Zoom! Bang!

Posted on April 26, 2021 by Jen

As a harper, I have been reading with interest the “sudden” spate of articles on the ills of working from home for over a year. As a Human Factors Psychologist and Systems Engineer, I am only surprised it took this long for the articles to hit.

Everyone who couldn’t get away from me has received lectures (from my professional perspective). I have related the importance of chair height and table height, arrangement of keyboard, monitor, mouse, lighting, and other elements of the workspace. I have hectored friends, neighbors, and people I don’t even know about drinking enough water and not drinking too much coffee; the importance of avoiding incessant snacking; building a schedule; getting some outdoor time; and keeping work-work and home-work separate (not trying to do household chores between meetings) – all things I know from my professional specialty and as a person who has worked from home for over 15 years.

But now, I’m going to direct all that energy at you … and suggest a way forward!

I know you’re used to me prattling on about injury at the harp, but one thing you might not have thought about is what our current altered reality has done to us. There are so many things we either did differently before or things we haven’t been able to do at all over the last year. That that time away can build the potential for losing focus and technique…all of which may result in injuries – at the harp or away from it.

Just this week I have learned of harpers who have sustained injuries away from the harp that are impacting their playing – ugh. One is a student who fell off a skateboard. Even if that wrist isn’t broken, it will need to heel. And that will be weeks away from the harp. Another was telling me about a big work project – at home, on a laptop doing work that would normally have been done at the office on a desktop – with its ergonomically designed desk and much bigger keyboard. So now we’re working on caring for the overuse injuries from typing in this new position – injuries to the same structures that are central to playing the harp.

As we have all languished at home, it has also been easy to allow our basic skills slide. If you don’t have in person lessons, your thumbs might fall, your shoulders might cave, your chin might jut, and your spine might crumple. In addition, so many of the cues teachers can pick up on from in-person lessons are missing or are flattened online. So, it is likely that there are elements of technique that are dissolving from your daily practice and are not highlighted in your lesson.

And that’s not good – ragged technique and poor posture are not just a challenge to overcome – they can be a gateway to injury.

So, what can you do? Have a zoom call……with yourself!

If you’re not familiar with zoom (zoom.us) it is a free application that allows you to have a video interaction with others. *

At the beginning of each day I do a zoom meeting with myself to verify my cameras are pointing in the right direction, that the lighting is good, and that everything is set up before my first student. As I’m teaching, I watch my student. That means that if I need to look at my harp, I would have to look away. But, I can see my harp on the screen which means I can still see both my student and my harp. After all, I want to be sure they are able to follow and understand what I’m doing or to verify that I need to do it again. One day while teaching, I noticed (and was really pleased with) my hand position (I know, silly things make me happy).

And that got me thinking about how on the screen I could see things I can’t see from “behind the harp”. Moreover, I could make small changes and see the effect right away.

You can do the same thing. How? You just have to host a meeting with yourself. Yup – host a meeting, but don’t invite anyone else! You have the full screen, you can see yourself clearly, and while you watch, you can make small adjustments. As you make these adjustments (move to the middle of the string? raise your arm just a tiny bit? create greater space between your thumb and fingers? actually preplace or use the fingering you worked out? the list could go on…) BANG! – you can immediately see the effect of each change.

And seeing can certainly be believing.

I often suggest that you video your practice so you can see what you’re doing…and what you’re not doing. It gives you a different perspective (and may make teacher comments mean more to you). I also always remind you of the big red delete button…because the point of the video is to learn, correct and go on, not to hold it for posterity. However, I also know that many of you still don’t do this. So this similar (but completely ephemeral) idea seemed like a good one. Watch yourself play but don’t record it. See what you’re doing (from the vantage point of your teacher) and make small adjustments until what you see matches what you’ve heard in all those lessons – high thumb, relax, close, place…breathe!

DO ALL THE THINGS! SEE ALL THE THINGS!

I also find that the meeting view is better – clearer and brighter – than on the video.

So, are you willing to zoom with yourself to help be bang on? If you do, let me know how it goes and what you learn. And if you’re not willing to try, I’d like to hear that too. I’m always looking for better ways to teach and I learn so much from your comments!

