In today’s post I share with you some of the lessons I have learned on my musical journey.

I am often asked for my opinion on the most important things for a young harpist to learn. Usually students who ask the question are looking for the ultimate practice secret or repertoire piece. Parents of students are looking for practical information on harp buying and colleges.

But the things I...

What if all the tuners and tuner apps disappeared tomorrow? Could you tune your harp?

Of course, the tuners will not all disappear. In fact, tuners and tuner apps are everywhere and easier to use than ever.

But could you tune your harp without one if you had to? Have you developed your ear to “hear” intonation instead of merely “see” it on your tuner?

It’s funny...

A “talent seed?” This is what I mean:

Despite the six inches of snow on the ground at my house, today is the first day of spring. And in anticipation of the eventual good weather, I have been entertaining myself with gardening books and catalogs. Did you know the Burpee seed catalog lists over 100 varieties of tomatoes? I was particularly taken by...

Tuning a harp is a chore. After all,  we would rather be playing. But tuning is essential. Most importantly, playing on an out-of-tune harp is a bad habit to develop. It teaches your ear to ignore what it...

How tuners work and the two different kinds of tuners

Your tuner’s most important function is to assess the pitch you play and provide feedback about how that pitch relates to a standard, as in whether the pitch is sharp, flat or in tune. The standard your tuner uses is one you can set yourself on most tuners: the exact frequency of the A. As I mentioned in the last post, the...

What does it mean to be in tune? You can be in tune with your friend, your spouse, the times or the music of the spheres. We musicians have a particular need to be in tune. We sound best when we are in tune ourselves, and we can play better with others. Here is one of my favorite quotes. It is from the writings of Marcus Aurelius, emperor of Rome from 161 C.E. to 180 C.E. While Marcus...

This post follows up on my Practice Solutions series with two more ideas for solving difficulties you may come across in your everyday practice.

Problem: I can’t get this hands together!
Solution: Alternate hands note by note

Why this works: By playing both hands, you are practicing the “hands together” skill. But...

Are you still keeping your New Year’s resolutions? If so, congratulations! You are in a very small group. According to a 2007 study by Franklin Covey (as in Stephen Covey, author of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People), 35% of people who make resolutions break them before the end of January and only 23% manage to keep them all year. Another study is even more...

I love detective mysteries, whether the detectives are cerebral like Sherlock Holmes, witty and cultured like Lord Peter Wimsey or more earthy like Jesse Stone. And I love puzzles; crosswords, cryptic crosswords, sudokus, double acrostics, whatever. The harder they are, the better I like them.So when I was asked for help with a musical puzzler recently, I grabbed my deer stalker hat and called...

It’s that time of year when we are dreaming of summer. Summer is the perfect time to put some extra focus on your harp playing by attending a harp camp. And today I want to offer two ways you can step up your playing this summer: the Harp in the Mountains Summer Festival and the first ever Harp Mastery Retreat Weekend.

Harp in the Mountains Summer Festival, now in its seventh year, ...