There is a simple equation for success. Not that success is simple; it isn’t. But the formula is not at all complicated. And the formula is the same, whether you want to be a successful musician or a successful auto mechanic.

What is success? Is it superstardom? I don’t believe most of us yearn for that. For most of us, success is being good at what we do. We don’t need to be superheroes. We just...

This is part three in a four-part series of posts designed to help you solve difficulties you may come across in your everyday practice. With a repertoire of techniques at your disposal, you can learn to solve nearly any practice difficulty. If you are not already a subscriber to HarpMastery, you can email me to receive the other po...

I don’t watch much television. There are some shows I love, (NCIS, I Love Lucy reruns, and Turner Classic Movies) and many I don’t. And it’s my personal policy never to watch celebrity reality shows or awards shows, not even the Grammy awards.

But although I won’t watch the Grammy’s, I do like to know what classical artists and recordings made the nominations list. I thought I would pass on a few...

This is part two in a four-part series of posts designed to help you solve difficulties you may come across in your everyday practice. With a repertoire of techniques at your disposal, you can learn to solve nearly any practice difficulty. If you are not already a subscriber to HarpMastery, you can email me to receive the other posts in this series by email.

This...

Auditions are horrible. If you’ve ever taken one, even an audition for the school chorus, chances are you had shaky knees, butterflies in your stomach and a head full of doubts. And if your auditions are of the kind where you feel that your whole future is in the balance, the nerves and upset might be a thousand times worse. And that doesn’t help your audition performance.

I have taken many audit...

Interesting facts, quotes and trivia about the metronome. Enjoy!

1.Metronome gives a consistent beat The metronome was patented in 1815 by Johann Maelzel (1772-1838). He described it as an “Instrument/Machine for the Improvement of all Musical Performance, called Metronome.” His design was suspiciously similar to an 1814 mechanical musical chronometer developed by Dutch inventor Dietrich Nikolaus...

This is part one in a four-part series of posts designed to help you solve difficulties you may come across in your everyday practice. With a repertoire of techniques at your disposal, you can learn to solve nearly any practice difficulty. This post shows you ways to pull a passage up to tempo when inching the metronome up isn’t getting the results you want.

Solution #1: Practice Hands Separate...

Here is a checklist of important things to do BEFORE you put your holiday music away for another year. These tips will help you prepare now to enjoy a more relaxed holiday time next year.

Over the years and the course of many holiday concerts and parties, I have learned some valuable lessons. I’d like to share with you what I have learned as a few steps which, if you take them now, will save you ...

The crescendo (and its counterpart, the diminuendo or decrescendo) is one of the first expressive tools we musicians learn. But has your crescendo lost its “wow factor?” Here are some quick reminders of what to do, what NOT to do, and a few practice techniques.

First, what NOT to do. I can almost guarantee that you have been guilty of one of these. We all have.

What NOT to do:

1. Don’t let a cr...

The New Year always causes us to stop and think. We make resolutions. Sometimes we keep them. This year my only resolution is to remember to make a difference. Musically and otherwise.

There is one incident I recall that showed me just how much our music can make a difference to others, whether we are aware of it or not.

I was flipping through my folder of Christmas music recently and I came acr...