Category Archives: Learning

Keep breathing

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Keep breathing 

I think we could easily agree that playing requires concentration. A lot of concentration. Of course, some things make us concentrate harder than others.  For instance, we have to really focus when we’re learning. Maybe when a tune is really well learned we don’t have to focus so much (or at least we feel like we have more brain capacity available).  When we perform we probably focus carefully as well (at least we hope we will!).

One of the challenges of concentrating really hard is that when we do, many of us actually stop breathing (I can’t make this up). While you’re focused, you may hold your breath. When your brain is working hard, it gets busy and has a harder time of keeping all its plates spinning. Things like breathing can be one of those plates that gets dropped. (Don’t worry, the rest of your body will demand a breath when you really have to have one!). Of course, not breathing doesn’t make you think very well and all in all, it’s best if you can keep breathing.

The good news is that you can overcome this not breathing. You just need to practice doing it. Yes, even though you mostly don’t even think about breathing – you DO need to think about it if you’re not breathing consistently when you’re practicing (or performing).

When should you be breathing? Well, it’s best to breathe normally but if you notice you’re not (or your teacher points it out to you), you can add it to each tune or exercise! Here are a few ways to incorporate it so you can keep breathing:

Phrasing. If you’re learning by ear, you’re getting the tune in phrases. Phrasing might be easiest to understand in the context of singing because you must breathe (other blowing instruments are the same – no breathing, no playing). Phrasing is how the tune breathes, Watch (good) singers and you’ll notice that they never leave off in the middle of a word to take a breath – they breathe in “obvious” places…between the words. Just like they do, when your music calls for a breath (the end of a phrase) – take a breath. If you’re reading, you can still breathe at the end of a phrase – just remember to mark it!*  When you’re practicing be certain that you breathe there and make it part of how you play the tune.

Mechanical. I’m not keen on this one, but it could work. In this approach you specifically incorporate breathing as a “movement” just like placing, closing, changing levers, and all the other movements of playing. I don’t like this because it’s not natural (which might interrupt your breathing rather than improving it) and because breathing is a very different type of movement. More importantly, this approach doesn’t support the music either. It doesn’t tie your breath to the phrasing (above) which could knock your musicality out of whack (and who doesn’t need more musicality).

Relax. You might hold your breath when you are stressed – so relax. You’ll get the tune, you’ll learn the melody, you’ll get the fingering! And your brain will be glad of the oxygen!

Pay attention. This is related to Mechanical, and it might seem silly – because we are paying attention….to something else! Like Mechanical, set yourself the additional task of paying attention to your breathing while you are concentrating on learning the music. Post a sign on your music stand or make some other reminder to keep it front of mind!

Breathing is fairly important when you’re learning and when you’re playing. Do you notice specific places you aren’t breathing? How do you remember to breathe? Let me know in the comments how you are going to keep breathing!

*If you’re not familiar with the marking, use an apostrophe above the treble staff to indicate where to take a breath (ok, it’s your music, use anything you’d like but the apostrophe is the standard marking).

What’s the question?

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What’s the question?

One of the best things about harp players is their innate curiosity (in the main). It has been my experience that we are, in general, interesting people who tend to be interested in loads of things.

But we’re also human and so sometimes we can do things that don’t move us forward. This is true whether we are teachers or students – where two sides of the same coin might be helpful and not!

For example, being curious. I think we’re all a little curious. That leads us to ask questions. Lots of questions.

Asking questions is imperative! It is a wonderful thing to ask questions. And we have a lot of resources – from teachers to friends to colleagues to learn from. Whether we know it or not, this searching for information to satisfy our curiosity helps us maintain a beginner’s mindset which has been celebrated as an important part of continuing personal growth. Beginners are curious because there is so much they don’t know! It is easy to stop being curious once you know some stuff. But no matter how much you know, there is always more to learn, to build on, to enhance, and to expand what we already have. Staying a beginner on the inside can be freeing because it allows you to give yourself permission to keep learning. A significantly experienced performer doesn’t have no questions. They have different questions! Hopefully, you are always coming up with questions as you learn.  Cultivating an interest is certainly one way to continue to push yourself – to be always learning. Sometimes the questions are simple and other times they are complex.

