Best Anne Sulllivan Podcasts (2024)

1
More Than Dynamics: Uncovering the Real Secret to Musical Expression - PHH 182 33:36

3d ago33:36

33:36

“What can I do to make my music more expressive?” If I’ve been asked that question once, I’ve been asked it a thousand times. This isn’t a beginner question, either. It usually is a question of an intermediate level player. Once harpists achieve a fair level of technical competency, they have enough bandwidth to consider how to make their playing m…

1
The Fourth Thing You Need to Know About Rolling Chords - PHH 181 38:01

10d ago38:01

38:01

When you think of harp music, is there a characteristic harp sound that comes to mind, a musical gesture that belongs to the harp more than to any other instrument? A glissando, maybe? That’s certainly one of them, and a favorite of mine. Another one that I find very powerful and very harp-y is a rolled chord. Harps were meant to play chords, espec…

1
How to be Better than Perfect - PHH 180 32:09

21d ago32:09

32:09

The sinking of the unsinkable Titanic still fascinates us all over a hundred years after the disaster. It’s the subject of all sorts of speculation and theories, and there’s one of those that is actually relevant to our topic today. The question is this: if the Titanic crew had performed all the safety drills they were supposed to, if there had bee…

1
Why Harpist Beginners Need Bach Too - PHH 179 36:31

28d ago36:31

36:31

A little while back, I did a podcast episode about the music of Johann Sebastian Bach, and why I believe studying and playing that music is so important for harpists. If you want to go back and listen to that episode, it is Episode 154, and I will put a link to that episode in the show notes. Understandably, after that podcast aired, I was asked wh…

1
Gentle Strengthening for a Weak Finger - PHH 178 33:41

1M ago33:41

33:41

There are plenty of things we can muscle through: fatigue, a headache, the last email, the last pot to wash, paying the bills. But we can’t muscle through harp playing, especially when it comes to our fingers. For all that we talk about strong fingers and considering how hard we work them, they and the bones, tendons and muscles that support them a…

1
No Sense of Rhythm? The 3 Step Cure - PHH 177 40:12

1M ago40:12

40:12

Do you have no sense of rhythm? Has someone told you that you have no sense of rhythm? Or do you sometimes wonder if you do? Right off the bat, let me tell you that if someone said that to you, I know they are dead wrong. In the first place, I don’t believe that people can be so connected and drawn to music that they commit themselves to studying a…

1
Powerful Practice with the Five Focus Areas - PHH 176 38:16

2M ago38:16

38:16

Ten years ago, I wrote a small book. It was my response to the frustration I observed some harpists experiencing. These harpists were diligent in their practice and dedicated to doing everything right. But they still weren’t able to play their music the way they wanted. Some told me that they just couldn’t get the notes, the fingering and the placi…

1
Make Your Warm-up the Prelude to Your Practice - PHH 175 38:27

2M ago38:27

38:27

If I had to give the shortest possible explanation of what a daily harp warm-up is, it would be this: your warm-up is the prelude to your practice. Why a prelude? A prelude is most often defined as a short piece of music intended to be an introduction to a longer one. It sometimes uses musical themes or ideas which appear in the larger work, but th…

1
5 “Good” Habits that Cost You Time - PHH 174 35:42

2M ago35:42

35:42

If you’re like me, you probably hate it when people change the rules in the middle of the game. I don’t necessarily mean in an actual game; that’s clearly wrong. But there are always new and better ways of doing things that require us to make a total change in what we do. Brush your teeth up and down, or side to side or in a circular motion. Drink …

1
10 Ways to Counteract Harp Chaos - PHH 173 37:23

2M ago37:23

37:23

Do you remember the story of Chicken Little? This is a classic children’s story and like a lot of the classic stories there are multiple versions. The basic story goes something like this: An acorn falls from a tree and hits Chicken Little on the head which leads Chicken Little to conclude, erroneously, that the sky is falling. He decides he has to…

