Slogan: Love the Music

Today I looked up and realized that I haven't been online nor on my harp in nearly a week. I have been working toward playing a medley of music for Christmas day, but instead I had some company come who did not want to hear my playing, brought me an autoharp (whatever that is) and I have no desire to begin learning how to discover something new, read a manual, and be told that my playing isn't good enough. As you hear, I am not in a very good state right now. I can't settle down, relax, get into practicing music. I'm very angry at the person who brought the autoharp into the house. I have been in a state of anxiety and much discomfort ever since.

My hope for this season of comfort and joy was that I would begin to behave in a more gentle and positive mindset; what happened has surprised me. A fella walked in the door and I just allowed him to take me hostage in a way that paralized me with fear and insecurity.

I am sad as I sign off tonight, thanks for dropping in,

Meg

Slogan: Love the Music

Hello Friends,
Once again it seems like I have slipped into the ether. But no, I have been sort of distracted this week by the preparations for Christmas and my company coming that need care and feeding while visiting me. I admit that haven't spent time with my music as I had intended; the idea of having time off must have completely relaxed me because I have spent so much time sleeping and getting rested so I can be in good condition for the whole season and all I want to see going on.

I did say that I was only going to concentrate on music in this blog, there would be no mention of other parts o my life. This was going to ensure that I spent a fair amount of time doing things to keep the momentum going in my own day in order to have something to write about. It seems that other parts of my life slop over into how I interact with music; this week with the tasks of preparation has caused me a lot of distress and confusion. Where is the Spirit of Christmas???

I had thot that due to the fact that I was otherwise occupied with work duties that I was the one pushing away the season and the atmosphere ~ I took it all on as my problem. Today when I was out in the stores with my little list of people and the ideas I had for them, I was having trouble getting into the mood, went from store to store picking things up and wondering if that was really what I wanted, moved on to another store, made a decision, saw the line and decided that I would come back later when all those unhappy people were gone. The stores weren't really decorated, Santa wasn't in his big chair while I was there, there was music playing it seems, but it was as out of place as if it was the middle of July and no one noticed, I'm sure. Where did Toyland go? Those great areas in the stores that held all the wonderful toys that had not been sitting on the shelves for a whole year. Decorated areas where kids can actually feel like this is their area, their imaginations running wild, dreams taking over. living in the magic. Coming in tonight I was tired and disillusioned, confused about why I had come in with one tiny bag with gifts for five that all fit into it and had no desire to take the next step of unpacking and getting them put together in well developed gifts for these people that I care enough about to shop for.

Well, don't get the idea that I have come up with some miraculous plan to change all that, I didn't. The only thing I can do is find a way to put some magic and spirit into what I am doing in my little corner here. I'll work on decorating tomorrow, that is my next project. I'll work on my music tomorrow, Friday is coming soon and I want to have a small medley of the half dozen pieces I have been practicing these few weeks.

Thanks for dropping in,

Meg

Slogan: Love the Music



Hello Friends,

On this wet wintery day here, fully overcast skies, its threatening to rain, like it has done every day this week, I have found that I am beginning to get more geared up for adding more songs into my Christmas selections so that I can do a nice selection of melodies even if it is a lot of right-handed work, left hand following along. I would like to find some of the old pieces I used to play, Green Sleeves, Morning Has Broken, but at the moment I am working with what I have so that will have to do. There is going to be some more in-depth cleaning done over the time off and I'll try to find some of my old music sheets, that would be soooo wonderful.

I'll be able to start my practice later in the mornings and go as long as I like, or play for a while and then go do something else and come back to it. This is the plan, but I am also anticipating that I will be alone much of the time. Nothing brings people out of the woodwork quicker than not wanting to be around them. Maybe repelling them is the secret attraction. Its strange that I see myself filling the time with solitary activity, just like on weekends and then I end up sleeping or vegging out in front of the set and not accomplishing anything at all. So? do I make a plan or not make a plan? If I don't then its the old saying: Fail to Plan, Plan to Fail. If I do it is also an opportunity to fail ~ only organized failure, lol.

