Next Level Repertoire: Turning Baby Steps into Giant Strides - PHH 246
Release Date: 01/26/2026
When Right Is Wrong: The Ultimate Musical Dilemma - PHH 259
Practicing Harp Happiness
Playing music is hard. Trying to evaluate how well you are playing it is even harder, much harder. If this were a sport, a game like baseball, our efforts in relation to those of the opposing team would be reflected in the score. In an individual sport like golf, your score is a marker of your performance against the challenge of the course, the weather and any number of other factors. In an artistic endeavor, such as art or music or dance, there isn’t an objective numerical scale to score the outcome. I think that’s why I am always ambivalent about Olympic figure skating judging. I...
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7 Ways to Place Chords: Beyond the Rules - PHH 258
Practicing Harp Happiness
When was the last time you took a moment to just play some chords on your harp and let yourself simply enjoy them? When you hear that rich, resonant sound, you know that this was what your harp was meant to sound like. Perhaps hearing someone else play chords like that was why you decided to play the harp. It’s goosebump territory, for sure. You can feel it in your bones, in your core. I don’t know that there is a more beautiful sonority than a big beautiful harp chord, perhaps lushly rolled. But, I also know that there isn’t a day goes by that I don’t have to stop in my practice...
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Creating Your Secondary Practice Style: A New Look at Your Practice Breed - PHH 257
Practicing Harp Happiness
A number of years ago, I wrote a blog post comparing practice styles to two breeds of dogs: a German Shepherd and a Greyhound. This was my metaphor for discussing a topic I found really hard to address with my students, the fact that their natural practice style was a determining factor in the speed of their progress. Let me explain. I had some students who were committed to doing everything correctly and as a consequence learned carefully and thoroughly, but rather slowly. I had other students who wanted to play the music right away. Their enthusiasm and energy got them to the finish line...
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Moving Up: The Intermediate Level Skills You Need - PHH 256
Practicing Harp Happiness
I think one of the biggest challenges in music study is that it is very difficult to really measure our progress. It’s so easy to lose track of what we’ve accomplished when we’re faced with new challenges that often seem to be more of the same ones we’ve been struggling with all along. The notes are still hard. Our fingers still aren’t moving fast enough. We still can’t make our music flow. The reality of music study is that we will continue to face the same challenges at every stage of our harp journey. At the same time that we find new levels of facility or expression, we...
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Simplify and Renew: How to Spring Clean Your Harp Playing - PHH 255
Practicing Harp Happiness
Spring is finally settling in where I live. You might be weeks ahead of me or behind me or in a totally different hemisphere, but in the spirit of sharing what’s on my mind and what’s happening in my world, I want to talk about spring cleaning today. Naturally, though, I’m not talking about cleaning windows and carpets and closets. I want to talk about spring cleaning your harp life. When I first decided to focus on spring cleaning for this podcast, I didn’t want to take the easy way out. It would be easy to talk about harp care - changing strings, cleaning your harp, the right...
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Music Theory Starts Here - PHH 254
Practicing Harp Happiness
If you came to me for a lesson and said you wanted to work on music theory, my first reaction would be to do my happy dance. I admit it - I am a theory geek. I love talking about the building blocks of music and exploring the way composers use them to create the kaleidoscopic variety of music we love to play. But after my happy dance, I would ask you this question: why do you want to learn music theory? It’s not a test question; there is no wrong answer. But I have often found that harpists make assumptions about what theory knowledge will do for them, and those assumptions,...
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Your Ultimate Guide to Practice Journaling - PHH 253
Practicing Harp Happiness
I was recently at the home of a harpist friend, and she showed me her stack of diaries, her appointment books from past years. There were decades of them. She was deciding it was time to get rid of them, but she wasn’t quite ready to do it. I had to admit that I pitched mine long ago, and that occasionally I have wished that I still had them. They would be fun to look through. Those entries, even the most prosaic ones, recall so many memories. They bring to mind places, people and events that you have nearly forgotten. Suddenly, you are transported to a different time and place, even a...
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Learning to Play By Ear: a First Steps Seminar - PHH 252
Practicing Harp Happiness
Playing by ear is one of those things that musicians either know they can do or think they’ll never be able to do. Those who are practiced at it seem to have endless tunes at their fingertips. Name a tune, and if they know it, they can play it. To those who can’t do it - at least not yet - it seems nothing short of magical. But ask someone to explain how they work this magic, and you will likely get an answer that isn’t much of an explanation. They might talk about understanding and learning to hear chords. Or they might say they learned by trial and error, trying to play along...
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Creating Your Harp Life with Dr. Kristina Finch - PHH 251
Practicing Harp Happiness
I know it’s cliché, but when I was a young harpist, I wanted to be just like my teacher, the same way children want to be just like their parents. Specifically, that meant to me that I was going to play in a big orchestra someday. It was years later when I discovered that not only were there other paths harpists could pursue, but that some of those paths actually suited me better. I’ve certainly done my share of orchestral playing, and I enjoy it, but I have always found more scope and more musical opportunity in chamber music and solo performances. When I was still in high school,...
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Masterclass: Making an Etude Out Of Your Piece - PHH 250
Practicing Harp Happiness
Today’s show is a masterclass, a show where I get to dig in to how to do something. We aren’t just talking big picture concepts; we’re going to get down to the nitty gritty. I have to say this is my favorite kind of show to do, because it feels like teaching, almost like we’re right here together in the same room, and I’m sharing what I’ve learned to help you learn too. I love that. And I really enjoy this topic too. Our topic is how to make an etude from a piece you’re trying to learn. Let’s say you’re working on a piece and most of the piece is ready to go, but...
info_outlineHave 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 staying at the same level. In fact, one of the reactions I see from harpists in this situation is that they choose to put aside the challenging piece and play another piece by a composer or arranger whose works they know they can play easily. Unfortunately, this can mean that the music they’re playing and the finger patterns they are learning don’t stretch them at all, but actually keep them stuck in the same place.
Obviously, there’s a gap we need to bridge. It’s the gap between our actual skill level and our perception of our skill level. It isn’t that we think we’re better than we are; it’s not a case of inflated ego. It’s just that we can’t see the holes we need to fill before we are actually ready to learn the piece. Sometimes the holes are missing technical skills, like independence of the hands that makes playing hands together fluid and easy. Sometimes it’s a musicianship skill, maybe fluency with a rhythmic pattern or quick chord recognition.
My point is this: you shouldn’t have to take baby steps with your music. It’s important that you play the music you truly want to play, not feel trapped playing music that isn’t what you really aspire to. But you don’t have to take such a giant step that you’re struggling to learn a piece in a reasonable amount of time.
If you’ve ever ridden the Underground in London, you may remember the signs and announcements alerting you to “mind the gap” as you step from the platform onto the train. That’s my idea for today; I’m going to show you how to mind the gap between the music you can play and the music you want to play so your journey will be faster and easier.
Links to things I think you might be interested in that were mentioned in the podcast episode:
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Plan your growth with The Harpist’s Breakthrough Blueprint. Register now!
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Last call for the Getaway Retreat.
Get involved in the show! Send your questions and suggestions for future podcast episodes to me at podcast@harpmastery.com
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