Practicing Harp Happiness

What is success when it comes to harp playing? And is it something you’re really interested in anyway?

Success is a loaded word. It’s easy to imagine success only in terms of applause, record deals and bouquets of flowers, even if we know that’s a Hollywood-style illusion. Even considering success from a more realistic perspective, you may not feel that success is what you’re looking for in your harp playing. Your goals may not include winning competitions or playing solo recitals or making CDs. I want to challenge your idea of success on today’s show, to show you how your success is more important to you than you may think and that it is the single most important factor in your harp happiness. If that sounds difficult, let me reassure you right now. It’s much easier than you think and quite possibly more rewarding than you have imagined.

I want to share a quote from Albert Schweitzer, a theologian and musicologist as well as an organist, and famous for his edition of the keyboard works of JS Bach. “Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful.”

I love the way Schweitzer connects success and happiness. For us harpists, that kind of happiness isn’t just the happiness we feel when we play well. It is finding happiness in the work we must do in order to play well. If we dread our practice or feel guilty about it or feel like we’re going around in circles and not making progress, we are off the success path. 

Success, or at least the kind of fulfilling success we want, doesn’t need to involve gritting your teeth and grinding out another practice session. That’s actually the wrong way to go about it. 

Success is something that can and should be a daily part of your harp life. It is built with small steps of courage, confidence and creativity. And the more small steps you take, the more success you build. You can think about these steps as daily wins, if you like, and today we’ll talk about how you can create those wins consistently by fueling your courage, confidence and creativity. This is about finding the fun in your practice, not in a way that avoids the hard work, but in a way that allows you to renew your love of the harp no matter how hard you’re working.

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

• My Harp Mastery membership is open! Join us before the doors close!
• 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-057

I love silly jokes, and I hope you do too, because I’m going to share one with you now.

Here goes: 

How do you catch an elephant?

You hide in some tall grass and make a sound like a peanut. When the elephant comes by you look through the wrong end of your binoculars, pick him up with a pair of tweezers and put him in a pickle jar.

Silly joke, right? But it’s appropriate for our show today. We are going to be talking about how we learn a piece or how we practice it, which may be slightly different. Then we’ll look at our music learning through the lens (hopefully through the right end of the binoculars) of big picture practice and little picture practice.

Let me ask you a question: if I asked you to tell me how you practice, what would you say? You’d probably describe your practice plan and if you begin hands separately or hands together, how many times you repeat a passage and how long you practice. 

But if I asked you to describe how you learn music, what would you say? Would your answer be different? I’m guessing it would. Maybe you wouldn’t even be sure how to answer the question. 

I believe we think of practice and learning as two separate things. Learning somehow sounds more cerebral, more about gaining understanding and knowledge. Practice is the physical work of practice, the rote repetition, drilling the notes into our fingers. Clearly we need both of these elements if we are going to play our music well. We need to blend them into a single process that will allow us to learn the notes and the music beyond the notes. 

That’s where big picture and little picture practice comes into our discussion. They are the two ends of the binoculars, if you like. And that was the topic I chose for my first Harp Mastery blog post 10 years ago this week. 

Today, I’ll go much deeper than I did in that blog post. I’ll talk about the techniques of each kind of practice - big picture and little picture - how they’re useful and when they aren’t. Then I’ll show you how to create a balanced practice strategy so you won’t find yourself looking through the wrong end of the binoculars.

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

• My Harp Mastery community membership is opening soon. Learn more now!
• Watch the video of today’s podcast.
• Related resource: Big Picture vs. Little Picture Practice  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-056

What have you done lately that was courageous?
I hope you shouted your answer, said it loud and proud.
Okay, now answer this one.
What would you have done recently if you hadn’t been so fearful?
That’s not exactly a “loud and proud” moment. But we all do it; we let our fears, our doubts, our nerves get the better of us. Talk to any person who is super-successful in their field and they’ll confess to having their insecurities, their own sleepless nights worried about the decisions they’ve made or not made. Most people aren’t fearless. But successful people have learned that many times fear is the only barrier between their present and their future. Success comes only when they are able to go through the fear to discover what lies beyond it. I often talk and write about how to find the courage and the confidence to share your music. You may call it “performing,” but at Harp Mastery® we call it ”sharing your music.” Whatever you call it though, you still might feel your palms sweating and your stomach churning. Playing for someone, sharing that part of yourself where the music lives is scary for each of us.