1
Why You Need to Have a Harp Role Model (or Be One) - PHH 172 32:14

3M ago32:14

32:14

We are the product of our influencers. The current wisdom says that if you want to know what a person is really like, look at their circle of friends. The thinking goes further to posit that if you want to elevate yourself, whether in your income, your fitness, your intellect or your spirituality, you need to associate with those who have the attri…

1
A Recipe for Creativity: How to Arrange Anything - PHH 171 31:54

3M ago31:54

31:54

Do you think of yourself as creative? From time to time, a harpist will tell me that she doesn’t feel she is very creative, at least not in a musical way. I instinctively challenge this, because I believe that anyone who persists in studying the harp for more than a few months is nurturing a gift and a desire that is, at its essence, creative. I al…

1
Performance Nerves: An Impromptu Discussion - PHH 170 34:34

3M ago34:34

34:34

I don’t know if you know this, but most Mondays I hold a live video call. I call it our Live Monday Warm-Up, and that’s how it started, as a simple warm-up for anyone who wanted to join me. But like most things, it has morphed over time and now it’s actually a warm-up and a mini-masterclass on harp technique. I love these Monday calls and look forw…

1
Winning the War of the Rhythms: How to Master 2 Against 3 - PHH 169 36:43

3M ago36:43

36:43

Juggling. Patting your head and rubbing your tummy. Walking and chewing gum. Coordination challenges come in all levels of difficulty. Playing hands together is another one, but it’s one that we harpists eventually get comfortable with. Your right hand does one thing and your left hand does another. For the most part, everything works out, until we…

1
Lessons from a Harp Reunion - PHH 168 32:01

3M ago32:01

32:01

Today I’m doing something different on the podcast. I don’t usually talk about what’s happening in my life because this podcast is not all about me; it’s really all about you, me and our harp playing. That means I talk about what I think is important for you to be able to enjoy your harp playing at every step of your harp journey. But a few weeks a…

1
Practicing Contentment: How to Balance Progress and Pleasure - PHH 167 37:23

4M ago37:23

37:23

Right now, I’m in a tug-of-war with myself. Usually, I’m all about helping my students and pushing myself to set goals, to find the next level, to discover more harp happiness through progress and growth. But it’s summertime, and I’m facing a tough choice between leveling up or lazing in the sun. I will admit that sometimes the sun wins. This strug…

1
Music in Motion: The Art of the Graceful Gesture - PHH 166 37:31

4M ago37:31

37:31

Many harpists can remember the first time they saw someone play the harp. The harp itself looked magnificent: tall, majestic, maybe gold. The harpist might have looked magnificent too, maybe a lovely lady in a flowing gown. The harp and the harpist together made an impressive picture. No wonder people want to play the harp. More than any other inst…

1
5 Techniques for Your Left Hand - PHH 165 37:07

4M ago37:07

37:07

I was googling around the internet the other day when I ran into an article that began with this question: “I have completely different fingerprint patterns on both hands. On my right, each finger has a very distinct and similar loop pattern. But on my left hand each finger has a distinct whorl pattern. Why does this happen?” According to the artic…

1
Supercharged Sections: Put More Power in Your Practice - PHH 164 38:14

4M ago38:14

38:14

I love riddles. Here’s an oldie but goodie for you. What’s the best way to eat an elephant? One bite at a time. So what’s the best way to learn a piece? One bite at a time, obviously. It’s just that what constitutes a bite isn’t very obvious. How big is a bite? Is it a measure, a phrase or a page? Is it hands separately or hands together? And how c…

1
Repetition in Your Practice: Are You Doing Too Much? - PHH 163 35:15

5M ago35:15

35:15

In my family, my grandmother’s sister was pretty much our favorite aunt. Aunt Dolie was sweet and generous, although she never had very much of her own and worked very hard all her life for what she did have. She was a gentle soul and totally without worldly savvy. She lacked a lot of practical knowledge, what we would call “know-how,” But that did…

