If you've listened to me for a while or taken any of my classes or workshops, you know that I love finding the solutions to problems we harpists face and creating the step by step plans to take action to solve them. I've discovered over my years of teaching that it's not hard to define the problem, at least the surface problem. For instance, if your left hand can't play the notes in two specific measures of your piece, then that's the problem, and the solution is easy: drill the notes.

Sometimes, however, the real issue lies a few layers down. Maybe the reason the left hand can't play those measures isn't the notes. Perhaps there is a technical issue, or maybe reading bass clef is the sticking point. It could be a counting issue or even not quite understanding what the meaning of the music is at that moment. So when I'm working with my Gold Circle students, we often spend some time digging a little deeper to see where the real issue is. Then we can define the proper steps to address it.

I'm mentioning this, not because we're going to talk about solving problems today, at least not exactly. What I want to point out is that music study isn't as linear as we would like it to be. It would be terrific if we could practice a piece, put extra time on the hard spots, polish it up and play it, but we all know that it doesn't always work that way. That's because when we play music, we are using a very complex set of skills that involves much more than just playing with our best technique or learning the notes. This is the skill set that comes under the heading "musicianship."

In today's podcast episode, I want to talk about the specific musicianship skills we use everyday in our playing and how to keep them growing and developing. These skills are truly key to your growth as a harpist. I'll help you understand how they connect to each other and to your playing, and we'll talk about how to integrate more intentional musicianship skill development into your daily practice. And we'll do that using a concept I developed called the Sensory Triangle.

Links to things I think you might be interested in that were mentioned in the podcast episode:

• Get organized with The Harpist's Breakthrough Blueprint Intensive - register now!

• Cracking the Code: The Better Way to Read Music blog post

• Harpmastery.com

Get involved in the show! Send your questions and suggestions for future podcast episodes to me at podcast@harpmastery.com

Looking for a transcript for this episode? Did you know that if you subscribe to this podcast on Apple Podcasts you will have access to their transcripts of each episode?

LINKS NOT WORKING FOR YOU? FInd all the show resources here: https://www.harpmastery.com/blog/Episode-245

If you heard last week's podcast, you may remember that this month's podcast episodes are all about growth, your growth as a harpist and the systems and skills that are necessary for that growth.

Last week, we talked about three key systems that you need to have in place for growth. This week is all about technique. I know it may sound like a dry as dust topic to some of you. Harpists generally fall into two distinct camps: those who hate doing technique exercises and those who love them. So if you love your Grossi and LaRiviere or whatever exercise book you use, this podcast is going to be right up your alley. We'll dive into how you can use what you're doing now to get to that next level of technical proficiency.

If you're in the other camp, one of those who feels like exercises are torture when all you want to do is play pretty pieces, I hear you. I'm talking to you as a convert. Granted it was many years ago when I finally realized that exercises weren't just for solving problems, that they were more like the gas in my harp-playing engine. I totally understand just wanting to play music. What I want you to get from today's podcast episode is that a consistent plan for strengthening your technique will take your playing further faster than just about anything else. And this plan doesn't have to be all exercises either. We're all about harp happiness here, and that includes when you're practicing your technique.

Links to things I think you might be interested in that were mentioned in the podcast episode:

• Register for The Harpist's Breakthrough Blueprint Intensive

• Podcast episode #243: Architect Your Harp Playing Growth with 3 Key Systems

• Harpmastery.com

Get involved in the show! Send your questions and suggestions for future podcast episodes to me at podcast@harpmastery.com

Looking for a transcript for this episode? Did you know that if you subscribe to this podcast on Apple Podcasts you will have access to their transcripts of each episode?

LINKS NOT WORKING FOR YOU? FInd all the show resources here: https://www.harpmastery.com/blog/Episode-244

A system is comfort. When we have and follow a system, whether it's for completing tasks, or crafting, or making a grocery list, our mind can be at ease. Why? Because we know we have the steps to complete our task, and all we have to do is to follow the steps and the task will be done.

When it comes to harp playing, people frequently make one of two mistakes. One is thinking that harp playing is inherently creative, and therefore a system is not only unnecessary, but it will rob your music of its soul. The other is trying to systematize everything about your playing in an attempt to get consistent results or make consistent progress.

If you heard last week's podcast, you know that the word "progress" is one of the words I'm trying to steer clear of this year, but it is one I am going to find hard to avoid. What's interesting, though, is that systematization is one of the "progress" traps. Progress, meaning in this case growth either overall growth or integration of a single piece of music, defeats every attempt we make to predict it. But that doesn't mean that systems are useless for us; in fact, it points out how much we need systems. We just need the right ones.

So today I'm going to give you a systems roadmap, three systems that can predict your growth. I know these systems are powerful, and I hope that today's show will convince you to look at how you do what you do with your harp playing, and give you some quick and easy ways you can make an upgrade.

Links to things I think you might be interested in that were mentioned in the podcast episode:

• Still some spots left at the Getaway Retreat. Register today!

• Related resource 5 Steps to Expand Your Vision and Achieve Your Goals blog post

• Harpmastery.com

LINKS NOT WORKING FOR YOU? FInd all the show resources here: https://www.harpmastery.com/blog/Episode-040

Get involved in the show! Send your questions and suggestions for future podcast episodes to me at podcast@harpmastery.com

Looking for a transcript for this episode? Did you know that if you subscribe to this podcast on Apple Podcasts you will have access to their transcripts of each episode?

LINKS NOT WORKING FOR YOU? FInd all the show resources here: https://www.harpmastery.com/blog/Episode-243