Midsommar Musings

No, that’s not misspelled – it’s Swedish for midsummer. And why am I writing it in Swedish? I play a Swedish nyckelharpa, and this time of year there’s usually a midsommar festival in the area where I have been hired to play nyckelharpa. It’s a huge celebration in Sweden, and Swedish Americans also celebrate with music, dancing around a decorated pole much like a Maypole (Junepole?) and eat and drink all day long.

Why is Midsommar such a big festival in Sweden? I expect that when you live that far north, the longest day of the year, as well as the shortest day of the year are bigger events than they are here in the middle of California. The longest day in the farthest parts of Sweden is so long, the twilight blends into dawn.

This year, I was hired to play nyckelharpa for a very special small event by two Swedish American sisters who wanted to share a bit of their heritage with 20 of their friends. It took place in the San Francisco Bay on a tall ship, and it was a very interesting gig! I played with a wonderful multi-instrumentalist who brought just his guitar tuned in DADGAD and a tenor recorder (thanks Jim!)

The Gas Light is a72 foot schooner that can hold up to 49 people.

 

The idea was to play a just for 15 minutes as people boarded, then the ship would motor out to a cove off of Treasure Island, and we’d play an hour concert after they dropped anchor, and then continue with background music as they decorated one of the masts with flowers in the Swedish tradition. The hosts’ chosen music was mostly haunting, exceptionally beautiful tunes, in minor modes, and I knew we would enjoy playing them in the setting of a tall ship.

As all plans are susceptible to change, this was not exactly how it went… The idea of decorating the mast was nixed in light of the wind, and the stay at the cove was shortened to less a half hour with the more interesting option of raising the sails and sailing back rather than motoring.  There were flowers that were brought onboard to decorate, and they ended up making crowns of flowers for the women to wear.

We were all (guests and serving staff included) asked to wear white or off-white and our hosts, being fashion designers, were very much all about the aesthetics. I had to scramble to find off-white to wear – black is my go-to performance color…

As I always do, I had planned for adapting the set list to accommodate any changes, and so we began with around 30 minutes of our background music as people boarded. The little space way up in the bow is where we were set up.

We took a break as the boat motored over to the cove and then set up again topside and played a couple songs. One of our hosts did a toast and then announced we would be raising the sails to sail back. So we took our instruments back down below deck and got ready to play again once we were underway.

Even though the boat had a flat bottom and didn’t lean over as we sailed, it was still a bit of a bumpy, wavy ride, so I found standing up to play easier than sitting. The space we had was a corner with barely enough room for my little chair, so Jim sat on the built-in bench, and placed a music stand in the walkway. 

My nyckelharpa blocked the walkway, so the guests found they had to go around the table to the other side to move about. I used the table as both a music stand (that’s my black binder under the bow) and a nyckelharpa stand… 

I also found that sitting made me lose my balance whereas standing with knees slightly bent and shifting my weight from leg to leg (sort of like dancing) gave me more of a sense of being in control of my balance. So I was getting a great lower body workout as I played!

I was positioned next to the stairs up from the cabin – here’s the view I had over my right shoulder of Captain Steve at the helm:

And here is Jim with the captain as he steers us back to pier 40:

 

 The sails were brought back down as we motored back into the San Francisco South Beach Harpbor.

It was a beautiful day, and a fun gig, despite all the changes. I have missed playing beautiful Swedish music since I haven’t been in a Scandinavian band for several years, so it was great fun to connect with Jim, who provided a solid Swedish groove and some lovely chordal textures, and to pull out not only some of my favorite tunes, but also a few new ones we learned at the hosts’ request. I hope to have more opportunities to present this music with Jim in the future. Let’s not wait until next Midsommar!

Happy Father’s Day!

As Father’s Day approaches, I’ve been reflecting a lot about my Dad who passed away at 91 years old in 2019. Growing up in a musical family, with Mom as a piano teacher, and all four of us kids learning not only piano, but also at least one band or orchestra instrument, there was always a lot of practicing going on. We had to schedule our half hour of piano, plus half hour – hour of other instruments around school, and Mom’s piano students.

At recitals, you can imagine the pressure the “teacher’s children” felt to do our best. This is all leading up to my Dad’s role in our music, and his profound influence on me…

People would ask Dad what he plays, and he would say either “I pay for it all,” or “Someone has to be in the audience.” Always said with a twinkle in his eye. He took pride in hiding the microphone and hiding out in the kitchen to record the recitals. By the time Mom’s students had been in one or two recitals, it was clear that the recitals would be recorded, but it was fun to try to figure out where the mike was hidden…

Both my parents were involved in helping me develop my songwriting skills – Mom would make a comment about the melody, and Dad would talk about content with very specific questions like, “Who are you speaking to in the second verse?”

When my parents had company over, Dad would call me into the living room and ask me to play specific songs that I had written. You can imagine how special that made me feel!

