3 reasons why your SLOW practice is NOT WORKING

[@CoffeeBreakHarp]

Have you seen my free video training on READING MUSIC? Watch it here (only 15 mins!) subscribepage.com/readingmusic

[@jerboaaaa]

Another helpful video, especially for beginners. I liked how you display the sheet music + annotations for advising when to start placing

[@jeanneburns-sloan1471]

Yes! Yes! It is so true! I really need to try to look ahead in the music and place my fingers BEFORE playing the notes. Easier said than done, though!

[@kathybarnard3909]

Speed has always been difficult for me; I tend to avoid anything with 16th notes, lol. I've been playing about 3 1/2 years, and started at 65, so I always assumed it was just an 'old brain' problem, but I'm going to give this a try. Thanks for sharing your techniques via these videos!

[@CoffeeBreakHarp]

16th notes can look rather intimidating, it's probably about all the blackness on the page making us think they need to be played a lot faster than supposed to! (And I see this in people of all ages, so definitely not 'old brain'!). It's great that you're willing to give this a try, let me know how it goes 💛

[@hmr28]

Try starting at the end of a piece. Play the last bar. Then the last 2 then the.last three etc until you get to the beginning of the piece. Then play the piece through from the beginning. This method works for me. I do play slowly to q metronome Then gradually speed up the metronome as the days pass.

[@CoffeeBreakHarp]

@@hmr28 great strategy, and combined with slow practice it works like 🔥

[@kathybarnard3909]

@@hmr28 I’m intrigued by this; but am having trouble understanding how it helps with playing sixteenth notes (or playing faster in general)?

[@kathybarnard3909]

@@CoffeeBreakHarp ha, that’s good to hear! And good point, I probably do try and play them faster than necessary. Will keep that in mind and try not to be so daunted by them!

[@j2000rocks]

Great advice. I plan on trying this today. I’ve only been playing for about 6 weeks and I do find my left hand resting during long breaks. I had a feeling that this was a bad habit. I’m trying to learn to avoid these pitfalls early and I’m glad to see this advice now. Thank you.

[@CoffeeBreakHarp]

Thank you for taking the time to leave your kind comment, and well done for starting your journey with the harp - how exciting!! Yes, it's quite common for the left hand to move away from the harp and that can make things a little bit tricky, so it's great that you want to tackle this right away! If you'd like some more support on your journey with the harp, we've now got a Facebook group for harp beginners - if you have any questions, feel free to join and ask! You'll find us here: facebook.com/groups/harpbeginners