Have you ever questioned whether you can ever play music the way you want?

It’s a moment of truth: when your desire to play music butts heads with your current level of accomplishment. It is that moment when the pleasure you found or hoped to find in making music is all but gone, replaced by frustration and disappointment. It is the time when you are forced to consider making a choice, going down...

For some musicians, sightreading remains the last great mystery. They can practice; they can perform. But the idea of sightreading still makes them break out in a cold sweat.

There are limited occasions in life when you actually must sightread. It is often required at auditions for colleges, sometimes at competitions and music exams, always for orchestra position.

But even if you aren’t audition...

What's in a chord? Or more to the point, how do I play this chord and make it sound the way it should?

The harp was made to play beautiful chords, and yet they are a source of frustration for many harpists.

In this post I describe the four essential ways in which we encounter chords and what you need to do to make your chords the best they can be.

Be sure to get the one page PDF Chord Pract...

I love organizing things. I remember as a teenager using the wee hours of the morning to organize my dresser drawers. My mother didn’t approve of my being awake so late, but she loved opening my closet. (Not so much my brother’s…)

I love organizing my practice too. I like experimenting with different etudes, exercises and warm-up routines, new practice schedules and techniques.

And while I don’t...

One of the things I love about living in the mountains is our annual snowfall. Each year, I can count on having significant snow on the ground by December, a guaranteed white Christmas. Granted, I’m tired of the snow long before our spring arrives, but for most of the winter, I find peace and energy in our wintry woods.

This year, however, our November snow disappeared, and we have unusually warm...

We are coming up to a new year and a time for new beginnings. We make resolutions, committing to creating new habits and achieving new goals.

If you’re like me, you have a stack of new music that you want to learn in the new year. I love the idea of starting something new and exploring the musical possibilities and challenges that I may find.

But are you planning ahead for the finish line? Do yo...

Harp Mastery Insider Test

When I was a student in Philadelphia, I often had occasion to perform at the Church of the Holy Trinity,

just across Rittenhouse Square from the Curtis Institute of Music. The 1859 church building is beautiful, but I was always impressed by its associated history, and I’m always reminded of it at this time of year.

The rector of the church from 1862-1869 was Phillips Brooks,  famous for his voc...

It’s a little ironic that at the time of year when we most want our music to help set the holiday mood in the performances we play, we are also  our most over-worked and are least likely to play our best.

Holiday performances are fun, but there are so many in so short a time, that it’s easy to feel underprepared and over-stressed.

With a few simple tactics, however, you can prevent the holiday s...

As we prepare to celebrate Thanksgiving here in the US, I thought I would offer a quick “thank you” tribute to all our harp-cestors, those incredible teachers, performers and composers that gave so much to the instrument we love. And “thank you” too, to all of you who contribute to the world of the harp and to the musical universe today. Without the many-faceted accomplishments from so many, our w...