• Is your calendar a blank?
• Is your phone so quiet you keep checking the ringer to see if it’s broken?
• Is your bank balance shrinking daily?
• You’re a good musician and you’re ready to work! What are you doing wrong?

It’s not enough just to be good at what you do. It’s not the best players that get the jobs. It’s the best salespeople.

Does that make you...

I’m back.

In his book “Do the Work!” Stephen Pressfield writes about the most powerful anti-creative force we know: Resistance. Resistance is the enemy that attempts to keep us from accomplishing any creative endeavor, or any other kind of achievement. Resistance attempts to destroy momentum and, with it, our faith in ourselves.

You may have experienced Resistance when:

• you...

What is Kaleidoscope Practice?

Kaleidoscope Practice is my system for approaching your daily practice with the “finish” in mind. Whether your “finish” is a solo recital or just playing for your own pleasure, Kaleidoscope Practice helps you practice more effectively and efficiently and play more confidently and fluently.

So here are the top seven reasons you need...

This is the third in this three-part series of posts on the Three Stages of Music Learning. This post is about the final stage: the Finish. You can find Stage One and Stage Two here.

I have a cake recipe that my family loves. It’s a recipe for pound cake, and when I bake it right, it’s sweet, moist and delicious. The trick is in the baking.

It has to start in a cold oven, not...

This is the second in this three-part series of posts on the Three Stages of Music Learning. This post is about the second stage: the Messy Middle. Here’s the previous post about Stage One.

“When will we get there?”

The traffic is backed up for miles on the interstate, or the flight is cancelled. Tempers are beginning to feel the strain, and the child picks this time to ask...

When you learn a new piece of music, you take it through three distinct stages of learning: First Sight, the Messy Middle, and Finish. Each stage has different learning objectives and techniques. This series of posts will introduce you to each of the stages to help you focus your practice and speed your learning.

So that new piece of music is on your stand. Maybe it’s one...

The scariest thing I found about compiling this list was that in the space of about 10 minutes I thought of more than 20            reasons. While you read this, I’m going to go practice…

     10. The weather is too awful (or too nice).

       9. I can’t find my music/lesson book.

       8....

Have you looked at your summer calendar lately? Do you have a full schedule of performances? Or are you hoping some more work comes along so you can be sure of making the rent payment?

Here is a quick seven step system you can use to put your summer to good use. It will not only help you fill your calendar this summer, but it can help you long term to build your freelance music business.

There...

I recently presented a workshop that I call “The 12 Habits of Highly Happy Harpists.” (My apologies to Stephen Covey.) Over my years of performing and teaching, I have noticed that the harpists who find more enjoyment and fulfillment in their harp lives have these particular habits in common. This is even more true for those harpists who make the harp their career. And I was pleased...

The most memorable concert I ever attended was a performance of Bach’s Goldberg Variations by pianist Edward Aldwell. This work, dating from 1741 (Bach died in 1750), is an aria and a set of 30 variations. The title page of the first edition includes this rather elegant description: “Composed for connoisseurs, for the refreshment of their spirits“. It is a massive work, and...