Practicing Harp Happiness

Spring is finally settling in where I live. You might be weeks ahead of me or behind me or in a totally different hemisphere, but in the spirit of sharing what's on my mind and what's happening in my world, I want to talk about spring cleaning today. Naturally, though, I'm not talking about cleaning windows and carpets and closets. I want to talk about spring cleaning your harp life. 
When I first decided to focus on spring cleaning for this podcast, I didn't want to take the easy way out. It would be easy to talk about harp care - changing strings, cleaning your harp, the right products to use, etc. But I wanted to go deeper and look at what matters to your harp playing even more than new strings or polish. I want to talk about your playing, your practice, your music. 
We all get into a practice routine, and in general, having a routine is a good thing. It helps us stay on track more easily by creating a habit that can be nearly effortless to follow. But those same habits that support our playing can become ineffective when they go from being effortless to being mindless, and sometimes we aren't even aware of It happening.
Here's a simple example. Maybe you like to warmup with a particular scale or arpeggio pattern or perhaps a favorite short piece. There's nothing wrong with that at all, unless you find yourself playing it so automatically that you aren't paying attention to those things we want to watch in a warm-up: our posture, our relaxation, our finger action, and so on. Sure, we're still warming up our fingers, but our focus is really elsewhere. 
This is where we can decide to do a little spring cleaning. We can try a different warm-up, or rotate between several warm-ups. We could play our warm-up in different keys. There are a million things we could do, but the refresh is the point. 
So in our spring cleaning planning today, I want to focus on two big objectives. One is refreshing or renewing some of what we are doing, whether it's part of our practice routine or maybe the music we're playing. We want to spruce things up a bit.
The other objective is to simplify, to investigate what's working for us and what isn't, to eliminate extra work so that we can do more of the playing we love. Think of it as decluttering your harp playing. We will start by simplifying and then we'll get on to the renew and refresh part. And it's going to be fun.
Links to things I think you might be interested in that were mentioned in the podcast episode: 
Check out this blog post from the archives: Spring Clean Your Technique: 5 Days to Fresher Fingers

A five day guide to understanding music at a deeper level: Playing More Musically: 5 Days of Discovery

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Get involved in the show! Send your questions and suggestions for future podcast episodes to me at [email protected]
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LINKS NOT WORKING FOR YOU? FInd all the show resources here: https://www.harpmastery.com/blog/Episode-255

If you came to me for a lesson and said you wanted to work on music theory, my first reaction would be to do my happy dance. I admit it - I am a theory geek. I love talking about the building blocks of music and exploring the way composers use them to create the kaleidoscopic variety of music we love to play. 
But after my happy dance, I would ask you this question: why do you want to learn music theory?  It's not a test question; there is no wrong answer. But I have often found that harpists make assumptions about what theory knowledge will do for them, and those assumptions, if they aren't completely wrong,  aren't always on the mark.
Knowing more abut the inner workings of music, the nuts and bolts of it, is undoubtedly important for any musician. It is also certainly true that some elements of music theory are immediately applicable to our playing. Most harpists, for example, realize that if they understood more about how chords work, they would be able to learn their music more quickly, sight read more easily and memorize faster. That sounds like a superfood for your playing, and lots of harpists are ready, willing and eager to add that to their practice diet.
But before chords will make sense to you, before they will be really useful, before you can become fluent with them, you need to know your major and minor keys. You need to know them cold, not have to figure them out, just know them as well as you know your alphabet. This is a step that too many harpists fail to take. They try to jump right into learning about chords without the foundation that makes their construction and sequences inevitable and logical. 
So that's where we are starting today. I want to be sure that whatever your goals are with music theory, you have the knowledge that everything else in our system of music springs from: scales and keys.  
One caveat - don't think this is going to be basic baby stuff. I promise unless you're a complete theory geek like me,  you'll learn something today that you didn't know before.
Links to things I think you might be interested in that were mentioned in the podcast episode: 
Blog post Musical Understanding Starts with Key Signatures
Podcast Episode 6: Minor Keys [A Scale of a Different Color]
Join us in My Harp Mastery.
Harpmastery.com
Get involved in the show! Send your questions and suggestions for future podcast episodes to me at [email protected]
Looking for a transcript for this episode? Did you know that if you subscribe to this podcast on Apple Podcasts you will have access to their transcripts of each episode?
LINKS NOT WORKING FOR YOU? FInd all the show resources here: https://www.harpmastery.com/blog/Episode-254

