I know I’m dating myself, but here goes…

Back in the 1960’s there was a television show called “Sea Hunt.” The show centered around a free-lance scuba diver named Mike Nelson, played by Lloyd Bridges. Mike Nelson was a former Navy diver and a member of the Coast Guard Auxiliary. As a free-lance diver, he was hired for all kinds of dangerous underwater work, everything from salvaging precious cargo from wrecked ships to rescuing people trapped in caves. Each episode had dangerous situations and villains who were ready to slash the hoses on Mike’s air tanks.

In nearly every episode, Mike would have to make a hasty ascent from the depths, which he would attempt to time carefully to avoid “the bends,” a potentially fatal condition more formally called decompression sickness. On occasion. Mike would have to spend time in a decompression chamber.

Watching this as a child, I was fascinated by the danger of too hasty a return to the surface. On the one hand, Mike would be running out of oxygen and would need to get back on the boat quickly. But on the other hand, making his return too quickly could prove fatal. Talk about a dilemma.

Today’s show is not about the bends, but it is about the possible downside, although not a potentially fatal one, of returning to your regular practice routine too quickly after your vacation. If you’re like me, you may come back from vacation with your fingers itching to get back on the harp strings. If you run right to the harp however, you might find it more challenging or even frustrating than you expected. Broken strings and creaky fingers are annoying enough to deal with, but the real issue is that the pieces we were working on seem so far from where we left them. In my experience, diving right into your usual kind of practice can instantly deflate your post-vacation high. Instead of being able to keep that feeling of freshness, relaxation and renewal, you’re right back into the practice grind you left.

What’s the fix? The good news is that we don’t need a decompression chamber. All we need is the right mindset and a plan, and I have both of those for you today.

Links to things I think you might be interested in that were mentioned in the podcast episode:

• Calling all Harp Teachers! Registration for our Teachers’ Retreat is open!

• Listen to Episode 60: Enjoy a Guilt-Free, Harp-Free Vacation with the Perfect Re-Entry Plan

• 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-219

Here’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

Happy Bastille Day! This isn’t a French themed podcast episode, and we won’t be breaking the bars on any prisons today. However, while the French national motto of liberté, égalité, fraternité is sounding across the globe, we should give some thought to the unequal treatment we give our hands. I mean the difference in the demands we place on our right and left hands.

Probably you’ve thought about the very different roles that our hands play musically. Most often, the right hand plays a melody and the left hand plays an accompaniment. But think about it in a practical, action-related way for a moment. If our right hand specializes in melodies, then it likely is accustomed to connected, legato playing, along with some chords and arpeggios.

Our left hand, though, because it serves to support the melody, is more used to jumping between low bass notes and chords above them, or playing a series of octaves, or playing continuous arpeggiated accompaniments. That is a very different skill set from the one your right hand has. Just try playing a left hand accompaniment with your right hand or a right hand melody with your left hand, and you will find it a little uncomfortable. Try playing hands together with that role reversal, and it may feel extremely awkward. If you’ve ever had to try to balance a left hand melody line with a right hand accompaniment, keeping the right hand softer than the left, you know how deeply ingrained those right hand/left hand roles are.

Of course, most of the time, each hand plays the kind of playing it does best. But what about those occasions when the roles are reversed? How do you prepare for them, so they don’t stop you in your tracks? That’s part of what I will help you with today. Even more importantly, I’ll give you a plan for developing more independence between your hands, and that sounds like a fitting topic for Bastille Day.

Links to things I think you might be interested in that were mentioned in the podcast episode:

• Join the Christmas in July Week 3 workshop.

• Are you keeping up with the Summertime Challenge? Join here.

• 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-217

This week I started my yearly ritual of going through my drawers of music and pulling out new pieces to play. Actually they aren’t all new; some are old friends that I haven’t played in years. Others are pieces that have been sitting around waiting for me to get to them. Others are favorites that I seem to pull out every summer and play for a while.

It’s a summer thing for me. Perhaps because my playing schedule is a little lighter, I don’t feel as pressured or as driven. Also, though, I just want to play music, music that fits my vacation mindset.

So this week as I was looking through the stacks, I thought maybe I could give you some ideas of pieces that might fit your summertime mood. Or if it’s not summer weather for you right now, maybe these pieces will add some sunshine to your harp playing.

