Get to know C major
Taught by Amanda Whiting
Amanda Whiting teaches how to start improvising using the key of C Major. “When you say to somebody, ‘Improvise anything,’ that’s the scary element. It’s like asking someone to write a story about anything. You need some sort of parameters to feel like you’re in control of it.”
The iron triangle
Taught by Jaymee Haefner
Jaymee Haefner explains how the “Iron Triangle” can lead to more productive practice by balancing efficiency and quality at the same time.
Left-hand patternsโsuspensions with large intervals
Taught by Kim Robertson
Kim Robertson demonstrates how to create beautiful left-hand patterns using suspensions. She explains, “The [ninth pattern] creates a nice rolling droneโI use it all the time for my Christmas carols.”
Playing fast
Taught by Alice Giles
Alice Giles teaches how to strengthen hands and fingers to play fast. “To play fast, your fingers need to be able to move freely. If they can swing into the palm of your hand freely, without being slowed downโฆthey can come in like lightning.”
Discussing Faurรฉโs Impromptu
With the Dallas Harp Quartet
Members of the Dallas Harp Quartet perform and discuss Impromptu, Op. 86, by Gabriel Faurรฉ. Grace Browning shares her strategy that “if I give myself time to breathe as a singer would, I not only feel better, but my phrasing is usually better.”
