can-freedom-be-followed-vai-dhc-longshot


Sun. July 8th I have a free Webinar for Harp Players called
“Play with Freedom”

Register for FREE here
(Registration includes a replay link)


We often think of creative freedom as complete independence, marching to our own drummer (who is, supposedly, us?).

So how could FOLLOWING someone else increase your personal creative freedom?

how could FOLLOWING someone else increase your personal creative freedom? Click To Tweet

Well … if I don’t know how to find my way to a door, then even if nobody’s stopping me from going out it – it might as well be locked to me.

I can theoretically have all the freedom in the world – but if I can’t  find it, if I don’t know how to use it, then I can’t embrace that freedom. I can’t embody it.

That’s where following someone else can help me.

I used to watch my ex-boyfriend’s kids at the computer – the oldest one would control the mouse and keyboard, and the others would watch her.  I couldn’t figure out WHY they’d want to WATCH instead of doing.

And then I started watching my ex-boyfriend on his computer and I began to understand that as we watch other people do things, we pick up things about flow that we simply can’t get by following directions, or figuring it out ourselves. I learned a lot just by ‘doing what he did’ (including that even really adept people are constantly running into snags)  – AND THEN I remembered that I learned a lot of music the same way as a kid: by singing back what I’d just heard my mother sing.

It’s like that phenomenon in music, that when you play with a stellar musician your own musicianship spontaneously rises to meet them.

when you play with a master musician your own musicianship spontaneously rises to meet them Click To Tweet

That’s Why I created “Summer Harp Jam”

Those are the principles behind ‘Summer Harp Jam’ my summer harp program only for harp players.  Yes, only harp players.  We harp players are a micro-niche.  And if you play the harp, jump over to the info page and join us — register for the full 6-Week program!

This isn’t my first course for harp players – I have a whole curriculum of creativity in other online harp programs, but this one is different.

In my other courses, each week builds on the last, all leading towards one goal.  But in “Summer Harp Jam” each week is different, and what you’re building is a collection of jams you can play on.  So you can’t get ‘behind’ and you never have to catch up.  If you miss a week, you just jump in on the next week and you can review later on.

I wanted to create a summer program with no pressure, no stress to keep up. Click To Tweet

I  wanted to create a summer program with no pressure, no stress to keep up.  So you can play very simply if you’re more of a beginner – or embellish as much as you want if you’re advanced. You play with the jams using the skills you already have right now – and I help you find out how to connect with them.

wanted to give harp players the EXPERIENCE of Freedom. Click To Tweet

I wanted to create something to give harp players the EXPERIENCE of Freedom.  I wanted them to be able to STOP thinking, STOP trying to remember how something works or even be creative –  and just be able to kick back and PLAY – because that’s how I learned the basics of both improvisation and rhythm.

“Summer Harp Jam” is like a virtual summer camp that gives you 6 weeks of pure play – and the play IS the learning – just like in a summer camp. And…  this summer you get the whole “Jazz for Harps” program when you sign up for “Summer Harp Jam.” That means you get FOUR courses to expand your creative freedom!  

It's a virtual summer camp for #harp players only Click To Tweet

Tiny Structures

The whole idea of “Summer Harp Jam” is to work with tiny structures (Jam sequences) that are so easy to learn that you can get the basic structure in about right away.  The fun comes when you play WITH these small structures – by learning to improvise OVER them, or expand them, or change their style.

And people can do it at any level of technical ability because I show you how to both simplify and embellish what I’m doing.

By the end of the summer you have a whole playbook of over a dozen jam sequences that you can play alone or with other people, in styles from samba and bossa nova to open rubato forms, like you’d use for hospice playing.

The Weekly Play-along Jam Session

At the core of the program is the weekly “Play-along Jam Session” where you truly just sit down and play, using one very simple musical form called “Call and Response.”

Instead of having to figure out rhythms, melodies or arrangement forms, with “Call and Response,” you just play back to me everything I play to you – and depending on your technical level you can either play exactly what I play, or simplify it or embellish it – and that simplification or embellishment is the main ‘teaching’ part of the program.

In other words – each week I show you the jam, and then how you can play with it – simplifying, embellishing, adding rhythm – and showing you how you’d play it alone or with other musicians. I also show you how to change its ‘style’ – so you can use the same basic jam sequence to play a rhythmic groove – or to play rubato and meditatively.

Then we just play musical follow-the-leader, over and over on #harp Click To Tweet

Then we just play follow-the-leader -a LOT!  And depending on how you feel any day, your  response can be an echo of what I played – or respond to it, like in a conversation – so you can use the downloadable MP3s over and over to build your repertoire of responsiveness over time.

Want to see what that’s like?

Register for FREE online Play-along Webinar with Deborah Henson-Conant

Come to my FREE Play-along Webinar Sun. July 8th at 2:30PM EDT and get a taste of  “Summer Harp Jam.” Register for free one-hour online training here.  If you miss the jam, registering will give you a link directly to the replay as soon as it’s on line.

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"5-DAY Harp IMPROV Challenge" 

A FREE Training 
from  Deborah Henson-Conant

 

Learn the First Step of Freedom: Free Yourself from Reading the Notes on the Page.  Register here to join the challenge

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