And so, today’s
article deals with how to practice making eye contact with your
audience. And then, how to carry on a conversation while you
play. These exercises are not meant to replace your regular
practice routine. They’re meant to be done in addition to your
normal practicing. They’re also meant to be FUN!
Pick a piece (or a
section of a piece) that you have memorized and you know
very well. Look at your strings whenever you need to, but try
to wean yourself away from them. The more you practice each
exercise, the better you’ll get, and the longer you’ll be able to
look away from your strings.
Exercise #1.
Place one or more dolls or stuffed animals in front and around
your harp as your “audience”. (If you don’t have any dolls,
photos of friends and relatives will do.) Practice making eye
contact with them while you play. See if you can get them to
smile back at you!! If you can actually get them to applaud at
the end of the piece, you know you’re really cosmic!
Exercise #2.
Practice in front of the TV, with the TV on. I know this goes
against everything you were ever taught (“Don’t do your
homework in front of the TV!”), but this is only an exercise.
The best program to select if possible is a news program such as
CNN or the evening news, since the reporters tend to look directly
at the camera at YOU. Turn off the sound, and just watch the
picture while you play your piece. As with the exercise with the
dolls and stuffed animals, try to make as much eye contact with
the people on the TV as possible. This exercise also gets you
used to the distraction of motion in your field of vision
(particularly during the sports segments of the program!)
Exercise #3.
Now turn up the sound on the TV, and try to actually pay attention
to what the news reporters are saying while you play. Pretend
that you have to take a quiz later about what was in the news, so
you have to really listen to what they’re saying and make sense of
it (a much as anyone can possible make of the news!)
Exercise #4.
Now you actually get to talk back to the TV while you play. Good
shows for this are soap operas. It doesn’t matter if you’ve ever
seen the soap opera before or not, just make something up and talk
back to them. For example, if the man on the screen says “But
honey, you know I’ve always been faithful to you!” then you can
say something like “Oh yeah? What about that Las Vegas show
girl?” Don’t worry if he doesn’t answer your question, just get
used to talking. In this exercise it is important that you
actually talk out loud, not just in your imagination. Because of
this, it is probably a good idea to practice this when nobody else
is around, or they may think you’re a bit daft.
Exercise #5.
Get out your dolls and stuffed animals again and tell them a story
while you play. They really enjoy hearing about “Goldilocks and
the Three Bears”. Try to keep talking and playing the whole
time.
Exercise #6.
Once you’re good with the TV and your animals, actually have a
friend talk to you while you play. Try to carry on a conversation
without losing your place.
As these exercises
get easier for you, try adding more of your repertoire to what you
play. Try to carry on a conversation without losing your place.
Remember, these
exercises are not easy. Most professional harpists would have
difficulty with them at first. But they are lots of fun, and once
you master them, you’ll be better able to ignore distractions, and
will be more in control of your playing.
(This article was first printed in "The Harp
Lover's News" Volume 2, Issue 3, 1st Quarter, 1995, published by
the Sylvia Woods Harp Center. Many of the articles from this
newsletter can be found in this Helpful Article section.)
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