Best Anne Sullivan harpist and Harp Mastery founder Podcasts (2025)

1
Do You Hear What I Hear? Listening with Your Ears Open - PHH 210 34:54

4d ago34:54

34:54

Four friends went to an orchestra concert. Afterward, they went out for dessert and compared notes on the concert, talking about what they heard. Here is what they said: One person heard the person in the row behind crackling a cough drop wrapper.One person, a flutist, heard that the clarinet wasn’t in tune with the flute.One person, a harpist, hea…

1
Is Your Practice Not Working? Maybe Hard Work Isn’t the Answer - PHH 209 36:57

11d ago36:57

36:57

Today I want to talk with you about hard work. I don’t mean how to buckle down and do the hard work. We all know that playing the harp is hard, and we spend a lot of time working out practice techniques, strategies and routines to help us play the music we want in spite of the difficulties. No, what I want to talk about today is how to get out of t…

1
Is Music Theory Really Useful? Turning Theory Into Practice - PHH 208 35:30

18d ago35:30

35:30

Is studying music theory really useful? Yep. You heard right. I really said that, and I’m a total theory nerd. I’m not going to leave you in suspense. Of course, knowing music theory is useful and helpful and part of being a good musician. But only - and this is a big “only” - if you know how it’s useful. Did you ever take a class in school and the…

1
How to Choose Your Next Piece - PHH 207 38:46

25d ago38:46

38:46

Shel Silverstein wrote a beautiful and supremely short poem that perfectly fits today’s topic. The poem is called “Woulda-Coulda-Shoulda,” and in just seven short lines, Silverstein sums up the ultimate way to prevent regret. He tells us that all those woulda-coulda-shouldas vanish with one little “did.” Doing beats wishing every day. So if we were…

1
Looking Beyond: Choose Your Focus - PHH 206 36:08

1M ago36:08

36:08

Fact number one: Your focus is in your control.Fact number two: Your focus is a critical factor in your success and harp happiness.Conclusion: What you focus on matters… a lot. In the last episode of the podcast, we were talking about focus in terms of placing your chords. I cited one of my favorite Zig Ziglar quotes, “You hit what you aim at.” I’m…

1
Placing Chords: How to Find the Right Strings the First Time - PHH 205 42:41

1M ago42:41

42:41

The great Zig Ziglar, much-beloved author and motivational speaker, never played the harp as far as I know, but one of his most often quoted remarks is perfect for today’s topic. Zig said, “You hit what you aim at, and if you aim at nothing you will hit it every time.” If you have ever had difficulty placing the notes in your chords, today I am goi…

1
Review Done Right: It’s More Than Repertoire - PHH 204 35:47

2M ago35:47

35:47

Do you review your pieces? If you don’t review your pieces regularly, then keep listening because today we are going to explore the different reasons you might want to start and a few different methods for review you might want to try. But here’s the thing; if I asked a dozen harpists who say they review their pieces how they do their review, I wil…

1
Why Slow Practice Works - and When It Doesn't - PHH 203 33:47

2M ago33:47

33:47

My harp background is in the Salzedo method. This is the technique method devised and taught by legendary harpist Carlos Salzedo. It was at the time, the early part of the twentieth century, a startlingly different concept of harp playing and harp technique and the aim was to bring the harp into the modern world. The aesthetic of the method varied …

1
Rhythmic Confidence: It’s Not About the Math - PHH 202 35:41

2M ago35:41

35:41

If I had the opportunity to teach music to an absolute music newbie, someone without any previous musical instruction or experience, I know exactly how I would begin. I would start without printed music. That’s hardly revolutionary. The German composer Carl Orff is known today not only for his most famous work, Carmina Burana, but for the innovativ…

1
Are You Practicing Enough? - PHH 201 34:23

2M ago34:23

34:23

Here’s a question we’ve probably all wondered about at some point: am I practicing enough? As a teacher, I can tell you that my experience has demonstrated that if a harpist - and this includes me - has to ask the question, the answer is probably no, you’re not practicing enough. But of course, the real answer is likely a little more complicated. I…

1
Small Steps to Break Through and Grow - PHH 200 32:50

2M ago32:50

32:50

How do you measure something that is unmeasurable? How do you quantify something that can’t be contained or counted? How do you assess something that is completely subjective? You might think you can’t, but yet, that’s what we attempt to do every day in our practice. We try to gauge our progress. We try to determine exactly when a piece is “finishe…

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Making Music Sing: A Phrasing Primer for Harpists - PHH 199 32:58

3M ago32:58

32:58

I’ve been playing concerts with my flutist friend Joan Sparks for more decades than I care to admit. Our work together has included concerts, being Artists in Residence at schools and retirement communities, producing our own concert series, recording multiple CDs (actually even a couple of cassette tape recordings back in the day) and commissionin…

1
Etudes: What You Never Knew They Could Do For You - PHH 198 33:10

3M ago33:10

33:10

Fact number one: harp technique is hard. That’s a given. Making our fingers steady, stable and strong enough to play in mid-air, defying gravity with every pluck, is very challenging. That’s a fact. Fact number two: our technique is a major factor in our playing. It enables us to play the music we want to play. Or it limits us. If our fingers can’t…

1
Here’s Your Sign: How to Tell if You’re Making Progress - PHH 197 34:25

3M ago34:25

34:25

The day this podcast episode is released, we will be living Day 55 of this year 2025. According to the calendar, we’ve already had 55 days this year to get things done, to grow, to accomplish. We’ve had 55 days to play the harp. If you set goals at the beginning of the year, this is a good time to check in on them. Are you where you thought you’d b…

