Practicing What’s Really Important

By Anne Sullivan 

The harp world is full of richness: so many videos to watch, so much fun music to play, so many things to learn, so much on your practice list. Balancing all the musical things you want to do with all the things that are important to do is never easy, whether you’re a harp beginner or an experienced professional. The key to doing it all - or at least a lot of it - is determining your priorities.

Our daily harp playing usually falls into three different categories. All three are important, but not equally important all the time. One category may be more critical than the others this week, but not quite as critical next week. Let’s take a quick look at each of the categories and see some quick ways for choosing which should be your focus in your practice session each day.

The Urgent

These are the practice tasks which have a definite due date, especially a due date that is coming up soon. These could be pieces you are learning for a performance, either solos or ensemble pieces. You could consider the things you are preparing for your lesson to be in the “urgent” category; I know I did when I was a student. The important thing is to stay on top of the things in this category and put them at the top of your practice list. Remember that you may be able to cram for a history test, but you can’t cram for a lesson and expect to play well.

The Important

These are the things which don’t have a particular due date, but are still essential for your progress as a harpist. These might include technique work, or reviewing pieces you have already learned to keep them fresh in your fingers. It could also be doing some research into the background of a composer or a particular piece in order to gain more understanding about it so you can play it better.  Not everything in the “important” category will have to be done everyday, so keeping track of the work you do in this category is a good idea.

The Ones to “Grow On”

This is my favorite category and it may be yours too. It has all the fun stuff like sight reading new music, playing your old favorites, improvising or composing, even playing the harp with friends. The best part is that, even though they seem like fun, these are all things which help you grow as a harpist and a musician, and no harpist should be too busy to enjoy them. It’s keeping track of the time you spend on them that will help you balance this category with the others.

So if all these categories are important, how do you divide up your practice time? The person who can give you the best answer to that is your harp teacher. He or she will be able to help you set a practice plan that will include all three categories. In addition, your parents can help you stay on track between lessons. Over time, you will learn how to set and maintain practice priorities for yourself.