Practicing Harp Happiness

How are you supposed to reach that left hand chord?

You know the one I mean. It goes by a lot of different names, a root-position triad in open spacing, a 1-5-3 chord, or maybe just the chord you can’t ever place accurately. Certainly when we first encounter the chord, it’s a stretch for our hands, but eventually most of us can manage it without too much difficulty.

When we place and play the chord well, it sounds warm and rich. Because it’s a big reach, though, it’s often a challenge to get to the right notes at the right time and play them without hitting neighboring strings. 

And that’s a problem because this combination of notes is everywhere in harp music. We encounter it sometimes as a chord, sometimes as an arpeggio. In fact, I often call this the “left hand master chord,” because it is the one chord that, when we master it, solves playing difficulties in so many pieces. We don’t want to have to spend our practice time negotiating this chord in each new piece we learn.  Once you have discovered the placing techniques that work for your hand, you can apply them easily every time. 

So today I’m going to try to help you reach that unreachable chord. You won’t need to stretch your hand or your fingers; that’s not healthy for you anyway. I’ll give you my best strategies for placing and playing this chord or arpeggio accurately, comfortably and beautifully. 

By the way, there’s an extra bonus here. You’ll find these techniques work for those larger right hand chords too.

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

• Crush the Rush Workshop, November 22nd. 
• Related resource Quick Fixes for Left Hand Octaves blog post
• Harpmastery.com

Get involved in the show! Send your questions 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-077

What’s the big deal about being “in the zone” and how do you get there?

You might have heard the zone described as total focus, as losing your sense of time and space, of being completely absorbed in what you’re doing. People use phrases like, “being able to perform with total concentration” or “losing all awareness of one’s self.” It’s also called a “state of flow.”

From these descriptions, you might think being in the zone is the world’s best antidote to nerves, and in some ways it might be. But the secret to getting in the zone, whether you’re performing or practicing, is really a matter of balance. It’s not magic and it’s not a trip into the matrix. You don’t need a secret mantra or to try to shut your mind away from your playing. Being in the zone is being fully present and involved.

Sometimes musicians try to find the zone by attempting to play on autopilot. You know what I mean. It’s the idea that if you could just let your mind float as freely in performance as it does in practice, you would play with the same level of accuracy and expression. That’s a dangerous game to play, because the moment the unexpected happens - you play the wrong string or the pedal makes a noise or the lady in the front row coughs - you are jolted back into consciousness, and that’s almost never a smooth transition.

The zone isn’t about abdication; it’s about awareness. It’s not paranormal; it’s possible in the right conditions. Even better, it's possible to practice creating the right conditions, so that you can find your way into the zone anytime you want. Well, almost.

On today’s show we’ll talk about the factors that comprise the zone experience, the balance you need to create and the practice strategies you can use to find the focus and the flow that you’ve been wondering about.

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

• The new Spark Practice Journal
• Related resource Why You Can't Make Music on Autopilot  blog post
• Harpmastery.com

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

Who wants a better way to practice? Yes, please!

While it's true that music practice necessarily involves a lot of repetition and drill, there are better - and definitely worse - ways to go about it. Consider how many times you have gotten up from the harp bench having spent an hour on those four nearly impossible measures and come back the next day to feel like you’re starting back at square one again. I feel your pain, my friend, I’ve been there.

Hopefully, you’re keeping in mind that progress doesn’t happen in a predictable way; it happens in its own time. It’s like a seed you plant in the ground. You water it and guard it carefully but you can’t really see through the ground to see if anything is happening. Then one day you go outside and there it is - a baby plant. 

Yes, progress happens over time and is nurtured through repetition, but unlike the growth timeline for a seed, we have a little bit of control of how quickly that progress shows up. 

If you’ve read my ebook “Kaleidoscope Practice” or have been listening to me for a while, you know that I am not about repetition just for repetition’s sake. Repetition is required; it’s how we become familiar with our music, how we acquire all the information we need to play a piece well: the notes, the finger patterns, the expression, the flow, the meaning. There is so much complexity in playing a piece of music well that we need the time and drill to really embed all those component parts.  

But that embedding process is less dependent on the number of repetitions than on the focus of them. And on today’s show I’m going to show you three places to put your focus that will allow you to make each repetition more meaningful and impactful, so you can do fewer repetitions and get to the fun part - playing the music - faster.

Why do I think this is important for you right now? Because if you’re looking ahead to any holiday performances, even if it’s just playing for your family, you want to get that music ready sooner rather than later. There are lots of things we can do to speed up our music preparation, but cramming isn’t one of them. So being smart with how you use your daily practice time is what will make the difference between being excited about sharing your music or shaking in those beautiful new shoes. This is the time to ditch the excess drill and frustration that goes with it and discover a better way to practice those sticky spots.