Some of these are classics from the harp repertoire or classic transcriptions for harp. Others are newer compositions you may not know. I’ve thrown in a couple popular music selections, just because. And I’ve themed them in a very summer-ish way: music about water, the sky, the garden and daydreams. It’s a little fanciful, but that’s really the whole idea. I’ll play some bits and pieces of some of them for you, too.

And if you feel inspired to check out any of these for yourself, I’ve put all the selections I am mentioning today in a handy list for you, which you can download right in the show notes. You’ll be able to find these at the usual harp music retailers, like Harp Column Music, Atlanta Harp Center, Vanderbilt Music Company, Harp.com and more. If you have trouble finding one of them, just post a message in the Harp Mastery® Hub, and we’ll help you find it!

Links to things I think you might be interested in that were mentioned in the podcast episode:

• Get the PDF of pieces mentioned on the show.
• Week 2 of Christmas in July Live call tomorrow.
• Super Summer Challenge continues.
• 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-216

There’s a third kind of shortcut, though, that I want us to think about today. It’s the kind of shortcut that comes with experience. I remember when I was learning to sew and following all the directions very carefully so that I wouldn’t mess up. I even learned which pattern companies had the clearest directions, and which seemed to presume that I knew more than I did, so there were steps missing. Those missing steps weren’t shortcuts, per se; they were just knowledge that a more experienced sewer would have.

One day, I watched a professional seamstress start to cut out a dress. She was making a concert dress for me, and I was excited to watch her start on it while I could watch. What turned out to be an even bigger thrill was to see that instead of painstakingly pinning the pattern onto the cloth, the way I learned in Home Ec class, she just laid a few weights on the pattern to hold it lightly in place and cut around it. What a shortcut and a timesaver! And why had I never thought of that?

Of course, I had never thought of that because I didn’t have the experience and the confidence that comes with that experience to see that as a possibility. I was still following the directions, step by step. That step-by-step method was an important part of my learning, because it showed me what was necessary to get the best result. It wasn’t necessary to pin every pattern piece in place. It was necessary to lay out the pieces on the cloth correctly and to cut them carefully; the pins were a helpful tool, when you needed it, but not strictly necessary.

Harp playing has those kinds of shortcuts too. There are practice and learning strategies that are important at some stages of our harp journey that we can rethink and adapt as we gain more mastery. If we cling to our old learning habits too long, we end up slowing our progress and growth.

So today, I want to help you learn about harp shortcuts, not specific shortcuts, although I’ll mention a few, but how to look for and discover the shortcuts that could make a difference for you right now. This is about using your experience and your knowledge from all the harp playing you’ve done to help you learn faster, practice more effectively and play more confidently. It’s about making it easier, and who wouldn’t want that?

Links to things I think you might be interested in that were mentioned in the podcast episode:

• Our Christmas in July celebration is starting and you’re invited! Join the weekly live calls, videos and mini-workshops from the Hub, our YouTube channel, or our Harp Happiness HQ Facebook group!
• Our 2025 Super Summertime Challenge is in full swing!
• 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-215

It’s summer time here and time for a little R and R, rest and relaxation, maybe even time away. You might be feeling like you need some time away from whatever stress you’ve been experiencing. I hope it isn’t your harp playing that’s been causing the stress, but even playing and practicing the harp can cause frustration and burnout. If you’re feeling like you need a break from your harp playing, I’m here to help and to make sure you take that break in a way that will bring you more confidence and more joy in your harp playing again.

Actually, at the time you are listening to this, I am on vacation with my husband. We are in Bermuda, which is one of our favorite places to vacation. We went there for our honeymoon and loved it so much that we planned to go back every five years. We’ve missed a couple of those five year milestones; COVID was one of the reasons, of course. But this year, we’re going back and I can’t wait.

Often people will ask me if I take a harp when I’m on vacation, and I rarely do. If it’s an extended trip, or I have a special project or performance coming up, then I will take one, but I firmly believe that no matter how much we love the harp, it’s beneficial to take some time off. Like the old Coca-Cola slogan, “it’s the pause that refreshes.” It’s good for us physically to relieve our fingers of the stress of practice. It’s even better for our perspective. It forces us to pick up our heads, let go of the busyness of practice, and reconnect with the harp and with music. Aside from having to coax slightly sluggish fingers back to work after we get back, there are no negatives to taking a break.