* And no, of course I’m not getting any compensation – but this is also not an endorsement. I have used zoom, skype, facetime, and messenger – as long as you have the function without actually having someone else on the line, it’ll work.

What Will You Do on Your Summer Staycation?

Posted on April 19, 2021 by Jen

With all this pandemic-ing going on and on and on, it’s easy to let planning for summer to fall out of your head. But that would be a mistake! While not everything will be happening this summer, there is a not-to-be-missed harp event that I would commend to you –

The Ohio Scottish Arts School will be online again this summer!

Now, you might think that it might not be as fulfilling as the in-person experience. You’d be wrong. Ask last year’s attendees – we did many of the same things we do when we’re in person. There were notable exceptions, but these were slightly ameliorated by being things we would have had to replace anyway.

Why would we need to replace things anyway? Because next year (fingers crossed) we will be in our new location at Baldwin Wallace University. We are very much looking forward to this change…and not just because it is air conditioned against those June-in-Ohio heatwaves! We will have to find new things to replace singing under the tree, wandering Gibson’s and the Ben Franklin, and going to the Bead Shop. And we will – we will have a new place to explore and enjoy!

But first – this summer.

This summer we have are so fortunate to have an amazing collection of teachers. Rachel Hair and Rachel Clemente will be with us again. And I’m so excited that we will also be joined by Sharon Knowles too! Oh, and me!

We are all excited about seeing everyone from near and far. We were so excited to have students from as far away as Europe but we can try to break that distance record! We’ll be like the Brady Bunch again with happy faces in small windows. And the tunes we’ll be teaching – Ace! (as we have learned to say from Rachel Hair). We will have teaching sessions and lecture sessions and fun sessions. There will also be opportunities to learn from the other arts (Pipes, Drums, Fiddles, and Dance). The evening activities will include the Instructor Concert as well as some new goodies the Thistle Family are cooking up. And – we will get to start each day as we traditionally have – with the piper!

If you’ve not been to OSAS, you have missed a treat! But you can fix that! OSAS is intended to provide students with comprehensive instruction in their chosen traditional art – Harp in our case. All the instructors in each art are nationally and internationally recognized. You will learn theory, skills and technique, and new material.

You do not need to be a significantly accomplished harper, but OSAS is not pitched to rank beginners – you should have some knowledge of harping. However, if you are comfortable learning and playing, come join us!

OSAS will be Monday, June 28 – Friday, July 2. Registration is now open – go to https://ohioscottishartsschool.com for all the details.

Please note that the class sizes are limited, and registration closes June 11^th. Don’t delay – get your spot! We were pretty full last summer. Have harp specific questions? Planning to be there this summer? Let me know you’re coming in the comments below.

Plan for a Productive week

Posted on April 12, 2021 by Jen

You have a crazy busy schedule. Ok, I may not know you, but since most everyone does have that kind of schedule, I’m going to take a guess that you, like so many others, do too. People with busy schedules usually have a strategy to keep all the plates spinning and balls at the top of the arc (a strategy from juggling). Not having a strategy can be a problem, because – you know – life. Do you have a strategy to assure you get to play throughout the week? Here are ten things to do on Sunday to be ready for the coming week so that n-o-t-h-i-n-g gets in the way of your harp time! PS – There’s nothing magic about Sundays. Do this on the day of the week that you think of as the day before the start of the week. PPS – if your mother is anything like my mother, nothing on this list will surprise you! My mother is a master organizer, and this is the sort of thing I learned at her knee. But if you weren’t raised by a logistical genius like I was, now you’ll know what you need to do, so go do it…