1
3 Mistakes Harpists Make With Gigs with Candace Lark - PHH 162 51:16

5M ago51:16

51:16

I rarely have guests on the podcast, but today I’m so happy to be sharing the show with my dear friend and my former student turned colleague, harpist Candace Lark, If you’re a My Harp Mastery member or in our coaching program, you will already know and love Candace, because she is one of our Certified Coaches and helped me to found our Harp Quest …

1
String Strategies for Summertime or Anytime - PHH 161 35:52

5M ago35:52

35:52

They say that only two things in life are certain, death and taxes. But if you’re a harpist you know there is a third certainty; at some point, often at the wrong point, you’re going to break a string. I remember one performance with my flutist friend Joan when one of my high strings broke as I played it at the end of a glissando near the end of th…

1
The Other Side of Harp Playing: How to Develop Your Musicianship - PHH 160 31:13

5M ago31:13

31:13

Maybe you’ve noticed or maybe you haven’t, but these podcasts are organized into three different categories. One category is “Practice and Performing” and another is “Music and Meaning.” The third category is “Technique and Musicianship.” Technique is one of those self-explanatory items, but musicianship probably needs a little more description. A …

1
Could You Learn a Piece in a Day? - PHH 159 34:44

6M ago34:44

34:44

At one of our Harp Mastery® retreats several years ago. I presented a workshop called “Learn Anything Fast.” That sounds like a pretty ambitious topic, and I imagine that some of the retreaters were a little skeptical. After all, learning a piece of music takes time. But my point in that workshop was this: does it have to take as much time as it’s …

1
Memorization Basics: How to Make It Stick - PHH 158 30:28

6M ago30:28

30:28

In a world of sticky notes, Gorilla Glue and tape that can hold a leaky boat together, why can’t we make a piece of music stick in our fingers? Does this sound familiar? We sit down at the harp on Monday with fresh spirit and energy and we dig into the music we want to learn. Tuesday we repeat the process, feeling very virtuous. On Wednesday, we ar…

1
10 Tips for Terrific Thumbs - PHH 157 34:28

6M ago34:28

34:28

I was going through some old music the other day and came across a notation that made me smile. It was written in my best elementary school cursive script and read, “Thumbelina’s having trouble with her thumb.” I don’t even remember what piece of music it was on, but it could have been on just about any one. I always had trouble with my thumbs. In …

1
How to Prioritize Your Creativity and Still Get Ahead - PHH 156 34:07

6M ago34:07

34:07

Are you a free spirit, a rebel? Or maybe you just hate being told what to do? I have to admit that sometimes one or more of those labels fits me. Most of the time I toe the line but there are moments when I just don’t want to do the thing I know I should do. Now I’m not talking about anything illegal, immoral or dangerous. It’s more like sometimes …

1
Shaped, Stable, Supple: A New Approach to Technique - PHH 155 39:20

7M ago39:20

39:20

Have you ever had one of those moments when you wonder if you’ve been doing it all wrong? It might be something you have taken for granted, a habit maybe, or a process, something you thought was the perfect system. You always have done it that way, but suddenly you have a moment of doubt. Maybe it felt like a blinding flash of clarity; the clouds p…

1
3 Bach Pieces Every Harpist Should Know and Why - PHH 154 37:46

7M ago37:46

37:46

Johann Sebastian Bach is a name every musician knows. He is revered as a composer whose music defined musical practices in the Baroque era and whose compositions still influence music and musicians today. Learning about his music and learning to play his music is required study for any music major. But we harpists do feel a little neglected. We pla…

1
Tempo Is Not a Number: Finding the Right One for You and Your Piece - PHH 153 31:08

7M ago31:08

31:08

Today’s podcast is all about tempo, and I have to start by saying that tempo is a funny thing. We define it with numbers or with the familiar Italian words, or less familiar French or German ones, and it still seems elusive. Much of the time we try to pin a piece of music down to a number, a mathematically precise ratio of beats per minute. Perhaps…

