Play Music on the Porch Day

Posted on August 28, 2023 by Jen

Play Music on the Porch Day

The problem with August is that, by the time we get to the end of the month, it’s been a long time since we had a holiday. Or a reason to celebrate anything (at least where I live). But fortunately, someone made one up and called it Play Music on the Porch Day. From the official website:

What if for one day everything stopped? And we all just listened to the music.

Play Music on the Porch Day was Sunday, August 26 this year. The criteria were stringent, and the rules to participate were harsh. What was that?

Just go outside

and play music!

The official site indicated that you could invite friends or play by yourself, and the event could be as big or as small as you want! And that musicians in over 70 Countries worldwide would be participating! What’s not to love about that?

While there are lots of things to do to celebrate the day, I had the opportunity to make music with my good friend Donna Bennett who generously donated the setting and invited me to share the day with her. Our audience were people enjoying a beautiful day near the river in Leonardtown, MD.

We had a fantastic time. We played tunes we’ve performed a lot. We played tunes we have performed, but not too often. And we played things we are barely hanging on to but still managed to not mangle too badly. We played together and we played solo. Mostly we just enjoyed the company and the laughter and the music making and the fun! I did remember to take some photos (shock!) but didn’t manage to get a video…I’ll save that as a goal for next time!

Like every Annual thing, Play Music on the Porch Day will come around again this same time next year. It’s always the last Saturday of August, so you can join in next year. And I’m sure that if you decided to Play Music on your Porch today, or another day, all your audience would be delighted, no matter the date.

Did you Play Music on the Porch? Want to share your thoughts or photos? I’d love to hear from you and see your pictures!

Sprummertime

Posted on March 28, 2023 by Jen

Sprummer

I know it’s just barely spring but it’s not too early to think about what you want to do this summer! That means, it is Spummertime – not spring or summer but the time to think and plan now for what will come later! And there are loads of harp events in the summer but you only have so much time (and so much money!) so here are my favorites:

Ohio Scottish Arts School (OSAS) – It’s hard to put into words how much fun OSAS is or to tell you how much you will learn at OSAS. It starts immediately after the Ohio Scottish Games in Barea OH (just outside Cleveland. This year’s instructors are stellar – Corrina Hewat, Haley Hewitt, Allison Miller, and me! And fiddlers will have Elke Baker (invite your favorite fiddler to come!). Classes will focus on basic harp technique for beginners and intermediates, repertoire at all levels, including tunes for competition sets, and Scottish style, including ornaments, lilt, and dance types. Nylon/gut/wire harps are welcome. We’ll study Scottish dance music, airs, and songs, focusing on ornamentation, Scottish style, accompaniment, and learning by ear. We’ll have lectures, practice time, and playing in sessions. Classes will be available for beginners who have played for a few months, intermediates, and advanced players. It’s the 45^th Anniversary so we have even more to celebrate! Class sizes are limited and harp is getting close to being full so go to https://ohioscottishartsschool.com for more information and to register before the class fills! 24 – 30 June, Barea, OH

Somerset Folk Harp Festival – Somerset is the festival for everyone! There are workshops for you no matter if you’re beginning or advanced. There are workshops in different genres, covering topics you might even know that you wanted to know! And it is in person and online – a hybrid we can all love. There are options which can help you tailor the event to you. In person is in Parsippany NJ and you’ll be able to wander the (very large) Exhibit hall where you can see harps, listen to harps, play harps, talk harps, meet harp makers, compare harps…and (maybe best of all) buy harps! And Harpstuff (including exquisite jewelry, music, learn about other training experiences available, and more. And did I mention that in addition to a huge cadre of great instructors – every day there are concerts! What’s not to love? Go to https://www.somersetharpfest.com for more information and to register so you don’t miss out. 20 – 23 July, Parsippany NJ