I realize we have podcast listeners all over the world, and if you’re living in the southern hemisphere, you’re starting a winter season, not a summer one. But you don’t have to wait for summer to try out this framework. It can help keep you balanced all winter long!

Links to things I think you might be interested in that were mentioned in the podcast episode:

• Get on board with our 2025 Super Summertime Challenge!
• Related podcast: Small Steps to Break Through and Grow - PHH 200
• 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-214

Have you ever made something and it turned out ok, but somehow it just didn’t look right? Maybe you thought those two paint colors would go together, but now you’re not sure. Or maybe the furniture arrangement in the living room looked great on paper but it sort of doesn’t work now that you see everything in place.

I think we’ve all had those moments. I had one not long ago with a photo I was doing. It wasn’t quite right, but since I had to get it done, all I could do was to shrug and sign off on it, whether it was right or not. But if a piece of music we’re working on doesn’t sound right, we want to fix it, not forget it.

I’m sure you know what I mean. You’ve been working hard on a piece. You muster up your courage to do a recording of it and after a lot of takes, you come up with one that you think is pretty good, without noticeable mistakes or hesitations. Then you listen to it, and something’s not right. Is it too slow? Are you not making the dynamics clear? How come it doesn’t sound the way it sounds in your head?

This is truly a challenging point, because it can be difficult to know the precise things you need to do to make the music sound the way you want. Assuming that the notes and the rhythms are correct and that you’re playing reasonably expressively, what else is there? That’s the question we’re going to answer today. I’m going to identify three things that are essential to make any piece of music sound “right.” These three are the same whether you are playing a classical piece or a folk piece or a hymn or a pop tune. When each of these is in place, your piece will sound like you want it to.

And the bonus is that you have choices. Every one of us harpists makes these choices, but you may not realize the power behind them. These choices are what makes one harpist’s interpretation of a piece sound different from another harpist’s, even though they both may be beautiful performances. My friend, you have the power to make your music sound right to you; all you need to do is exercise your freedom to choose.

Links to things I think you might be interested in that were mentioned in the podcast episode:

• Our 2025 Super Summertime Challenge starts today in the Hub. Participate and win!
• Download the free Harp Mastery® app.
• 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-213

Since you’re here with me today, I know you are the kind of harpist who knows that technique matters. You take your warm-up seriously. You have exercises and etudes that you play regularly, maybe even religiously. You subscribe to the motto, “If your fingers can’t play it, you can’t play it.” But there may be times when you, even as dedicated to your technique work as you are, need a new direction, some more motivation, inspiration and know-how to move your technique to the next level.

Here’s the thing we don’t want to think about. We have our favorite exercises and they fit perfectly into our practice routine. We know how they go, so we don’t have to struggle with notes, and we can focus on our fingers. Unfortunately, if we are that comfortable with them, they probably have lost some of their value for us.

Now I’m not going to tell you that you have to abandon the exercises or drills you love. I’m just like you; I have my favorites, and I am not about to give them up. But I am going to suggest - very strongly - that you need to switch them up with some that will provide you with a little more challenge. When I started doing this in my own practice, I found that it sharpened my technique, not just because my fingers were learning new patterns, but also, precisely because I had to pay attention to the notes for a change, I was even more focused on what I was doing. No chance to go on autopilot, even for a minute.

So today, I am going to share information about three exercise books you might not know, but that I think you should. Why? Because your technique work should be about leveling up, and if you’re doing the same-old same-old, you definitely aren’t leveling up.

I’ve also included links to each of the books, so you can find them easily, but you can purchase them from any retailer you like. I don’t get a commission from these links; they are purely for your convenience.

Links to things I think you might be interested in that were mentioned in the podcast episode:

• Our 2025 Super Summertime Challenge in the Hub starts next week. Join the Hub today so you don’t miss it!
• Big Book of Exercises for Harp by Isabelle Frouvelle
• Exercices et Etudes by Edmond LaRiviere
• Conditioning Exercises by Carlos Salzedo
• 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-212