1
What to Do When Your Music is Boring You - PHH 196 36:59

3M ago36:59

36:59

They say that familiarity breeds contempt. Unfortunately, familiarity also breeds secure and confident music. We want to play our music well, and so we need to know it inside and out. That takes time. Learning music also takes time. And the longer we take to learn our music, the harder it can be to stay interested in it. No matter how much we love …

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Working From Both Sides: Arpeggio Skills in Context - PHH 195 35:09

4M ago35:09

35:09

When I was a kid, even before I had started harp lessons, I used to go to summer camp in the mountains. I grew up in the Philadelphia area, and the closest mountains to us were the Pocono Mountains. These aren’t mountains by Rocky Mountain standards, not nearly as high, peaked or impressive, but they are beautifully wooded and green, with rivers an…

1
Everyday Opportunities to Grow and Discover - PHH 194 34:26

4M ago34:26

34:26

When my husband and I moved into our new house four years ago, we were moving from a very small house that was part of our business in the mountains to a nice, roomy house in a neighborhood. When we moved to the mountains, we had too much furniture to fit in the little house; for instance, we had dining room furniture but the house had no dining ro…

1
Making Connections: Harpist Composer Sophia Dussek - PHH 193 30:15

4M ago30:15

30:15

Today’s episode focuses on the music of harpist, singer and composer Sophia Dussek. It is partly music history, partly harp history and partly harp technique. But it’s really about connection. I want to help you feel a connection to our roots, to some of the musical and harp traditions that aren’t merely history, but are part of the fabric of our d…

1
What a Harp Newbie Needs to Know (and the rest of us need to remember) - PHH 192 36:48

4M ago36:48

36:48

Do you remember when you were a harp newbie? Maybe you still are, or maybe you’ve been playing for a long time and the time you were a beginner is a distant memory. That’s me, of course, I was a harp newbie a very long time ago. However, I can remember clearly the excitement I felt in my early days of harp playing. You may have heard my harp story,…

1
The Technique Triangle: Fingers, Flow and Faith - PHH 191 32:43

5M ago32:43

32:43

What do fingers, flow and faith have to do with each other? Absolutely everything. The three things are totally interdependent. You can think of them as three corners of a triangle, each corner being connected to each of the other corners. And, just like the legs of a three-legged stool, all three support your playing. I’m guessing you haven’t thou…

1
Transforming Your Practice in 2025 - PHH 190 37:06

5M ago37:06

37:06

Happy New Year! I’m excited about 2025. I’m excited about all the harp happiness that you and I can add to the world together. I’m excited about the harp goals that I am putting in place for myself this year. And I’m extra excited about the opportunity to talk with you about your goals today. We aren’t actually going to be talking about goals as mu…

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Multiply Your Growth in 2025 - 5 Key Factors - PHH 189 36:22

5M ago36:22

36:22

We are in the final days of 2024, and I, for one, am looking forward to the new year. Every year, as December draws to a close, I am intrigued by the mysterious possibilities that may lie ahead. What opportunities will I discover? What challenges will I need to overcome? Who will I get to meet or know better this year? I am always excited to start …

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My 2024 Holiday Harp Music Mix - Just For You - PHH 188 34:51

5M ago34:51

34:51

A special holiday music mix just for podcast listeners! Lo, How a Rose E’er Blooming, arranged by Anne Sullivan I Wonder as I Wander, arranged by Anne Sullivan Ave Maria, by Franz Schubert, arranged by Anne Sullivan Sinfonia, from Bach’s Christmas Oratorio, arranged by Anne Sullivan Slumber Sweet, a medley of Christmas lullabies arranged by Scott L…

1
3 Simple Steps Toward Realizing Your Dream - PHH 187 35:18

6M ago35:18

35:18

As you probably know, one of the reasons I started Harp Mastery® back in 2012 was because of the number of adult harp students I was meeting who were frustrated by their lack of progress. Although these harpists were at different stages and interested in varying kinds of music, what they had in common was an incredibly strong desire to play the har…

1
Simplicity and Stillness: How to Create Calm in Your Harp Playing - PHH 186 35:42

6M ago35:42

35:42

One of the things I love about watching virtuoso artists perform is how easy they make it look. For instance, just this past summer I attended a reunion of many of us who attended the Salzedo Summer Harp Colony in Camden, Maine. One of the highlights of that weekend was a concert of music written by Carlos Salzedo, and the star performer on that co…

1
Create an Instant Arrangement with Variations - PHH 185 31:35

6M ago31:35

31:35

This is the time of year when, more than any other time, it pays to be an efficient harpist. Just what do I mean by efficient? There are lots of ways we can add more efficiency to our harping, for example, practicing more efficiently. But at the holiday time, efficiency takes on a different look. At the holidays, we have more music we want to play,…

1
Taking a Lesson from Chopin: Legato and Rubato - PHH 184 31:51

6M ago31:51

31:51

There are three ways we learn how to play the harp. The first and most obvious one is by doing. Playing and practicing is our “go to” method for learning. You can’t actually learn to play the harp without playing it. When my son was about 12 or 13, he fell madly in love with football. There weren’t any teams he could play on at his school or in our…

1
How to Focus on Doing Less to Get More Done - PHH 183 28:56

6M ago28:56

28:56

Are you feeling a little bit scattered or unsettled at the moment? It’s no wonder. Chaos is all around us in this crazy world, and there’s precious little we can do to fix it. But the chaos in our own personal harp world is something completely different. If you’re feeling any chaos or overwhelm about your harp playing, I have good news for you; th…

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

7M 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

7M 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

7M 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

7M 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…

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

8M 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

8M 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

8M 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

8M 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

9M 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

9M 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…

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

9M 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

9M 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

9M 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…

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

10M 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

10M 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

10M 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

10M 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

11M 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

11M 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…

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

11M 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…

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

11M 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 …

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

12M 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…

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Anne Sullivan Harpist And Harp Mastery Founder Podcasts

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