In person and online courses…the right balance?

[Jennifer Fournier]

Starting with After the Rain which includes the skills I have already gone over with my teacher (but that do need practice) so I guess that is ok. I do hesitate to tell my teacher …isn’t that silly? Probably, I don’t want to be told “no.”

[Judiann]

@jennifer-fournier, After the Rain is an excellent choice. I really enjoyed that one, since it is simple but can still be played with expression.

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About your hesitation to tell your teacher you are learning other music — you won’t know until you talk with her about it. She might be really supportive. However, if she tells you “no,” then maybe she is not the right teacher for you. I say that from experience because I started with the wrong teacher for me.

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When I began lessons, I had just rented a 34-string harp and I was really anxious to play something on it. The teacher started with finger exercises and no actual tunes. Practicing was incredibly boring, and it took all the joy out of it. On my own, I found Tiffany Schaefer’s “Tune Tutor: Learn Carmen Vernale by ear” on YouTube. For my next lesson, I played it for the teacher, and I was so excited that I had actually taught myself a tune in a week as a total beginner on harp. (I had played other instruments previously.) The teacher was not the least bit pleased, and told me to go back to practicing only the finger exercises. That made me realize that since she wasn’t supporting my efforts, then we did not have the proper fit. I stopped taking lessons and self-taught for over a year.

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Fast forward to now, when I have a better idea of how to choose a teacher and am taking online lessons with someone else. I so look forward to my lessons, which are a combination of pieces the teacher assigns and others I choose. If you are not excited to sit down to practice, if you don’t find joy in touching those harp strings, then you might want to think about switching teachers. The right teacher will tailor the assignments for each individual student, rather than following the same course of study for everyone. Yes, exercises are important to practice, but in addition there should also be pieces that the student is inspired to learn. The right teacher will be willing to work with you to find the right balance for you.

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Have that discussion with your teacher. You might find she will be happy to work with you, and your future lessons will be on the right track. Please report back and let us know how it goes.

[Jennifer Fournier]

Thank you and Titia for the advice. I would hesitate to switch teachers because although her choice of practice material for me isn’t good (and I was rather explicit with her about what I wanted via email) she has been VERY helpful with me about used harp buying etc. I had a nice amount of practice time today and have learned section A of After the Rain. I really like the small videos/sections to work on. I will practice A many more times to make sure I really have it. Then, I think I will broach this with my teacher.

BTW…I got over my “I want to know the music” by taking Christy-Lyn’s recording and used some audio software I have to make a 30 minute track of her playing it. I have been listening to that and it is now familiar 😂

[Judiann]

You might be onto something there, Jennifer. Maybe your teacher would be willing to record your pieces as she assigns them. That would allow you to listen and become more familiar with the music.

[Jennifer Fournier]

I should have asked her when I was at the lesson but I forgot. Actually videoing her would be even better. I mean , we are only talking about 3 measures ….

[Mitzie McElhaney]

I have no idea for you personally I’m afraid. All I can tell you is my brief experience so far. I don’t have a harp teacher. I have a Harpsicle(Fullsicle) and I purchased the 3-song beginner package. Two of those songs you would likely not know and one of them you likely would know (Danny Boy). I’m mentioning that because you said it was important to you to play a song you know. I’ve been practicing once a day for three weeks I’m guesstimating and I’ve learned the first song called After The Rain. I would say I still play it a bit haltingly but every day is better. My slowness is because my memorization skills in my mid-60s are not the best! I definitely think my progress would be faster if I had more practice sessions per day. I have zero musical experience and do not know how to read music, so with each song I first write the notes on the paper, transcribe them basically. The video lesson is taped in very small chunks, and I can play each section of it over and over. This has made it very do-able for me! Plus I truly enjoy the music as even these pieces I did not know prior are lovely and appealing tunes. That really helps! Since each piece is taped in very small sections it sounds like that may be what your teacher advises too. The cost of the 3-piece beginner package is low enough that it feels to me like little risk to have them in your notebook for when you feel ready. You will always have access to the video lessons. For myself, without a teacher, and no experience, this has been a great way for me to get started. I started getting instant results and I feel that my harp technique is good and feels natural from the video lessons. It’s hard to give advice to someone else but this is working well for me and soon I will move on to the second song of the beginner package. I wish you lots of success in figuring out what may work best for you!

[Laura Bunch]

I am a little over one year into my harp journey. I started lessons with a teacher, but it didn’t work out for logistical reasons. I found Learning the Harp and joined at that time. But then I also found another teacher and started lessons with her, but kept my LTH membership. I take lessons to learn proper technique and music theory, which I have a hard time with. I have previous musical experience, but I was a drummer, so all the notes, sharps, flats, chords, etc. are very new to me. My teacher can fine tune my lesson material into exactly what I need to progress. It is not alway that fun, but I know it will help me learn to play what I want in the future. Because I still work full time, I don’t have a lot of time for my LTH courses, but I have learned quite a few. Did I tell my teacher about this? Not for a long time. I don’t do anything that contradicts my teachers’ advisements and lessons, and I’m sure she can see that. So recently when it came time to pick music for our recital, she okayed my playing Scarborough Fair by Christy-Lynn. My teacher even told another student about it, and I think they have purchased some courses. Each teacher is different and most musicians are very opinionated about instruments, music, etc. I always keep that in mind.

[Victoria Johnson]

I don’t know you personally so I can only offer my opinion based on my experience. Learning music and learning how to play an instrument is a long journey; there are a lot of things to learn and juggle. Depending on what your learning goals are, you may have a different journey than others. Have you talked to your teacher about your learning goals? Have you asked her why she has put you on your current path? Does your teacher know what kind of music and/or activities motivates you and that you found enjoyable? I think it is important to find a teacher that you trust who can help you meet your goals. I trust that people who are good teacher will put me on the right path, and if I was ever unsure of why things are going a certain way I would have a conversation with them. There are so many ways to teach and to learn something. There are many who are learning music through Christy-Lyn’s courses, there are those who work with private tutors only, and then there are those who do a combination. I don’t think there is an absolute right or wrong way to learn the harp.

A little bit of patience does go a long way, I think. I am seeing that in my kids who are also learning the harp. They have no prior music experience and the harp is their first instrument. It has been slow moving, but over time even they are recognize that they are able to do much more with the instrument compare to when they started. I spent some years learning classical piano when I was young. I never got really good with it, but I am able to apply the transferable knowledge such as reading music and music theory towards harp playing. I want to be able to play beautiful music on the harp with minimal help so years of piano learning has helped a lot. Maybe if I didn’t have the music background that I had when I started learning the harp two years ago, I wouldn’t have the patience to go through years of grinding with a harp teacher. I likely will have a very different approach towards learning the harp.

Sorry for the long monolog. In short, I think it is worth thinking about what it is that you would like to achieve with the harp and have a conversation with your teacher. I had a conversation with Heather Downie on teaching and learning; it might have some good food for thought for you? https://youtu.be/aH28_w7oLVY

[Jennifer Fournier]

Thank you! I just started watching the link and it looks very helpful.

FWIW- I did learn After the Rain and played it for my teacher on Tues at my lesson. She was surprised I had memorized the whole thing. She gave me 4 measures of Scarborough Fair and I think about 4 measures each of 2 other pieces. The Scarborough Fair brings my left hand in playing at the same time as my right so that is good.

[Victoria Johnson]

That’s wonderful!!