Life is full of shoulds; your harp playing shouldn’t be. But I bet it is.

Do any of these sound familiar?

I should practice scales.
I should finish this piece before I start a new one.
I should warm up before I start playing.
I should learn this piece my teacher gave me, even though I don’t like it.
I should practice this piece slowly even though it’s driving me crazy.

I think we...

A new year, a fresh start. But is this really the time to start over or should you just forge ahead?

I’m always tempted to wipe my slate clean at the start of a new year. It feels empowering to choose to discard the habits that are holding me back and to jettison the things that are cluttering my closets. 

There’s always the possibility, however, that in this sudden urge to...

Once again, the pandemic is forcing us to shut down. Hard times like these sap our energy and our motivation. It’s difficult to feel motivated when you feel the walls closing in around you.

Yet this is the traditional time for us to make goals, to think about plans for the new year, to shed the unproductive habits and instill healthy ones. You may be wondering if this is the time to dig...

Sometimes it seems there is no way to get where you want to go. 

You practice and practice, but the results you are looking for don’t show up. Maybe you are trying to finish a piece, fix two measures or prepare to play in public, and you’ve reached a point where nothing you do is moving you forward. It may even feel like all your progress is backward and your music is actually...