Peruse your notes. Whether it’s your lesson notes or your practice journal, figure out what you need to be thinking about while you’re practicing. The only thing worse than not being ready for your lesson because you didn’t practice is not being ready because you practiced the wrong thing! And trust me, your teachers don’t write those notes for their own health – use the notes!
Review your practice from the previous week. What worked? What didn’t? What derailed you? What do you need to carryover working on? Did you practice the things you meant to? If not, why not, and what did you do instead? There’s good info in reflecting on these questions!
Write down your priorities. Even if you’re not gigging, you probably have some place you’d like to go on your harp. But you already know that you can’t do everything all at once. And we know that preparing music (from selecting to analyzing to learning to polishing to performing) doesn’t happen in one day or even one week. Figuring out what you should work on this week to make progress. Writing it down will help move you along even more.
Look at your planner. Which day this week are you definitely not going to get to play or practice? Oh, come on, be honest. There’s always a day where everything else takes priority and you know you’re not going to get to your harp. Know when that is and modify your plan to fit your life. I sometimes have days where really, I’m driving all day. For those days, I plan for “head practice” – load the tunes to be learned and listen listen listen (and sing along to know you’re getting it). Or use time when you’re walking or running (a great time to think about rhythm while you enjoy your own metronome-ness. You might not make it to your harp, but you will still get a little bit done.
Plan your practice days. If you know what you should do (see 1 above), and what you want to do (see 2 above), and when you have available to do it (see 3 above), then it makes sense to figure out what each day might look like. This is a concept I stole from body-building – even if you workout every day, you don’t go hard on everything every day (or you will crash). Which day will be your hard-core technique day? Which is going to focus on learning and repeating? Which day is your “play date” with yourself? Don’t wait for the day you feel like doing the thing you need to work on most (or you’ll never do the thing), make a plan.
Do the Laundry. No really, get your chores sorted before the week begins. Maybe you don’t do laundry on Sunday night but having a plan to get all your “responsibilities” taken care of throughout the week means you won’t have to give up your precious harp time to do something uninteresting like cleaning the bathroom. This stands for everything that might take up time you would rather spend playing and includes all those chores that you know will eat up the time you have if you wait to do them (I’m looking at you meal planning!).
Prep your space. No matter if your studio is a 25 ft x 25 ft room dedicated to your music or a sliver of floor between the couch and the wall, maintain it! If you need to, neaten it up, make sure everything you will need is close to hand (for instance, I’m currently going through stickie notes like there’s no tomorrow, and all my pens had gone walkabout, so I had to restock –). Tuner need batteries? Tuning key under a pillow in the other room? Get it all sorted so you’re not spending the few moments you have looking for stuff.
Load your music stand. As in 7 above, make sure the sheet music, notes, or other references you need are on there. And that the other stuff is not. By the end of the week, I have so much paper, so many music books, and paperclips, clothes pins, pencils, etc. on my stand that if I didn’t do this, on Monday my first task would always be to pick up all the junk I dropped.
Get yourself ready for Monday. It won’t do any good to spend all this time prepping for playing if you aren’t ready for the rest of your Monday. Be sure you spend a little time getting yourself sorted to have a good week. Get your bag sorted, plan your clothes, put gas in the car. Of course, most of this list will suffice for that as well – just make sure you also have yourself organized and ready to go for the week. Then you’re less likely to have everyday disasters eat into your harp time.
Be nice to you. This is a great time to remember that you need to do something nice for you. Give yourself a manicure and massage your hands and forearms. Find some decadent emollient cream (and use it, don’t wait for a special occasion!). Breathe while you do this, relax, and you have a mini-spa session!

This list is not exhaustive of course. But if you take a little time out of your Sunday to prepare for the week, you will find that you have more time to play and practice. And because you spend that time on Sunday, the rest of the week’s harp time can be less stressful because you’re ready and not fighting fires during that time. What do you do on Sunday to prepare for you harp week? If you don’t have a regular routine, did you give this a try? Let me know in the comments!

Change the things you can and Accept the things you cannot

Posted on December 14, 2020 by Jen

I really enjoy hearing from you. Throughout the year you have reached out and shared your thoughts, your successes, your challenges, and I am so incredibly grateful that you do.

And you’ve had some doozies this year!

Broken bones and broken harps. Sadness and loneliness as we spent the year Together Apart. Concern that this will never end. Tunes that refused to go into your head. Wayward left hands that just would not cooperate. Concern about not being able to share music with others. Fatigue with playing. Frustration at not making the progress you expected (or demanded of yourself). Nervousness as gigs dried up and audiences didn’t materialize. Fear that an injury might mean you’ll never play again. Anxiety that your absent motivation is going to close a chapter in your life.

Yikes.

