I don’t have much piano background (and what I have was long ago…as in more than 30 years ago).

Harp was the first time I had come across base clef and I only remember having a little trouble.

Not only do I not have a piano background, I have virtually no music background!

I also didn’t have piano lessons as a child. My very dear grandmama told my mother she shouldn’t waste the money on them because I’d probably lose interest. I didn’t, but when I finally began lessons it was terribly frustrating, and although I had to take 6 miserable semesters of class piano in college, the most interesting thing I ever did there was fall off the piano bench, nearly giving our timid little professor a coronary.

When I learned that there were some similarities between reading harp music and piano music I nearly turned and ran the other way. I could read both clefs with no problem, but I was never ever was able to coordinate two hands. I don’t know why I can with harp but thank God, I can.

People are so different. I imagine that there are people who can become very good players without having previous experience. I really think I was hampered by keyboard fear. It is a joyful thing to take out something you worked on two or three months ago and find that it’s not the dragon (or cricket), you thought it was. Just keep pluckin’.

Try this- there’s nothing mystical about it, but I played viola for a good while before I learned alto clef.

I decided that what I needed was to develop a really solid relationship with the grand staff, so every single night before I went to sleep, I visualized the great staff and the position of middle C (I made that my anchor). Then very slowly, I’d visualize putting the B below middle C on the top space, then add the A and so on. I worked on those 3 notes for a whole week. I also did my visualization when I was brushing my teeth. Of