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

• Join the Play It With Confidence Intensive
• Related resource The Musician’s #1 Labor-Saving Strategy blog post   
• Harpmastery.com

Get involved in the show! Send your questions 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-075

Quick question: hands in the air if you’ve ever decided to skip your technique drills and etudes because you are doing that work already on a challenging passage in one of your pieces.

Yes, I thought so. Everybody’s hand is up, including mine. So we all do it, skip our technique work because we’re short on time and we can get the same benefits by doing double duty practice - working on technique with one of those sticky spots that we need to drill anyway. It sounds like a good idea and a great use of our time. But is it really?

Well, yes…and no.

Exercises and etudes have very specialized functions in harp technique practice. The most significant of these is that they take musical context out of the equation. By eliminating the pressures of the right notes at the right time with all the dynamics, we can laser focus on our mechanics, the way our fingers work, the position of our hands and arms, staying relaxed, and maintaining a healthy posture. Then moving from exercises to etudes adds back those musical concerns in a minimal way, keeping the focus on the particular skill, but testing the waters to see how our execution of that skill holds up under the added stress of rhythm and expression.

So there are important functions that exercises and etudes serve, and together they create a progression of development for whatever skill you’re working on. 

But I'm not here today to tell you that you must include exercises and etudes in your practice regimen without fail. I know I don’t. While I do practice both exercises and etudes regularly, there are times when I just don’t have the time, when I’m practicing a recital program for instance, and those pieces require all my technical and musical focus.

So I do what we all just admitted to doing - I use my pieces as etudes. But I don’t want to give up the special benefits of those exercises and etudes either. So I let my pieces do double duty.

However, there are really powerful ways to do this, ways that allow you to work on those challenging spots and still get the technical and musical benefits of your exercises and etudes. They don’t take more time, only a little knowhow. And that insider knowhow is exactly what I’m going to share with you today, so you can be certain that you will conquer the challenges in your music and level up your technique just like exercises and etudes do. 

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

• Playing anywhere this December? You need the Play It WIth Confidence Intensive
• Related resource Escaping The Technique Trap blog post 
• Harpmastery.com

Get involved in the show! Send your questions 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-074

If I had to choose one tool that made a harpist’s life easier, I know exactly which one I would choose - the electronic tuner.

I belong to the last generation of harpists that grew up in a world without them, so I know what I’m talking about. Having a device that allowed you to tune in a noisy environment and be confident that your harp is really in tune was new technology when I was a student, and it was a game changer. 

Imagine trying to tune your harp on stage while the rest of the orchestra is warming up - violins and piccolo showing off their highest notes, double basses and timpani making anything below middle C inaudible and the brass instruments heroically filling in the middle. Tuning in an orchestra used to be a guessing game.

As grateful as I am for my tuner, there was an unintended consequence to this technological revolution. We harpists have stopped listening.

Consider for a moment how we tune with a tuner. We play a string and then look at the tuner to see if it’s in tune. Certainly that is the good thing about using a tuner when you’re in a place where you can’t hear what you’re playing. But over time, using a tuner this way can cause us to stop listening, to tune with our eyes, instead of our ears. In essence, the tuner can train us not to listen.

Of course, it all depends on how you use the tuner. A little effort and thought can turn the tuner into a powerful ear training tool. 

On today’s show, I am going to share a portion of a masterclass on tuning that I gave to our My Harp Mastery members. In this class, I talk about three methods of tuning with a tuner and how you can use each method to help you develop your ear and learn to listen. I also share the value of tuning as a pre-practice habit, plus you’ll hear me answer a couple of questions from the members on the call. Note that this was a live video call, and there may be references to something I’m demonstrating that you won’t be able to see on the podcast or PDFs that the members have. But I know that you’ll find this information incredibly useful, just the way everyone on the call did. 

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

• Register for my free webinar: 3 “Good” Practice Habits That Are Keeping You From Playing the Way You Want and How to Break Them
• Related resource: 7 Reasons Tuning Your Harp Is Worth the Trouble blog post
• Harpmastery.com

Get involved in the show! Send your questions 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-073

Have you ever wanted someone to just give you a system for learning a piece of music, a system that would work for every piece, every time? Me too. But there isn’t one.

Ok, don’t give up on me yet. I do have one that will work for most pieces, most of the time, and I’m going to teach that to you today.  

Why are we always looking for that single system, that magic bullet? My idea is that it’s because learning music is so complicated, with so many considerations and moving parts. At the same time as we are dealing with all this complexity, we are trying to make the music beautiful and expressive, something that transcends mere notes and rhythm. Not a small task my friend. 

I found a quote the other day that really spoke to me. It’s a quote from a Danish computer scientist who teaches at Columbia University. His name is Bjarne Stroustrup. I think I was drawn to this quote and some others of his because his sense of humor reminded me of my dad’s. My dad was also a computer programmer. 

