Happy Thanksgiving

Celebrate Peace

Sunday was Armistice Day, and the 100th anniversary of the end of the war to end all wars.

Ok, so they didn't get that bit right.

Armistice Day, Veterans' Day, Remembrance Day – no matter where you live, it is an opportunity to remember the fallen who gave their lives, and those who pledged their lives so we could enjoy ours in peace and freedom.

That seems like a good reason to give them their due the way we are best able – through music.  

There are so many things you could do at this point.  You could do nothing, of course.

But instead, you could commemorate the original Armistice and play the tunes of the day – there was some great tunes written at that time including Keep the Home Fires Burning, It’s a Long Way to Tipperary, or Carry Me Back to Ol’ Virginie.

You could play music from other post war eras including anything from Irving Berlin.  Or you could just play music of our own time - which we enjoy because of those that came before.

You could compose your own pieces.

And you could play in a number of places including a Veterans' Home, for a veteran’s group, or another civic group.

Just play – and enjoy that you can do so in peace!

Give it a rest!

There are so many things we can do with our harps to make a noise – typically beautiful, but not always.  And there are all the effects – from bowing the low strings to PDLT to damping to glissing – we have all kinds of ways to disturb the air and get sound.

We each spend time practicing our favorite sounds.  Or those required by the score (Bernard Andres comes to mind quickly, but there are others…).  We might even spend time actively seeking out new noises to make from our instruments or perfecting our technique to assure we get the effect we meant (harmonics come to mind).  We work hard to get noises from our harps.

And of course, we spend a great deal of time learning to play so that we know exactly how to touch our instruments, so we get what we wanted – beautiful tone, deep, sonorous chords, compelling melodies, captivating harmonies.

But there is something else that we should practice that will enhance all this.  We always let this get by us, and yet, it is often the secret sauce that really “makes” the tune.  It allows the audience time to reflect.  It gives you a space to think.  It helps insert life into the tune.  And it seems to terrify so many of us.

 

What is it that we’re so afraid of? 

Is it a technique that is difficult to master? Nope

Is there some “signature composer” that we should have already thought of (but we haven’t)?  Nope

Is it some advanced riff that only the best musicians get? Nope again.

It’s the magical, useful, and all too undervalued rest.

You know – silence.

The space b-e-t-w-e-e-n the notes.  The ones you might shave in the fast tunes (which is why you end up playing faster).  The ones you wish you didn’t have so many to count in ensemble.  The ones that can completely make (or break) your competition air.  The ones that, when used appropriately, get your audience right where you want them, in the moment, with you.

Why do you need to practice your rests?  Well, mostly so you will be comfortable – with the silence.  We often “clothe” ourselves in the protective wrapping of notes.  We think that we will be protected if we have the notes or that we are vulnerable and exposed in the space between.

How about you turn that thinking on its head.  In fact, the rests are the most free part of the melody.  Rests add a strength to the harmony that the sounded notes cannot.  And they give you a little bit of a breather.

You already know how to make a rest.  You just don’t play (or you also damp).  And you don’t play for some finite amount of time (as described by the music).  You create an absence of sound.  You don’t generate any sound.

Of course, as you practice a piece, you would generate a rest if required by the composer in the piece.  But, there are other useful times for silences – between pieces? Under thunderous applause? When you want to get the attention of the audience?

So, how really do you get comfortable with rests?  Especially the long ones.  Because, contrary to popular belief, that is not time made available by the composer so you can fidget! That’s true whether it’s a 16^th rest or a thousand bars of rest in an ensemble piece.  No matter how long or short, you need to wait, be quiet, and be ready, but not overeager, to come in.

Short rests are relatively easy to practice because they are a direct part of the melody.  You can practice them with your metronome, just like every other element of the music.

For the longer rests, between tunes or to create a mood, here’s a suggested practice element.  This can help you become more consonant with the emptiness of the rest.  Use your watch (but only sparingly).

One of the most difficult things to do is to estimate how long you have been sitting, making silence.  I had the opportunity to play for a meditative event.  In this playing, it is important to leave a little space for thinking, praying, and contemplation.  So, the rests become ever so much more important! A full minute is not too long to wait.  I actually used my watch. 

And learned something so important – when I had finished a tune and was waiting to begin the next, I had thought, “oh crikey, I better get going or they’re going to think I’ve fallen asleep.” 

Watch check – 18 seconds. What?!? Only 18 seconds? It felt like a week.

I was aiming for 90 seconds.  It felt like forever had gone by.  Boy was I wrong!

After that, I start practicing estimating the amount of time that had passed since the end of the tune.  (Reality check – to you the tune might end when you start to play the last chord, but to the audience, the tune ends when they can’t hear the lingering reverb any longer (or you complete your gesture) – which could be a while!) 

