Welcome to 2020! I am back in the saddle and rested up, completely ready to continue my studies for my CCM! I am trying to improve in all areas of my musicianship, especially as it pertains to mastering the harp. I am sure that mastering such an instrument is a life long pursuit, and I have no illusions about this process....but I feel that any growth and improvement makes me more capable of ministering to others with harp and song.

I have been busy working on skills that are important to establishing good "Harp Habits".  I have begun serious study twice monthly with a most excellent and accomplished teacher of the harp. Christa Grix is an astounding musician...creative, technically and musically accomplished, steeped in technique and dedicated to the harp as an extension of herself. What an amazing role model and mentor! She has been helping me to address many bad habits I have acquired as a self-taught harper....chief among these issues has been posture, arm position, hand position and correct contact with the strings to produce the most beautiful sound from my harp. Thumbs up! She is strict, but encouraging. She is exactly what I need...a teacher to hold me accountable and to continually challenge me.

Additionally I have begun to use Musescore, a music publishing program, to begin committing my many compositions to paper. This is a very good skill to have, as many of my songs are languishing on scraps of paper and old notebook pages. I was encouraged to begin this process by yet another important mentor: Carolyn Deal. She is the Queen of the Double-Strung Harp (My title for her!)
Her creative approach to the double-strung harp has literally blown open my skillset for this amazing instrument. I play both single-strung and double-strung harps...but...there are just literally hundreds of things that can been accomplished on a double-strung harp, that are not possible with one set of strings!

In November, Carolyn assembled a group of 6 double-strung  harpers and asked us to contribute to a project she was envisioning....a booklet/folio of music containing 6 unique arrangements of a well-known Christmas Carol...our assignment: write and arrange this tune for the double-strung harp. The tune: Deck the Halls. What an honor and a challenge to be included in this group of excellent musicians!
The good news...I'm included...the challenge...learning to use a new music publishing app, while creating my unique arrangement...whew! Did I mention there was a time crunch? After all...what good is a rendition of a Christmas Carol after Christmas?? The victory: I met my deadline and was satisfied with my contribution. This folio of music has been available to hundreds of double-strung players via Carolyn's website, Patreon Page and on the Double-Strung Harp FaceBook Page. WOW!

My new and exciting news is that I have been asked by Eve Stone (the builder of all my double-strung harps: Stoney End Harps), and Denise Grupp-Verbon (the director and creator of my FAVORITE Harp Festival the "Harp Gathering"), to facilitate/present a workshop about the double-strung harp at the next Harp Gathering in May 2020. This is a huge, HUGE honor for me! It will be a "meet and greet" for anyone who is curious about the double-strung harp and its unique offerings to harp players. Eve is even providing several double-strung harps for the workshop, so participants can get their hands on one of these amazing harps. Even better, is that my amazing double-strung mentor Carolyn Deal has supported this undertaking and is going to help me with content, pacing and other suggestions! Gosh...this girl sure feels blessed beyond measure!

Well...back to music editing and writing for now...my current composition is entitled "Gravity" and was performed publicly last Sunday. It seemed to be well-received by my harp cohorts who also have the blessing of studying with Christa Grix. God is Good!