I'm babbling I know it. So, for tonight I am going to try another short stint at the music and organize the way the music should follow each other, so I won't play the same one or two over and over.

Thanks for dropping in,

Meg

Slogan: Love the Music



Hello friends,

I know, I am still not writing as much as I would have liked to have, either. It seems like there is so little new and interesting going on in the tiny world of music that I have tried to create that it gets boring very quickly. I am thinking that I may have to add some extra components into this blog in order to keep myself coming back, never mind anyone else joining. That could be that I haven't told anyone; you need to let people know or they will not come. Right???



I am still working on the Christmas music and the end of the year is hurling its way towards me like a thunderbolt while I'm too stuck in the past to get into the moment, let alone look into the future. Its such an enjoyable style of music for me, I'm able to read it all, see most of it on a single sheet, memorize it easily and find it great to hear all the time. I don't want this to end as I have no idea what I want to replace it with. Its the one type of music I have never been criticized for playing. That is a huge part of what is going on with me.

Okay, I'd better sign off for now and start thinking of what things I would like to do after Jan 6th. That's how long I'm going to drag out the pain, right till Epiphany. I promise not to hold anyone hostage with dirges for Lent, that would be cruel and unusual punishment.

Thanks for dropping in,

Meg

Slogan: Love the Music

Hello Friends,

Today is another cold day and if the promise of the white fluffy stuff holds true on the weekend, then we will be in for another picturesque season. Its not my favorite way to have it, I don't like it treacherous under foot, makes me nervous. So, if we are going to have to do things with a 'winter wonderland' then I will probably spend my time making the music as seasonal as possible.

Having said all that, I have to really think about what I can do to create this atmosphere of charm and delight. Once work stops for the long holiday they are enforcing upon the company I will have time to do the bit of baking that I do, put up the tree (that takes about 5 minutes) and hang the few wall decorations I have, the wreath, the Christmas books. Am wondering if I could look around and find another small tree for the table by the door, just for lights and some extra bling. Hmmm, we'll see, it would have to be a cute little addition to the one I already have, that has been sitting in the sunroom all year. This due to the fact that I just had no desire to go out to the shed and put things away properly.

I need to make a list of things to get at the grocery store. A bird, potatoes, brussels, like that; I know I am having some Kelowna folk coming in for a few days and even if they aren't here for the day I will need to have food in. The music won't be as good as I had origingally intended due to the fact that have not been working all that hard on any of it. This is turning into a real dog's breakfast today, rambling on and on about more than music. It could be that the music ties more together than usual, it is part of a very big picture.

I am still working on the list that I posted yesterday so won't rattle it off again.

Thanks for dropping by,

Meg

Slogan: Love the Music

Hello Friends,
I know, I have not been vigilent in my endeavour to maintain my daily entries. Now that I have gotten away from it, it is hard to remember to get back to it again. I have been doing daily practice and enjoying the holiday music I am trying to prepare for anyone that may listen to it during the season. I am picking out names and not exactly matching music to them, but just to play for them so I can think about other people when I work on the music. Takes my mind off myself for a change, good change. None of the music is complicated or difficult in any manner as I want to be able to actually play them for people.

I still work on Swan Lake, Danny Boy, and Star of County Down. Still wanting to get the book from Caroline so must write her again, requesting it. Oh, and Wisteria, so lovely to do in all the octives. The Christmas music I'm working on is Silent Night, Hark the Herald Angels Sing, Good King W. (you don't really think I'm going to try to spell it do you? LOL), Huron Carol, that's a good one as it doesn't work both hands together, they follow each other and repeat a lot of patterns. Of course, the joy is that you just learn the first verse and then repeat it in different octives three times and you have the carol, basically. This is very old music and doesn't have a lot of complicated stuff in it. There is no real challenge, only the joy and charm of playing delightful melodies that everyone recognizes. Do I have Away in the Manger? That would be good for children, Krista wants me to phone her a song. Anyone but Sandra, won't play for her again.

This is getting long, it must be to make up for lost time and just in case I get lost in time again.

