In the Bleak Mid-Summer…8 ways to stay Motivated

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It is the Bleak Midsummer – that time of year when it might as well be winter for all that you intend to go outside!  It’s predicted to be about 100^o tomorrow – ugh.  And raining.  The remnants of a tropical depressed (yes, I meant that).

But that’s the thing about the Bleak Midsummer (you might call it the Summer Doldrums, but that’s not bleak enough for me) – the heat, the humidity, the knowing that it will last another eight weeks – all gang up on you and sap your strength and motivation!  Who wants to play when you know you’re going to sweat on your harp?

https://www.jeniuscreations.com/in-the-bleak-mid…o-stay-motivated

Meet me in Parsippany!

Blogspotters - as promised, from now on, I'll post a snippet and a link here but the blog is moved to my website and I hope you'll join us there.  Subscribing is easy, subscribe and get an email reminder of the latest posts, the occasional free content, and more as we continue to grow.  As always, sharing my thoughts, occasionally offering a travel opportunity, book or CD. 

I hope you’re planning on participating in the Somerset Folk Harp Festival July 18-21 2019 in Parsippany, NJ.  I am so very much looking forward to being there!

The rest of the story is here: https://www.jeniuscreations.com/meet-me-in-parsippany/

Summer’s a comin’

There are so many things to do in the summer!  And so many of them occur at the same time that you probably need to do a little calendar management, just so you can get to as many events as possible. 

I’m excited to be thinking about all the fun things on offer this summer – especially the ones I’ll be participating in.  I hope you’ll look this over and consider joining me for at least one of them!

1. Harpa!

If you’re not already signed up, you don’t have much time – we start next week, 7 – 15 May. (OK, if you seriously want to go to this, please email me immediately, because, we’re already leaving!).  If you can’t turn on that thin a dime (which would be almost everyone on the earth), you might want to start planning to come on the 2020 Harp the Highlands and Islands trip (more on that soon).

PS – watch my Facebook page and the Harpa FB page – I know we’ll post lots of fun photos while we’re in Scotland!

 

2. Ohio Scottish Games

Stolen directly from the Games website: OSG will be held June 22, 2019 and there will be loads to see and do…but why would you when you’ll want to get there early and be at the Harp Competition all day long!?!?!

This games was established in 1977, and is presented by members of The Ohio Scottish American Cultural Society of Ohio, an organization dedicated to the preservation and promotion of their proud Scottish Heritage and ancestry.  OSG highlights traditional dance, music and athletics of the ancient highland games.  

And this year, Ohio is hosting the US National Scottish Harp Championship ^TM and I’m so excited to be one of the judges.  If you’ve never been, it’s worth coming out - hear the train, meet new (to you) harpers.  It’s a tradition!  They also have all the other cool festival stuff like food, athletics, pipe bands, classic cars, and loads of vendors.  But you won’t care if you miss that – because you’ll be at the Harp Competition!  Go to https://www.ohioscottishgames.com/competitions for more details.

3. Ohio Scottish Arts School

Once you’ve been dazzled by the competition (or delighted by your performance in the competition), you can head right over to OSAS. I’m so looking forward to teaching this summer.  OSAS is celebrating 41 years of educating artists in the traditional music and dance of Scotland.

Again, shamelessly stolen from the website: The Scottish Harp classes will focus on basic harp technique for beginners and intermediates. repertoire at all levels, including tunes for competition sets, and Scottish style, including ornaments, lilt, and dance types.  We will study Scottish dance music, airs, and songs, focusing on ornamentation, Scottish style, accompaniment, and learning by ear. Afternoons will include lectures, practice time, and playing in sessions. Classes will be available for beginners who have played for a few months, intermediates, and advanced players.  And we’ll have a delightful Tea presented by Ringgold Harp Ensemble, a highlight! 

I’m so excited to be teaching with the incomparable Sue Richards as well as the stunning and delightful Rachels – Rachel Hair and Rachel Clemente (an OSAS alum!).  There is probably no other place you can go to learn so much so quickly and s-t-i-l-l have a great time. 

4. Somerset Harp Festival

Somewhere on the Somerset website it says, “Play the Harp better” – and boy oh boy, will you!  I am so pleased to have been invited to teach here and will be even more thrilled to teach with Donna Bennett.

