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Is Learning The Harp Harder Than You Thought?

Jul 16, 2017

Is learning the harp harder than you thought?

I can imagine the moment, probably because so many of us experienced something similar. You see the harp. You hear the harp. You fall in love with the harp. You buy a harp. You start practicing the harp.

The next sentence ought to be “You play the harp.”

But that’s not usually how it happens. More often, particularly for the adult...

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Become a Better Musician This Summer: 20 Ways to Do It

Jul 09, 2017

Becoming a better musician is truly a lifelong pursuit, but that doesn’t mean you can’t make significant progress this summer.

I am by nature an optimist. Even so, each year about this time I find myself despairing at how fast the summertime flies. I always have so many projects, musical and otherwise, that I want to accomplish in the summer, but the summer seems to fly by.

To...

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The Healthy Harpist: 15 Critical Checkpoints

Jul 02, 2017

Are you a healthy harpist?

No, this is not about proper nutrition or about getting enough sleep. Those are essential for everyone, not just harpists.

And for a change I’m not referring to good practice habits.

Instead, I want to help you build and maintain the correct physical habits that are necessary to play the harp well, without pain, stiffness and tension, the habits that will...

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Why Counting Counts and Why You Should Be Counting

Jun 26, 2017

Counting. Chances are that it’s either something you do nearly automatically or it’s something that you never do.

I can still hear my piano teacher insisting that I count out loud, and I can still feel my resistance. Counting, particularly aloud, didn’t come easily or naturally and I didn’t see the point.

I have now spent decades on the other end of scenario as the...

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Music on Your Desert Island List

Jun 19, 2017

What music is on your "desert island" list?

You've played a version of this game before, I'm sure. You imagine that you were stranded on a desert island with no foreseeable hope of rescue. Think Robinson Crusoe. You begin to create a way of life for yourself on your island. One of the items that you discovered on the island was a CD player. (Fortunately, this CD player runs somehow on solar...

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Music Practice for the Free Spirit

Jun 12, 2017

Are you a free spirit?

Does the thought of practice schedules, journals and regimens make you dig in your heels?

You understand that discipline promotes growth. You want to grow musically and to play well.  You are not a slacker.  You just want to do it on your own terms, in your own way.

Impossible to reconcile the two? Of course not.

You, the free spirit, take pleasure in...

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The Bridge from Practice to Performance

Jun 05, 2017

Do you need a bridge to take you from practice to performance?

Do you feel like you're missing something, because no matter how hard you practice your piece doesn't seem to be "performance-ready"?

You may be right.

We musicians have the idea that if we just keep practicing, we will end up being able to play our music the way we want to, the way we hear it in our heads. So when it doesn't work...

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Create Your 90 Day Focus Plan

May 28, 2017

Your 90 Day Practice Plan - Perfect for Summer

In this video, you will discover:

  • Why I love setting goals in summer
  • The power of a 90 Day Goal
  • How to set a goal in one of the 3 Growth Areas
  • How to plan your steps toward your goal
  • How to use my two page 90 Focus Plan PDF to make it all happen

Click this link to download the free PDF.

Below is the transcript of the video and the links to the...

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What Will Your Musical Legacy Be?

May 22, 2017

What is your musical legacy? 

Maybe you don’t think you have, or will have, a musical legacy. You’re not a famous performer, or a teacher of prodigies. Maybe you don’t think you even play especially well. What kind of musical legacy could you leave?

I attended a meeting of my local chapter of the American Harp Society this weekend. It was our first meeting since the death...

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Program Notes the Right Way

May 14, 2017

"Program notes? You want me to talk?!"

The time will come when you will be asked to “say something” about music that you are about to play.

I can’t remember the first time I was asked to speak about my music, but I do remember my mother’s urging me to “tell them what you’re going to play.” And I remember my first experiences as a twelve year-old,...

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