A Happy, Healthy prosperous new year

Hello dear readers and a Happy New Year from me! I sincerely hope 2022 will be a memorable year for us all, full to the brim with music. While reviewing the year, one thing became blatantly obvious to me and that was the lack of performances during 2021. I think that was the general consensus amongst us musicians as we twiddled our thumbs with dwindling hope for the ping of a text or an email notification inviting us to play. The upside to this is that I have cherished those rare performances that did go ahead like gold dust and those I played for were all the more memorable for their scarcity. It’s in our blood to entertain and to distract audiences from everyday life. If we can provide a means of escape for a couple of hours, then it’s job done. There’s no feeling quite like it.

My greatest hope for 2022 is that I will be able to offer my musical services on a broader scale, whether that’s for weddings, parties, events, solo performances, funerals or in my role as an educator, helping my students express themselves with our amazing instrument. Zoom is still a godsend and although it can be frustrating at times, I am lucky that I have that option. Sharing harps is tricky and I really miss my monthly teaching at Saltaire.

None of us are blessed with a crystal ball and who knows what lies ahead with COVID rules and regulations. Who am I to speculate on our situation 6 months from now? I have decided to grab 2022 by the G string and go about my music business in as normal a fashion as possible. I will be booking wedding fayres and announcing them as they arise so do keep an eye here as well as on my Instagram and Facebook pages. I’ve missed the friendly banter and meeting fellow wedding suppliers and hearing what they’ve been up to, so it’ll be great to get back in the swing of promotional events again.

First up is a wedding showcase at stunning Hodsock Priory, a venue I discovered last Summer when I played for Gemma and Matt’s extra special wedding. This venue is like something out of a fairytale and the wedding team were just brilliant. If you want to come and listen and have a chat about the music I have to offer here are the details:

Beautiful isn’t it? I’ve been learning lots of new background repertoire and I’m keen to share that with you so do come along, say hello and tell me what tunes you’d love to hear on the harp. From Lana del Rey to Bruno Mars, via Ed Sheeran of course, I always do my best to accommodate your requests!

This Sunday I’m taking part in my first proper orchestral concert for 2 years! Orchestral playing is my passion but I’d like to share something - I’m absolutely terrified! Not so long ago, when I was playing with orchestras regularly, I would have thought nothing of this. None of the repertoire is particularly challenging and I’ve played most of the pieces before but I’m still worried. I just want to do the best job I can and ultimately, when the baton goes down in Bridlington at 2pm on Sunday, I know I’ll have just the right focus. I just have to trust the process! And BREATHE!

So there you go, Even seasoned professionals get pre-performance nerves. I will be focusing on the music, my breath and visualising everything going well and if I play my cards (notes?) right, I might even get a stroll on the beach but no Mr Whippy this time - it’s sugar free January for me!

Playing with lilies

At Hodsock Priory last year. Image by the super talented Photos by Hash. I promise I’m friendly, that’s just my concentration face

NEW MUSIC FOR 2021

Hello dear readers!

It’s been quite some time since I blogged and I’m delighted to tell you why I haven’t written - I’ve been practicing of course! I’ve been lucky enough to play for three amazing weddings this year already and I’ve really enjoyed learning some beautiful songs that sound great on the harp. Here they are:

Never Enough from The Greatest Showman

Married Life from Up

There You’ll Be from Pearl Harbour by Faith Hill

I Could Have Danced All Night from My Fair Lady

One Day I’ll Fly Away from Moulin Rouge

Mad World from Donnie Darko

Skyfall Main Theme by Adele

Ed Sheeran - Photograph

Lionel Richie - Stuck on You

Lionel Richie - Three Times a Lady

Savage Garden - Truly, Madly, Deeply

John Lennon - Woman

Paul Simon - Bridge Over Troubled Water

Simon and Garfunkel - Sound of Silence

Coldplay - Paradise

Oasis - Wonderwall

Fleetwood Mac - Songbird

Feel free to get in touch if you have some favourite songs you’d like to hear me play just for you!