I was recently at the home of a harpist friend, and she showed me her stack of diaries, her appointment books from past years. There were decades of them. She was deciding it was time to get rid of them, but she wasn't quite ready to do it. I had to admit that I pitched mine long ago, and that occasionally I have wished that I still had them. They would be fun to look through.
Those entries, even the most prosaic ones, recall so many memories. They bring to mind places, people and events that you have nearly forgotten. Suddenly, you are transported to a different time and place, even a different version of you, and this can give you a different perspective on where you are, and even who you are, now.
But we aren't talking about calendars or diaries today; we're talking about practice journals, and the variety of ways that you can use them. Right off the bat, I will say that some of those ways are more impactful than others, in terms of promoting your progress and growth. For instance, if you've been using your practice journal as a simple way to keep track of what you've done, I think you're underutilizing your journal. It can be an engine for forward momentum, not just a log of today's practice. And we're going to explore some of those ways today.
One disclaimer here: I am not one of those people who are natural journalers. Although many of my friends in our teen years kept diaries of all kinds, I was never able to. It always seemed like a good idea, but I didn't really enjoy it. I appreciate that some people are very good at this and enjoy it, and I wanted to be clear, in case you're more like me, that I am not one of those people. 
However, I do use a practice journal and so I know firsthand how valuable it can be. So if you're a journal-lover, you're going to find some new ideas for journaling today, at least I hope you will, and if you're a little reluctant to dive into this journaling thing, be patient because I understand where you're coming from, and I have some key tips for you too.
Links to things I think you might be interested in that were mentioned in the podcast episode: 
Try the Spark Practice Journal, available in print or PDF versions
Practice: A New Definition blog post
Harpmastery.com
Get involved in the show! Send your questions and suggestions for future podcast episodes to me at [email protected]
Looking for a transcript for this episode? Did you know that if you subscribe to this podcast on Apple Podcasts you will have access to their transcripts of each episode?
LINKS NOT WORKING FOR YOU? FInd all the show resources here: https://www.harpmastery.com/blog/Episode-253

Playing by ear is one of those things that musicians either know they can do or think they'll never be able to do. Those who are practiced at it seem to have endless tunes at their fingertips. Name a tune, and if they know it, they can play it. To those who can't do it - at least not yet - it seems nothing short of magical. 
But ask someone to explain how they work this magic, and you will likely get an answer that isn't much of an explanation. They might talk about understanding and learning to hear chords. Or they might say they learned by trial and error, trying to play along with songs they liked. Or they might simply shrug and tell you they have no idea. But it's only rarely that you encounter someone who will actually attempt to explain their process.
Notice that I said, "When you meet someone who is practiced at it."  Playing by ear is something you can learn. Like so many other apparent feats of magic, there's no real trick to it once you learn how it's done. I'm not saying it's easy, but it's certainly doable. Even better, if you decide to experiment with the practice ideas we're going to talk about today, you'll find that you will begin to notice things in your music that you never paid attention to before, things that help you learn and understand your music at a deeper level. That's why playing by ear is really not a magic trick, but a serious musicianship skill, and that's why I wanted to talk with you about it today.
What you're going to hear is a part of a live seminar I gave a while back for our My Harp Mastery members. This call was followed by a workshop where I guided them through the practice techniques from the seminar so they knew how to continue developing their skill in playing by ear. 
This is the kind of thing we do inside the My Harp Mastery community. We have a live call each week where my coaches and I guide you through every aspect of playing the harp, whether it's learning new music together, or learning how to learn a piece of music, or working on technique or working through our Scale of Success curriculum. If you like learning about topics like this and getting expert instruction on how to be a better harpist and musician, I strongly suggest you check out everything that we include in our My Harp Mastery membership and join us. 
Links to things I think you might be interested in that were mentioned in the podcast episode: 
Become a My Harp Mastery member.
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Get involved in the show! Send your questions and suggestions for future podcast episodes to me at [email protected]
Looking for a transcript for this episode? Did you know that if you subscribe to this podcast on Apple Podcasts you will he access to their transcripts of each episode?
LINKS NOT WORKING FOR YOU? FInd all the show resources here: https://www.harpmastery.com/blog/Episode-252

I know it's cliché, but when I was a young harpist, I wanted to be just like my teacher, the same way children want to be just like their parents. Specifically, that meant to me that I was going to play in a big orchestra someday. It was years later when I discovered that not only were there other paths harpists could pursue, but that some of those paths actually suited me better. I've certainly done my share of orchestral playing, and I enjoy it, but I have always found more scope and more musical opportunity in chamber music and solo performances. 
When I was still in high school, I began to freelance, to play a variety of music in various settings to earn my living. Don't get the wrong impression; I didn't have to earn my living in high school. My freelance playing at that age set me up very well to earn a good living freelancing in college and beyond. I reveled in the variety, in the unusual experiences I had, in the interesting places my playing took me. I still do some of that kind of playing, albeit less than I used to, and I still enjoy it.
On today's call, I am speaking with harpist Dr. Kristina Finch. Some of you may know her as one of our Harp Mastery® Certified Coaches. She has an extremely busy freelance career which has taken her all over the world. And now, she has a new harp path, in addition to playing and teaching; she and her husband are the new owners of the Harp Centers in Atlanta, Virginia and New Jersey.
I asked Kristina to join me on the podcast, because I wanted you to hear her story about change, about refocusing her harp career and the insights that she has gained in the process. Our conversation was fun – it's always fun talking with Kristina – but I think it will give you some insight as well, and perhaps some takeaways about realizing your passion and balancing your own harp life. 
Links to things I think you might be interested in that were mentioned in the podcast episode: 
Register now for the Atlanta Harp Center Festival

Visit the Atlanta Harp Center

Visit the Virginia Harp Center

Harpmastery.com

Get involved in the show! Send your questions and suggestions for future podcast episodes to me at [email protected]
Looking for a transcript for this episode? Did you know that if you subscribe to this podcast on Apple Podcasts you will have access to their transcripts of each episode?
LINKS NOT WORKING FOR YOU? FInd all the show resources here: https://www.harpmastery.com/blog/Episode-251