Change what you can, Accept what you can’t

And yet, through it all, our harps have stood at the ready (well, with the exception of the broken harp…). Your harp can be a source of succor in an otherwise blech year – if you allow it to be. And if you allow it to serve that role where and when you need it. It’s a time to change the things you can and accept the things you cannot.

You cannot change your healing and recovery rate. You cannot modify how long we are shut down, separated, enduring viruses. These are things that you must accept.

But if you’re not very motivated to spend time at your harp, you might just need a change. Who knows why you’re not playing or practicing? Well, it’s likely that you do!

Sometimes you need to knuckle down and just do it. This often feels like a nagging need that you feel rubbing you the wrong way. Perhaps you can just push along with your harp to get past this. Identify why you’re feeling that you don’t want to play and tease it out. If you’re stressed and overwhelmed, or just a little discouraged, you can reset your frame. Make a coffee date with your harp. Rather than thinking about practicing, just promise yourself that you’ll only sit for 3 minutes and you’ll spend that time noodling. If you need to make this completely stress free, just play pentatonic notes (set your harp to Cmaj and play only the white strings). This is pretty easy because anything you play will sound like music. Whatever you do, don’t force it – if getting to 3 minutes is hard, get up and walk away. If it is relatively easy (by which I mean – if you are surprised 3 minutes went by so fast) then keep playing. This is really just an opportunity to reconnect with your harp (and yourself). Don’t practice, don’t work, just relax into your harp, and enjoy. And maybe you’ll look forward to another coffee date with your harp. Or maybe lunch? Just go with it and see what happens.

Or maybe your motivation is low because you haven’t really set any new goals and you are floundering. This might be the easiest to fix! Schedule yourself for lessons or coaching with someone who will help you define or refine your goals and help you set a path there. Need a teacher or coach?

More difficult are the times when you have to acknowledge that you need a break. That you are deliberately avoiding your harp. That you are in difficulties with your relationship. There are loads of reasons you might need a break. You could have set rigid expectations that you have not met. You might be at a place in your life when you do not have the time to dedicate to this craft. You may have become bored with the instrument, the music, the process, the activity. You may have come to realize that you like saying you play the harp, but the reality of playing isn’t as appealing. It can be hard to walk away – after all you’ve invested a lot of time and money. The harp world is a delightful and comfortable place and you probably have made loads of friends as well. So, departing could be hard, but there is no shame in finding that you just don’t want to be there anymore.

I really hope you’re not finding that you are having difficulty getting to your harp! But, if you are, no matter which of these you might fit, the important thing is that you identify what the challenge is. Then you can begin to move forward. And it’s not too soon – the coming New Year is a good opportunity to reflect, define what you must accept and change what you can.

Are you a little stuck? How is that manifesting in your harp life? Let me know in the comments. Need help? Let me know – coaching can help you get where you’re going (or at least back on the path).

Keep Moving

Posted on December 7, 2020 by Jen

In what has been an interesting year (yes, that’s the most charitable word I can think of to describe 2020), winter has begun with a roar (literally – high winds and damaging gusts in my area, 6 inches of snow for some of you). It’s enough to challenge one’s sanity!

But we are stronger than that and we will push through all this. Thankfully, we have our harps to help us get through just about anything! But we do need to keep moving to help us continue to grow – and I think that many of you have been doing that throughout the year. We keep moving on our repertoire. We keep moving to find new ways to gather and be a community. We keep moving to help each other out as we have seen opportunities to share first vanish and then move to new virtual ways of connecting.

But are we moving enough? I know you keep moving while playing – but are you actually moving? There are a few ways of moving that are fairly essential to your continued playing and your overall wellbeing.

Go for a walk – outside. I did mention I meant to literally move! There are a number of reasons to go for a walk. Getting some sunlight is good (and necessary) for your health. Getting some fresh air might just save your life (Dr. Fauci tells us now). And a little bit of light aerobic exercise helps keep you healthy. If you prefer, don’t see talking a walk as a fitness challenge but rather an opportunity to spend a little quiet time to clear your mind and reconnect with yourself. And don’t let the winter deter you – this doesn’t have to be a trek, just a short stroll will have the desired effect.