Wild Rose

I’m feeling vibrant and energised this morning. Yesterday was a free day and I went on a 10 mile walk starting from my house bright and early. I love observing the change in seasons and how suddenly it can be snowy and bone numbingly cold one weekend, and a week later, the birds seem to chatter and chirp in a fresh new key as they gather materials to create their new homes. I heard a woodpecker tapping away this morning when I was stretching with the window wide open. It’s definitely Spring thank goodness and when the sun is out, the warmth feels therapeutic.

Noticing these changes adds variety on a walk along paths we’ve trodden very well over the past year. Yesterday we avoided roads and ventured across country rather than sticking to the clearly established paths. You could call it the path less travelled and I like that a lot, going off piste. Towards the end of the walk we headed up to the moorland above Deer Hill reservoir. It was barren and rugged. Lovely!

I put on some simple fare when we got back. I love feeding people and I’ve missed that during lockdown.

We didn’t see any wild roses on our walk but these days, Saturday night is movie night. After a quick scroll through the Netflix top titles, I decided on a film called Wild Rose. It really blew me away which is why I’m telling you about it. It’s still with me this morning. It’s an inspiring and slightly gritty but uplifting story of a Glaswegian country singer desperate to make it big in Nashville. The protagonist is played by a phenomenal actress called Jessie Buckley who sings for real in the film, and Julie Walters does a fantastic job playing her mum. It really inspired me and I laughed out loud a few times which says a lot as most viewing leaves me po faced. That’s all I’m going to say. Watch it and let me know what you think, especially if you laughed out loud.

Have a super wild Sunday!

Grounded

It’s Thursday evening already and I have no idea where this busy week has gone. Let’s roll back to last weekend when I went walking with my 2 bubble buddies, Gareth and Sue. The weather was very poor with strong horizontal winds and pelting rain, and there was even a bit of snow on the tops above the village. More than half way through our 9 mile walk I suddenly saw the stony muddy ground hurtling towards me. Things went into slow mo as they do when you fall. When I realised what had happened and became aware of the pain in my right elbow, I promptly burst into tears and swore prolifically. I swear that swearing helps ease the pain and dissipate any uncomfortable feelings. After wallowing in a muddy puddle of self pity and ascertaining that nothing was broken, I was back on my feet and on we walked. We got to a bench and I wanted to inspect my injuries but the rain started up again so we walked to the next village where we found a bus shelter to have a brew and a hot cross bun.

It was a good walk through some beautiful countryside but I was distracted and ready for home. Back at REH HQ I checked my elbow (grazed) and a bruise was developing nicely. I wasn’t in any pain though.

Back in the day when I had lots of rehearsals and performances, I was quite averse to walking. I didn’t see the point and I took the car even for the shortest trips. Falling was a concern - what if I fell and sprained an ankle or broke a wrist? I wouldn’t be able to play and basically I wouldn’t survive. Well, I disproved this self imposed myth on Sunday morning by doing 2 very productive fruitful hours’ work with little pain or discomfort. So walking and running are here to stay, at least until the pools open again. Why deny myself the pleasure of being in the great outdoors at one with nature?

There’s definitely been a change in the weather and we’ve had more springlike days which always boosts the spirits. The feeling of warm sun is like a balm to the skin and seeing buds burst into blossom holds such hope and optimism. I’m counting the sleeps before celebrating losing an hour in bed next Saturday night. We desperately need a great Summer and while I’m sure it will be like no other Summer we’ve experienced, there are already indications that we will have more freedom than we’ve had during the past few months.