 

Together Donna and I will deliver the Creativity Tools to Improve Practice & Performance workshop – and we’re building on some previous work teaching skills, tools, and techniques that bring the creativity secret to your music. We’ll show you how to use creativity tools and techniques to practice and play better, arrange more, compose, perform – however you let your creativity out! More Info   

And I’ll be teaching a workshop we’ve entitled Sounding Scottish in which you will learn how to make your tunes sound more Scottish.  I’m going to leverage all the stuff I’ve learned to date (especially while in Scotland!) to each specific elements and techniques to ensure your tunes sound Scottish. I’ll teach a tune (or two!) to learn and practice all the good juicy stuff that will highlight the tune's authentic self.  More Info   

5. Harp Quest

Harp Quest is a great opportunity to teach with my friend Kris Snyder in idyllic southern Pennsylvania.  

 We have moved from summer camp to pursuing our Harp Quest.  And we are looking forward to this year’s journey! We have so much fun putting it together!  As with any Quest, we each have a different journey as we seek to learn what our harp is there to teach us.  Plan to join us for our 24th year and a new Journey with our harps – becoming what we’re meant to be.

This year’s Quest will be focused on Planning Ahead.  As always, our Quest will remain easily accessible to harpers from anywhere and at any level.  Our focus will be a short and intense experience that we will each take with us into the coming months and years – perhaps not fully appreciating what we have learned until much later.  But secure in knowing that we will get there – each of us.  And we’ll get there together!

The Quest will be August 16, 17, and 18, 2019 and we are looking forward to a very personalized time of sharing and learning.  We will have fun, support one another, and work together to get as much from our lever harps as we can get!  Because a quest is pretty intense, we will fill up fast, so be sure to get your reservation in.

So you can see that it’s going to be a busy summer – hope you’ll come spend some of it with me!  Let me know what you’re planning to do this summer – in the comments below.

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Planning ahead – for the Somer(set)

I’m very excited to share that I will be teaching at this year’s Somerset Folk Harp Festival in Parsippany NJ!   I’ll be presenting a workshop on my own.  And even better – I’ll also be co-teaching another workshop with Donna Bennett!  It just gets better and better - two workshops!  Yea!! There will be more than 100 workshops and I’ll be in great company with an amazing pantheon of presenters!

In case you have missed it, the Somerset Folk Harp Festival is amazing.  It is a 4-day conference that celebrates diversity in music, as well as the talent and experience of the folk harp world. It provides a great opportunity to do what you need to move forward, whether that is to focus on one type of music, or to solidify specific skills, or try out something new. There are opportunities to learn new things in every--single--session!  And the Exhibit Hall – yikes!  It’s jammed with harps and music and accessories and stuff and more stuff…so much harp shopping in one room!

The festival begins on Thursday and runs through to Sunday.  I will be teaching Friday afternoon.  First up is a workshop called Sounding Scottish from 1:30 – 3pm.  This will be a hands-on workshop, for all levels of play.  We’ll be working and learning by ear.  And yes (don't worry), there will be paper too!  Here’s the write up so you know what you’re getting into:

Love Scottish music? Wondering how to make your tunes sound more Scottish? Scotland has captivated people for hundreds of years and inspired composers, artists, and authors. In this workshop you will learn specific elements and techniques to ensure your tunes sound Scottish. Jen will teach tunes to apply and practice those techniques and use images, video, language, sounds, geography, myths and legends of Scotland as muses to provide inspiration for your own take on the music.

And then, in the very next workshop session, Friday from 3:30-5pm, I will be working and teaching with Donna!  This will be so much fun!!  We’ll be teaching Creativity Tools to Improve Practice & Performance.  This is also an all levels (including companions!) hands-on workshop exploring your creativity – and you know we are all creative, so bring on the companions!   Here’s what you’ll find in the workshop description on the website:

In this workshop, you will learn the skills, tools, and techniques that bring the creativity secret to your work as a musician or a teacher. Find out how to actively apply creativity tools and techniques to improve your personal work processes and your overall approach to harping. These tools can prepare you for projects and gigs, regardless of your level of accomplishment or years of experience. Jen and Donna will give you techniques to help generate better ideas and expand your arrangements and repertoire without adding to your learning load.

If you haven’t looked yet, the hotel is already available and there is a lot of information already available on the Somerset website.  You can also register at the early bird rate until 1 May (which is a really good approach - not only do you get a lower rate, you get your summer planned!).  The registration includes all the workshops you can fit into your day, entry to the Exhibit Hall (otherwise known as Harp Shopping Nirvana), tickets to the concerts (where you will see and hear Harp players you probably always wanted to see in concert).  If you can’t make it to all four days, you can register for individual days too (Kathy has thought of everything!).  To register, you can go here.

I hope you’ll come along to the Festival – and come to my workshop!  Will I see you there?  If so, let me know in the comments below.  Hope I see you there -