Spring into Competition!

Spring is the start of competition season. If you are interested in competing, why not give one of these Scottish Harp Society of America (SHSA) sanctioned competitions a try.   

Not keen to compete?  Don’t have any tunes ready to go?  You should still come out – at a minimum you’ll hear some great harp music!  And even more – you will meet other harp players, make new friends, see old friends, and support those who are competing.  And you might even learn something at the workshops that are typically held there.  And there is a whole fair as well – with pipers, games, fiddlers, fair food, and other fun!  You can't not have fun!

In March we have the first competition of the year.  The Church Hill Irish Festival Harp Competition is held at St Patrick's Catholic Church, 25th & E. Broad Street in Richmond, Virginia.  This competition will be held 19 March.  Mike Connors will be the judge and will also offer a workshop.  Beth Dechent is the coordinator.  Go to www.churchhillirishfestival.com for more information.  This is a lovely competition in a wonderful venue that is beautiful and has excellent acoustics!

In April is the Southern Maryland Celtic Festival harp competition.  This event is in beautiful Jefferson Paterson Park in Calvert County, MD on Saturday, 30 April.  This year’s feted country is Wales.  Competitors can play tunes from any of the Celtic nations.  This year’s judge is Kelly Stewart Brzozowski.  She will give a workshop and a concert.  I am the coordinator and you can get more information from the website http://www.cssm.org/events/festival/competitions/highland-harping/.  Please buy your ticket on line through the registration button on the page.

In May we have a new competition in Alabama.  Huntsville is hosting a brand new competition, May 14th as part of the Celtic Day at Burritt on the Mountain. Details will be available soon.

There will be other events throughout the summer and into the fall that you also won't want to miss.  But there is a good time to be had at these early events – try out a new tune, learn something, have fun!  I hope you will come out for a competition near you.

What are you afraid of?

It’s nearly spring which means that it will very soon be competition season!  Competitions are a great way to push yourself to learn, to grow, to be a little bit daring, to find out something about yourself.

I know a lot of people (especially adults) are very quick to say that competition is not for them.  And that is true for some people.  But for most people, it really is a great opportunity that shouldn’t be missed.

Really – where else will you have such a good chance to make great strides in your playing?  What holds you back?  There are plenty of reasons – some of them good.  Many people are afraid of the potential pain of stretching.  Some have a running list of questions - What will the other harp players think? What if I don’t play perfectly? How will I walk away without dying of embarrassment? 

But competitions are a great way to collect the answers to these questions!  What will others think?  Well the ones you’re competing against are typically focused on what they will play (or asking the same questions of themselves) to worry about what you’re thinking (and it's likely that the people who aren't playing are wondering "what if"  and how great you're doing).  What if you DO play perfectly?!?  Did you ever think of that?  And typically you cannot be too embarrassed to walk off the stage – and it’s hard to be embarrassed when all those people are applauding to show their appreciation and enjoyment of your performance!

It’s not about winning – in fact you learn so much more when you don’t take first place.  You learn more about yourself, you meet new people, you get great feedback and specific actions to make yourself better, you become better, and you know it.  So, I would strongly encourage you to push yourself, just a little, to get out there, to enter a competition, and enjoy answering your own questions!

Focus and listing

We have been very fortunate all month to have Sue Richards generating guest blog content.  As we approach the end of February, we have some closing thoughts from her.  She has shared some excellent thoughts about practicing and preparing tunes for performance.  We have learned the importance of patience and of choreographing our fingering.  The last bit she has to share with us is the importance of thinking!  She tells us,  

“Brain focus. The hardest thing to teach to harpers is to think ahead to where you need to be in the next measure. You don't need to watch your hands play because you are playing by feel, right? Think ahead! Don't think about the audience unless you are playing something slow and have the time. In reels, you have to think only about the tune. If there are jumps in the tune, spot them with your eyes until your hand gets there.”

Your brain is working for you, doing the heavy lifting while you shine!  But you have to support it.  Not only while you’re performing as Sue said above, but also each day as you practice and prepare.  She has a very do-able method to help her practicing,

“So I keep a book with every page listing the ten or so tunes I am working on for that month. They come and go, and sometimes come back.  I think I'll get some star stickers for the ones that graduate. It feels like a big accomplishment that only I know about, and am very proud of. It is good.”

Now that you know some of the ways that a Harp Hero makes it looks so easy – you can add some to your own toolkit. Give your brain and your fingers a boost in practice and on stage - and you don't even have to wait for March!