 

When we have playing engagements on the calendar, it’s easy to know what to practice. While we’re busily learning all the music we need for that playing date, our practice time never seems long enough. We promise ourselves that as soon as things slow down, we’re going to really spend focused time working on our technique or our sight reading or improvisation or…

Those good intentions are a lot harder to act on when things really do slow down. We discover that our momentum slows down too. We don’t have as much ambition. Our drive to achieve seems to have driven off without us.

The fact is we need some down time. We need to ease up on the gas pedal and let the slower season refresh us. It’s a necessary break. But you and I both know that a long break away from the harp can mean a lot of rehab work when you start practicing again. Whether you’re on vacation or taking a staycation or just have a blank concert calendar, too much time away from the harp makes returning to the harp more than a little discouraging. And let’s not even mention the broken strings.

So what can you do if you have nothing to practice for? How do you prepare before you go on vacation so you can come back to the harp without feeling frustrated? If your harp plate or your music stand is feeling a little empty right now, I have some great ideas to help you switch up your focus and enjoy some relaxing time with your harp.

Links to things I think you might be interested in that were mentioned in the podcast episode: 

• Experience the Momentum Miracle
• Related resource “Do You Need a Reason to Practice? 3 Ways to Find One” blog post
• Harpmastery.com

Get involved in the show! Send your questions and suggestions for future podcast episodes to me at [email protected]

LINKS NOT WORKING FOR YOU? FInd all the show resources here: https://www.harpmastery.com/blog/Episode-106