Thanks for dropping in,

Meg

December 4th, 2009



Slogan: Love the Music



So, after a hiatus of almost exactly 2 months I am back here to try to make amends for the time I was away. I didn't go anywhere, unfortunately I was busy and overwhelmed with all the things that were going on in my daily life, mostly at work but of course it all slops over into my personal life at some point.



I have been trying to keep up the practicing each morning and altho Danny Boy and Swan Lake aren't looking as good as I would like them to be, they are still a reason to continue plugging along with learning both hands together. I still have not gotten the music all up-to-date as I'd like, but I am getting some time at Christmas and think that could be a good time to take on a project that makes me try to organize all the bits.



Pulled out the Christmas music and have been going thru the pieces I like to play, Good King W., Hark the Herald Angels, Huron Carol. Looking for Morning Has Broken ~ yes, well I like it and I used to do it with 2 hands. It would be lovely to have a small medley to play on Christmas morning. I'm glad of the extra time before the holidays so that I can spend more time in the music and get really thinking about it. It may cause me to be able to get into a routine with the music and make it all come together for a good start in the new year.

I am thinking of a slogan as I type this out, it is hard to come up with things last minute like this. There, I have just put one up, now it feels complete. As I go along I will enter the song titles that I am working on. Was really hoping that Swan Lake would be on the roster this year, but so far not looking good.

Well friends, thanks for dropping in,

Meg

Slogan: Details * Details * Details

Well, this has been a very long time since I have made an entry. It has been crazy in my life and I have been having a hard time getting more than a few minutes each day to do my practicing. I do that much. Seems strange that on weekends I don't make any more time than during the week. I thot that I would have spent lots and lots of time just sitting back and playing to my heart's content. But, no. Instead my concentration is so bad that I can't do any - thing except sleep that is.

I'm still working on all the same pieces of music and I am still trying to get Swan Lake and Danny Boy with both hands. I want to start thinking of other ways that I can do more to enhance my music. If I can't play more than I do, there must be other things that I can be doing to get more involved with it. Meeting with Karen weekly is good, it keeps me on track with the bit of daily practice I do allow myself. Tonight was three more notes with each hand and practice practice practice.

Thanks for dropping in,

Meg

Slogan: Details * Details * Details

I did not get back to this place again yesterday, it was a hectic day so you know how that goes. I did go in and review my September progress and found that I touched on each item that I had hoped to; there were a lot of basic refresher things that made it easier to just attempt for a short period of time.

Now that I have a set of easy warm-up tunes that I can work on improving while I am getting ready to get into the real music for the day, I will be able to go ahead with harder pieces to use as things to practice. I am pleased that I got the Star of County Down at least back to where it was when I last played it. I had some pieces in my mind to bring to the table for this month, but now that I have been given the Swan Lake and Danny Boy to work on with hands together, I am excited about that. Also, I want to start looking at some Christmas music that I want to play during the season. Huron Carol, Hark the Herald Angels Sing. More, but that's a good start.

I guess the bottom line is that I did some practice, some blogging, some thinking and creating in this area and got off the couch to do a few minutes when I didn't feel like it. Last night I wanted to try both hands on the new pieces and was at it for about an hour.

Goals for October:
Daily work on the practice pieces:
* Happy Birthday
* Westminster Bells
* Sakura
*
*
Work on the two 'hands together' pieces:
* Swan Lake
* Danny Boy
*
Pull out the Christmas music to begin making selections:
* Hark The Herald Angels Sing
* Huron Carol
* Good King Wenseslas (sp?)
*
I'm not sure what I'd like to be able to do at Christmas time that I want to know the music, but its always a desire to be able to play the music on the harp as it is so wonderful to listen to and usually the pieces are very easy to learn & relearn.

Okay, that's the best I can do for now.

Meg

Slogan: Details, Details, Details



Well, I see that it is Oct 1st and there is some housekeeping to do. Need a new slogan for the month. Need to look at my goals for September and discover if I have achieved anything at all. This is something that is brand new for me and am not expecting to be that delighted with the outcome, but we'll see.



