What do you want to be?

Did you know you wanted to play the harp when you were young?  Did you see one played when you were small and know it was for you? Have you always known? Were you able to get a harp and take lessons?

Or did you know but it was out of reach?  Did you start playing as soon as you were able?

I don’t know when you first thought about playing the harp, but when I did, I was old.  Well, older.  Certainly, a well-established adult.  Honestly, before that, playing the harp never even occurred to me.  Never even thought about it.  Until I was playing. 

I hadn’t even thought about being a musician.  I had left all that behind me when I went to university.  I mean, I dabbled, but I didn’t think of myself as a musician.

And even now, on occasion, I have to shake myself to believe my good fortune!

Regardless of when we started or how we come to the harp, here we are.  Right next to one another.  Playing together.  How cool is that?!?

One of the things I enjoy about our community is that togetherness.  We all start where we start, when we start.  We are where we are.  We’re going where we choose.  But we have lovely company along the way.  The question remains however – what do you want to be when you grow up?

Only you can answer the question.  And as before, the answer is unique to you – and may hold all the information you need to improve the time you spend at the harp.  There are, as before, as many answers as harpers, but a few are –

• You strive to play for your own pleasure
• You want to make a career change
• You want a side hustle
• You want to ease other people

All of these answers are great choices for when you grow up!  No matter your current age.  But how does knowing that help you practice – to continue your growth?

Well, in this case the answer is always the same.  You still need to work on your technique, your repertoire, your stamina.  Yup, no slacking in the fundamentals!  And no slacking – period!

If you play for your own pleasure, strong fundamental will help you to get past the ugly part (you know that part – in every tune – that is “more challenging" than you thought it would be when you started) and on to the fun part so that you can enjoy the playing.  Practicing fundamentals will assure you get through those tough parts more easily.

If you want a career change or a side hustle – you’ll be performing – and getting paid – so you want to be confident and solid…which comes with strong fundamentals!  Practicing those will help build your foundation so you will feel more confident.

If you want to ease other people (in hospital, hospice, home care, etc.) then you really need to be in command of your instrument and repertoire to play just the right thing, at the right time, exactly as you mean to. You got it – you need those fundamentals!

If you were hoping I would say something different – like that if you want to play for your own enjoyment, you could do less practice or easier activities, sorry but no.  But if you want to play – play, practice from the fundamentals.  That’s where the fun starts – and how you get to be what you want to be.  

What do you want to be?  Let me know - I'm curious!