However, it is possible to confuse curiosity with diversion! I’m all for asking questions and learning, but focused questions based on your playing and learning are different from constantly scrolling fa-sta-gram-to-x watching videos and reading websites looking at content. That only draws in more information that fills your head but doesn’t actually inform you. Wasting time searching up info because it might be useful or getting into a loop of searching to search will never improve your playing. It won’t make you a better musician. And it will always leave you feeling like you should have learned more (and possibly like you have wasted time you could have been playing!).

I’m not suggesting there’s nothing of value to be learned online. But I am suggesting that letting your intuition, playing and experience drive your questions. And, you know that journal I’m always suggesting. That’s a great place to keep your questions so they don’t slip out of your head when you have a chance to ask them! Keep your questions focused on your development, your playing, your progress, and you’ll learn something every day!

Now, if there are no more questions? Go practice!

Where has your curiosity and questions led you? Let me know in the comments!

How long should it take?

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How long should it take?

I’m sure you’ve heard (or said), “How long should it take to learn this tune?”  It reminds me of a joke my dad used to tell –

How far does a bear go into the woods?

Halfway, then it’s going out again.

Because each tune takes exactly as long to learn as it needs, and no more.  After that, you’re building and polishing and performing. 

Of course, the other answer is that a tune is never learned because the more you play it, the more you find in it.  And the more you find in it, the more you need to adjust.  It’s always evolving and never finished.

Either way, there is no pat answer:

Some tunes are harder to work than others. Some tunes just fit in your hands. 

Some tunes go right in your ears and settle in (like a dog turning around and then plopping down on the rug) while others are twisty-turny and hearing the patterns escapes you the first 1000 times you listen to them.

Some tunes grab you by the shoulders and demand you play them while others are “nice” (read – meh).   

So, if you think you should have already learned the tune – what’s really driving that question?

  • Are you comparing yourself to someone else?  Only you can be you, and you’ll get it when you get it.
  • Are you pretending to practice (or lying to yourself about how much you’re actually practicing)? Each tune needs to have its own fullness – again some will be easy and leap right into your hands.  Others will fight you at every turn but only spending time with them (practice) will get them in you.
  • Are you expecting the tune to just leap into you? No tune will do that (some will seem like they do, but that’s just an illusion).
  • Are you not allowing yourself to learn the tune? We are always in such a rush to play the tunes that we don’t always give ourselves enough time to actually learn the tune before we start trying to mash a harmony in while also jumping up the tempo.  Slow and steady wins the (non-existent) race so take your time, actually learn the tune so that it won’t fall apart when you add the harmony.  And be honest – if the melody crumbles when you introduce harmony, it’s too soon!  And it doesn’t matter who you are, if you’re not ready to play the tune, you’re not ready.  NEVER FORGET THE MELODY IS WHAT MATTERS!  The harmony is always second (comparatively).
  • Are you sure you have actually spent a lot of time on the tune already?  I often find that I think I’ve been working f-o-r-e-v-e-r but when I check my practice journal, I find that usually it’s only been a day! It just feels like it’s been forever, but I haven’t even scratched the surface yet – talk about unreasonable!

So, the next time you find yourself thinking “I should have learned this already” – just stop.  Pay attention to why you feel that way.  Recalibrate yourself…and go work on it some more!  You will get it – eventually.  In your own time.

Do you find yourself thinking that you should have already learned your music?  Do you do this occasionally or with every tune?  Do any of these suggestions help?  Let me know in the comments!

Should you have a lesson if you haven’t practiced?

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No practice?

There must be something in the air (besides pollen) because last week a disproportionately large number of my students sent some version of this message:

“I think I should skip my lesson this week because I haven’t practiced at all.”

I get it – I even remember uttering those same words myself.  It’s easy to think that.  After all, when you have had a “week from hell” (that seem to occur more and more frequently), you won’t have had time to practice. 

But this is incredibly wrongheaded.  Why you ask? Well….

It comes from thinking of your lesson as a mini performance.  But if you think of your lesson that way, then you do need all the practice you can get to be ready to be on that stage with the critic sitting in immediate proximity!

But that’s not what a lesson is! 