For the past few days I have not been getting any practice in. It started on the weekend when I began to have all that heavy landscape work to figure out and trying to do it myself was exhausting. Then I was doing this project that included the employees and they found it truly objectionable. Consequently, it was very difficult to raise interest, never mind get help with. Eventually, it had to be done as the deadline was Sept 30th by end of day. I was exhausted and emotionally drained. Needless to say I was walking around not feeling rested and no concentration.



Having said all that "off topic" discussion, it is my way to remind myself that, altho I am employed and earning income, when I allow the stress to overtake me, I am not able to do things that cause me to feel better. So, this month I might have to use that as an example of finding a way to sit with my harp for even 5 minutes at the end of the day and just run my fingers up and down the strings, doing glissandos if nothing comes to me. The thing is its so comforting for me to hear those sounds. I will do a complete review of my activities for September plus my new goals for October later today (honestly, I forgot to look at it before I began this new entry) but for now I have to get on with important things, like getting a fresh coffee.



Thanks for dropping by, Meg

Slogan: Discipline Your Relationship

I tried twice yesterday to get onto the computer and both times there were interuptions. So, here I am today. In from mowing the lawn, boy it was knee deep.

Thursday evening I sat down with the music and had a good session. Doing all these pieces with both hands, that isn't the way I had in mind. Originally, I was going to work on the basic pieces and keep at them till I had good two-hand playing happening. But after finding those sheets that I thot I had lost I realize that I want to make them sound beautiful ~ with both hands. I have a hard time thinking of playing favorites well, very well, the way I want them to sound.

Ha! Look at that, I'm being whiney. That means that I am tired; haven't had enough rest. Things aren't going the way I had expected lately and stuff is piling up, can't practice as much as I want, the way I want. That is to get up, have coffee and writing, take Ch'ng out for her walk and then go to my practice time for a couple of hours. All that because the cleaning lady was in and the landscaping got done. All Iike I had organized, all like I had been promised. All I was willing to pay for.

Thursday Evening I worked on:

* Wisteria
* Swan Lake
* Westminster Bells
* Danny Boy

Once I got sitting down with it, I just spent too much time with it nad got overtired, didn't sleep properly and felt sluggish getting up the next day. I'll try to do better this weekend.

Thanks for dropping by, Meg

Slogan: Discipline Your Relationship

Wed Sept 23rd: I went to visit a harp friend and we had an hour or so to play and listen to each other play music on this delightful stringed instrument. When I practice, even if its only 5 minutes, I make those minutes count and get the best out of the time I spend. Knowing what I am going to do and sitting down with the music already going in my head gets my fingers moving faster and more accurately. Last night I played Swan Lake and worked on the left hand that I had never seen before, plus those 7 notes of Danny Boy and got further along playing with both hands.

At this point I am beginning to feel more confident in playing, seem to have more control over my fingering and with practicing each day, even for a short time I am able to recognize the written music . . . well, the treble clef anyway, the bass clef, it may come at some point, I can only hope. As I say, it has been a very long time since I did any constructive playing, using all the functions that go into playing a piece of music. This time tho I feel like I have a connection, commitment if you will, to doing my part in it, not just showing up and hoping it will 'come naturally'. When was the last time that happened?? No, not even to Glenn Gould, he practiced all night long while his friends slept and then lied to everyone. Good one Glenn.

Tonight I am planning on some practice at 6:30 after walking poochie. Then I' want to sit with the music for a while and memorize the bass/left hand clef to re-establish it in my head. It was there once so I can get it back again. Nearly the end of the week so not too much energy for evening work.

* Wisteria

* Danny Boy

* Swan Lake

* Star of County Down (run thru to keep it firmly planted)

Its nearly the end of the month, have to come up with a new slogan for October. Hmmm, fun.

Thanks for dropping by,

Meg

Slogan: Discipline Your Relationship

Oops, didn't realize I had missed so much time. I have been sort of all over the map when it comes to getting anything done lately.