Fast forward to the last 2 or 3 years he was with us, and he’d always introduce my sister and me as “This is my daughter who plays flute, and this is my daughter who plays harp.” Even though he had Alzheimer’s he knew which one of us played which instrument. Music seems to break through the confusion…

I wrote a handful of songs about my Dad in his final years, and recorded them on my Life Stages CD which is available as a CD or mp3s on my website (Life Stages CD (verlene.com), or listen to them on Spotify:

The Tide is about the changing roles as parents age: https://open.spotify.com/track/6eAG2pf8nrL59LChZ4gGUN?si=afb1c9dd8295441e

As Much as Before was written when Dad was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s: https://open.spotify.com/track/2r19PkMrIDwoAgPrUWXEmE?si=40202659d4e2478f

I Wanna Walk With You: https://open.spotify.com/track/1NWVEXlzpfXfidyDV5DVPo?si=b8b2e96aed304871

This last one, I will be performing at the Gaelic Muses Father’s Day performance at the Wheelhouse of Willow Glen. If you’re in or near the San Jose, CA area, it would be lovely to see you! Arrive early to get a seat and to hear the Father's Day special numbers. Here’s the info: Gaelic Muses in Willow Glen on Father’s Day – Gaelic Muses

Wishing you all a Happy Father’s Day, whether you are able to celebrate with him in person, or only in memories!

Procrastination!

I’ve started to write this blog several times and every time found something that I “needed” to do instead. Has that ever happened to you? 😂

Yes, I’m pretty sure it happens to everyone from time to time, but some are more prone to procrastinate than others. For me, it’s a matter of juggling a lot of things that have no “real” deadline. If there is a deadline, I get it done. But this “weekly” blog is really a soft deadline, so if I miss one or two or several, no heads will roll. But if I don’t learn this new tune for a gig, I will be embarrassed on stage and let my bandmates down. So prioritizing takes place on a daily basis, and while it may seem like procrastination, on further examination, it’s really a matter of shuffling the to-do list in order to make sure the top priority items get done.

I know that for many adult music students, procrastination is a big roadblock to putting in the time on their instruments.

One of my students recently told me that she was having trouble making the time to practice. She kept thinking about the other things that need to get done, and just not sitting down at her harp day after day. She loves to play, and once she sits down to play even just a warmup exercise, she finds she has the time and enjoys it. But the problem is actually sitting down to do it.

We talked about making a to-do list and checking in with it to see if she’s really not practicing because it’s not a priority, or if it’s something else. Other things that keep people from practicing are:

1. Fear of failure
2. Question of the value of it
3. Sense of obligation to do something else
4. Question of one’s right to do it

There may be more – let me know if you can think of other things that would go on this list.

So, let’s look at each one:

1. Fear of failure – If practicing your instrument means you might fail at “perfecting” the piece, maybe you can consider practicing just a small portion. Get just the first phrase to sound beautiful. Or choose a simpler piece to learn. Find something to practice that you know you can do successfully.
2. Question of the value of it – I think this is different from the fear of failure, in that it’s a mindset that usually comes from somewhere (or someone) else. Does someone in your family think it’s a waste of your time and effort? Is that really what you think?
3. Sense of obligation to do something else – This may be legitimate (my need to learn a tune for the band for example) but it may also be once again imposed from outside (kids need me to bake cookies) or self-imposed (kids need me to bake cookies) and may be tied in with this last one:
4. Question of one’s right to do it – okay, stand up for yourself! You have the right to use your time how you choose. But what some people question is whether it’s worth it to learn an instrument if you think you’ll never be “good enough” to perform. Or maybe it's that you never want to perform, so is it worth it to learn if you never intend to perform? This is tied in with number 2 as well – so first determine if this comes from your own sense of the value of it, or from someone else’s opinion.  Then remember that learning anything new is good for the mind, body, and spirit! Whether you want to play for other people or not, it’s the journey, not the destination that makes this worthwhile. And you have the right to take care of yourself by nourishing all aspects of yourself!

Please know that if you find yourself procrastinating and not getting around to your intended practice sessions, you are not the only one! But perhaps this little list can help to get to the bottom of the issue, and get you going on a more regular practice routine. And when there really are more important things that come up, and you miss a day or two or three, know that it’s a matter of prioritizing, and not a failure on your part!

I’ll be teaching an online workshop on Saturday, June 17^th on “The Practice of Practicing” in case that first reason for procrastination (fear of failure) is what you identify with.  Here is the information:

Saturday, 6/17/23 10:00 am - 12:00 pm pacific time - I will be presenting a two-hour online workshop, "The Practice of Practicing." This is open to all musicians, but will focus on application to harp. (Handouts for applying to guitar are also provided.) If you have felt that no matter how much you practice, the improvement is either slow or non-existent, this gentle class will give you steps to improve your practicing practice... You'll have a step-by-step approach to learning a new piece, troubleshooting an in-progress piece, and polishing a learned piece. You'll also get tips on how to use your current works in progress to create warm-up exercises that will build some much-needed muscle memory. Cost of the workshop: $30 per person. Here’s how to register: https://tinyurl.com/PracticeofPracticing