There’s a famous quote attributed to the composer Igor Stravinsky that every harpist knows: Harpists spend 90 percent of their lives tuning their harps and 10 percent playing out of tune. It has the painful ring of truth.

The harp is a treacherous instrument in this regard. The magic of the organic materials that comprise so much of the instrument is that they make the instrument very...

Sometimes it seems there is no way to get where you want to go. 

You practice and practice, but the results you are looking for don’t show up. Maybe you are trying to finish a piece, fix two measures or prepare to play in public, and you’ve reached a point where nothing you do is moving you forward. It may even feel like all your progress is backward and your music is actually...

When was the last time you felt like you really finished a piece of music you were learning?

Look at the music on your stand right now. I’m guessing that somewhere in that stack is a piece of music that you've been playing for longer than you care to think about. It’s a piece you love and really want to play. You started it in a burst of energy and worked through challenge...

I always envied my harp teacher’s sound.

My harp teacher for nearly all of my harp studies was Marilyn Costello, former principal harpist of the Philadelphia Orchestra. As you can imagine, she was a fabulous harpist, but it was her tone that was so compelling. Her sound was lush and plummy, liquid and full. I could recognize her playing anywhere just by the sound. In fact, if you study...

This is the fourth in a series of posts focused on how to set - and achieve - goals. Be sure to check out the prior posts, Why Being a Better Harpist Isn't Good Enough, Three Disciplines of a Trustworthy Technique, The Most Important Piece You Aren’t Practicing and read on to the end of this post for a special invitation.

In case building a repertoire is on your must-do list for this...

This is the third in a series of posts focused on how to set - and achieve - goals. Be sure to check out the prior posts, Why Being a Better Harpist Isn't Good Enough, Three Disciplines of a Trustworthy Technique and read on to the end of this post for a special invitation. 

There is a pivotal discovery that every musician makes sooner or later: making music isn’t just about...

This is the second in a series of posts focused on how to set - and achieve - goals. Be sure to check out the prior post and read on to the end of this post for a special invitation. 

Wouldn't you love to have a technique that you could trust? Fingers that wouldn't let you down, so that you knew that whatever you were playing, you could rely on them to do exactly what you wanted...

Is one of your New Year's resolutions to become a better harpist? 

If so, you're not alone. When you think about it, music studies are bound to attract the self-improvement type. Practicing music requires you to be courageous, to face your mistakes, to self-correct over and over again. It's about improvement and progress. But I don't want you to waste a single minute trying to be a better...

I know you take your harp playing seriously, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t have fun with it. In fact, having fun is more to the point than you may think.

A friend recently related a conversation she had with her daughter who is a talented painter. Her daughter was encouraging her to paint with her, but she replied saying she couldn’t paint anything good. Her daughter...

‘Tis the season of extravagance.

• Never settle for one string of lights when you could use twenty.
• You must bake seven kinds of cookies so everyone has their favorite..
• The wrapping needs to be as impressive as the gift inside.
• Every corner of the house should sparkle, glitter, glow or twinkle.
• Overspend now and pay it off next year.

It’s a wonder that we continue to get caught up...