Summertime is Play Time

By Anne Sullivan

If you’re ready to head outside and have fun this summer, I’m right there with you, in spirit anyway. Summertime is for fun, even when it comes to your harp playing.

I believe summer is a time to do something different with your harp playing. It’s time to switch up your practice routine or try new things or experiment with some different kinds of music. Perhaps you want to use your summer practice to make progress in a big way, since you have fewer commitments competing for your time. Or maybe you just want to have some harp fun. What could your harp PLAY time look like? Read on and find out!

P is for Prepare

This is a wonderful season to prepare for music you have coming up in the autumn. (Hint: holiday music, perhaps?) You can do advance work now, purchasing music, marking parts, learning notes. All this preparation now will save you time and stress later on.

L is for Laser-focus

Is there some aspect of your music that you know should work on, but you never have the time? Maybe you want to strengthen your technique or practice your sightreading. Maybe you want to learn harmony or work on your rhythm or note reading. This is your best chance to do this specialized practice.

A is for Adventure

All adventures don’t require sleeping bags and bug spray. Perhaps you have always wanted to try playing jazz or put your hand to composing or improvising. Maybe you want to learn new music or works by new (or new to you) composers. Break free. Explore. You never can tell what you might discover.

Y is for Yourself

Make music to please yourself – not your teacher, your family, your school. Dive deep into your music and connect with what you love. Spend some time with some harp friends and encourage them to have some summer harp fun too!

How will you PLAY this summer?