Category: Teaching

How to Play The Songs of Hildegard von Bingen

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Recently I taught a an online workshop with Atrium Health Foundation called “Improvising with Hildegard von Bingen.” The music is in conjunction with my forthcoming book by Mel Bay Publications, “Songs of Hildegard von Bingen for Harp.” Atrium Health host Kathleen Blackwell-Plank has been curating a valuable workshop series for therapeutic musicians for the past few years. I was asked to teach the class rather last minute as a substitute and was so glad to have participated. After a show of hands, I realized that even in the musical community only half of people know who Hildegard von Bingen is.

So… Who was Hildegard von Bingen?

Hildegard Von Bingen art

Hildegard von Bingen (1098-1179) was born in Germany during the Middle Ages, at a time when education and literacy were controlled by the Catholic Church. The tenth child in her family, Hildegard was “given” as a tithing to the church, not an uncommon practice of the time.  When she was 14, she was sent to live a life of religious devotion in Disibodenberg. At the convent, she prayed, wrote, and only had access to the outside world through the view of a single window.

When her main caretaker, Jutta, died in 1136, Hildegard was appointed prioress of the abbey. It was during that time that she began writing music. Despite her claim of lacking formal training in either the Latin language or music, Hildegard produced songs that were equal to those written by the most admired men of the Middle Ages. A woman of letters, she often communicated directly with clergy of the church, including Pope Eugene III, who encouraged her to continue writing music and poetry. She went on to write several books about religion, art, politics, philosophy, science, medicine, and herbs.

Hildegard had visions that she called “reflections of the living light,” and she painted what she saw. She suffered from headaches and some scholars of her writing suspect that she may have She had many visitors at the abbey who claimed that she was able to heal them though touch and with her knowledge of herbal medicine. In time, she had so many visitors, that a larger venue was needed. The church relocated her to an abbey of her own, in Bingen, where she was able to attend to more people. She died there at the age of 81.

What did her music sound like?

Monophonic (single line melody), choral, sung in Latin, modal (most often in Dorian, Phrygian, and Mixolydian modes), natural minor keys, Gregorian Chant

How does this music translate to the harp?

Beautifully! Hildegard’s music is often in modes and have minimal lever changes.      

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How To Let Go of Your Judgmental Inner Music Critic

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We are not learning music to be perfect. We are learning music to enjoy the process of playing. We are learning music to develop a skill. Let go of judgement! If you are hearing an inner musical critic and it feels like negative judgement, drop it. Let it go. You don’t want to be holding unto so much baggage.

If that seems too easily said, imagine that your fingers are actually holding onto little bags of judgment (from past/current teachers, conductors, peers, recording engineers, yourself, reviewers, parents, friends, neighbors, etc.). Imagine that these little critiques, each in a bag on your fingers, are weighing you down. They are slowing down your playing. That negativity is taking up physical space and you need to free it up!

Question: What if you got rid of that inner music critic? Answer: Your hands would feel the freedom to put your fingers on the actual notes you need to play.

Drop the mental comment section. Close down the critiques that don’t make you a better player. You can throw them away in the trash bin over there. Now, locate the comments that do help – the ones that say “don’t give up,” or “there now – that wasn’t so hard!”

cherry blossoms, Alice Walker quote, miners gold

You can keep the helpful comments, but put them in a safe place at a distance, like picture in a frame. Remember, you want to feel lighter. You want to free up your fingers to do the playing that you were called to do in the first place.

You have work to do. Your work is playful and exploratory.

You are practicing the process of showing up and being ready to play music. Playing music is not about perfection, so much as the journey you take to a place where the playing feels good! This is the work you love to do. By freeing your fingers, you are already doing what you need to do. Now, you are ready to practice!

Two Harp Workshops in October

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I’m excited to offer two in person workshops coming up in October at Dusty Strings Music School in Seattle (Fremont). Both of these group classes are for the beginner to intermediate harpist.

Sat, Oct 7 – Introduction to Harp Therapy
More and more, harpists are lending their hearts and talents to playing healing music, as well as seeking certification to play at the bedside from accredited programs recognized by the National Standards Board of Therapeutic Musicians. In this class, you’ll explore effective styles, modes, and songs to benefit your repertoire, as well as what kind of training you’ll need to play music in health-care facilities.

Skills Needed: For the advanced beginner to intermediate-level player. You should have base of songs you know and a desire to learn new styles for therapy harp. This workshop is designed for those new to therapeutic harp, as well as those in certification programs. It does not certify you to play music at the bedside, but you will learn tools from a Certified Clinical Musician and gain access to references and resources to enrich your harp therapy journey.

Seattle Harpist

Sat, Oct 21 – Three Celtic Strains
Join this class for a fun, creative approach to learning more about harp! Irish music tradition recognizes Three Noble Strains, or styles, of playing harp—joy, sorry, and sleep. In this workshop, you’ll learn what these strains are, what they mean, and how to apply them to harp music. You’ll participate in a Celtic Circle of Song, which focuses on chord progressions and playing freely, and add new tunes to your repertoire.

Skills Needed: For the advanced beginner to intermediate-level player. You should have base of songs you know and a desire to broaden your musicality. You do not need to know how to read music, though knowledge of chord charts and some notation is handy.

