Harp Lessons

Students may study Celtic, Paraguayan, folk, jazz, pop repertoires with me in addition to classical. I encourage creativity in each student and some find they share my love for composition. An understanding of theory is also important to perform music expressively and to make sightreading and memorization more efficient, so I emphasize this in lessons as well. I help students practice and develop performance skills, but understand that some students learn harp for personal enjoyment only. It's important to assist each student in achieving their personal goals on harp.

Philosophy of Teaching Composition

I have greatly enjoyed the opportunities I have had to teach composition to children, teenagers, college and university students. There is not a structured pedagogy of composition, but I apply concepts I have studied from the great music pedagogues including Nadia Boulanger, Shinichi Suzuki, Bela Bartok, Robert Pace, Maurice Hinson, and have also gained pedagogical insights from the visual arts. From these pedagogues I have learned the value of deep listening in musical development, of being exposed to a wide variety of styles and compositional techniques, understanding texture and layers, how to systematically present concepts by building on what is known, the importance of integrating all aspects of musical development, and most of all the importance of nurturing the student as a whole person. I value using positive reinforcement and creating an environment in which mistakes can be discussed in an honest, clear, and relaxed manner.

During my doctoral studies I took a curriculum development seminar during which time I developed a curriculum for teaching composition to pre-college students called Budding Composers. Teaching the aesthetic principles of sound is the focus of this curriculum. This provides the student with an aesthetic framework by which they can interpret and find relevance in a variety of musical styles. Principles include such concepts as the impact of dynamics, silence, pitch, tension and resolution, tempo, pulse, etc. and how these may express meaning and communicate the human experience. Being exposed to a wide variety of specific applications of these principles offers the student a rich palette of sound from which to draw their creativity. This is achieved through listening to, and understand the theory behind, various musical systems. Students must first understand the principle of tension and resolution before applying it to one specific context of harmony. This avoids the danger of confusing an aesthetic principle with one, narrow application of that principle.

Having respect for the student's personal creative space is paramount to teaching composition. A student's desire to create sounds that are personally relevant and meaningful will allow them to find themselves as both artist and individual. Nurturing a student's individuality lights their path to a sense of personal ownership over their created sounds. It is also important as a teacher to create an environment of safety, in which mistakes may occur. A blank page of staff paper can be intimidating, so I remind my students that composing isn't about coming up with only good ideas, it is about coming up with many ideas and learning how to select which ones fit your expression and meaning best. If you have a seed and patience, you can certainly start with mud and eventually produce something that lives and grows. 

It is necessary for the growth of any composer to hear their works performed. While I encourage student to compose for instruments they play, it is important to expand their instrumental palette to include instruments their friends and family play. In a structured music school environment, it is always useful in a composition studio to have a new music ensemble in which the student composers perform. This way a variety of instrumental combinations is available to all the students. Orchestration is the art of hearing timbres, and cannot be learned properly without this experience.

Composition Lessons

Students may study composition by itself, or in conjunction with their harp lessons. I encourage exposure to a wide variety of styles, and respect student's individual preferences. Theory and orchestration are the composer's technical studies that enable the student to better communicate with their personal voice. The creative process is approached with a different goal in mind than the theory lessons. Theory requires imitation of rules, whereas composing is the process of creating rules and finding a sense of personal freedom and meaning.