Harp Quest – We are excited to begin another Harp Quest in 2023! Our quests are each different as we seek to learn what our harp is there to teach us, so plan to join us for a new Journey forward with our harps – becoming what we’re meant to be. The Quest will remain easily accessible to harpers from anywhere and at any level. Our focus will be a short and intense experience that we will each take with us into the coming months and years – perhaps not fully appreciating what we have learned until much later. But secure in knowing that we will get there – each of us. And we’ll get there together! This year kids will quest together, and adults will follow their own quest. In the pastoral and relaxing valleys of South Central, the setting is just the thing to learn and grow and go a little farther on the road we travel. Harp Quest focuses on very personalized time sharing and learning. We will have fun, support one another, and work together to expand technical skills and exercise our brains. As always, we will work on building healthy self-esteem and encourage ourselves to try new things. Our format is tailored to assure that the journey is not rocky – not that you won’t work hard or occasionally need to breathe! We’ll work individually in a limited sized group and together experiencing three days of creativity, sharing, and fun. Kids Quest 25 – 27 August, Adults Quest 8 – 10 September. For more information contact me.

What do you want to do for your summer? Are you going to register for any of these? Are there other events we should be considering? Let me know in the comments!

It’s time to plan – Summer Camp!

Posted on March 14, 2022 by Jen

I know, I know, it’s only mid-March and we’ve just turned the clocks back so it’s still dark through breakfast! But…

SUMMER IS COMING! Time for Summer Camp!

I know it seems like summer is really far away. But really, summer starts in just 99 days (when I wrote this, so even fewer by the time you read it!). So, if we want to be ready, we should start planning now.

There are a lot of summer programs available. You can tailor your planning to your type of playing. I have some real favorites and I’d like to encourage you to join me at all or some of them!! These are all adult friendly, beginner friendly, and well, just friendly! Here’s a chronological list:

The 41st Edinburgh International Harp Festival, 8 – 11 April 2022. Ok, not strictly summer, but… This year has a hybrid program so you can participate in classes and workshops, attend concerts all from the comfort of your home computer or you can be there in person! This is very exciting because so many of us have wanted to go and have now had our appetites whetted with two years online but with travel still a bit snarled, this is a great option for those of us who don’t live in the UK. There are a number of exciting presenters and the concerts are fab – even if you are watching on your computer. The events are available online during the Festival and on demand afterward. The price is very reasonable – and a la carte! All the info is available at harpfestival.co.uk

Ohio Scottish Arts School, Saturday, June 25 – Friday, July 1, 2022. Aaahhhhh – to me, OSAS is the quintessential Harp Summer Camp! This year OSAS is breaking in a new venue – with Air Conditioning!! Woohoo! An entire week of great in-person instruction, wonderful tunes, amazing people, and Scottish music coming out your pores! I liked Scottish music before I came the first time, but I LOVED it by the end of my first week. I think the best sales pitch for OSAS is the number of students who have come year after year after year – both adults and kids (and adults who started as kids!). This year’s instructors are Corrina Hewat, Sharon Knowles, Seumas Gagne, and me. Registration has started and will close when the class fills so don’t wait. For those of you who have come in the past (or specifically haven’t come) – I’ll highlight – AirCon! All the details at ohioscottishartsschool.com

Somerset Harp Festival 21 – 24 July (in person and 1 July – 31 October online). Somerset is possibly the most flexible event I’ve seen – even in this new world of working! There are in person events, online events and subsequent events that will occur throughout the open online period! There are options to fit every schedule whether you can travel or not. And there are still the additional events like Harpers’ Escape and special add-on workshops. Be sure to read the registration page and sign up for the best fit for you. I’m excited to be teaching two workshops this summer in person and I hope you’ll come see me! All you need to know is here: somersetharpfest.com

There are loads of other summer programs as well. I can’t list them all here. Many are pedal-y-er and oriented to younger harp players (by which I mean kids). Most are listed in the Harp Column with info available here: harpcolumn.com/summer-harp-camp-directory

If you have never come to a harp summer camp, you have missed out! I can’t tell you how much you will learn, but you’ll definitely learn a load of great music, applied theory, excellent arrangements, and what a great community the harp world is. If you are hesitant, give yourself a little push and give it a try. I think you’ll be surprised – and delighted!

