Lucy, your last post just read my heart! How can you not find time or energy for something you love so much to do?? That is a question I ask myself all the time! I am distracted, unfocussed. What do I really want to do with my music? I would love to teach- only dedicated students. Perform? Sort of! Volunteer in a Hospice/ hospital situation? Yes, but do I really want to spend the time and money involved to get the official okey dokey to do that, when I feel I could just read a really good book or two, and do a really good job, even without the certificate?? Play for my own enjoyment sounds nice, but there are so many wonderful recorded pieces of music by wonderful soloists or ensembles I really enjoy listening to already, and can "do" other things while I listen! Learn new tunes? Absolutely. Retain them forever?? Even better!! I have harp lust, but why buy another harp if the 2 I have are not played nearly enough? Where has the initial enthusiasm gone- when I started lessons all those 10-15 years ago, I was not distracted, unfocussed, unmotivated. I was also younger. But even though there is always an argument to be made that I SHOULD be doing x, y, or z instead of "playing around" with the harp, I have certainly invested enough time and energy in the harp so far that it should merit special time on its own. Is it the weather? Could be. Wasn't a problem at the beginning, but... definitely harder to keep the harps happy and humidified, while not spoiling them too much to take out to other venues that may be much drier/colder/hotter/wetter... And the bottom line is, I really do love playing and performing on the harp. So what is the real problem here?
I think I get most excited when collaborating with other musicians- harpists or otherwise. Different abilities, insights, sounds. Kind of like belonging to my book club encourages me to read things I may never have chosen myself. The ensuing discussions may make the book even more valuable, with different perspectives voiced. I think Andee is living the musical life I would really love to get involved in- but perhaps, not if it entails mucking thru all this snow and ice! Back to the weather!
I know that learning by ear, a new tune gets under my fingers faster, stays with me longer, and is easier to pick back up again. So I have been scrounging around on Youtube, etc to find tunes that I really love and want to play. But for some reason, doing basically the same thing with Sue Richards in Lubec in August is so much easier! Is it the teacher part that makes the biggest difference? I know that when I was teaching harp, it helped me to focus myself on better tone and hand position, etc. and when I take lessons, or attend workshops, the extra motivation to soak it all up and be accountable to the teacher is an energizer in itself.
So, I have friends in Maine who have managed to find other harpists to join and become a harp circle. I wish I could get the few harpists in the (relatively) local area interested in even just playing duets with me! So far, no takers. Everybody is too busy. On overload. Distracted. Exhausted. I am so envious of Pamela's collaboration with her very talented husband. They have a magical sound when they play together, and a very fun stage presence! And don't even need to leave the house!!
So- is it the weather, or just the state of things in general at this time of our lives? I do have lots of other competing interests, as well as responsibilities. Are we just all on overload? Too many choices?? AARRGGH!! I wish we all lived closer together- I would love to meet you all in person!
Drink some tea, play some tunes, knit and/or spin a few rounds, sigh...and really chat!
Well, I am going to end with comments I received from Pam after I played at the last coffee house- that I just seem so much more relaxed and like I am enjoying being up there. I have been continuing to work on the mind set I talked about in my last post (I think) and am happy the results are this good. So there is hope!!
Stay warm, safe, well, and musical! Love you all- Sharon
Saturday, February 21, 2015
Sunday, February 1, 2015
February in Vermont = SNOW & more SNOW
This leads me to think about a phenomenon that happens around this time of year: Keeping the harp humidified. Our house has both radiant floor and woodstove and you can imagine this is not a great thing. I keep the harp covered and since the floor is cement, there is also a wet sponge on the floor right underneath it. If I forget to keep the sponge good and soggy when I go to play I REALLY notice how dry the harp sounds.... not to mention that it goes way out of tune in about a minute and a half.
I have pans of water, water on the stove and I spray (and water) my plants frequently. We should get a gauge to see just how dry the house really is, also one to put in my harp. We should. Ahem.
I also feel, perhaps due to age?, that my fingers are more clumsy and that, because the skin is drier they don't feel quite as 'connected' to the strings. I usually wash them and then put on lotion sometime before I play, not right before, and then make sure I've rubbed the lotion of my finger tips and that seems to help.... but the net result is that I play less when the harp sounds a bit 'distant' (don't know how to describe it) and my fingers like slippery sausages. What a pain!