The quote I want to share for the purposes of our discussion today is this: The most fundamental problem in software development is complexity. There is only one basic way of dealing with complexity: divide and conquer.

Substitute the phrase “learning music” for “software development” and it works perfectly, like this:  The most fundamental problem in learning music is complexity. There is only one basic way of dealing with complexity: divide and conquer.

That’s our topic for today, and the basis for the system I am going to share. The best way to learn a piece of music is to divide it into sections. I bet you do this already, but there are super-effective ways to do it and some that are less so, and we’re all about effective practice here. I’m going to teach you what I believe is the best system for using section work to divide and conquer almost any piece of music. So grab a piece of music and a pencil and let’s start dividing so you can conquer.

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

• Practice Habits Webinar - October 13th
• 30 Days to Done course
• Related resource Practicing Differently: 4 Steps to Faster Learning blog post
• Harpmastery.com

Get involved in the show! Send your questions 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-072

I can almost always tell the skill level of a harp student by the way they use their fourth finger. It’s not the strength of the finger or a lack of coordination. A less advanced player simply avoids using it.

It shouldn’t surprise you if you give it a moment’s thought. Remember back to the very first pieces you learned on the harp, at whatever age you were when you started. They used mostly the thumb and second finger. You learned to place them together and to play them simultaneously and one after the other. Then you added the third finger which brought the additional pleasure (and challenge) of three-note chords. Placing, whether for a chord or a scale passage, was not just one additional finger harder; it was exponentially more difficult. 

It’s likely that as you were learning these pieces you were also practicing scales and arpeggios and even etudes that used the fourth finger. But just because you were learning them didn’t mean your fourth finger was flexible, strong and secure.

You probably only discovered how backward your fourth finger was when you began to learn four-note chords. Placing three-note chords was hard, but you mastered it fairly quickly. Four-note chords on the other hand - well, it would be nice if you had another hand. Talk about slowing down progress. Your technique development may have seemed to come to a complete stop.

Even for those of us who have suffered, struggled and come out on the other side of the fourth finger fumbles, our fourth fingers still can be a source of frustration. They are too long or too short, too loud or too soft, too unpredictable and unreliable. 

Today’s quick fix episode is dedicated to your fourth finger and to all of us who fight the fourth finger fumbles on a daily basis. We’ll look at several of the most common fourth finger issues and how to resolve them. While some of our discussion will come back to basic good harp technique, I will be sharing my favorite fixes that are specific to your fourth finger. For instance, did you know that some of the frustration you’re feeling toward your fourth finger, may really be the fault of your pinkie? I can’t wait to share that tip with you!

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

• 3 “Good” Practice Habits Webinar
• Related resource The Cure for Finger Lock-up blog post
• Harpmastery.com

Get involved in the show! Send your questions 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-070

Have you ever looked at your closet full of clothes and said, “But I don't have anything to wear”? Maybe you've looked at that big stack of music next to your harp and said, “But I don't have anything I can play!” I don’t know which is more frustrating.  Actually, I do.

When we spend hours, days and weeks practicing a piece of music, and it still doesn’t get to the point where we can actually play it for someone, it goes beyond frustrating. How is it possible for some people to have hours worth of music that they can play and others don't even have a single piece?

I remember how shocked I was the first time I realized how common it is for dedicated, hard-working harpists to have nothing ready to play. I was teaching a workshop and talking about what to do when you finish a piece and getting a roomful of blank stares. I asked the question, “How many of you don’t have a piece that’s finished right now?” and about 80% of the students raised their hands. Until then it had never occurred to me that so many people would be stuck in practice mode and never experiencing the joy of playing.

So rest assured; if you are one of those harpists with nothing to play, you are not alone. There are plenty of others just like you. But I would love to change that for you, starting today.

When we think about goals for our harp playing, we most often include as a goal a piece that we want to learn to play. We imagine ourselves playing it beautifully with confidence and musicality. Every time we don’t finish that piece and take it to that point of seemingly effortless expressive playing, we disappoint ourselves. It’s another goal that is left unaccomplished. 

On today's show I'm going to tell you about 3 factors that might be causing you to miss those goals you set for yourself, that are keeping you from finishing your pieces. These sneaky factors can cause those pieces to just stay in limbo rather than being pushed all the way to the point where you can truly enjoy playing them. And of course, I’m not going to leave you without a plan for success. I’ll give you a remarkably quick and easy three step fix.

Now there are specific practice techniques that can help you finish your music but that's not what we're talking about today. On this show you're going to learn how to set yourself up to finish those pieces  - or achieve any goals for that matter - and why you might be actually sabotaging your efforts instead of allowing yourself to make progress the way you want.

