How Not to be a Control Freak Harpist - PHH 247
Practicing Harp Happiness
Today we’re talking about control. Control is a word that comes up a lot in our harp playing, whether it’s about controlling our fingers, our dynamics, tempo, tone, focus, or a hundred other relevant things. It feels like we’re always trying to gain control over something in our playing, or over ourselves. But the path to mastery isn’t about asserting control; it’s actually about letting go of control. If you search, you can easily find dozens of books that explore the idea of control in music, and nearly all of them start out with the idea - sometimes it’s even written...
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Next Level Repertoire: Turning Baby Steps into Giant Strides - PHH 246
Practicing Harp Happiness
Have you ever started learning a piece that seemed like it should be relatively easy to learn, and then discovered it was actually much harder than you thought? Of course you have; it happens to all of us. In this situation, we have a choice. We could persist, digging our heels in and fighting our way through the piece anyway. Or we could put the piece aside for the time when we are ready for it. (By the way, that time only comes when we are very focused on leveling up our skills.) Neither choice feels good, mainly because we feel like we aren’t growing. We feel like our playing is...
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Next Level Musicianship: The Sensory Triangle - PHH 245
Practicing Harp Happiness
If you’ve listened to me for a while or taken any of my classes or workshops, you know that I love finding the solutions to problems we harpists face and creating the step by step plans to take action to solve them. I’ve discovered over my years of teaching that it’s not hard to define the problem, at least the surface problem. For instance, if your left hand can’t play the notes in two specific measures of your piece, then that’s the problem, and the solution is easy: drill the notes. Sometimes, however, the real issue lies a few layers down. Maybe the reason the left hand can’t...
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Next Level Technique: 3 Myths You Need to Bust - PHH 244
Practicing Harp Happiness
If you heard last week’s podcast, you may remember that this month’s podcast episodes are all about growth, your growth as a harpist and the systems and skills that are necessary for that growth. Last week, we talked about three key systems that you need to have in place for growth. This week is all about technique. I know it may sound like a dry as dust topic to some of you. Harpists generally fall into two distinct camps: those who hate doing technique exercises and those who love them. So if you love your Grossi and LaRiviere or whatever exercise book you use, this podcast is going to...
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Architect Your Harp Playing Growth with 3 Key Systems - PHH 243
Practicing Harp Happiness
A system is comfort. When we have and follow a system, whether it’s for completing tasks, or crafting, or making a grocery list, our mind can be at ease. Why? Because we know we have the steps to complete our task, and all we have to do is to follow the steps and the task will be done. When it comes to harp playing, people frequently make one of two mistakes. One is thinking that harp playing is inherently creative, and therefore a system is not only unnecessary, but it will rob your music of its soul. The other is trying to systematize everything about your playing in an attempt to get...
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My New Vocabulary for 2026 - PHH 242
Practicing Harp Happiness
For me, and I think for many people, this last week of the year is a supremely hopeful one. The rush to get ready for Christmas is behind us and the promise of a new year is finally in focus. We’re faced with possibilities for a change, instead of pressure. I realize, of course, that for many of us those possibilities for the new year include uncertainty, worry and fear which are beyond any assistance I could give on this podcast. I can merely offer prayers that the universe grants us all the courage and resources we need to face the circumstances before us. And I will stick to what I know...
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Classics for a Relaxing Holiday Playlist
Practicing Harp Happiness
Playlist Program: All selections performed by Anne Sullivan All selections arranged for harp by Anne Sullivan Largo, from Winter by Vivaldi from Two from Messiah by Handel Mozart in a Minute Ave Maria by Schubert from Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring (Bach)/Ode to Joy (Beethoven) Peace, a Fantasy on Dona Nobis Pacem
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Classics for a Relaxing Holiday - PHH 240
Practicing Harp Happiness
It’s Christmas week, and for me, this is a week to finally settle into the holiday mood. This is the time we decorate our tree, get in touch with friends and family, and start reveling in the spirit of joy and peace that feels so elusive other times of the year. So this is not the week I want to dive into a heavy teaching topic here on the podcast. What I want to do today is spread a little holiday harp happiness with a short musical program for you to enjoy. The theme of the program is “Classics for a Relaxing Holiday,” classical music that is appropriate for the holidays, but...
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The Stories Behind the Songs: Three Carols Revisited - PHH 239
Practicing Harp Happiness
I’m kind of a Christmas carol geek, if there is such a thing. I’ve always enjoyed playing them and even as a young person, I was fascinated by where they came from: their origins, translations, composers, text sources, etc. For me, the stories behind the carols were a kind of history and geography lesson rolled up into the magic and meaning of Christmas. I think the origin stories are what really held my interest. The writing of “Silent Night” because a church organ in Austria was damaged, or the composition of “O Holy Night” as a dedication piece to a renovated organ in France are...
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How Purpose Fuels Progress: The Map You’ve Been Missing - PHH 238
Practicing Harp Happiness
My first ocean cruise was a cruise from New York City to Bermuda. I’d never been on a big ocean liner before. Although I’ve done a couple other ocean cruises since then, I’m not really a fan. I love exploring, and there is only so much exploring you can do on a ship in the middle of the ocean. But on this first cruise, I did love the feeling of being in the middle of the vastness of the ocean with nothing but water all around. The feeling of not having any landmarks - literally - was a little exhilarating and more than a little awe-inspiring. Naturally, I wasn’t really frightened; I...
info_outlineHere’s our question for today: what makes a piece of music a “harp piece”?
Does it have to have been originally written for harp? Or composed by a harpist? Or could any piece of music, no matter what instrument or instruments it was written for, be a harp piece if you play it on the harp?
I happen to think that the third answer is the correct one. Mostly. Let me explain.
If you play a piece on the harp, it has absolutely become a harp piece whether it started out that way or not. But that doesn’t necessarily mean that it should have become a harp piece. Some pieces just don’t work on the harp. Take the “1812 Overture,” for example. This piece was written by Tchaikovsky to commemorate Russia’s victory over Napoleon. It’s 15 minutes long, It requires a full symphony orchestra (minus a harp), an additional brass band, a bell carillon and a battery of cannons - yes, cannons. How could a single harp play a meaningful rendition of this monster work? You could play some of the themes from the piece. You could shout “BOOM” when the cannons are supposed to fire. No matter how hard we try, though, it will never really sound like the original.
Okay, that’s an extreme example. However, we harpists are known for borrowing music liberally from the piano repertoire. While that’s a good idea in general - after all, the harp and piano have a lot in common - some piano pieces never make good harp pieces, even when the piece translates easily from piano to harp. Sometimes, something gets lost in the translation.
So what makes a piece of music a harp piece? What are the essential qualities and the specific characteristics that identify a piece as being written for harp, or that, on the flip side, mark it as definitely not a harp piece? Today, we will talk about those characteristics and how you can use them to spot pieces that might, or might not, be good ones to transpose or arrange for harp. This information will also be very useful when you’re playing someone else’s arrangement, and I’ll tell you why in just a minute.
Links to things I think you might be interested in that were mentioned in the podcast episode:
- Check out our brand new courses in the Harp Mastery® app!
- We’re halfway through our Super Summertime Challenge. Are you in?
- Harpmastery.com
Get involved in the show! Send your questions and suggestions for future podcast episodes to me at podcast@harpmastery.com
Looking for a transcript for this episode? Did you know that if you subscribe to this podcast on Apple Podcasts you will have access to their transcripts of each episode?
LINKS NOT WORKING FOR YOU? FInd all the show resources here: https://www.harpmastery.com/blog/Episode-218