I’ve been sharing my music for a lot of years now, and I know many of my students don’t really believe that I ever get nervous. I do of course, but I have learned to expect the nerves and I have learned that I can play through them. On this show, I want to tell you about an act of courage - a small but really scary one - that I”ve never talked about before. It turned out to be an important one, much more important than I knew at the time.

You see, ten years ago I took a blind leap of courage into the unknown; I started a blog. You may not think that took courage or that I was nervous about it, but I certainly had my doubts and misgivings. I didn’t know if what I was about to write was worth sharing. I didn't know if I would actually be able to come up with things to write about. I didn’t know if anybody would like it or would criticize it or laugh at it. I didn’t even know if anybody at all would read it. But I did it anyway, and if I hadn’t, Harp Mastery® wouldn’t exist. I didn’t have a website or an email list or a Facebook account. I didn’t even have high speed internet; I had a dial-up connection.

That was over 600 blog posts and 55 podcasts ago. In the intervening years, Harp Mastery® has reached literally thousands of harpists through my writings, webinars, courses, coaching programs, retreats and challenges. And it feels like we’re just getting started.

But this podcast isn’t about me or Harp Mastery®. It’s about you. I want to help you understand what’s really in your way, stopping you from playing the harp the way you want, sharing your music with the people you want. Most importantly I want to share the lessons I learned about fear and courage over these last ten years so you don’t have to learn them the hard way. You can take the shortcut path around your fear and find your harp courage. I’m going to give you an assignment too, so be sure to listen closely!

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

• Your assignment: decide on your act of courage for today and post it in the comments or email it to me at [email protected]. 
• My very first blog post.
• Related resource: Beyond Fear: Daily Acts of Harp Courage 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-055

Stephen Foster is often referred to as the “Father of American music,” or “America’s first songwriter,” neither of which is strictly true. However, Stephen Foster’s extensive output of songs and the strength of their popularity more than 150 years later attests to the powerful connection his music creates. The homespun appeal of his words and music evokes gentle images of family, home, love and longing that are in sharp contrast to his more difficult reality. 

In fact, there were many ironical contradictions between his music and his life. His songs paint vivid pictures of life in the South, but Foster never lived there and only visited there once. HIs music was a staple in music hall minstrel shows, but Foster himself was an ardent abolitionist. His life came to a close not with the “Old Folks at Home” but alone in Bellevue Hospital in New York City. 

Nonetheless, his music is filled with singable melodies, uncomplicated harmonies and a romantic sentiment that not only still touches the hearts of listeners, but is suited perfectly to the harp. 

On today’s show, I will discuss - and play for you - 3 songs by Stephen Foster. Two of these are less familiar ones that I believe are worthy of more attention. The third is a very familiar one. I will share my insights about Stephen Foster’s music and give you some tips for playing it well, with the right stylistic touches to make it sound authentic but fresh and beautiful. 

Also, I wanted to make it a little easier for you to play some of Stephen Foster’s music yourself so I have created PDFs of all three of the arrangements I’m playing for you today and I will tell you how you can get them at the end of our show.

But my goal today is really to give you an inside look at this music and the man who wrote it. So let’s begin by imagining yourself back in 1826, July 4th, 1826 to be precise.

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

• Check out the Stephen Foster arrangements featured in today’s show in our shop. Add both to your cart and use the discount code FOSTER at checkout to get one of the pieces at 50% off!
  • Beautiful Child of Song and Jeanie with the Light Brown Hair
  • Willie Has Gone to the War
• Related resource: A Musical Memorial Day  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-054

My harp teacher could make any harp sound amazing. I was astounded every time I heard her do it. On the occasions when she came to my house and played my harp, her magical touch on my very ordinary harp brought it to life in a way my practice never did. And it was MY harp!

My teacher was Marilyn Costello. She studied with Carlos Salzedo at the Curtis Institute of Music and had a lifetime career as principal harpist with the Philadelphia Orchestra. And she had the warmest, richest, most liquid tone I have ever heard. 

Having a beautiful tone wasn’t something I thought a lot about as a young harp student. I was more interested in playing fast and flashy pieces. I didn’t give much thought to having a rich sound. After all, when you're playing pieces at warp speed, who can hear the quality of your sound? 

Obviously, tone matters. Like so many other harpists, it was the unique voice of the harp that first attracted me. The sound of the harp spoke to me when I heard it ring through the dense texture of an orchestra. It drew my ear when I heard it in the background scoring of a movie or television show. And it still does, every time.

