What is Your #1 Harp Progress Blindspot?
If you can't see it, you can't fix it.
Do You Need a Reason to Practice? 3 Ways to Find One
The secret of getting ahead is getting started - Mark Twain
Motivation is a puzzling phenomenon. It ebbs and flows. It can be the carrot or the stick. It can be an internal compulsion or an external force. In whatever form motivation appears to us though, it is always fueled by the answer to one question: why?
We are motivated to do something for a reason. It may be a reward or a positive...
The Muse Within: Chasing Inspiration
I sit down to the piano regularly at nine-o'clock in the morning and Mesdames les Muses have learned to be on time for that rendezvous. Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
In Greek mythology the nine Muses were the daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne (the goddess of Memory) and they lived with Apollo on Mount Olympus. They were believed to be the source of all creative inspiration, particularly in the realms...
Making Connections: I Vow to Thee My Country
The tune to the song “I Vow to Thee My Country” is a favorite of harpists everywhere, thanks in part to skillful arrangements by artists like Kim Robertson and Rhett Barnwell. The melody is one of the themes from “Jupiter,” a movement of Gustav Holst’s iconic symphonic suite, The Planets. As is often the case, the back story is nearly as compelling as the...
Beyond Fear: Daily Acts of Harp Courage
I know many courageous harpists. They aren't necessarily the ones featured on the magazine covers or the YouTube performers with the most likes. They haven’t overcome catastrophic physical disabilities or circumstances. They are simply harpists, people like you and me who have chosen a path that challenges themselves and inspires others.
Most of them wouldn't consider themselves...
Yes You Can! 12 Things to Do When You Can’t Practice
You just can’t do it.
It’s 9 PM and you’re finally finished with a non-stop day. You can’t even remember what you did today, but you know this is the first chance you’ve had to sit down and catch your breath. You know you should be practicing. But you just can’t do it.
They happen to all of us, even the most dedicated harpists, those days when you just...
Why Are You REALLY Playing Music? My Three Word Way to Reconnect
Do you know why you’re playing music, why you have chosen to make music an important part of your life?
Perhaps, like me, you’ve always felt the call to make music.
According to my mother, who wasn’t prone to making up these kinds of stories, I heard the harp on the radio when I was two years old. I asked her what it was and said that I wanted to play it. I started piano...