Take a little exercise. Ok, now I’m talking about a little more strenuous than the walk! No matter your age, a little bit of exercise helps keep you supple. You don’t have to be a gym rat or the next Arnold Schwarzenegger either – just find an appropriate workout plan online. There are loads that can be perfect for you – search by your age, or current level of fitness, or interest (for instance – don’t have any equipment, find a workout that doesn’t require any like basic calisthenics…those are still around and are still good for you). The point is that having a little more movement in your day will help you keep moving. You will be less stiff and sore, and this can be a perpetual part of your day – the longer you exercise a little each day, the better you will feel every day. And feeling better sure makes playing easier!

Don’t plant on the bench. I find this particularly difficult! When you’re playing and having a great time (as we do!), or even practicing and working intently on getting some new piece worked up, it’s easy to be so focused that you inadvertently spend too much time sitting on the bench. You might recall that typically the appropriate seat for playing is not really designed for long term sitting. Most are flat and not particularly cushioned. So be sure to schedule stretch breaks and plan to get up from the bench to move a little throughout your practice. You don’t have to take a long break to keep moving! Take a short walk, climb the stairs, stretch, do something to move. Then you can go back to your practicing a bit refreshed. If you find you don’t notice the passage of time, use a kitchen timer to act as an alarm clock.

Feel the rhythm of the beat. Ever since my first harp workshop where I learned about eurythmics, I have been a fan! If you’re not familiar with this (or if this word only makes you think of a most excellent Scottish band from the 1980s) eurythmics is the practice of using body movement to reflect music. It can be expressive (as in dance) but here I mean using your body to represent the music you’re playing. If you’ve ever clapped a rhythm, you’ve done eurythmics! If you’re one of my students, you have likely lived through clapping and walking and a bunch of other body movements to really feel the rhythm and the beat. I love this approach not only because it gets you moving but it also allows you to learn your music in other modes that you normally sit on (in this case actually!).

Reach out and touch someone. Ok, this might be figurative in the time of COVID, but there’s no reason not to reach out to others. When we can, we can literally reach out to play with our friends, but even now, be sure to reach out to others to play, share, teach, and learn.

How do you keep moving? I’m sure you have other ideas to share – let me know if the comments!

Go confidently – and be nice

Posted on November 30, 2020 by Jen

So, there’s still a dread disease across the land, there is still very little work for musicians, and we’re all getting tired of sitting in front of our computers creating/consuming/enduring content.

Sigh. What’s a harper to do?

I saw something online this morning (of course, because where else am I gonna go?) that really stuck with me.

You see, I spent pretty much ALL day yesterday working on something at the intersection of my harp and my computer. It was a struggle to figure out where to start. But I shouldered all my perfectionistic professionalism and got on with it. And after hours slogging through (and I mean h-o-u-r-s), I learned that I had gotten absolutely nothing usable! Then I spent even more hours trying to save what I had, only to recognize that it would be faster (and probably more satisfying and less frustrating) to start over again than to continue to try to salvage it. It was disheartening (and worrisome – I have a deadline!). I felt like I wasn’t going to be able to do this.

But the words I saw this morning were spot on. They spoke of continuing on, and staying confident, even when you’re not sure where you’re going.

I hope you feel confidence when you’re playing – especially when you’re struggling with a particular piece or technique. It’s very difficult to keep confidence front of mind when you have had a bad rehearsal or when you make a video of your playing (like I frequently suggest) and see something you didn’t think you would (I’m pointing at you unclosed fingers, dropping elbows, craned necks, and bent wrists!). It would be so easy to become disheartened and to set it aside. But like so many setbacks, there are lessons to be learned – about the music, about your playing, and about yourself!

Don’t let your self-confidence take a hit when you have setbacks or challenges. It is easy to go down the path of loss of confidence – especially with our music. And while you’re being confident, that you’re nice to you as well. But it’s important to remember a few important details:

Typically our lack of self-confidence has nothing to do with reality. Your perception of your performance is usually far different from your real ability. If you have received kudos in for your playing, those people are not lying! So stop lying to yourself.
Remember to praise yourself – and mean it.
You will have challenges. As you work through them, be nice to you! The mental health pros say “practice kindness and compassion” – do that with yourself!
Finally, realize that you can say no to yourself. You wouldn’t accept unreasonable requests from others, don’t make unreasonable requests of yourself! Of course strive to learn and grow, but don’t ask yourself to do things you don’t want to do are just aren’t ready for!

