We all know that “practice makes perfect” is a stretch of the truth, but most of us agree that practice is the only way to get better at anything, particularly music performance. But if our practice isn’t consistent, neither will our performance be consistent. Remember the tortoise and the hare? The tortoise’s steady, consistent pace got him over the finish...

With the incredible variety and number of options, how do you make a good college choice? How can you find the right music program to get you where you want to go? Is a music conservatory the right choice for you?

Rest assured, there is at least one college, and most likely several colleges, that would be a good fit for you. But how do you figure out which one is right?

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Summer reading is a great opportunity to explore new things – new ideas, harpists, people and places, different ways to think about the topics that interest you most. With your mind at its most relaxed, new discoveries can quickly take hold, leading you to new creativity and inspiration.

“You are the same today as you’ll be in five years except...

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All practice is not created equal. And GREAT practice leads to terrific performances.

I remember when I was a young harpist,  my mother would set the kitchen timer to make sure I did the amount of practice my teacher required each day. At that age, it couldn’t have been very long – maybe 20 minutes or a half hour – but...

So you’re going to summer harp camp – congratulations! But you (or your parents) are very likely paying $1000 or more for a week of camp. So you need to make sure that you make the most of your opportunity.

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Here are 10 things you should do to make your camp experience worth every penny:

Two weeks or more before you leave for camp:

1. Get prepared....

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If you are a monster sightreader and have perfect pitch, don’t read this article! Everyone else, read on…

After my last article on becoming a speedier reader, I received some interesting comments and questions, mostly about why and how we should be practicing reading notes. Let me try to address those issues here.

The “why” is...

Sometimes we need a vacation to refresh our outlook on our work.  Last summer, I got the same benefit from someone else’s vacation.  That summer I was teaching Sara, an Italian harp student taking lessons from me while she was visiting relatives in Delaware, and she helped me rediscover some important truths about the way we practice.

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At home,...

Welcome to harpmastery.com, my new blog. This is the place where I hope to inspire your musicianship, strengthen your playing and help you discover new insights about the way you make music and play the harp

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Why am I doing this? Because over my years (okay, decades) of performing and teaching, I find I have a lot of knowledge to share. I used to think I was the...