A lesson (especially if you’re an adult) is an opportunity to glean knowledge and information from someone who is guiding you to grow into the musician you profess to wanting to become.  I sum it up this way,

“I’m telling you these things so you can avoid my mistakes and I expect you to go on and make your own, new, original mistakes!”

A lesson couldn’t be farther from a mini-performance for your worst critic (you) and your perceived harshest critic (your teacher).  It is meant to be a learning opportunity.  In fact, if you come into your lesson and play flawlessly, then what’s the point?  It’s in the lesson you want to fail – spectacularly!  That way you can receive additional instruction that moves you forward.  You’re not a dog, you don’t need a pat and a biscuit – you need constructive feedback and tuition, so you can keep moving!

In addition – playing the harp isn’t just about flinging out the sounds of choice, is it?  Of course not!  There is so much more to being a musician and all those things can also be a part of your lesson when, due to other circumstances, you’re not prepared to play tunes in various states of dishabille.  What, you might ask?  Here’s a long but not exhaustive list of things you could work on:

  • Reading and Notation
  • Theory
  • History
  • Listening
  • Composing and Improvisation
  • Harmonizing
  • Rhythm
  • Effects
  • Tuning
  • Techniques
  • New pop tunes*

So, the next time you’re not feeling prepared, or feel as if you’re going to be “wasting” your teacher’s time, or like you are setting yourself up for humiliation, remember that there are loads of things to be taught that might not get covered when you are more prepared to play a piece and the focus is on learning or perfecting.  Also remember that your teacher has many things to teach to and share with you and this could introduce time to cover some of those (especially since there’s never enough time in lessons to cover everything). 

Have you ever canceled a lesson because you felt like you were not prepared? Have you ever thought you should have, but then had a great lesson in spite of your misgivings? Do you remember a time when you were dreading going to your lesson but it ended up being a great time?  I’d love to hear your take – leave a comment!

 

PS – Happy Saint Patrick’s Day to those who celebrate!

* No really, your teacher is still a person and might actually have other interests…but you’ll never know if you only ever talk about harp!

 

SWOT’s it all about?

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Another crazy title – SWOT’s it all about?

I have an unending search for ways to get better at…everything!  And because I have a diverse background and work experience as a researcher, scientist, artist, entrepreneur, and person, I thrive on crossing boundaries between disciplines and practices, particularly applying tools from one disciple to problems from another which is a hoot.  At the least I learn something and at best there’s a huge breakthrough!  One of those stalwart business tools is the SWOT analysis – and it’s a nice fit for our harp playing. 

What’s a SWOT? It breaks into: Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats.  Clearly this is applicable to business, but to playing the harp?  Yup!

SWOT Chart

Think about it – taking a moment to complete a SWOT on your music could certainly help highlight where you should spend your time*.  Here’s how:

Strengths – What are your strong points?  Tunes you know (really well).  Techniques, at which you excel.  Sets you have put together.  And more.  These are likely your go-to tunes that you always perform, the ornaments you always use, your “signature” approach.  These are solid and need to be maintained, but certainly don’t need the bulk of your attention.

Weaknesses – What aren’t you good at? These are tunes (or tune types) you’re not so comfortable with, techniques you don’t know or don’t do well and avoid.  It’s not tunes you haven’t learned yet – just the ones that clearly aren’t ready for prime time (else they’d be in the Strengths pile).  These are things you need to work on (whether you know it or not).  These things require time and attention to get up to snuff and to be moved to the Strengths.

Opportunities – These are things you could nurture and take on to grow.  It can be tunes to learn, chances to perform, participating in workshops, lessons, or master classes, or sharing tunes with other harpers.  These are all chances to grown and develop and to move (eventually) to the Strengths column. 

And last is:

Threats – which might be the biggest head scratcher, but it’s also the biggest opening.  The word “threat” can be a little off putting so it might be better to think of it as things you might not think about or that you would love to skip (and maybe you do!).  It could also include not having learning opportunities (e.g., beginners without a teacher or not being able to get to workshops because you live far from other harpers).  So, they’re not “threats” as much as “thrusts” – places or things you can pursue to make progress including things to focus on or even gigs to seek.