1
Never Have a Bad Lesson Again - PHH 152 41:14

7M ago41:14

41:14

When I was preparing for this week’s show, I couldn’t help being reminded of a couple of tired old jokes. Patient: Doctor, it hurts when I do this. Doctor: Then don’t do that. And, Patient: Doctor, it hurts and I don’t know what’s wrong.Doctor: Take two aspirin and call me in the morning. When we’re thinking about our harp lessons, we may sometimes…

1
How Your Three-Finger Technique May Be Hurting You…Literally - PHH 151 30:25

7M ago30:25

30:25

It’s high time I got up on my soapbox. It’s not often I do a rant on the podcast, but there’s an issue that has me so fired up that I had to talk about it with you. I believe it’s the result of how we are learning now. There are so many opportunities to learn online, everything from individual live lessons to Youtube videos to video courses to coac…

1
Practice Positivity: How to Combat Your Worst Critic - PHH 150 35:20

8M ago35:20

35:20

This podcast episode goes live on April Fool’s Day, and I probably couldn’t have picked a more appropriate day to release it. I didn’t do it on purpose, but today’s topic lines up very nicely with April Fool's. It’s about the fool’s game of self-criticism. I think the most dangerous pitfall for harpists, or for any musician, doesn’t have to do with…

1
Stick It! Your Guide to Secure Finger Placing - PHH 149 37:44

8M ago37:44

37:44

We harpists take our finger placement seriously. Getting the right fingers on the right strings at the right time is paramount. One misplaced finger and a whole passage can go wobbly. One of the quotes of Johann Sebastian Bach that comes to my mind at this moment is this one: “It's easy to play any musical instrument: all you have to do is touch th…

1
10 Surprising Benefits of Practice Bursts - PHH 148 33:24

8M ago33:24

33:24

Call me crazy if you want. I know your ideal day might be a day at the spa, or sitting on the beach with a good book, or going for a hike in the mountains. Although those all sound good to me, my ideal day - or at least one of my ideal days - would be a day when I could practice all day. A day when I only had to practice would be a true luxury for …

1
How to Study a Piece: Look, Listen and Apply - PHH 147 38:30

8M ago38:30

38:30

My husband’s family is German, and even before we were married I discovered that one of the things I had long heard about German housewives was true, at least in my mother-in-law’s house: Germans take a clean house seriously. By American standards my own house isn’t filthy. I keep it fairly neat and decently clean. But my mother-in-law saw clean in…

1
Can You Count This? Where Simple Meets Compound - PHH 146 35:37

9M ago35:37

35:37

See if you can guess the answer to this. What can sometimes feel gently rocking like a boat on a lake on a calm summer’s day, and other times puts a lively spring into your step? It isn’t hard, but it’s never simple. You’ve almost certainly encountered it in your harp music, and even though you may be able to play it easily, you may not be able to …

1
Playalong Episode: Rediscovering Your Sound - PHH 145 31:45

9M ago31:45

31:45

I am always interested to hear what first attracted harpists to the harp. It’s fascinating to learn the many ways that the harp can draw a potential student. My own story is that I heard the harp on the radio and told my parents that was what I wanted to do. The important part of this story for me is that it wasn’t a gold harp or a pretty dress tha…

1
Beyond the Basics: How to Keep Your Technique Growing - PHH 144 34:59

9M ago34:59

34:59

Let’s take this as a given: our technique is at the heart of everything we do at the harp. Intellectually, we know this to be true, but that doesn’t prevent us from being surprised when we run into a passage in a piece we’re learning that our fingers just can’t manage. What the heck? We’ve been doing our daily exercises and most of the time our tec…

1
How To Improve Anything - Including Your Harp Playing - PHH 143 31:55

9M ago31:55

31:55

Today I’m going to tell you how to improve anything. I know that sounds like a tall order, but we harpists are all about improvement. Every day in every way we want to get better and better. Many of us like this idea too: slow and steady wins the race. Yes, but remember tortoises live for a very long time. They can afford to take only the slow and …

