Augmented Fourth

Musical dissonance occurs when two notes played simultaneously have a clash of wills. The notes just don’t play well together. The interval shown here is the classic example of a dissonant interval: an augmented fourth, a tritone.

Hundreds of years ago, dissonance was essentially prohibited in music. The perceived conflict between tones was held to be incompatible...

Wouldn't it be great if you could make your practice more productive, more rewarding and more enjoyable? If you could magnify the results you got each time you practice?

It's possible - with focus.

Just like a magnifying glass can focus the sun's rays, you can focus your energies in your practice to get the kind of results you want.

This blog post is the first in a series of case studies that...

Is bass clef slowing you down? It’s something of a mystery to me why bass clef should present a stumbling block to harpists who read treble clef perfectly well.

Perhaps we just put more effort into learning (and teaching!) treble clef and figure that bass clef will get better over time. Or maybe we are so eager to play more music that we don’t spend quite enough time on all the...

Scales aren't just about technique.

Scales happen in "real" music too, and when we need to play them, we want them to be expressive, fluid and musical.

In this video, I demonstrate seven steps you can use to make your scales more beautiful in anything you play. And I have prepared a handy reference checklist for you as well. Just click on the link, enter your email address and it will be on...

Practice, practice, practice; the story of the musician’s life. And we hope that by devoting many hours to practice, we will be able to perform when it counts. But we should be able to do more than just hope.

Preparing for performance, whether it’s a lesson or a recital, is a matter of practicing in three very different ways, and these three vignettes about a kick, an arrow and a...

Sometimes tension is a good thing.

Tension happens at the place where two opposite forces or desires meet. At that place or in that moment, the forces are equal. The tension is resolved either when one of the forces prevails over the other, or the forces work together.

Picture the surface of a pool of water, calm and undisturbed. A leaf floats down to the water and the surface tension of the...

Harp Mastery Insider Test

It’s October, the time of year when upcoming college auditions are weighing heavily on the hearts of music students. It’s a stressful time with so many questions that seem impossible to answer and so much preparation to be done. I routinely give my students four points to remember to guide them through these rough waters with the least amount of turmoil possible. And even if you...

As the weeks rush toward the busy holiday season, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed and stressed out. So many performances, so much music to learn, so little time to relax. At times like this it’s easy to feel…well, grumpy.

But feeling grumpy does not help you make beautiful music.

So before the grumpiness takes hold, take action. Follow these seven steps, and enjoy the busy...

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