What if you could … 

√  Just sit down and sing and play – any time you want, without music, all alone for fun… or with friends and family ?

√  Accompany singers – or any other instrument – by reading simple chords and creating accompaniment patterns on the fly

√  Create a super-simple arrangement of a song someone asks you to play for them

√  Learn a whole set of songs to add singing to your harp repertoire

√  Sing & play songs that people know and love – in therapeutic situations

√  Create a sing-along for children – children in your family, or at a library – or even a children’s concert

√  Feel totally coordinated when you put singing and playing together

√  Have a set of SIMPLE STEPS to follow as you learn to understand the basics of how singing-and-playing works –  so you could create your own songs.

If you have basic to advanced harp skills from advanced-beginner level to professional, this class will give you the skills to do all this and more – to just sit down and play and sing –  from a sheet of lyrics and chords,  just the way folk guitarists do.

What if three hours from now…

√  You could sing & play a dozen songs with your friends and family – and know exactly how to add even more songs to your repertoire

√  You’d know how to play along with others in simple 3-Chord songs. That means you’d be joining in on jams, at church, or around the campfire (wait … does anyone sing around the campfire anymore?)

√  You’d be playing simple, effective accompaniments for singers (including yourself!) – or any other instrument – by reading simple chords

√ You’d be able to lead children’s sing-alongs (or anyone singalongs)

√ You’d be singing song people love in therapeutic situations – or, better yet, play for them to sing with you.

√ You’d have the basic skills to start creating your own songs

Most importantly – you’d be truly DOING it – not just ‘learning how’ –  but doing it, connecting, sing and playing and having so much fun doing it!

The Power of “3-Chord Magic.”

“3-Chord Magic” teaches you the 3 basic chords that unlock your ability to play hundreds of folk songs, how to play these chords so well you can do it with your eyes closed, how to coordinate playing with singing, add a bass-line – and how to do this all by yourself – or with friends.

You’ll get a 12-song setlist (lyrics & chords), a 5-minute warmup you can do daily, and video lessons you can watch over and over so you know how to put it all together.

You also get two very cool BONUSES: a super-simple version of my song “The Nightingale” and a song you can sing with others called “You Have a Voice.” PLUS a set up warmups to give you new accompanimental ideas and a separate set of videos that shows you how to expand the harmony of each piece.

How does “Sing & Play Harp” Work? How is it an “Immersion”?

The class is called an “Immersion Class” because it’s most effective to take the entire class in one day – and then start putting it into play.  Of course, you can also review it – or take it at your own pace – you’ll have 6 months access. But you won’t need that. Once you learn the basics, it’s all about putting them into play and starting the process of gaining fluency and opening to discovery.

It was originally planned as a series in which each new immersion unlocks another level of completion – but we discovered that it worked better to include different ways to expand the class right in the classroom itself. That means that, along with the basic training you also get a whole series of accompaniment patterns, and a warmup with videos to help you learn them.  It also includes a series of expansion videos for each piece showing you how you could expand the harmony beyond the basic 3 chords.

You don’t have to use these expansion materials. You can use the basic class to sing and play to your heart’s content.  And I do encourage you to really enjoy the simplicity of the basic training and put it into play as you sing.  I also want you to know that you can be fully expressive at each level – and to explore that before expanding the accompaniment patterns or harmonies.  The magic happens as you play and the simpler you keep it, the more it expands on its own.  As you become fluent at each level and learn to ‘speak’ with the music, you’ll start to discover new things you can do – and to connect more with your yourself, your instrument, the music – and other people!

When you’re ready – the additional accompaniment patterns and harmonic expansions are available in the classroom as resources to use whenever you want to expand.

What this course is NOT

This course will give you everything you need: the skills, the freedom and the power to sing and play harp at the same time, or with others. It will give you the power to CONNECT with yourself, the music, your instrument and others.  If you apply what you learn, you will be fluent at playing-and-singing.  AND … there are a few things this course is NOT about:

• Vocal Technique. We will be singing from the start, and we won’t be focusing on how you sound. but our focus is on how to combine singing and playing. If you want to work on your vocal technique, your sound, or your ease of singing, I’ve arranged a special discount from a well-known voice-coach in the Boston-area who can work with you virtually – either 1-on-1 or in her online classes.
• Vocal-instrumental ‘arrangements’. You will get – as a bonus – two of my simplified arrangements for harp and voice, but this class isn’t about learning to play vocal-instrumental arrangements. It’s about being able to sit down to play-and-sing like you would sit down to have a conversation.
• Styles such as Pop, Classical, Blues, etc. You can apply what you learn to many different styles of music, but in this class, we’re concentrating on traditional folk songs (mostly American folk songs) – though you’ll be able to apply what you learn to many different styles of music
• Songwriting. We won’t be talking about song-writing in this class – though you’ll definitely be able to apply what you learn in this class to writing your own original songs.   

Here’s what I need YOU need to do:

Embrace the joyful imperfection of learning to sing-and-play as if you were a child. Leave your critical voice outside the room and embrace the foundational principle of all my work:

Music is about Connection ~ not perfection.

And commit to having big, wonderful FUN, learning to ..

Sing & Play the Harp

You have a voice that’s yours alone

This is the tie to bind you
Deep in the dark of evermore
That’s how your soul can find you

So raise your voice,
for in the end
it’s all we have to bring.
This is the sound that turns lost into found,
When we sing

You have a voice that tells a tale
Nobody else can tell it as well

This is the tale, the song,
The story of you.

So raise your voice,
for in the end
it’s all we have to bring.
This is the sound that turns lost into found,
When we sing

(Deborah Henson-Conant  – from “You Have a Voice.”)

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