Today I will give you my thoughts on what makes a beautiful harp tone, what tone really  means, how you develop your tone and how you expand your tonal repertoire. Yes, you can - and should - have a repertoire of sounds at your fingertips. 

I hope this topic excites you as much as it does me. There is nothing more characteristic of the harp than its sound and nothing more interesting than the unique sound of an individual harpist. We all have our special sound, and today I want to help you find yours.

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

• Warmups With a Focus course
• Related resource The Practice of Listening: Why It’s Essential for Every Musician 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-053

There will never be a shortage of exercise books. As long as there are harpists, they will want to develop a more facile technique to make their playing easier, faster, more fluid and more musical.  Scales and arpeggios will always be staples of our technical work but obviously, there is so much more that goes into harp technique. And with the plethora of choices of exercise, etude and method books, where does a harpist start?

The short answer to that question is to just start; it doesn’t really matter where. Any technique growth is better than none. A steady progression of skills is even better, of course. Again the simple solution is a good one; work your way through any exercise book beginning to end and you will cover most of what your fingers need. When you’re finished with that book, choose another.

There are some technical issues, though, that are very common and yet are often resistant to the usual approaches. On today’s episode of the podcast, I want to discuss a few of those issues (seven, to be precise) and some exercises that are favorites of mine for resolving them. I will give you two exercises for each, one that is more basic or fundamental, and one that covers a more advanced aspect of the particular technique.

And while you may want to take notes as we go, never fear, I have put a link in the show notes to the books and exercises I mention so you can download it at your convenience.

Two more things before we dive in. First, these aren’t the only exercises that solve these problems and they may not be the best ones for you. They are ones I like and ones my students have found helpful. 

Secondly, what I think is important about today’s discussion is that I will share not just the exercises I like, but why I like them, how they will help your technique and your playing and how to practice them. 

We have a lot to cover today, so let’s get started.

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

• Click here to get my exercise book list with all the books mentioned on the show.
• Related resource Four “Smart” Finger Patterns You Must Know 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-052

Are you trying to do too much? 

As a harpist or harp student, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed. There is so much music to learn, so many skills to develop, so much technique work you need to do and not nearly enough time to do it all.

If this sounds distressingly familiar, I have good news and bad news. 

The good news is that this is totally fixable. The bad news is that only you can fix it.

Don’t give up yet though, I do have powerful suggestions and advice for you today that will help you figure out what is really important for you to practice and what isn’t. My guess is that about half of what most of us practice daily isn’t really essential or helpful. That’s a scary idea! 

Stop for a moment and imagine the implications of that. It could very well be that you’re spending an hour of practice and getting only 30 minutes worth of results. You think you’re using your time well, but you may be doing too many repetitions or warming up for too long or trying to learn too many pieces at once. In other words, you may be sabotaging your own progress. 

Don’t feel bad if this sounds like you. We’ve all done it, including me. Learning to do less is not instinctive.

On occasions when you have seen master musicians perform, perhaps you noticed how graceful and efficient their movements were whether they were harpists or played another instrument. That economy of movement is due to their understanding that the music requires less from them, not more. Extra motion impedes their technical ease and the music’s flow in addition to being distracting for an observer. Efficient movements allow for greater technical freedom and deeper musical expression. Sometimes you can do more with less. You must choose what to keep and what to let go. 

On today’s show I’ll share 7 things you might want to let go of and what to keep instead. And I’ll start by telling you the story of the sacrificial leaf, something I learned about on a recent trip to the Everglades. 

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

• Momentum Miracle Intensive
• Related resource: 12 Harp Habits to Let Go Of (and 1 to Keep) 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-051

Tick, tick, tick, tick…the constant click of a metronome could conceivably drive a person crazy. I am now - although I wasn’t always - a metronome fan. Though this may sound crazy to some of you, the metronome is my favorite practice tool because it helps me fix errors, create flow and it gives me time to play a piece or a tricky passage correctly.

I realize that this may not be your experience with the metronome. Maybe your feeling about it is more like this:

If you’ve seen the classic movie Ben Hur, you already know what I’m talking about. If you haven’t, let me set the scene for you.