Sunday: I sat down with the music I wanted to play and nothing sounded right, hmmm ~ tuning, that might work. So I began to tune her and things got worse in some respects, when I thot I had it right I tried the music again and when I put hands together on the one tune that I was working on with a friend, it sounded awful. Tried Swan Lake and it was much better, but still . . . ya, something's off. Had to walk away from it for awhile. Apparently, I never returned, nor did I feel the need to report it.

Monday: Took a short 5 minute turn at the music tonight. Tried an exercise piece, and that sounded vaguely familiar, so it was back to tuning. I did some writing in my journal on how I've lost control of my fingers and how lousy I feel about not being able to keep 7 notes, 3-L and 4-R, organized. It feels like I'm aging rapidly, alzheimers is setting in for sure.

Tuesday (6:25 AM): I saw I had 5 minutes and decided to give it another whirl. YEA!!!!!! I did it, got the 7 notes for Danny Boy going all together . . . annnnnd, in F# - ha ha ha - I got Swan Lake sounding like its supposed to for the most part. The last line needs work so I can go back to the top and repeat. I'm so happy I could just spit. Nice, huh!

Thanks for dropping in,

Meg

Discipline Your Relatonship

Today my goal was to do more than I have lately to get back on track with the music. I had a wonderful opportunity to meet a friend who plays also. She has many years experience in music and plays well, much higher level than I. We got together this afternoon and had a good session; she has been very helpful to me in learning one of the more complicated pieces I have as one to master by the end of the year. Kindly, she also gave me copies of music that I have been hoping to find.

I practiced for an hour on my own this morning, all the small bits that I have been working on. It was delightful having all the time that I wanted to just sit and play. O my, after so much activity I am as tired as a whole day training would make me, I didn't think I'd have this ever again. It gives me hope that there is going to be time for much harp playing in the future.

Today's Line-up:

* Wisteria
* Danny Boy
* Water's Wide
* Happy Birthdaay

What a lovely day.

Thanks for dropping in,

Meg

Slogan: DISCIPLINE YOUR RELATIONSHIP

Last evening I reread my plan for this month that I drew up on Sept 7th and saw that I was to do more than just practice daily and then write on it. Guess I need to check more than once a week or so. I am to be working on something that will stretch me. I haven't done much in that area yet; still getting my fingers back in memory shape. I see also that I want to have Star of County Down back as part of my line up of music.

So, this evening I will pull that music out and go thru it once with each hand. This is an exercise that can get it back in my head faster. Most of these small pieces have a left hand chording that I have not even tried out yet and need to do that if I am going to actually incorporate that aspect into the music. This weekend I will work on that. There could be some fear around working in both hands, not sure but I seem to be ignoring that part as I go from one piece to another without really doing both hands. Hopefully, this is just an oversight and not an obstacle to overcome. Ya, we'll talk.

Thanks for dropping in,

Meg

Slogan: DISCIPLINE YOUR RELATIONSHIP

Last night I was very tired again and was really unable to sit down and do a full 15 minutes of practice. I know, it sounds like a cop-out, but I actually dozed off shortly before 8 PM and my poor dog had to get me up to take her outside. I had chosen to try to do some plunking to get a new tune to start writing out. Be it old or new, I was going to start something. Just as I was going to bed after drifting in & out for two hours, I stood with it and did Westminster Bells and Happy Birthday, once thru with each hand. That took all of 5 minutes, of course.

Making myself sit for a very short time when all I could think about was getting into bed and reading myself to sleep, if that was stretching me in any way, then that's good. Maybe it was the discipline of not just ignoring it and going to bed.

Thanks for dropping in, Meg

Slogan: DISCIPLINE YOUR RELATIONSHIP

Well, last night I did a few minutes of music time. For some reason I am so tired these days that if I do more than a small amount I get so overtired that I can't get to sleep for hours and then I'm no good the next day. I am focusing on three pieces and if I don't get more than that done then at least I have the ones that give me the best finger exercise, maybe that's why I'm so tired . . . all that finger exercise, lol.

* Scales
* Wisteria
* Water's Wide
* Westminster Bells
* Happy Birthday

So, any three of those make up the basic 15 min and then I am done, can't think any more.