Seattle Harpist
Seattle Harpist

5 Ways How to Make Practicing Music a Healing Process

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Previously posted (May 10, 2021), this article has been published in Harp Therapy Journal vol. 28, No. 2 Summer 2023

There are many ways of how to make practicing music a healing process. I’m going to suggest five methods to make your practicing at music a healing process. A good way is to get started with an open mind. Begin with no worries of mistakes, for that will paralyze you from the get go. Besides, mistake are a part of life, we all make them, so you might as well just stay positive. Best to start with some advice from Benjamin Franklin, “Do not anticipate trouble or worry about what may never happen. Keep in the sunlight.”

Let Go

I love hearing and watching a student play through a song in its entirety for the first time during a private harp lesson. As I listen, I’m also watching for other details.That initial play-through, shows a musician’s excitement or nervousness, where the smooth parts and the rocky parts are in the song for them, and how they physically play, hopefully moving in a flow and not being stiff.

During a recent Zoom lesson with an adult student, I noticed that she was holding her breath. To a teacher, this is nothing new. As a young student myself I did this, along with crunching up my face, in concentration. Sometimes, when we focus on one area of the body, like our hands, when we make music, we might stiffen up other “unused” areas of the body, like our face or back. The illusion is that we actually are using all of our body to play.

After the student finished playing, she asked me how she could improve. She was at the point in practicing where she was getting the notes correct and playing with dynamics, but there was something missing. I asked, “Are you holding your breath?”

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Best of Harping in 2021

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In no particular order, I’m sharing some 2021 highlights playing harp, teaching, and writing.

Centrum Artist Residency
I spent the month of March 2021, in Port Townsend, WA, on a truly regenerative and inspiring retreat. Through Centrum Foundation and Fort Worden, I was able to live in a cabin on the edge of the woods where the Straight of Juan de Fuca flows into Puget Sound, watch eagles and deer at my door every day, beachcomb, hike, and oh, yeah, squeeze in a little work! Focus of my work was on Harp Escape compositions and arrangements, as well as solo improvisations (like this one) and with my friend Josh Rawlings.

Harp Escape Make-Over
Since 2019, I have been working on Harp Escape, a therapeutic harp series of meditative audio and video. During this time, I’ve recorded nearly 200 audio tracks and done over 60 posts of writing, video and sheet music arrangements for Patrons! That is a lot for me to feel good about, as far as general productivity goes. Harp Escape is having a make-over this winter. In 2022, I’ll be moving forward with edits on individual tunes, then releasing singles on the various streaming platforms.

Making Music a Healing Process
This pandemic time continues to challenge all of us, so how can we include well-being in our daily work? I was asked to be guest speaker for Seattle Music Teacher’s Association in March of last year, talking about how to merge teaching with healing. It almost seems imperative to do so. As a Certified Clinical Musician, I thought about the mindset I put myself in, in order to play bedside music for people in physical pain or suffering from anxiety and grief. Much of that mindset can be applied to how I play music in general, so I like to share that with students. In this post, I wrote up 5 ways how to make playing music a healing process.

1st Live Concert in 20 months!
In December 2021, I played my first public concert since March 2020 lockdown.  Looking Glass Coffee, a sweet café in Snohomish, WA offered the perfect backdrop for an afternoon harp music: red velvet curtain stage, high vintage tin ceilings, and killer coffee. We were all so pleased, I’ll definitely be making another Sunday afternoon come back in the New Year. The pandemic continues to be a dicey time for performing live music, and I am thrilled to have a found a welcoming venue that matches harp music so well!

Seattle Harpist
thru the Looking Glass

Poor Wayfaring Stranger
I wrote about the history of “Poor Wayfaring Stranger,” a traditional American folk song, and arranged a lead sheet available at Puget Sound Folk Harp Society.

10 Tips on How to Improvise on Harp
I’ve been a fan of creative self-help inspirational books for years. From Natalie Goldberg to Stephen Nachmanovich, I’ve been studying prompts, quotes from the masters, and artist psychology for a long time. This Top 10 list for harpists helps unleash the timid player – many harpists are classically trained or play traditional Celtic tunes. Improvising for anyone can feel like uncertain territory. These tips take you back to “beginner’s mind.”

Circle of 5ths 2.0 Virtual Harp Course on Udemy
I pre-recorded a workshop for the first time! This is a major accomplishment for me, and I put many hours into creating a class on demystifying a tricky musical topic: The Circle of Fifths. The class is available on Udemy and is at advanced beginner – advanced intermediate level.

Seattle Harpist
with some students from Let’s Harp Together! workshop in October 2021 at Dusty Strings

Harp Seattle Workshop – Let’s Harp Together
Another first: I taught my first in person group workshop in over 2 years! The theme of Let’s Harp Together, got everyone playing songs together – something none of us had done since the pandemic. It was wonderful hearing all the harps vibrating together (it was a few hundred strings!). Thanks go to Harp Seattle and Dusty Strings.

Seattle Harpist
Return of the Wedding Cermony

Return of the Wedding Ceremony
My guess is that I’ve played music for about 500 weddings and counting. Most of my summers are booked out for months. 2020 was different. By the end, I had played a mere three weddings, which I suppose was good all considering. While 2020 ceremonies were very intimate and minimal, 2021 was a return to my usual full calendar, larger gatherings (though masked of course). I played for more than one couple who had re-booked their ceremony more than three times! Once more, it was such a pleasure to return to playing harp for another season of wedding of couples, including some really amazing natural scenery at the Treehouse Point, Leavenworth and at Mount Rainier. I feel so lucky!