One thing I love about teaching at Hip Harp Academy is getting to see the “Final Beginning Projects” that each student does. This is a culmination of Cath Connelly’s experience in the Blues Harp-Style class – and this is just the beginning!

This post is from a series that shares the Final-Begining Projects from one of my first Blues Harpstyle online courses. Students created short videos based on what they learned in the course, and answered 5 questions about what they got from the challenge of this project.

Below you can see Cath’s answers to a set of questions I always ask each person to answer about their projects.  If you love the learning process, make sure you read these questions and answers because they often hold a gift of illumination about how we can approach any creative project.

CATH SAYS …

As a die-hard Celtic harper, I wanted to take the Celtic genre and shake it up.  I guess I wanted to parody my own passion for Celtic music.   The idea of the shadow behind the harp was to be the shadow side of myself that was wanting to break free of folk music.

As a die-hard Celtic harper, I wanted to take the Celtic genre and shake it up. Share on X

1. Give a short description of what it took for you to get to the place of being able to play what you did – both logistically and emotionally

I had to really trust that somewhere within me I had the music that I needed to find.  For about a week I went to bed hoping that my dreams might tap into this creative space – and they did!  Two mornings I woke up with snatches of phrases waiting for exploration.  This is part of the trusting myself part – I had no idea what the final project would be like, but I had these two snatches so I went with them.

I had to really trust that somewhere within me I had the music that I needed to find. Share on X

2. What freedoms and blocks in yourself did you connect with (or struggle with) in the process?

Blocks were about not really having had enough time to develop the riffs of the blues so I needed to find a way to use minimal riffs and yet still sound bluesy.  Freedoms – it was so fun to immerse myself in this project 🙂

3. What challenges did you meet to connect with your own freedom of expression in this project?

I never had blues music as a child.  It was all classical at home.  I discovered this tapped into feelings of inadequacy about just what the blues sounds like.  Is my project really blues?  Do I have the right vibe?   Would anyone else recognise it as blues?

4. What were your personal “Ahas”?

This is fun!  Right outside comfort zone and yet that is the very reason I took this course.  My ‘aha’ is to just enjoy the experience and not try to come up with the all-perfect finished project.  Just to go with the feel and fun.

Right outside comfort zone and yet that is the very reason I took this course. Share on X

5. Is there anything else you´d like to tell people who are watching your video?

Deborah is an extraordinarily gifted teacher.  Deep thanks…

A NOTE TO THE READER FROM DHC

Hey, thanks for reading this example of what it’s like to go thru a course with me! Did you have A-ha’s or revelations watching the video & reading the answers she wrote? Add your comments below. Please – no critiques – just share what you learned from someone courageously sharing a project that’s the BEGINNING of a lifelong learning journey.

Check out the beginning of a lifelong #harp learning journey Share on X

Want to do some courageous learning yourself? Click here to register for my next Free Online Training and check out my next online course especially for harp players.