So, today I’m redoing all the work I did yesterday. Am I feeling less confident? Nope, not anymore (of course I wallowed for a little bit – I AM human!). Today I’m going to use everything I learned yesterday and get it done! Do I know where all this will lead? Nope, I have no clue. while I do all that, I will remember that I am doing the best I can and I will succeed, although it might take me a little longer than I thought.

If you hit a rough patch, I hope you’ll continue on, stay confident, and persevere. You may not know where you’re going…until you get there. Anyone else in this spot? What are you doing? Let me know in the comments!

There’s always a curve

Posted on November 2, 2020 by Jen

There’s been a lot going on this year – for everyone. It can be challenging to remain positive in the face of so much stuff. But still you must…because there’s always a curve. Possibly just around the corner!

We’re running up on the holiday season. There are weddings and carol sings and church services. There are a million things to practice for – including those that we can’t see on the calendar, but we do know will happen again soon (after COVID).

Amy is sporting a fancy brace that allows more movement – but we might be limited to left hand only play for a little while. Good thing we know what to do!

But what happens when something happens to you? When life throws you a curve? Just this week I have learned of two people in my harp world who are recovering from injury – one has suffered a broken arm!

But that doesn’t mean no playing! However, it does mean taking time for injury recovery. There are plenty of ways to continue with music and plenty of reasons to persist*

First the reasons:

You can be your own therapeutic musician
You can only watch so many Christmas movies as you recover (or whatever your mindless guilty pleasure is!).
You know you need to practice (and you know that there are ways for your to do so, even without playing your harp)
You can gain a new skill – you could be the only one at your next harp circle that can actually pull off what will look like a party trick – playing an entire tune in one hand!
You know that it will just make you feel better to spend a little time with your harp!

And now, the ways:

You’ve only injured one hand/arm/shoulder – but the other one is fine. You can’t go wrong by keeping that side playing. Work on skills that are more prominent in that hand – drill frequent finger patterns, work on rhythm, focus on articulation – there’s loads to do!
Don’t fret over what you can’t do – focus on what you can. You’re fortunate that this is an injury from which you will recover so you will be able to get back. Your best bet is to not lose ground through inaction and atrophy.
Dust off your theory – if you’re only using one hand, you will need to leverage all your understanding of chord structure to build a harmony in that hand. You can use simple harmony, practice more complex chords or maybe explore jazzier harmonies.
Dust off your basics – you might have gotten away from fundamentals – basic technique, strengthening, and stretching. Add this back into your routine so you don’t end up with another injury to overcome.
Dust off your other basics – you might have gotten away from structural work on intervals in one hand. So, work that in – do the exercises to work your thirds, fourths, fifths, sixths, etc. You will be making all your harmonies from these intervals, so you might as well focus on making them as good (and solid) as you can – no fumbling around! It’s never too late to open Sylvia Woods’ Teach yourself book, Maria Grossi’s book, Sue Richards’ exercises, or whatever your favorite basics book is**.
Dust off your musicality – here’s a real opportunity to focus on the tune and rendering more musically. Without all the other stuff to focus on (two hands mostly!) you can really hone in on your musicality.
Work on (and write down!) your arranging skills.

You can see that focusing on one hand might be a bit of bother while you recover but it can open your eyes to some other important aspects of playing. You might even consider giving it a go before you’re injured! And it can’t hurt to have a plan in the event of injury – and you’ll have something to look forward to!

One final thought on recovering while injured – be very careful to monitor your posture and technique while you’re recovery – no need to develop an overuse injury on top of everything else!

Have you been injured and needed to modify how you play or practice? What did you do and how did it work for you? If you haven’t been injured, do you have a plan just in case life throws you a curve? Let me know in the comments below.

* please don’t do anything dumb – I’m not that kind of doctor, this is not medical advice. If you are recovering from an injury or surgery, follow the instructions of your physician, physical therapist, occupational therapist, and other health care providers. But don’t forget to ask those same providers to help you recover by explaining that you are a harp player and you are keen to get back to your harp – for your mental, emotional, and physical health. They can’t give you useful advice if you don’t tell them you need to play your harp! Be prepared to explain what you need to be able to do while you’re playing.