Thanks for dropping by, Meg

Today I felt like I was on a mission to avoid doing my practice any time during the day. The problem I see is that I have a scheduled time in the weekday evenings but no scheduled time on weekdends. Guess I just expected that I would be so thrilled with having a whole day to just sit down and spend as much time as I wanted to, that I would not have to schedule it. Now, I see that is not true, why would I even think that??? Its alright, it just never occurred to me that a w/e scheduling was necessary, now I knwo better.

Today I went for groceries and had this idea to make soup when I got in and had the bits of left over vegetables up. The broth turned out well and it was a great diversion from doing harp work. It seems like there were several things I overlooked like AMPages, laundry, changing the bed. I'm not working harder on my duties, but less it seems.

At ten to eight I sat down to do a short practice, I did a few mnutes of warm up and then Wisteria. It doesn't seem like much but it may be the way am going to have to do things in tiny increments, there is a phrase I am looking for, can't think of it, so I'll come back to this part when I can get the wording right. Its in an earlier post so not being able to remember is very aggravating.

Now I'm going to finish watching Morse and go to bed. I'm tired.

thanks for dropping in, Meg

Regarding Thursday September 10th,

I see that I have not been keeping up with this blog. It may seem like I have already fallen and I can't get up. This isn't true, I came in on Thursday nite with in such brain fatigue that I was unable to think, went to bed at 8-ish and fell asleep in the pages of my book.


Regarding Friday September 11th,

Slogan: SLOW & STEADY IN SMALL STEPS

Today I came in with the old mindset of ordering fish & chips and mindlessly watching TV all evening till I fell asleep on the couch. Hopefully, you will be happy to know that I did exactly that. I am beginning to think that I don't really care if anyone else ever joins the blog and reads all the nonsense that makes up my life. I have been unavailable to do any practice the last two days so I think that I will go out and cut the brambles/blackberry vines down, then come in and do some harp work.

I am going to pick out 3 small pieces and work for a short time, like 5 min per day in order to do the program in Artist Way that I have taken on till October. I think this could be where there is a slight shift in the goals for my blog. I have to learn to take things slow and steady in small steps. I have been rushing so hard that I have forgotten that there are details I am overlooking in trying to get to the end of the project as opposed to doing the work in all the minute detailed tasks that it needs, loving all the work, mistakes and redoing some stuff it includes. Just wanting to know how to play the harp and not loving the minutes and hours of practice just to be doing this activity is cheating my harp and myself. Now, let's see if I can remember this message.

Thanks for dropping in,

Meg

SLOGAN: Discipline Your Relationship

Tonight I got in late from work, I stopped at Long & McQuade music store for a book of blank sheet music. They showed me where the books for the harp section are located, there is a decent selection of books and composers. I found Danny Boy and it was hard to resist buying it, but I know that it will be in the new books Caroline sends me and there is no sense purchasing them twice. I could go to the library and see what they have for music to borrow, but I would want to copy the pieces that i liked and I'm not sure that's legal. I ended up taking my dog out late and came back to start my music time late, but it was still a good session.

I worked on getting a good opening exercise of running thru the scales. It started out slow and rough, but I gave it a good ten minutes so that all the fingers got a good work out and it seemed to help. I don't think that this being the third session in a row hurt matters either. I'm really tired in the evenings but I am probably more capable of slowing down to the point of being able to concentrate on one thing at a time for more than a couple of minutes.

After running scales I played my lovely Wisteria, which will be lovely once I am able to lightly finger it gingerly all the way thru. Then I did Happy Birthday, but not ten times and my fingers are not in love with this tune yet. Water's Wide didn't fare much better, but both imporved. The winner for the evening was Sakura which was played the best of all the pieces

Another part of this Music Quest is to pick out and write down a piece like I did with Swan Lake. I'm thinking I'd like to do Starry Starry Night in honor of Gail Ross, sometimes I miss her a lot. There is also House of the Rsing Sun that I did once but its in part of the work that has gone missing sooo, I may never see it again. These are all just options at the moment, I could stumble across my own tune while running scales.