My hack for estimating time – because it’s rude to check your watch over and over – is to sing the Birthday Song in my head.  It takes about 10 seconds to sing (don’t rush it just because you’re not singing aloud).  I breathe.  I position (and then check) my fingers when I’m ready to play again.  I don’t rush. Want to leave a minute? Sing the song six times through.  To get 90 seconds sing it 9 times. 

This ability to “tell time” without telling time will also make your presentation easier on your audience and on you.  You can assure you leave some "breathing room" between your tunes.  When you are not in a rush, you are more present which makes your music more lifelike and fuller.  And what’s not to like about that?!?

So, incorporate full rests (no shaving of note value) and waiting rests (silences between) into your playing and Give it a rest!  How do you make space for the silences?

Happy Halloween

When you fall -

I heard a very interesting story on the blahblahblah radio station* as I was traveling home from a delightful trip to the Stone Mountain Highland Games in Atlanta (always fun – and so very pleased to have been invited to judge the competition, to teach a workshop, and to perform!). 

The story on the radio related that there will be a marathon runner in this year’s Marine Corps Marathon 10K (which, for any couch potatoes in the crowd, is nearly 6¼ miles!).  What made it interesting is that the runner is retired US Army Master Sargent Cedric King, who stepped on a large explosive while in Afghanistan, losing both of his legs. 

As you might have guessed, he had a hard row to hoe making a comeback from that.  But he did.  And now he’s a distance runner.  What he said in the interview really struck me – from the beginning when he said that this event – and its outcome – are what made his life take a turn for the best.   

Yikes, I am relentlessly upbeat, but even I am awed by that attitude!

In the interview, he said some things that I thought are important and applicable to us.  Now, I don’t in any way, equate the challenges we have as we try to learn, master, and perform our music with all the things Master Sargent King went through.  However, he has an inner strength and a focus that could help anyone become better at anything they chose to focus on.  Here are my take-aways (I was driving, so I couldn’t really take notes, these are my impressions rather than quotes!). 

1. Master Sargent King pointed out that when you have a long way to go, focus on getting through the next step, not the next mile.  We often become overwhelmed by the sheer volume of ink on the page or the vast amount of sound in the air when we’re trying to learn a tune.  Or the idea of putting together an entire package of music (for competition, for a gig, for the next lesson) can be crushing.  But if you remember, production of music is serial – you can’t rush listening, it can only go in the way your ears take it, one note at a time.  You can work on it one thing at a time.  The next step, and only the next step, will get you there.  It is good to keep the end in mind, but you can only get there in small, individual, steps.  No one gets there in one step, unless they have musical seven-league boots!
2. He also pointed out that when you have to recover, you might have to relearn things you’ve been doing for years.  So what?  No need to be embarrassed.  So you have to relearn those things - get to it (and it will get easier).  This is a toughie – because we all want to avoid embarrassment.  And while we typically don’t actually fall when we’re doing our work, we can metaphorically fall (although, I have actually fallen off the bench before – not pretty, and very embarrassing!).  I think of this with two kinds of “falls” – the first is when we have allowed bad habits to worm their way in and we need to “break it down”, go back to the basics, unlearn our bad habits and relearn better approaches – whether to be faster, more accurate, or to avoid pain and injury.  It is disheartening, but if we pay attention to our “recovery time” we’d see that it’s not that bad.  The second kind of fall is when we are self-taught or have had less rigorous instruction (you can’t blame the teacher if you left before you had learned all that teacher had to share) and you realize that despite your advanced harp years or experience, you don’t know how to perform basic elements (Did you know how to do an arpeggio accurately?  Not everyone learned that).  In that instance, you have to seek instruction and share with someone that you need help learning (whatever) “basic” element that you haven’t already learned.  Embarrassing, but not fatal – go, get the help you need to learn when you need to learn and move on. 
3. Mr. King talked about getting right back up, don't spend any time down.  When you fall, get right back up, don’t pause, don’t rest, don’t think about it, just get up and get at it! Again, I wouldn’t say that our “falling” is nearly as challenging as his, but we all have something that intimidates us.  His point is that if you fall, get right back up because every moment that you stay down makes it harder to get up.  Wait too long and you'll be on the floor permanently.  Don’t let the mistake in your student recital, the flawed execution at Harp Circle, or the lengthy comments after your competition set keep you on the floor.  In fact, if you haven’t failed, you’re probably not trying!  So, get up, dust off, review what happened, learn, apply and move on.  If you get up every time, you’ve got this!

Remember that everything around you is likely to have an application to your harp life – just listen – and be grateful.  Your struggle for flawless scales is nothing compared to recovering from a life altering injury.  But your attitude will certainly make it go easier.  Have you fallen? How did you get up and get moving? Let me know in the comments! 

* you can read the whole story at https://wtop.com/marine-corps-marathon/2018/10/marine-corps-marathon-before-he-could-run-this-soldier-had-to-learn-to-walk-again/slide/1/