We just finished another fun week here at Harp in the Mountains. Harp camp is always fun, and this year I was privileged to have a great group of students. As always, we rehearsed a lot, but we had fun too. And this year’s heat wave made the swimming pool the best place to take a break from practice.

We like to call ourselves the only harp garage band. The garage is a perfect space for us...

As I am writing this, I am beginning another year’s Harp In The Mountains Festival. This is the seventh year that I have hosted a small group of dedicated harp students, mostly high school and middle school age, for a week of ensemble playing and learning about the harp.

This year the students range in age from 11 to 17, and as you might guess, their skill levels are very different. But I...

Have you ever been stumped trying to figure out how to organize your practice? Sometimes it’s because we have too much to do; other times it’s because we don’t have enough to do and our practice is aimless. Here’s my solution for those times I need a little structure: I use my “40/40/20” recipe.

The “40/40/20” method is easy to explain. Every day,...

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It was a little over a year ago that I started blogging at Harp Mastery. My idea in starting the blog was to share some of the things that I have learned about the harp and harp playing, music and being an active musician. Through this blog, I have been privileged to virtually meet harpists from all over the world who are on all different...

At Harpmastery Day in June, my friend and colleague Candace Lark and I co-presented a workshop on “Practice Strategies for Results, Growth and Pleasure.” Here are some notes from the first part of that workshop.

Practicing is difficult. It requires concentration, discipline and time.

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Performance injuries are every musician’s greatest fear. Our playing is so intrinsic to our being that just thinking about having to stop playing due to an injury can cause nightmares. Even worse is the sense that when you are injured, your colleagues, although...

Posture is arguably the most important physical factor in playing any instrument. It is the first thing our teachers teach us and unfortunately often something we forget to check as the years of lessons roll by. Our posture is the foundation for our technique and our best defense against fatigue and injuries. Whatever instrument you play, if you understand

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Fear is a part of everything we do. And in music performance we confront our fears daily. Unfortunately, sometimes it can become an obstacle that seems to big to overcome.

You don’t need to let fear hold you back. There are clear strategies for battling various specific fears. But whatever you’re afraid of, there are some basic steps to take to arm yourself for the fight.

1. Accept...

Old School. Back in the day. Whatever you call it, I’m old enough to have been there. And a recent Facebook post by a former student brought home to me some of the important changes that I have seen in the harp world.

Her post was this photo with the comment “Well that’s a new one.” But it’s not; it’s an old one. She had never seen a patched string before....

 ©iStockphoto.com/Luis Carlos Torres

Perhaps you are a fan of Evernote, as I am. I use it for everything. It’s my notepad and my filing cabinet, and I can access my files from anywhere.

In case you don’t know Evernote, here’s a quick overview. It is a filing system in the cloud. You can keep your files in Evernote and they sync seamlessly...