** Not a paid endorsement and there are lots of books – I like these and I think you might too.

Trick or Treat – Harpy Halloween

Posted on October 26, 2020 by Jen

Still a weird year, still an odd time.

But it’s Halloween. No trick or treating. No Halloween gigs or parties. But let’s have some Halloween fun anyway!

How are we going to do that? Well, we’ll do all the things! Well, most of them, modified. We can still have a Harpy Halloween and here are five ways you can try:

Make a costume. My favorite part of Halloween is seeing the children in their costumes. Whether they are homemade or store bought, whimsical, goofy, or terrifying, it’s really the highlight of the night. So, why not generate your own costume. What could you be? You could dress up as your favorite composer. Or you could make a costume of the title of your favorite tune. Or do something silly (be a Harp Surgeon?
Dress as one of your favorite tunes, like Debussy’s Clare de Lune

or be a silly harp joke!
Well, this one is easy – get some of your favorite(s) candy. Feel the need to “work” for it? You can give yourself a piece for every trick (or mistake) and two for each treat (every correctly played repetition)? It’s your candy – you decide how you trick or treat!
Play Halloween music – play the old tunes – you know the ones – the creepy, eerie, ghostly ones like Tam Linn, She Moved Through the Fair, Earl Richard, and all the other creepy ones (and you know there are quite a few!) or the seasonal ones like Samhain Samhain.
Do a musical Ghosting – put on that cool costume and play a “pop up” concert outside your house. Want to be really popular – put a bag of candy out for the people who might stop to listen so they can have a little trick or treat fun without getting too close.
Fairy or Angel harp player – be whatever you like, it’s Halloween!
Pumpkins! Get some of those adorable tiny pumpkins and make a “tableau” at the foot of your harp to make it feel more festive

How will you have a Harpy Halloween? I know there are more ways than this! Let me know how you celebrate – and if you have a photo, even better – please share. I’ll post mine here later when I have my costume on 😊 Looking forward to seeing your celebrations!

You are filled with a sense of urgency. Be patient.

Posted on August 31, 2020 by Jen

– thus spoke my fortune cookie

It is the end of August, that magical time of year…when it has been so hot that it is nearly impossible to believe the winter will ever come. When the holidays feel so far away that you can’t even think about them (even though Halloween candy has been on shelves since the afternoon of July 4^th). And this year, any planning will be done while wearing a mask, contemplating how to have your usual holiday celebration while everyone is inside small boxes on your phone screen.

So, it is exceedingly difficult to get motivated to begin to practice holiday music!

But really, it’s already September, and with accelerated schedules, some might normally be expecting to play Christmas music by early November. Of course, this year, everything is off. But even that isn’t much comfort – because people are trying desperately to be out and about and back to normal and we don’t know when what we have always considered to be normal will return. Which means that just when you’re sure you’ll have nowhere to play, someone will contact you begging you for help!

Any of these can really tarnish your willingness to bring your holiday repertoire up to snuff while simultaneously possibly putting you in the situation of not being ready when the call comes.

And no matter what angst others have expressed, I’ve also heard a lot of people saying some variation of, “I’ve had all this time, I should have already mastered an entire new repertoire, but I haven’t even warmed up!” And that’s about when the Fortune Cookie seems to be prescient!

It’s entirely possible that you will have absolutely nowhere to play holiday music in 2020! It’s also possible that – even if you only play for the cat and the curtains – they won’t be really up for holiday music this year. And although I don’t have many, I am already booking for holiday events, so –

2020 is definitely going to be a test of your internal motivation! Here are a few reasons that I’d like to encourage you to start working on holiday music now:

