I was doing good with the repitoire and lately got away from it and now am stumbling on some of my previously memorized music. I am finding the further advanced I get the more difficult it can be memorizing. But i am working on several new pieces because I can get very bored listening to the same song over and over and over again! But they are at different levels of being finished.I have been playing harp 3 months now and play advanced beginner to early intermediate. I have no trouble reading music as I’m a musician already. But I am new to strings so chords are new to me. My biggest issue is getting my speed up and not hesitating. That usually happens with memorization when I have a brain fart. Excuse me. That’s the only way I can describe it!

I have been working the Magic Hands program which is good.it works on hand placements that can be more common in celtic music but it works for any. Like 432 strings skip one and place 1 on the next would be called the mitten, or the bow tie would be 43 skip 21 etc. you go up and down the scale daily one octave and in doing so within 3 weeks these hand placements are pretty engrained. The point then is you can put a picture or name above your music and all u need is the first note and if it is a mitten you know the placement. It eliminates have it to read a whole string of notes at once when you are sight reading fast. It is very interesting. And in celtic music it can go fast. This is one of their tricks. There’s about 10 I think. Then working on chords. 1-3-5, 1-5-8, 1-5-8-9-10 etc. look it up on YouTube the woman’s name is Carol Kukkas I think. Something like that. You can purchase her program

So my practice is spaced out through the day. I start with something fun and easy that I know, then I go into a piece I’m learning while my brain is fresh. Then I rest, I come back and do exercises, then I rest, then I come back and work on either the same piece or one I am further along in that can be easier to progress on later in the day. Sometimes I practice 5-6 times a day, sometimes 3. But I try to get at least 2 hours a day in. I’m retired. But I am also an artist and I’m falling behind on my painting!