A SWOT isn’t hard to do – it just takes a little time, some thought, a bit of self-reflection, and maybe some feedback if you have it (and a cuppa might help).  Set aside a half-hour to spend on it.  I’ve included a handy tool to help you do the analysis (click on the graphic (or here) to download).  The first time you do it, it might feel like a lot of work, but I promise it gets easier each iteration – and it certainly can help sharpen your focus.

Give it a try and let me know what you find!      

    

 

* And if you’re a professional, of course a SWOT can be helpful for business too!

How to

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Ever looked at your bookshelf and realized that you have about 100 versions of (in effect) the same book?  I have – and it’s not entirely pretty.  It’s the How To book collection…

I have a lot of “how to” books – how to cook, how to garden, how to measure things, how to calculate what those measurements mean, how to knit, how to relax, how to be creative, how to teach, how to repair your house, how to fly an airplane, how to decorate, how to get rid of everything in your house, how to play the harp … the list goes on and on.

They are filled with details.  After all, I don’t need to smooth the plaster over a statistical analysis (ok, that’s debatable if we are being conceptual, less so if we’re being concrete).

When push comes to shove though, they all pretty much say the same thing – be organized, be familiar with the steps, do a test, then do the thing.  That might be some of the least useful information in each of those books.

What are the most important things then? you might ask. They’re buried in the book somewhere.  Often, it’s only a sentence, in the middle of a paragraph, unhighlighted, unremarkable, and unrelated to each other. They are some version of:

The more you do it, the more comfortable you’ll feel.

and

Once you know the rules, feel free to do your own thing.

Because when you know the rules, you know which ones are real rules that cannot be broken with impunity, which can be broken but at your peril, and which are merely strong suggestions – guide rails for the uninitiated, which can be freely broken by the mavens.

We can break those down to be more useful.  The first one is pretty clear – practice practice practice.  The more you do something (correctly and preferably with feedback), the easier it will be to complete and the better you will do it.  No surprise there.

The second one has a more mysterious translation.  And it is by far the scariest.  What it really says is, “to thine own self be true” – Thanks Polonius for help/not help.  So, let’s pull it apart a tiny bit more (because after all, I’m no Shakespeare scholar!) – the modern way to say it is to “have your own voice”.  How do you know what that sounds like? Well…..

First you have to know the rules to break them.  And by “know” we mean inside and out.  A shaky knowledge of the boundaries doesn’t result in cutting edge – just sloppiness.

Next you need to know how much rules can bend and still be unbroken.  Some rules “change color” as you gain experience – because your experience allows you to see relationships you were unprepared to predicted before.

Finally, you must understand which are really guidelines.  Following these leads to pablum – playing that is ok and offends no one – but also doesn’t excite anyone.

Which brings us back to be yourself.  As you grow as a musician you can learn the rules and follow them.  Or you can internalize those rules and use them to find you voice.  What rule are you interacting with just now?  I want to hear it – and how you’re finding your own voice – let me know in the comments!

 

Are we there yet?

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Remember asking that? “Are we there yet?  …How ‘bout now?  …yet?  I’m bored!”

Amazing some of us survived to adulthood!

But why did we always ask that question?

You already know – when you don’t know what the end looks like, it feels like you’ll n-e-v-e-r get there.  And that is a terrible feeling!

So, when we’re at the beginning of a tune, that road stretches ahead, uninterrupted – and you might feel like you’ll never get it.

What about when you have been working on the tune for a while?  Then you might ask yourself again, “Are we there yet?”

How do you know when you get there? How do you know you’re done? When is a tune “finished”?

The long answer is that you have to decide what you mean by finished. Is it finished when you’ve learned the tune?  Or is it finished when it’s perfect?  Or performance ready?  Competition ready?  Moved unceremoniously into the Bored with/Don’t want to play any more pile?  What is your definition of done?

I don’t have a definitive answer for your definition. It really depends on you, your level of development, the time you have available, your goals, your personality, and loads of other things that only you can answer for you.

There is also a short answer (but you might not like it).

Short answer – you’re never finished! WAIT – what?!?

Of course you’re never finished – the tune will never be done.  What? (I did say that you might not like the short answer)

After all, making music is a creative activity – you will have to decide for yourself what done will look/sound like.  Yup, it’s entirely up to you (and yes, I’m v-e-r-y aware just how uncomfortable that can be!).

