Re: Harp Mothers

[Elizabeth Volpé Bligh]

I have occasionally run into these types of parents, and it always seems to end badly. Every kid has their own talents, and some learn faster than others. And you are abolutely right that harp music is much more labor-intensive to learn than that of a single-line instrument. Piano is much more tactile and doesn’t require flamenco feet doing a whole separate choreography. I hope, with enough back-up opinions, you can convince this parent to let the child take a reasonable pace and not push her into hating the harp. The important thing right now is to step back and let her finish building her technique! It will do her no favor to let her continue without the building blocks of relaxed, strong hands and gorgeous sound. Strong, slow practice, with enough time to pay attention to detail will get her to winning competitions FASTER than rushing into them now. Hope this helps!