You already have most of it! One of the best things about holiday music is that, after the first few holidays, you pretty much have the repertoire licked. That isn’t to say that you don’t need to take it out and dust it off and give it a good polish. But you really don’t have to start from scratch – score!
Since you’re only having to polish and shine, you really can use this part of your repertoire to both evaluate your growth in the previous year AND to work on expanding what you already know. If you’re not struggling to remember the melody and the chord progression, you can work on new bits of arrangements, adding introductions and codas, making holiday mashups, etc. And with most of the tunes already in your memory, you can select a few to add for this year.
Think of it as an easy exam! This is rep you play every year! You can use it as an opportunity to see how you’ve grown over the year. (If it helps, pinch your own cheek while saying “My, how you’ve grown” in a sing-song-y voice).
Fake it ‘til you make it. I don’t usually run into the holiday season squealing with glee…if I could drag my feet any more on it, I totally would. But the reality is that the tunes are friendly and that can be uplifting. And while playing holiday tunes doesn’t make me giddy with excitement, they do help propel me out of the darkness of the expanding night. So, practice the rep, paste a smile on your face, and I’d be surprised if you didn’t start to get the holiday spirit (no matter how hard you try to avoid it).
You really may have no where to play this year – but that’s ok. Having a package of holiday tunes will give you the opportunity to play for yourself. I don’t know about you but, especially in the busy holiday season, it can be really nice to reconnect with your instrument…and remember why you fell in love in the first place…and easy, well-learned tunes can help with that.
And, if you are socially distant from everyone you love, like, or tolerate – you can have a ready-made gift from the heart! Even I have managed to make a ton of videos – mostly for students, but some for other things. If I can do it, you can do it. Prop your phone up on your music stand, turn on a lamp, and make a video to share. It’s easy to share with those you love/like/tolerate – and it makes a lovely holiday gift at a very reasonable price!

So, throw off the ennui, plaster a smile on your face, dig out your holiday standards, and blow off the dust. Be patient as you work through the doldrums of the time and allow yourself to have enough time to do the work. What are your favorite holiday tunes? Do you feel like you comfortably know how to make a video and share it? Am I fishing for ideas for upcoming blog posts? Let me know in the comments!

Practice Gratitude

Posted on August 10, 2020 by Jen

I hear that we should all be practicing gratitude. Especially now. The sentiment seems to be everywhere.

But I’ve heard it so much that my mind started bending it a little – shifting the emphasis. I can’t hear it the way everyone means anymore because in my head it’s:

PRACTICE gratitude

As in, be grateful for your practice time.

Hmm.

Why would we be grateful for practice time? I can think of a few reasons:

It’s time we spend on ourselves to grow in an area we find important
It creates a little oasis of time in our otherwise busy days
It provides an element of normality when things around us are unpredictable or uncertain
It is a moment of self-development (and not a self-indulgence)

So, we can pretty much dispense with the any puerile comments on how we “have” to practice “again”. Instead – we “get” to practice again!

Practice is clearly not only good for us, but something we want to do, no matter how it might not feel like it in the moment. How might we do that? Here are 15 ways we can practice and enjoy the time and be grateful for our practice time:

Enjoy the ritual of tuning. Rather than seeing it as a chore, take the time to slow down and reconnect with your instrument.
Don’t waste your time doing garbage practice. When you’re practicing, focus.
Don’t accept anything less than your best effort.
When something is not coming, reframe that frustration as gratitude for the opportunity to learn.
Enjoy the little things – each time you practice, remind yourself of at least one thing you enjoy about playing.
Take note – identify the progress you’re making and notice the improvement day on day.
While you’re practicing – breathe!
While you’re practicing – smile at least once.
While you’re practicing – feel it. Enjoy the touch of the strings, the sound of the music, the feel of the harp as it vibrates on your shoulder.
Practice with an aim to being able to share – this can be with your cohabitants, your neighbors, or the world at large – but keep it in mind.
After you have worked on something particularly tough, whether you’ve gotten it or if it still needs some time – provide honest praise for the work. Yes, I mean tell yourself you did a good job!
No matter how little time you have, end each practice with a tune you know and love and like to play.
Take a moment in each practice session to tell yourself something you enjoyed or are grateful you can do.
Take a moment at the end of your time to jot down what you’re grateful for in your practice journal.
Find time to play every day.

I’m sure there are a zillion other ways we can be grateful for our practice time and express that gratitude. What do you do to Practice Gratitude? If you haven’t been having Practicing Gratitude, which of these will you start to get you on your way? Let me know in the comments below!

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