Are you going to a harp camp this summer? Which one(s)? What made you choose it? What did I leave out? Let me know in the comments!

From Me to You –

Posted on July 27, 2020 by Jen

It’s Summer – when we know we should practice but probably want to do anything else. Lay in front of the air conditioner. Drink iced tea. Dream of cooler days. None of that is very motivating. Is your practice motivation suffering?

This week – from me to you, a free printable to add some structure to your day so you can focus your practice each day and feel like you have accomplished something. And you’ll still have time for fun.

Click on the button (above – get it? button) to download your free printable. Post it near your harp so each day you’ll have something to look forward to!

Half the way there!

Posted on July 20, 2020 by Jen

It’s mid-July and you know what that means? Yup, we are just a little more than half the way through this year.

And, yes, it has been an epic year so far…I won’t enumerate – you’re living it with me, so you already know. And I mean epic in the classical sense – a (typically long and possibly unending) story of the deeds and adventures of heroic people!

And yes, we’re only half the way through it. Ugh.

But being halfway through is a good time to stop, pick our collective heads up, take a deep breath, and look around. How are we doing?

But think back…in January, we didn’t know any of this was coming and we knew the year was full of promise. And we talked about the 2020 vision we’d have this year. You might remember that we talked about this here.I suggested you take a smarter path that started with examining your life (your whole life!) and finding the balance for your harp within that.

And of course, I exhorted you to practice. And then I gave you a long list of things to practice. I also pointed out that you would do exactly as much work as you fit in and encouraged you to form goals that would be do-able.

So, half the year has gone by. Do you remember your goals (because I am confident you wrote them down as I suggested)? How are you coming?

Did you, at any time throughout the current upheaval we are all experiencing, modify those goals? Did you look at your world and how the world outside you is impacting your world, and modify what you expected to accomplish as a harper this year?

Gosh, I sure hope so! Because this has been a doozy of a year! We certainly didn’t see it coming. And all of us have been impacted in one way or another (or by a number of ways, in quick succession, in a seemingly coordinated attack!). And we have all had varying levels of success with coping, adapting, and overcoming everything.

I’d like to encourage you to revisit the things you set out to do for yourself. Then do the following:

Bring out a big marker (or eraser) and (at least mentally) cross off those things that just are not going to serve you in the six months or so we have remaining in 2020.
Sift through your goals and keep the ones that still make sense…and are do-able.
Capture, but hold for later, those that are still important to you but are not currently realistic – especially since we don’t know when things will revert to what we were expecting. And
Boldly, ceremoniously and with a great deal of fanfare, toss the ones that just are not serving you! (yes, you can do that!).

There’s one more thing you need to do and that is to note all the things you have done so far this year. Especially the ones you never even imaged! Things that come to mind:

Learning to play to your computer
Learning to not play for other people (!)
Learning where to look so you look like you’re looking at the other person (and dealing with not being able to see them so that you look like you can).
Figuring out new software to have lessons or harp circles or play dates
Learning that you really do have to wait for the other person to finish – and wait your turn.
Learning to deal with the fatigue which seems to be unique to spending all day on your computer, even if previously you thought you spent all day on your computer!
Coping in the face of unending uncertainty (and helping others do the same)

So, on balance, you’re probably having a good and productive year. Let’s make sure your goals match and that you’re taking credit for what you have accomplished so far. I’m sure there are even more things you have learned – both related and unrelated to playing the harp – share them in the comments.

Now go outside and play – No excuses

Posted on July 6, 2020 by Jen

OSAS is finished – but boy oh boy was it a blast! We had a great group of harpers who were wonderful. They learned so much, including loads of harp music and how to zoom for hours on end. And we met new people and saw old friends. We had students from all over including Ohio and Maine and Oregon and Virginia and Maryland and Washington and Michigan and Italy!! We expended loads of energy together and I can’t wait until the next time! We have to wait a whole year.

And after a week of sitting on my bench, in an artificially lighted, air conditioned studio (to make our zoom meetings work), I almost forgot that it’s summer.

But it is definitely summer. So why not go outside and play?