Thanks for dorpping in,

Meg

ANOTHER REHEARSAL

SLOGAN: Discipline Your Relationship

This evening I started my practice session later than I had scheduled but as I sat in my harp seat and opened the music book to the place I am choosing to start my fingers went to the strings quite naturally. I have an exercise piece that I run thru to warm up. I play it three times in order to be sure the harp is in tune and to see my fingers are in sync with each other. I don't think its enough, when I get to the hard pieces, with a long stretch I notice that I stumble and hesitate. If you begin with hesitation that is how you will learn to play the piece and its difficult to erase the memory. With this new chance to start over I would like to take care not to do that.

I played the same pieces as last night, with the exception of Happy Birthday; that and the Wedding March are two very important easy pieces that are requested often and you need to do them well in order to enhance the occasion which usually belongs to a friend or relative and you want to make it a delightful memory. Therefore, practice is essential.

There isn't much to report at this point so I'm going to go file down my nails, they were catching on the strings, maybe when I return to a higher level I can chance working with longer nails but for now they need to be filed and have a coat of polish for strengthening.

Thanks for dropping in,

Meg

Well, hare I am on the first day of reporting real work that I am trying to create. The idea of taking notes is firstly to have a place to report my progress. Secondly, to see if there is any material that I could use for working into an essay to keep and use as personal help that I can read in the future when I am discouraged after this year ends. I don't really think there will be a publishable book here for public consumption.

I'm finding that I have been away long enough from playing more than an exercise piece I like and some glissandos that my fingers have lost all the memory they had at that time, which right now feels like a very long time ago.

I practiced for more than 15 minutes as I had promised myself. Starting on a long weekend may not have been the smartest move as my schedule was completely off and it was hard to decide how to just stop and work it into my day.

* did exercise warm-ups
* played Wisteria 10x to get my fingers flowing over the strings
* ran thru Westminster Bells twice and both hands was automatic :)
* played Happy Birthday half a dozen times with each hand
* Sakura - a harmonics piece that I used to play so smoothly

SLOGAN: Discipline Your Relationship

GOALS for week and month end:

I can tell I will be at this very beginner level for a while so the expectations won't be that high for the present. I'll practice the above pieces daily for 15 minutes to get them back to where they are memorable and muscle memory returns.

By the end of the month I want to be able to play a harder piece called Star of County Down.

I contacted Caroline McKay to see about getting some music I used to play while taking lessons with her. she is just updating them now and will send them to me as soon as they are ready. So, I may have those books to work out of also. Swan Lake that I picked out and showed her is in it so I'll have that to work on also ~ makes me happy.

This session felt good,

Meg

Music Quest

Good Day,

First, let me say that I play the Celtic harp and am wanting to improve my technique, skill -level, and increase my music pieces that I have memorized. At the moment I have about six pieces that I would be able to sit down and play at a moment's notice. When I first started, it was with the idea that I would be able to play at Christmas, or a birthday party for friends, it was going to be fun and friendly. Well, I own a harp and have been playing for about 4 years, I have gone back to work and have let it take a hiatus for over a year now, one day I looked at it and saw it as an ornament that needed dusting and maybe it was time to let it go to a good home. That's about the time I decided that I'd better rethink this matter. The movie of Julie/Julia was part of the inspiration to creating a blog and keeping track of my activities in a live sort of way. My hope is that it will keep me motivated like it used to when I was taking university courses online and had to show up with some work accomplished.

This is my first entry as I pre-plan this blog. I will be starting on Labour Day, Sept 7th, 2009, with the actual daily entries for a year to track my trials, failures, retries, and fially my accomplishments. Before the big day of there are several things I have to get in place.

* purchase music cds (music I aspire to play at the end of this)
* set up practice schedule
* set up blogging time
* research new music
* keep a journal for thots - so, get a book
* organize music and pick out first pieces for practice times
* create goals: for the year/monthly/weekly/daily
* phrases to use for encouragement
ie: *Details * Details * Details*

So, here I go, back to school, see you here on Monday September 7th with my harp and music in hand, so to speak.

Cheers, Meg