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

• Register for our free webinar, 3 “Good” Practice Habits That Are Keeping You From Playing the Way You Want and How to Break Them
• Related resource: Make Success a Habit with this Simple Formula blog post
• Harpmastery.com

Get involved in the show! Send your questions 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-070

Today we’re talking technology, the technology that has changed the lives of harpists everywhere. It’s the world of digital sheet music - PDFs, tablets, computers, foot pedals, all the things that have made thick binders of sheet music a distant memory - thankfully! - for so many of us.

Consider how an innovation works. Usually it doesn’t change the world all at once. The Wright brothers managed to get their airplane off the ground, but it took a lot of time and development before the general public could fly coast to coast. There was a span of nearly a hundred years between Alexander Graham Bell’s invention of the telephone and Motorola’s first handheld cellular phone. It takes time to sort out what is really useful about a new technology and how it can benefit the person on the street, or in our case today, the harpist at the harp.

Sheet music downloads have been around for a long time. I published my first downloadable music PDFs way back in 2004. Granted, the technology for delivering them and using them was primitive by today’s standards, and you still had to print them out, but that’s my point. Here we are nearly 20 years later and purchasing, downloading and playing from PDFs is simple and commonplace. 

Even harpists who aren’t fans of computers are often quite comfortable with this aspect of technology. It has now gotten to the point where using digital sheet music is enough easier and more convenient that it is worth your time to figure it out. 

But if you haven’t taken the digital plunge yet, today’s podcast will help you feel more confident about doing so. Or if you made the leap a while ago and want to know some of the best practices and insider tips for getting the most out of your digital tools, you’re going to love this episode too.

Just a little while ago, Dr. Kristina Finch, who is one of our amazing Harp Mastery® Certified Coaches, presented a seminar to our My Harp Mastery members on this topic. Kristina is not only a fabulous harpist and a gifted coach, but she is a tech wizard. So I had asked her to teach our members how she uses her iPad and how to put the technology together. She did such a spectacular job that I pulled out just a part of the recording of her live seminar to share with you. If you haven’t met her before, you are going to love her energy and enthusiasm in addition to all the great information she shares.

By the way, I use digital music and I don’t have an iPad. This technology is available to you if you are an Android or Windows user too, so don’t think you have to buy a new computer or tablet to take advantage of this. I use my Windows Surface Pro for my music, not an iPad. Kristina talks mostly about the iPad in her presentation, and I want to be sure that those of you who don’t have Apple products know what tools you need. So I have put together a free PDF called the Digital Sheet Music Cheat Sheet for Harpists. It’s a quick one-page guide to devices, apps, and foot pedals that will help you get started whether you’re an Apple, Android or Windows user. To get the PDF, just go to the link in the show notes for this episode. I’ll remind you about it, plus I’ll share a couple of other bits of info at the end of the show.

Right now, let’s get started with Kristina’s presentation.

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

• Free PDF resource: Digital Sheet Music Cheat Sheet for Harpists
• Related resource: Practice Friend or Practice Enemy: The Great Cell Phone Debate blog post
• Harpmastery.com

Get involved in the show! Send your questions 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-069

Today is Labor Day in the United States. The very first Labor Day was celebrated exactly 140 years ago today on September 5, 1882. It was intended as a holiday for the general working population in recognition of their contributions to the country’s prosperity and strength. At that time it was decided that the celebrations should include a parade to showcase the trade and labor unions and a picnic for the workers and their families.

Today, 140 years later, Labor Day celebrations still include parades and picnics. Labor Day also marks the traditional end of summer holidays and the beginning of a new school year. 

The idea of Labor Day - to celebrate and honor work and toil - is a powerful one, and one that I would like to suggest has application to our harp playing. That’s the key word - playing. 

We work so hard to make our playing what we want it to be, what we think it should be. By contrast, how much time do we take to celebrate our hard work or even to simply enjoy playing the harp? What if our harp journey was more about playing, about the joy of music, and less about the drudgery we associate with practice.

I’m not suggesting you stop practicing, although I do want you to enjoy your Labor Day picnic today. What I suggest is that we make a mindset shift that we can bring to our practice every single day. Our harp practice is the consistent habit that leads to our growth as harpists but that doesn’t mean it can’t be fun too.

So today we are going to talk about how to turn your practice mindset into a play mindset. I have 10 quick and easy tips that you can use to reshape your approach to your practice, to practice with your focus on the positive instead of the negative. I’m going to help you learn to celebrate your playing, even when the going is tough. 

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

• Coaching Enrollment is now open. Click here to reserve your spot.
• Related resource: Healthy Practice for Harpists: Nourish Your Body, Mind and Music blog post
• Harpmastery.com

Get involved in the show! Send your questions 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-068