While we all continue to limit going out and we all keep working on our social distancing, we could have an opportunity to bring a little of the enjoyment of being with other people into our lives.

Go outside and play!

Play for your neighbors and just connect in that way music does. But also – remember that you play the harp and you will make more than music – you’ll be making HARP music. And your neighbors will come out to be connected and to hear your beautiful music.

I hear some of you – you already have excuses. Just stop.

You don’t have a huge repertoire yet? That’s ok, you don’t have to play long sets.
You don’t have time? That’s ok, you don’t have to play every day.
You don’t have any neighbors? That’s ok, you can go to a park or your local library or your grocery store.
You’re not good enough? That’s ok, please be convinced that people will be grateful for your gift, no matter how polished or rough. (And I really wish you’d believe me that most audience members are in awe of you! They can’t do what you’re doing…and they know it).

I have been playing for my neighbors once a week (almost every week – I’ve missed a couple) since the lockdown began. I made it easy for everyone – I only play for about 30 minutes, so it’s not a long commitment for them (as listeners) or me (as a performer). I mostly play what I know – whatever comes to mind. Sometimes I add in something I’m working on (bonus – I get a low stress environment to find if it’s ready).

And I’ve been delighted by a couple of things. First – they came! I really wondered if anyone would be bothered to come out at all (remember there’s a plague upon the earth?). Second – they’ve kept coming! Not all of them every time, but there has been a consistent audience and I’m happy to have them. Third – I have gotten some incredible and gracious emails from my neighbors which is flattering, but more importantly, it’s gratifying.

So, go outside and play. Lift your bushel basket and stop hiding under it. Share your gift. Be like the summer flowers – out there where everyone can enjoy. But don’t delay – summer doesn’t last that long! What will you do with your summer? Let me know in the chat!

OSAS is here! OSAS is here!

Posted on June 29, 2020 by Jen

This has been a year of upheaval and I know many of us are feeling it keenly! But we’ve all mustered on, doing what we can – for ourselves and for others – trying to live in what is laughingly called the “new normal” rather than being dragged down by “what might have been”.

I LOVE the Ohio Scottish Arts School! It has been pivotal in my life as a musician and as a person – some of my dearest friendships have grown from this one week in the summer. In addition, I probably wouldn’t be playing the harp at all if I hadn’t found OSAS. I am not exaggerating – as much as I love orchestral music (and the harp for that matter), I am confident I would not have endured playing solely from that repertoire. OSAS helped point me in the right direction and I haven’t looked back!

And I LOVE teaching at OSAS, so I was excited to be doing so again this summer! But when the pall spread across the earth, I was sad that we would all miss out on it. The fun. The friends. The great students. The great tunes. Sigh.

Enter the Virtual Ohio Scottish Arts School! When the decision was made to go virtual, I was delighted and excited! (but you knew that from my earlier post). Virtual OSAS – a new twist for slightly twisted times!

We had meetings to figure out how we were going to do this.

And we kept saying, “It’ll be great. It’ll be easy. It’ll be fine”, and Debbie Doty – our beloved director, leader, Mom would agree, while making this face:

But we kept planning and we kept preparing and we worried (a little) that people wouldn’t come. But we pushed on, learning how to Zoom, polishing up our tunes to share, working together to figure out how everything would work together. You know, being the OSAS family!

OSAS Alumnae who are known for their hi-jinks and wicked senses of humor made thoughtful, heartfelt testimonials to encourage previous students to return and potential students to come along. And come along they did. Being virtual means that people who previously couldn’t get to Ohio can be a part of the week! And many students from previous years are also coming! So exciting! Even more exciting? The Harp Class filled before the registration deadline hit!

HARPHARPHARPHARP!

This week, OSAS will go on. We’ll be TogetherApart – playing our harps, sharing great tunes, learning, and laughing – social distancing by entire continents or oceans!

And looking forward to having a whole set of new tunes to play together when we can be together.

We’ll still be having our Tea –

And enjoying many of the traditions that help make OSAS the event we love!