If you stop working on a tune, it’s definitely done, but is that what you wanted for that tune when you started?  If you “finish” it and never let it be a living element of your playing, it will stultify and die (which isn’t really what most of us want from our music).

If a tune is “finished” then it’s done.  But why do you play and perform (even for the cat and the curtains)?  What keeps you coming back to your harp?  I’m guessing it isn’t because you want to be stagnant.

So how do you know when you are done enough? Here are some ideas:

  • You got where you were going (that is – you met your goal).
  • You have run out of ideas to continue to add to the playing – your arrangement is fairly stable.  But keep an open mind so you can continue to create as you go – forever!
  • A trusted mentor has suggested that the work is good.
  • You are comfortable when playing the tune for your audience (whoever that might be).
  • You’ve “got” the tune but you’re not enjoying playing it.
  • You feel “bored” playing a tune.
  • The holiday you learned the tune for has arrived(!).
  • Now that you’ve learned the tune, you just don’t enjoy it.
  • As much as you’ve worked on it, the tune is just not coming together (this is likely because it was a stretch for you in which case you should set it aside and pick it up later).

Think of tunes as being somewhere on a continuum from performance-ready or shelf-bound.  Either they’re good for sharing with others (performance ready) or they’re not going to see the light of day (shelf-bound).  There are, of course, various stages in between, but what that continuum looks like is up to you. 

Do you have any tunes that are finished?  How did you decide?  If you don’t, how would you define done?  I’m curious to hear your thoughts – let me know in the comments!

What We Can Learn from Drummers

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People often ask if we are angels.  That makes it easy to forget that on an orchestra chart the harp is part of the percussion section.   As we tune our strings, we shouldn’t forget where we come from!  We can learn a lot from other percussionists.  Here are some things we can learn from drummers:

Drummer

Precision is important – Drumming is often presented as fairly straightforwardly built on a series of “rudiments”.  And that means exactly what it sounds like – they have building blocks and they build everything from them.  To make those building blocks work together, precision is important.  How many rudiments do we have?  Do you think of them as precision pieces that can be fit together to make good music?  That precise use of unambiguous elements is important, and you should mean it when selecting a specific element that is fit for its purpose.  Put plainly – think ahead, plan and go with purpose.  Don’t just shove some available finger onto a string, leap for that next note, and hope you got it right.  Build a way ahead from your fundamentals!   

Rhythm underlies everything – pay attention.  There is a reason we count.  I get it, it’s hard to count (whine).  And there’s all that other stuff to do at the same time (like remembering and playing the right notes and all).  And yet, there’s an exquisite sweet spot that only becomes apparent from counting accurately and really getting the rhythm that we all should be reaching for.  This is a fundamental that we need to hone rather than dampen.  Yes, it’s delicious to pretend that playing the harp is all running through meadows with butterflies, but… it’s not.   When you are learning a new genre or idiom, pay close attention to the rhythms so you can match them to achieve the music you are pursuing.

Technical work lets you be you – when you have a strong foundation, you can do amazing things.  Learn your fundamentals.  Make sure you do all of the work, not just the things you like.  Do the rhythm work, fingering work, phrasing work.  Practice your dynamics, tempos, and transitions.  There are loads of exercise books available to help you learn these things.  I will tell you though, that you have to dig those books out because this stuff won’t come looking for you.  Remember too, that as fundamental elements, some of that stuff will make you cry if you don’t take it one bite at a time!  But once you’ve mastered the technical elements, you can build your own castles your own way for your own use.  Once you have them licked, they’re yours!  How can you break the rules if you don’t know them?

Being uncomfortable is not ok – there aren’t many instruments bigger than the harp, but the drum set is one that might be even more challenging to move around.  Smart drummers reposition their instruments so they can play based on how they sit.  NEVER form yourself to fit your harp.  Move the harp to accommodate you.  Remember, harps are cheap(er than back surgery!!!).   Yes the harp is big but, it’s not so big that you shouldn’t make it work for you.   

