Welcome to Notes from the Harp!

In this issue, I'm going to talk about being a "true beginner", and why that open attitude is the fast route to success. I'll even give you a tongue-in-cheek to-do list of the practice habits that often get in our way. I call them the "Ten Habits of Haphazard Harp Practice". Maybe we can start a recovery group!

We'll also look at quick fixes for common technical issues, and a meditative improvising idea using online sounds. Finally, I'll tell you about some amazing online tools, and I'll give you a resource for downloadable flash cards.

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In This Issue:

Article
Can You be a True Beginner? Avoiding the Ten Habits of Haphazard Harp Practice

Improvisation Starter
Play Along with Nature

Technique Tips:
Quick Fixes for Technical Issues

Resources
Resources: Cool Tools & Printable Flashcards

I have a wonderful harp student who had never done any music in her life until she started lessons in January. At her first lesson, we started by training her ear to listen and match pitch, so she could pick out a simple tune. We started with what pitch is, and what it means to go higher and lower, and how rhythm works, based on a song she sang in childhood.

Six months later, I am gleefully watching this student excel. Why is it that this absolute beginner has mastered most of the pieces in her book in record time, zooming past students who have been taking lessons for twice as long?

Each week, I'm surprised by what she's accomplished. For starters, she does everything I ask her to, just as I've written it in her notebook. Play this practice spot until it's smooth. Color code the note patterns so you can see what repeats. Ghost these hand forms so the transition gets easier. Play one hand while tapping the rhythm of the other.

Looking back at past issues of Notes from the Harp, I can see that I've covered so many of these practice strategies, telling you how to get the most out of your practice. Perhaps you've tried some of them. But are they at the heart of your practice time?

We humans are funny creatures. We do things repeatedly even if we know aren't helpful. Lucky beginners--they haven't established all those other habits that impede their progress. In fact, because they are complete beginners, they have the gift of an open mind.

What habits am I talking about? I'll bet you know, but I'll tell you anyway.

Ten Habits of Haphazard Harp Practice

1) Hurry, hurry--play as fast as you can, as if you can't wait to be through the phrase or piece. If you slow down or stumble, by all means, carry on.

2) Please don't look at how your piece is put together, even though it's easy to get "lost in the woods." Always start at the beginning, and go ahead and complain about how you get lost in the same spot . . .

3) Please see your piece as just a string of notes, not a conversation, not a story. You're busy enough, trying to play all those notes!

4) Please cling to your version of the rhythm. Don't even dream of looking at how the beats are subdivided, counting, or using your metronome. Isn't that just too mechanical?

5) Please approach your piece like you're doing battle. You're going to conquer it, once and for all.

6) Please keep playing at all costs. Was there buzzing? Who knows--you don't have time today to listen as you play.

7) Please don't listen to the piece in any other version either. You're tired of the thing, and anyway, won't that just make you a copycat?

8) Please insist on playing the whole piece, every single time. Ghosting, blocking arpeggios, working on practice spots, playing one hand while singing or tapping the other as nice ideas you just don't have time for.

9) Please refrain from singing your piece or visualizing yourself playing it. Away from the harp, it's out of sight, out of mind.

10) Please remember that you already know everything you need to know how to learn music. After all, you're not so new to this. You do all right, don't you?

All joking aside, how many of us recognize ourselves in these habits? Our brains convince us that we can't take time to try something new. My student has demonstrated for me that being a true beginner is a blessing.

Can you be a true beginner in your own practice this week?

Can you set aside playing your whole piece, the same way you always do, for a whole week while you try something different with it?

Play something you already know, improvise, play all you like, but not the piece that you're trying to learn right now. With that one piece, use the strategies that will actually make it yours. And let me know what happens--I'd love to hear from you!

Here's a quick and handy list of common harp technique problems and their usual solutions:

Crossing over/under: Make sure your fingers are low and your thumb is high--usually its the REplacing that's the problem and we gradually creep away from the ideal location. When you get to the cross, squeeze apart the strings to give yourself more leverage.

Making lever changes smoothly: Practice flipping the lever in one exact spot every time, counting it just as you do a note. Follow the string up to the correct lever with your eyes or finger. If it's still hard to flip in time, look for another spot to make the change (earlier, later, or not at all).

Avoiding buzzing: Buzzing is caused by imprecise timing and/or hand position issues. Make sure that you are not replacing early, but just in time. Check that there is no extra motion in your replacing; your fingers should place from below (not sideways or from above). Likewise, your thumb should place from above. Often, buzzing happens because we're opening and placing out of order--getting to the strings before our hand is in the correct position. Use these hints to diagnose the problem and correct it on the spot--never keep playing our you'll teach yourself to keep buzzing.

And now for something completely different . . . ! My workshop students enjoyed improvising to a custom CD that I created from lots of free sound clips I downloaded. You can do the same thing, if you're willing to sample lots of sounds and loop them together in iTunes or another program, but I wanted to make it easier for you. I went looking for something you could find online and simply play with, and I found a treasure! Check out this Sound Mixer from a sleep-aid company. You can cue up as many as five sounds to play together and set the levels for each one to get the balance you need. Experiment until you have a nice mix of sounds that appeal to you.

Now pull back your harp, close your eyes, and let your fingers caress the strings in whatever way you like. There are no right or wrong notes, only sounds. Don't try to match pitch or anything fancy, just play as you're moved to do so. Breathe, pluck, strum, glide . . . take your time and see what happens.

And don't worry--I don't think you'll fall asleep as long as you are playing your harp! This improvisation exercise is not only very meditative--an oasis of sound in a busy day--but freeing as well. It's almost as good as going to the beach or the mountains!

This is one of the coolest things I've found on the internet. It's a Circle of Fifths that allows you to:
* figure out the key of a piece of music
* easily transpose music to a different key
* compose new music
* understand key signatures, scales, and modes

You can download the free tool to use on your computer and there is a user's guide. Interactive Circle of Fifths

This one is both cool and relaxing. It's a melody generator built with Flash. If you "click to view engine" you see the notes as bouncing spheres, which is very hypnotic. What amazes me is how beautiful the melodies are. You might just be inspired to improvise or compose something new . . .
Melody Generator

Resources: Printable Flash Cards & Worksheets

Need to work on your note reading, key signatures or other basic music theory skills? Here is a source for printables so you can drill the old-fashioned way. Flash Cards and Worksheets

All content by Susan Zevenbergen, Copyright 2009.

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