I am confident that, as usual, I’ll be busy being there and won’t take nearly enough pictures (screenshots?) to share here – but we’ll see what comes of it. If you’re going to be there – yea! Can’t wait to see you and catch up. And if you’ve missed out, it’s not too early to start planning for 2021… OSAS is always the last week of June running up to the 4^th July holiday (in 2021, that will be 26 June – 2 July….go put it on your calendar now, because you don’t want to miss out twice in a row, do you?).

* All photos ripped from the OSAS website

OSAS 2020 is coming!!

Posted on June 1, 2020 by Jen

If you’ve read my blog for more than about 15 minutes, you know that one of my most favoritest harp events each year is the Ohio Scottish Arts School. I have participated as a student and as a teacher – and I can tell you the view from either window is just marvelous! The instructors, the students, the Thistle Sisters and Thistle Brothers – all outstanding!

And you also know that this spring has led to a lot of cancellations. A lot of cancellations.

BUT NOT OSAS!!! OSAS is going ON LINE.

It’s taking some planning – and creative thinking (I’d say “out of the box thinking” but clearly, as you can see in the picture below, we’re each in a box!)

OSAS planning – things you learn in a COVID world.

If you’ve always wanted to come to OSAS but haven’t been able to – this is your chance! Live too far away? Live so many timezones away, we’re upside down? All no problem this year! OSAS CAN STILL BE A PART OF YOUR HARP LIFE!

You will have the opportunity to study with the inestimable Sue Richards, the incredible Rachel Hair, the wonderful Rachel Clemente, and the incalculable me.

The fun of working together to learn a tune and play it! PS, do not sit like this when you’re playing your harp (like I am – sidesaddle) or you’ll be calling me for an Ergonomics Lesson to fix all your injuries and pains!

From Monday, June 29 to Friday, July 3, 2020, we will have 3 – 4 sessions per day. In the morning, we’ll learn tunes. After lunch, we’ll gather to review the morning, learn more, and participate in group lectures and/or one-on-one sessions. More specific details will be coming (as we firm up and finalize everything).

Tuition for this special week is $250 (includes $200 non-refundable deposit). Please note that class sizes are limited. Registration deadline extended to June 8, 2020. Here is the link to the online registration form.

I am very passionate about this event (as you can tell by the plethora of exclamation marks throughout this post) – because I know how much you have the potential to learn, from incredible tutors that you won’t find all together in one place in any other workshop. In addition, over time, OSAS has lead to many lifelong friendships, collaborations, and happy memories.

You should join us this summer at OSAS ONLINE. No, we won’t be all in one room, but we will be all in one space – we’ll be TogetherApart! If you have any questions you can go to the OSAS website or you can leave them for me in the comments below. Hope to see you there!

Summer? Maybe not…instead –

Posted on April 6, 2020 by Jen

It’s that time on the calendar when I usually take some space to mention some of my favorite summer programs and activities so you can save your pennies and dates and plan to go to as many interesting, educational, and cool adventures as you can swing.

This year – not so much.

We’re still watching from the windows, waiting for the shadow to pass. Hopefully it will leave us alone, but not before many of the summer activities will be cancelled or postponed.

But we are the lucky ones – we have our beautiful instruments and our soul-touching music – our companions in times good and bad. We have a port in the storm that feels like it will never recede.

It will recede, as storms (and diseases) do. And after a while we will timidly leave our homes and venture out. Slowly, as we do, things will return to normal. Normal – and all that it entails – too much going on, too much to do, too much to accomplish.

Don’t be one of the people who, at the end of this confinement, looks back and wonders where the time went! If you are home and you are not sick – what a gift – you have time!