1
Rubato: Secret Sauce for Your Musical Expression - PHH 142 34:43

10M ago34:43

34:43

Every restaurant chain, every chef has their “secret sauce.” It’s that unique ingredient that makes their food taste special every time. It's part of their culinary signature. There is a secret - or maybe not so secret - sauce in musical expression too. It’s rubato. It’s the element of musical pacing that breathes life into music, that keeps it fro…

1
3 Great Ways to Start a New Piece - and 1 Terrible One - PHH 141 38:26

10M ago38:26

38:26

I might as well get this out of the way. This is going to be one of those podcasts that sounds like it’s telling you you’re doing it all wrong and you’ve been doing it wrong for years. I say it’s going to sound like that, but I want to be clear that’s not the point of our topic today. The real point is finding a path to growth, a path forward, and …

1
Agile Arpeggios: How to Make Yours Ripple - PHH 140 37:09

10M ago37:09

37:09

If I had to choose one finger pattern that I could count on to almost always show up in a piece, it would be an arpeggio. Arpeggios and the harp go together like peanut butter and jelly. In fact, the Italian word for harp is arpa, which has the same first three letters as arpeggio. That’s because the word arpeggio comes from the Italian word arpegg…

1
7 Ways You Could be Using Your Practice Time Better - PHH 139 41:32

10M ago41:32

41:32

At its most fundamental, music is sound over time. When you take away the rich harmonies, soaring melodies, complex structures and intricate rhythms, that’s all you have left: sound over time. It doesn’t sound very creative or artistic, but those two elements are the basis of all music. How any single performer combines them is where the artistry l…

1
Creating True Confidence; Why the Little Engine that Could Got It Wrong - PHH 138 40:56

10M ago40:56

40:56

The Little Engine That Could was just plain lucky. If you remember that children’s book, when the little engine had to take over for the bigger engines to pull the train loaded with toys over the mountain, he kept telling himself, “I think I can,” even though it seemed clear he was much too small to succeed. While the “I think I can” strategy worke…

1
How Not Setting Goals May Save Your Harp Playing - PHH 137 25:21

11M ago25:21

25:21

Happy New Year! It’s the first morning of a new year and I am feeling, as I do every new year, that sense of excitement and possibility that inhabits those empty calendar pages. I can hardly wait to see what 2024 will bring. Since this podcast is going live on New Year’s Day, I thought it was particularly appropriate to talk today about goals. We t…

1
A Holiday Harp Music Mix - Just For You - PHH 136 21:42

11M ago21:42

21:42

A special holiday music mix just for podcast listeners! The program: Two from MessiahPastoral Symphony/He shall feed his flock Arranged by Anne Sullivan Greensleeves, from Anne’s Break Forth CD,Arranged by Anne Sullivan Coventry CarolArranged by Anne Sullivan Pat-a-panArranged by Anne Sullivan In Dulci Jubilo, from Anne’s Break Forth CD,Arranged by…

1
My Year in Review: Remembering What Really Matters - PHH 135 35:36

11M ago35:36

35:36

The year-end wrap has become a hot trend. The worthy practice of reflecting on the year that is nearly over and the new one about to start is no longer simply a quiet moment with a cup of tea and a journal. It’s an opportunity for businesses to go public with their successes. We at Harp Mastery® have jumped on the bandwagon, too. It’s fun to look b…

1
Creating Stillness When You Need It Most - PHH 134 39:47

11M ago39:47

39:47

As I look back over 11 years of blogging and podcasting, there are some trends I notice, topics I talk about with regularity and even predictability according to the seasons. Of course, it’s not a surprise that in December one of the topics that is on my mind - and I’m guessing on yours too - is about keeping your sanity during the holiday rush. La…

1
The Christmas Snowball: How to Handle Last-Minute Requests - PHH 133 35:48

12M ago35:48

35:48

Be prepared, the famous Boy Scout motto. I’m thinking that Boy Scouts have nothing on harpists when it comes to being prepared. We harpists have preparation down, whether it is preparing our music, or stocking spare strings or packing our harp bag. However, there are times when even the best preparation doesn’t help, and you might be about to exper…

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Anne Sulllivan Podcasts

Podcasts Worth a Listen

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