That said. I have been playing the same ten or twelve tunes the last few times at the hospital. I know I can do better, so this week my goal is to make a list of ten tunes I play perfectly well, practice them, and then play them. The only 'repeat' will be my three warm-up Carolan's (F. P./Kean O'H 3/ and Captain O'K). That is my pledge. Let's see how I do with it!
It's only February 3rd but I am reporting that I have done NOTHING about my promise to myself to play some new tunes. I keep thinking about my harp playing and what is happening with it. In a word: Plateau.
Am I bored? Maybe a little. Have I reached the limits of what I am capable of? No, probably not. But what do I want from the harp? I don't really want to teach unless I have the perfect students (harp mad, practice all the time, fun to teach), I don't really want to perform per se. Maybe I would like to do some weddings and things, but only if I had the perfect chum to do the gigs with. The hospital gig is about right since I am a volunteer and no once cares, really, whether I am there or not. So I can fink in the frequent bad weather we have up here in winter.
Do I want to play every Carolan tune there is like Catriona Rowsome did? Kind of. But, seriously, some aren't worth the bother.
Do I want to figure out how to play accompaniment the way Eileen McIntyre does? Who wouldn't!!!!
Do I want to learn more tunes? Yes, but I don't want to forget so many of the old ones!
I think this latter problem is one of my discouragements, in fact, from doing anything new. I hate working so hard on a tune to find if I don't play it for a few months I practically have to start over! To get a tune deeply embedded just takes so so so long! But the pleasure of a new tune is exciting and invigorating.
Music is important in my life, but it is not the central focus. As I get older, my writing, which has been my vocation, maddening and frustrating and sometimes rewarding, has taken on an urgency that I cannot ignore and I admit is making it hard to practice as much as I was able to ten years ago when I was not writing much (child, mother ill, etcetera) due to RL issues. So how to fit the music in?
Anyway these are some of the things on my mind. Back when I was a 'harp virgin' - just so wild to play morning noon and night, things were so much simpler. The learning curve was so steep and stimulating. Obviously you can't go back to that feeling, but I would love to find my way back to something steadier.
I'm not looking for any answers or advice really, just putting it out there.
And in the meantime too, here are some of the knitted harp wristlets, harp gauntlets, pulse warmers, or whatever you want to call them! The top piles are the small ones. I'm experimenting with different yarns and trying different types of knitting patterns. The lower group has the thumb hole. Most of the wools I've bought are not full wool, but partly silk or flax or cotton or acrylic because of the scratchy factor. I'm figuring that out too, what people can tolerate. If any of you are interested in being guinea pigs, lets me know! I want to make a 'lace' one too for summer, but I haven't gotten there yet. And, of course, shouldn't I be playing the harp? Well, yes, but I listen to books and music while knitting, and with the simpler stitches I can even read and knit, which I love to do in the depths of winter.
February and Spring is Creeping Back
I have seen daffodil leaves poking up out of the ground and we even had a couple days that felt like spring was in the air. We have also had snow and ice covered windows in the morning, too. But here in Ireland, St. Brigid's Day (Feb 1st) marks the first day of spring, so I'm going with it!
Last night I brought my fiddle to the session at The Roadside (because Paul Dooley and Terry Bingham were getting fed up with me *not* bringing it) and I did the best I could. It's hard work as you all know and can imagine, but I played on several tunes and Paul got a kick out of my piece of paper with the 'confident' sets written down on. "What's on the menu?" he joked. The guys are very kind to me. And more harp related, Paul started messing around with a piece that turned out to be O'Carolan's Mr. O'Connor which I'd not heard before. He asked if I played it and you can bet it'll now be on my 'to learn' list!
I also have a 'date' to play in the session on Friday next week as the man who runs that one knew I played from the way I was intently listening every time. So thanks to Colin the box player I'll be playing on Friday next week. He said the only way to really get the tunes up to speed is to just jump in, it's the best way. He suggested I talk to Paul about fiddle lessons which has occurred to me....
So I am realizing my new year's resolutions but I've got to keep pushing. I am out of my comfort zone for sure, but Abiola Abrams (look her up on youtube ladies!) says the only way to realize your dreams and goals is to get comfortable with being UNcomfortable.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oB8Wonny5fs
That's a youtube of Paul Dooley on harp, the link doesn't work so you'll have to cut and paste it into browser.
Pilgrimage to Janet Harbison's Irish Harp Cente!