I finally had my bedroom painted in February. That’s been a long drawn out project. Pinning down the painter took some doing. Tradespeople have really benefited from our desire to make our home environments more pleasant places in which to spend the additional time we have at our disposal. Could I become a DIY person? No chance! I can do quite a lot if I set my mind to it but in the long run, it definitely costs me less to pay someone experienced to do a job that would take me months and would cause me so much angst and stress! I can play the harp. I’m fluent in music and I’m good with languages. I can cook and clean. Practicality, however, isn’t my strong suit and that’s why I’m prepared to pay an experienced and knowledgeable professional to do a brilliant job.

Anyway, my bedroom looks great but I’m still sleeping in the spare room as I need to sort out the flooring. I got a quote for carpet and it prompted me to pursue the route I really want to take - having the old characterful floorboards sanded and varnished. I’m getting a quote this weekend. Everything seems to take twice the time I’d factored in. I’m looking forward to sleeping in my bedroom again and waking up to this spectacular view:

Up early before my shift yesterday, I had a strong urge to get out so off I went, my feet clad in trail shoes and I walk-ran 4 miles. It was so invigorating to be outdoors bright and early. Despite tripping over a thorny tangled tendril of undergrowth and finding myself on the floor AGAIN (I was grateful for a soft peaty landing this time), this outing gave me so much energy for the entire day even after I’d worked the late shift the previous night. I was chirpy, cheerful and chatty at work. I go on about exercise because I know how it now plays a fundamentally important part my life. I haven’t been out today - I’m grounded as I have a lot to do here and I need to save my energy for a longer walk on Saturday, and I have some practice to do tomorrow of course. And I don’t want to be grounded again!

What’s all this ^^? There’s always something new to learn on social media!

Practice Tips

“Here’s a blog post I published a couple of years ago. I’m putting it up again as a reminder to my students on how to use practice time efficiently”

It's Sunday evening and ahead of a new week full of delicious music, here are some basic tips for good practice aimed at my students, as well as being a useful reminder to myself!   These are just suggestions.  There is no one correct way to practice, no guaranteed winning formula.  You need to find what works for you.

1. Decide what you need to practice and why. Put pen to paper. Define the problem, work out why it's difficult and come up with good ways of practicing

2. Take 3 minutes to think about what you're going to practice and what you want to accomplish

3. Plan the amount of time you need to spend on each piece. Get a notebook and make a timetable if it helps

4. Repeat, repeat, repeat! Having played a passage correctly after playing it several times with flaws, you need to practice it correctly more times

5. Practice fast as well as slow

6. Avoid overwhelm by separating problems and solving them one by one. Break a passage down into sections

7. Practice difficult passages in context

8. Practice away from the harp. This one is really important and very revealing

9. Don't neglect so called easy sections

10. Set yourself achievable goals - memorise one or two lines, then gradually the whole piece

Practice techniques and tools:

Always learn your notes with hands separately first, and aim for fluency before putting hands together.  Building a piece of music is like baking a cake - sometimes, all it needs is a pinch of something!

Break down the individual voicings - listen to the melody, bass line and harmony separately,

Analyse - know and understand the key signature, time signature and rhythm, musical structure, harmonic sequences, modulation - understand what you're playing and if you don't, ask me!

With a difficult passage, get playful!  Practice jumps, practice rhythmical patterns (groups of 2-7 notes in rapid succession in passage work), repeat each note twice then alternate hands, memorise your left hand...

Make friends with your metronome (I know many of you don't like it but it really does work or I wouldn't go on about it...) and make it a game - start low and slow, get comfortable, then take it up 2 notches.  Play it through without stopping, then take it down one notch and work on any problem areas.  Continue this process until you've gone a couple of notches past your ideal tempo.

Research - find out about the composer, look up any unfamiliar printed markings, be inquisitive.

When a piece is more familiar, get your blindfold on while you practice.  I'm serious!  Try it!

After an intense practice session, bash through your piece at top speed.  This can help dust off the cobwebs and get rid of frustration.  Then calm your fingers by playing through it slowly.

Remember you're in charge of your practice.  What you learn in your lesson is the tip of the iceberg that needs to grow after your lesson.

Happy practicing!