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...

The most wonderful time of the year is here. The decorations, the lights, the parties, the food, the gifts, the music all create an almost magical atmosphere. Surely part of that magic is due to the break from the usual, the temporary release from our everyday routine.

But perhaps you experience a little impatience with it too. I certainly do. I’m always anxious to get back in the groove...

What do you do to begin your practice sessions?

I’m certain you have a routine to warm up your fingers and your focus, one that helps you prepare to do your best work and to play beautiful music. You probably have given much thought to this and carefully crafted it to serve you well.

Have you given as much thought to how you finish a practice session? You may not have considered the last...

There’s nothing like “harp” for the holidays. 

That’s not quite how the song goes, but it is certainly true that no instrument seems more suited to Christmas celebrations than the harp. Choirs sing of the ”angels bending near the earth to touch their harps of gold,” and carolers remind us to “strike the harp, and join the chorus.” ...

Have you ever felt that success - in your music practice or in any other endeavor - was just beyond your reach? That you seemed to be getting closer and closer to your goal and still not actually attaining it?

• Picture a sports game where the teams appear evenly matched until one spectacular play changes the momentum of the game. 
• Or an inventor whose attempts have all failed until an...

It’s perhaps the most common cocktail party question: So, what do you do?

Talking about what we do - our activities, our work, our hobbies - is an easy way to define ourselves. When we tell others what we do, we give them an easy way to understand a little about us. We also give ourselves an identity and the feeling of belonging to a group of others who do the same thing.

Occasionally,...

I am at heart a do-it-yourself-er. Give me a project and I dive right in, sometimes getting in water that’s a little too deep. In fact, a number of my attempted projects have shown clearly that some things are better left to the experts. 

There was my bathroom wallpaper that looked great but never really did stick to the wall. And the sweater I knit that came down to my knees. Over...