To be better you need to relax – tension doesn’t make anything better (except maybe scary movies… they are better with increased tension).  But playing doesn’t improve with increased tension.  Being tense can make you late – or early, and can make your chords squeak, your octaves buzz, and your melody notes fade away.  R-e-l-a-x.  B-r-e-a-t-h-e.   And, often, slow down!  Being tight makes it harder to play in control. And it certainly makes it harder to enjoy playing.  Perhaps most importantly, continuing to play with tension might lead to injury.  To note if you are tense, you have to pay attention to yourself (yes, while you’re also paying attention to everything else – no one said it was easy!).  If you are tense – explore why.  Are you concerned you’re not going to make it in time (playing too fast)? Or have you not yet fully learned the tune? Maybe you’re not breathing?  Once you know why you’re tense, you can work it right out!  Breathe, relax – you’ll get there in good time.

There is so much to learn from our fellow percussionists.  If you met a drummer today, what would you ask them that might help make you a better harper?  Let me know in the comments!

Which teacher do you need?

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In a previous episode we talked about what lessons are for (and what they’re not for) and a comment was made about learning going on forever.  How true!

But you have to start somewhere.  And we all have teachers.  Even teachers have teachers!  The question really is – which teacher do you need?  Or perhaps more appropriately, which teacher do you need now?

Because we need different teachers for different stages of our harp life.  These different teachers might all be housed in a single body, or you may move from one teacher to another.  Or you might make a loop and eventually have the privilege of teaching your teacher!  One important thing we’ve learned over the last two years is that we’re not constrained by geography any longer (which is excellent!) with teachers available online, you can learn a great deal. *

Which teacher do you need?

In your harp infancy, you need a Mother. A teacher who works with you to learn the things you need to know to be a competent harper without hurting yourself.  This teacher gives you a  foundation from which you can grow. You learn how to care for your harp, how to interact with it, and start to build a repertoire.  Perhaps most importantly, the teacher initiates you into the tips and tricks that make playing easier (technique) and helps shape you into a musician.  I think this is the most important thing people who are self-taught miss out on – these not so obvious things that make playing easier (Don’t worry self-taught people! You can get there too – read on!). 

As you continue, you grow and your needs change.  Once you’ve learned to play make sounds come out accurately, now you need a Professor.  You are ready to learn the why for the things you do.  It’s important for you to understand how your initial technique underpins more advanced skills, how all the elements are related, and to point out areas for focus to nudge your progress forward.  And to corral you when you (inevitably) move backward a little – to help form you into a musician.

Then you are ready for a Coach. **  This shift is important because this is where you shoulder most of the burden of steering your own boat.  Rather than sitting like a baby bird, mouth open waiting to be fed, you know enough to ask yourself questions – what is still weak? What is becoming your “signature”? What music do you want to learn?  What music do you need to learn to fill in your repertoire?  As the student, you push the envelope while your teacher helps you to structure your questions, honestly evaluate your feedback, constructively apply what you learn, provides suggestions for your continued growth, and helps you discover answers. 

Finally, the Peer.  This teacher is someone with whom you share the joy of playing – trading tunes, making suggestions (as needed), encouraging trying new things, and energizing you to keep on growing.  This is a less formal teaching relationship and reciprocal.  Don’t be fooled – you are still learning (perhaps more than ever before), still growing, as a musician. 

You might move back and forth along these lines – as needed.  And you might find all these in a single body.  You might be in a regular relationship with one person, or you might go to all the workshops you can manage to get different perspectives and approaches. 

Now for the tricky part – which do you need now?  A good teacher will provide a bit of each of these, as needed, and in varied measures as you grow.  Of course, early on, you will need more mothering.  But don’t be fooled, I have more than one student who has come for lessons because, although they are advanced harpers, they recognized that they needed to go back to shape up their technique.  And frankly, I’m grateful, because that helps keep me focused on examining my own!

It is also easy to slip into a crack – you might “outgrow” a teacher and decide you’re good on your own.  And you probably are for a bit, but if you’re not actively teaching yourself (by doing all the things we expect the professor or coach to add to your learning), then you may lose ground, lose motivation, lose excitement.  That would be sad.  But it’s easily fixed by finding another teacher.  

Remember that, like hairdressers, teachers understand that sometimes it’s not a good fit, or something has changed and you’re ready to move on.  And like a good hairdresser, a good teacher will be sad to see you go, but wave you a cheery fare-thee-well and look forward to seeing you at a harp event soon!