At one point in the tale, our hero Judah Ben Hur is a galley slave on a Roman ship, chained to an oar with several other slaves. The entire hold of the ship is filled with men chained to oars; they are the engine of the ship. In order for the slaves to generate enough power to move the ship, it is essential that they row in a coordinated way. So at the front of the galley is a man beating a drum. He sets the tempo for the rowers. When the ship enters into battle, the drummer picks up the pace. Slaves collapse left and right trying to keep up. Does this sound like your metronome experience, only without the sweat and starvation?

Apparently, this depiction isn’t historically accurate, but it may be accurate enough if your metronome feels like a slave driver. Actually the Latin word used in the movie for the drummer is hortator. Our word “exhort” meaning to urge or advise comes from the same root. Hortator can also mean encourager. You may not be ready to think of your metronome as a friendly encourager just yet, but I hope to give you a glimpse of that today.

We’ll talk about the best use of the metronome - and it’s NOT for speeding up - plus I will share two of my favorite ways to use the metronome to help me play more musically. Even better, if you’ve never been able to use a metronome before, you’ll learn exactly how to do it. That’s right. I will actually teach you how to work with your metronome and why it’s important. Stick with me here; I can pretty much guarantee you will love this.

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

• 90 Goals Plan Free PDF
• Related resource: 12 Ways to Use Your Metronome to Create Time 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-050

Do you suffer from uneven scales, particularly when you cross under or over?
Do your fingers sometimes fumble to find the strings?
Is your tone warm and lovely some of the time and other times thin or weak?
Have the drills you’ve tried made no real difference?

Here’s the miracle solution to all these problems… and more!

If this sounds like a late night infomercial, I apologize, but I want to call your attention to the often overlooked, frequently misunderstood and almost always underappreciated member of your technique team - your wrist.

We harpists consider so many points of our technique - our fingers, arms and shoulders, our fingering, our placing. We worry about whether to raise or connect and in what situations one might be better than the other. Do we hold our elbows up or down? Should we sit on the edge of the bench or more in the middle and how high or low? So many questions and nearly as many different answers to each one.

When was the last time you thought about your wrist, that crucial link between your hand and your arm? Have you ever really stopped to consider the role that your wrist plays in your technique? If you’re like most of us, probably not.

But today, we are going to change that. This show is all about your wrist. We will talk about the correct position (or positions!) of your wrist and how your wrist can help your fingers place more accurately on the strings. We’ll talk about how a supple wrist is the source of graceful, fluid motion and a full, lovely sound  Most importantly, we’ll talk about how to prevent injury to this most delicate connection between our hand and arm, how to protect it and how to practice in a way that ensures it stays healthy.

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

• Etude a Day Course
• Related blog post: Two Essential Wrist Techniques
• 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-049

A harp lesson is hard work, for both the student and the teacher. It’s a time to acknowledge progress and challenges, to take what’s going well to the next level and to find ways to make the rough patches smoother. It’s not a performance where your teacher will judge you on how well you play that day. And it’s not a cozy get together for tea and encouragement, although those could be part of a lesson too. A lesson is for learning.

As a student I always knew I had a good lesson when I left the lesson feeling a little mentally fatigued but energized, even excited, about the work we had done in the lesson and the progress I was ready to make in the coming week. It was similar to the feeling you might have after a massage; your body is tired and sore, but relaxed and happy at the same time.

As a teacher, my favorite lessons are the ones where we work the hardest. We may be working on one measure or one passage. We might be bringing more expression to a piece or just working on technique. A lesson is my opportunity to help the student take bigger steps than she would on her own, to push her closer to her goal, and when we can do that kind of work together, I know progress and harp happiness can’t be far off. 

This kind of lesson requires a lot of open discussion with input from both student and teacher. Sometimes I encounter students who want to be good students, to follow directions without question. While I appreciate that a student trusts my knowledge and insight, if he has questions, I want to know. I try to remember to ask, but I never mind if a student questions or challenges a particular strategy or choice. 

On today’s show I’d like to share with you the three questions that I love to be asked and why I think those questions are so important. If you have a teacher you are working with, I can pretty much guarantee that if you haven’t asked any of these yet, you’ve been missing out on some powerful learning opportunities. Even if you don’t have a teacher right now, you will perhaps get a new perspective on how to find your way through the struggles of learning to play the harp. It’s all about learning how to learn today and I know that at least one of these questions will be one that you have been wishing you could ask. Guess what - you now have permission!

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

• Build, Extend, Advance technique development course
• What Playing Music Really Is: 3 Surprising Truths I Learned From My Teachers
• 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-048