My friend Fiana, who studied under Janet and teaches at the harp centre picked me up at the bus station in Limerick and we spent the day and evening together. I re-connected with Janet and met another harp friend, Patti who is from Texas but now lives in Cork.
In the evening Fiana and I went to a session in Castleconnell and she brought her harp. I attempted a set but had some issues as her harp is so different to mine and the chairs were far to high for the harp. That didn't cause Fiana any trouble at all of course as she is an absolutely brilliant harpist. The next time I go down there I am going to have a proper lesson with Fiana and maybe Janet as well!
Harp night at the Roadside Tavern
It was a night of harp coincidences at the Roadside on Saturday! First of all I brought my fiddle and felt really confident, played on loads of tunes. The really fun thing though was that two young guys from County Derry showed up. One a fantastic banjo player, the other a harpist! Now this is the first time I have seen a harp at the Roadside! The harp he had was the Janet by Camac in Walnut which is what I would love to have! I practically jumped on the guy I was so excited! There was also a young woman there who was a classical harpist and we both tried the harp out. I played Cooley's Hornpipe and Paul Dooley played along with me on fiddle. At the end of the night he had a go on the harp, too.
It was so much fun, we were all there til past one in the morning!
Two upcoming gigs
One is definite, at the beginning of March with two of the owners of Boghill, Sonja (fiddle) and John (guitar). The other is a strong possibility! It's a little festival down in a tiny village on the coast in West Cork. Now, I just need somebody to do it with and that somebody has to have a car. I am making friends here all of the time so it could happen....
Last night I brought my fiddle to the session at The Roadside (because Paul Dooley and Terry Bingham were getting fed up with me *not* bringing it) and I did the best I could. It's hard work as you all know and can imagine, but I played on several tunes and Paul got a kick out of my piece of paper with the 'confident' sets written down on. "What's on the menu?" he joked. The guys are very kind to me. And more harp related, Paul started messing around with a piece that turned out to be O'Carolan's Mr. O'Connor which I'd not heard before. He asked if I played it and you can bet it'll now be on my 'to learn' list!
I also have a 'date' to play in the session on Friday next week as the man who runs that one knew I played from the way I was intently listening every time. So thanks to Colin the box player I'll be playing on Friday next week. He said the only way to really get the tunes up to speed is to just jump in, it's the best way. He suggested I talk to Paul about fiddle lessons which has occurred to me....
So I am realizing my new year's resolutions but I've got to keep pushing. I am out of my comfort zone for sure, but Abiola Abrams (look her up on youtube ladies!) says the only way to realize your dreams and goals is to get comfortable with being UNcomfortable.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oB8Wonny5fs
That's a youtube of Paul Dooley on harp, the link doesn't work so you'll have to cut and paste it into browser.
Pilgrimage to Janet Harbison's Irish Harp Cente!
My friend Fiana, who studied under Janet and teaches at the harp centre picked me up at the bus station in Limerick and we spent the day and evening together. I re-connected with Janet and met another harp friend, Patti who is from Texas but now lives in Cork.
In the evening Fiana and I went to a session in Castleconnell and she brought her harp. I attempted a set but had some issues as her harp is so different to mine and the chairs were far to high for the harp. That didn't cause Fiana any trouble at all of course as she is an absolutely brilliant harpist. The next time I go down there I am going to have a proper lesson with Fiana and maybe Janet as well!
Harp night at the Roadside Tavern
It was a night of harp coincidences at the Roadside on Saturday! First of all I brought my fiddle and felt really confident, played on loads of tunes. The really fun thing though was that two young guys from County Derry showed up. One a fantastic banjo player, the other a harpist! Now this is the first time I have seen a harp at the Roadside! The harp he had was the Janet by Camac in Walnut which is what I would love to have! I practically jumped on the guy I was so excited! There was also a young woman there who was a classical harpist and we both tried the harp out. I played Cooley's Hornpipe and Paul Dooley played along with me on fiddle. At the end of the night he had a go on the harp, too.
It was so much fun, we were all there til past one in the morning!
Two upcoming gigs
One is definite, at the beginning of March with two of the owners of Boghill, Sonja (fiddle) and John (guitar). The other is a strong possibility! It's a little festival down in a tiny village on the coast in West Cork. Now, I just need somebody to do it with and that somebody has to have a car. I am making friends here all of the time so it could happen....
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