Do you have a teacher for where you are now?  Which teacher is the right fit for you?  Are you in between?  Let me know in the comments!

 

* I will stick a caveat in here – if you are geographically constrained and don’t live close enough to have in person lessons, be sure that your online option is a good teacher.  One downside to everyone having an internet connection is that anyone can say they are a teacher – and as a beginner, you’d be at their mercy.  Caveat emptor.  In addition, if you are taking lessons online (and any competent teacher will tell you this…in fact, if they don’t, reconsider their competence) – go to workshops to work with other teachers in person whenever humanly possible.  There are amazing options like the Ohio Scottish Arts School, Somerset Folk Harp Festival, the Harp Gathering (which I’ve not participated in but have heard great things about), Feis Seattle (again, I haven’t been to this, but I know a guy), Catskills Irish Arts Week (again, haven’t been but I hear good things), or individual workshops anywhere near you – and you will learn incredible things, and not just about playing the harp!  Go!  This isn’t an exhaustive list, just a sampling, just go!

 

** The Coach refers to an approach to teaching and isn’t necessarily someone who is presenting as a coach.  It’s about the approach not the title.

When do you stop taking lessons?

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The other day, someone asked me when do you stop taking lessons?  Sounds like an easy enough question.  If only.

There are a lot of reasons to stop taking lessons – money, time, fit with the teacher, and more.  Money I can’t do anything about for you, so we’ll just glide past that.   

First, let’s get time off the table and let’s separate time available and time duration.  We have to assume that you have time available – both for lessons and for practicing between lessons.  As for time duration, you can’t really expect to set a timetable.  If you’ve been playing the harp any length of time, then you already know that learning the harp is anything but a linear process.  And that some things feel easy while others feel like insurmountable obstacles.  If you haven’t been at it for long, you might still think that there’s an end – a point at which you’ll have nothing left to learn (quick hint – there is no end).  Those of us who have had more experience already know – you will always have something more to learn!

OMG – is she saying that I’ll be taking weekly lessons forever?!  No, that’s not what I’m saying.  That’s not the right question. 

The better question is: 

What are lessons for? 

There are at least four reasons for lessons:

Lessons can give you a foundation. The harp isn’t easy to play. It requires finesse and skill to play well.  A teacher in regular lessons can help you build the foundations you can grow from so that you can (eventually) play the music you are moving toward.

Lessons can help to protect you – Leon Fleischer called musicians “athletes of the small muscles” and in lessons you’ll typically learn good technique which can help protect you from injury.

Lessons can teach you a framework – We don’t make music in a vacuum and lessons can help you build your own framework from which you can develop your musicality and musicianship.

Lessons can help you learn to teach yourself – I’m going to let you in on a dirty little secret – teachers don’t want to have you in lessons forever! (for a lot of reasons)  But no teacher will want to “graduate” you until you have learned how to teach yourself.

A teacher can use the time in lessons to help you navigate the pratfalls of playing, make clear those things that are opaque, and illuminate the path so you make progress faster.

Of course, the flip side is just as important.  So another good question is:

What are lessons not for? 

There are at least four things lessons aren’t for:

Lessons are not to keep you motivated to keep playing. In the end, music is a solo pursuit. Even if you’re in a group, ensemble, band, or orchestra, there’s only you playing the harp.  Only you can motivate you to play and while lessons might contribute to your motivation, they will not act as your sole motivation.

Lessons are not to provide you with accountability. Relatedly, if you only practice because you’re afraid to look bad at a lesson, you haven’t solidified your self-accountability. Lessons won’t change that.

Lessons are not to keep feeding you music. While we expect child students to need a lot of guidance on music, adult students would have increasingly greater latitude in music selection – which would include selecting the music you want to move toward.  But you need to figure out what that is for you.

Lessons are not to prevent you from being a responsible musician. Lessons are not a substitute for thinking for yourself (ref earlier comment about teachers wanting to help you learn to teach yourself).  This goes beyond selecting music and includes analyzing the music, self-critiquing (not self-criticizing!) your playing and developing your repertoire.

What other reasons are there to take lessons? And to not take lessons?  Let me know what you think in the comments!