You can use this time chained to the constant blather of news that isn’t – or you can go to your harp! But what will you do there? Well, what would you like to do? While the answer to that depends on you, here are some ideas to get you started:

Basics. Get our your favorite love to hate source – Grossi? Friou? Salzedo? Sylvia? Doesn’t matter (they are all useful). Pull it out and turn to page 1. YUP – Page 1! Then do the things we know we are supposed to do, but somehow there’s rarely time for. Go slowly. Read carefully. Be your own terrifying maestro – accept nothing short of excellence from yourself. Close! Watch your posture! Breathe! Do it right! Then do it again! Don’t speed through just to get to the next one. Savor each exercise. Ask yourself – what am I meant to learn here? What tunes that I currently play can I apply this to? There is no race – compare yourself to you yesterday and identify where you’d like to be tomorrow and find how will this help get you there. And through it all – enjoy it. Dig in and feel your growth.
Read. Reading is a skill you develop and a tool you can use. Reading will help you broaden your perspective and possibly open you to new ideas. Don’t use the excuse that you play traditional music to put off bettering your reading. You don’t always have the luxury of hearing everything either. Reading will make all sorts of things accessible – collections, other genres, stuff you read just to practice reading. But you’ll only get more facile at reading by doing it (just like when you were in first grade!).
Listen. You learn so much by listening. You’ll learn new music of course. But, like reading, you’ll get better at listening if you practice. What do you hear first? What do you struggle to hear when you listen (I’m talking about what you process, not how well your ears work). How do you transfer what you hear to the harp? Listen to everything you can lay your hands on – other harpers but also fiddlers, pipers, drummers, classical music, modern music, traditional music outside your usual sphere – everything. I’m listening to Depeche Mode as I write this and I’m keying in on the base line and wondering how I could adapt the idea to a tune I’m arranging just now. Yes it’s a stretch, but it only takes the kernel of an idea to get started, if you work it (usually over time).
Learn. You’re never going to get this kind of opportunity again (I hope!) so pull out all those tunes you half learned, never really got up to speed, used to play all the time but have sort of forgotten – and set out to learn them. Really learn them. Don’t forget all the new stuff you haven’t even started on! Like all the other stuff, don’t accept half way. If you’re having trouble with something – go back to 1 (above) and find an exercise that will help you (or make the tricky bit into an exercise), find a source to look at (and write on!), find recordings (if possible), and work with your tunes until they can worm their way into your head.
Enjoy. Have fun – never forget why you play!

Summer may be cancelled, but we still have our harps!

Next week – ways to get yourself sorted, organized and keep from spinning around not actually learning anything! How are you spending your harp time while staying at home? Let me know if the comments!

Scotland is calling! Be an Early Bird

Posted on September 16, 2019 by Jen

I am already excited about our next trip to Scotland…and it’s still eight months away!! I know that you’re so excited about the prospect of going too since I have talked to you and some have already taken advantage of the Early Bird pricing and booked your spot.

I know that some of you are still thinking about it. So, I wanted to encourage you to get in on the Early Bird pricing.

I talked with David this week and I have a new urgency to share with you – lots of other people want to go then too. All those other interested people translate to accommodations booking up.

Since so many of you said you’d love to go to Skye (or as some said, go to Skye “again and again and again!”), David’s been planning an itinerary around that. Even those of you who have come with us before have only seen a small fraction of all the breathtaking beauty of Skye. But if there are no accommodations available, we’ll have to reroute (after all – we need to have a place to sleep!).

Now, that’s not a problem…unless you want to see Skye.

If we were a big bus tour, it wouldn’t be an issue – we’d just take the reservation…and at the last minute, let go of the rooms we don’t need. But we’re not, and that’s not how we roll. Besides, we need to get the right room for each of you – and to do that we need to know how many singles, doubles, or twins!

Our trip will be 9 – 16 September 2020. The Early Bird booking closes 1 October. While we cannot take more than six people and we do need at least four. We are getting there – but we’re missing you.

So, I’d like to encourage you to make your final decisions and book soon. Get the Early Bird price! We’ll take reservations first come/first served and your deposit holds your place.

The early bird price is $3200 per person. Concerned you might have to pay the $350 single supplement? Sometimes others are willing to share – so don’t let that stop you!

As always – if you have questions, ask away. I’m always happy to talk about our trip and how you can get the most from it. You can email me or leave a comment and I’ll get back to you.

Looking forward to sharing some of my favorite tunes – and seeing new things with you in just eight months!

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Category Archives: Summertime