#069: Steps to Taking the Plunge into the Digital World with Kristina Finch

Today we’re talking technology, the technology that has changed the lives of harpists everywhere. It’s the world of digital sheet music - PDFs, tablets, computers, foot pedals, all the things that have made thick binders of sheet music a distant memory - thankfully! - for so many of us.

Consider how an innovation works. Usually it doesn’t change the world all at once. The Wright brothers managed to get their airplane off the ground, but it took a lot of time and development before the general public could fly coast to coast. There was a span of nearly a hundred years between Alexander Graham Bell’s invention of the telephone and Motorola’s first handheld cellular phone. It takes time to sort out what is really useful about a new technology and how it can benefit the person on the street, or in our case today, the harpist at the harp.

Sheet music downloads have been around for a long time. I published my first downloadable music PDFs way back in 2004. Granted, the technology for delivering them and using them was primitive by today’s standards, and you still had to print them out, but that’s my point. Here we are nearly 20 years later and purchasing, downloading and playing from PDFs is simple and commonplace. 

Even harpists who aren’t fans of computers are often quite comfortable with this aspect of technology. It has now gotten to the point where using digital sheet music is enough easier and more convenient that it is worth your time to figure it out. 

But if you haven’t taken the digital plunge yet, today’s podcast will help you feel more confident about doing so. Or if you made the leap a while ago and want to know some of the best practices and insider tips for getting the most out of your digital tools, you’re going to love this episode too.

Just a little while ago, Dr. Kristina Finch, who is one of our amazing Harp Mastery® Certified Coaches, presented a seminar to our My Harp Mastery members on this topic. Kristina is not only a fabulous harpist and a gifted coach, but she is a tech wizard. So I had asked her to teach our members how she uses her iPad and how to put the technology together. She did such a spectacular job that I pulled out just a part of the recording of her live seminar to share with you. If you haven’t met her before, you are going to love her energy and enthusiasm in addition to all the great information she shares.

By the way, I use digital music and I don’t have an iPad. This technology is available to you if you are an Android or Windows user too, so don’t think you have to buy a new computer or tablet to take advantage of this. I use my Windows Surface Pro for my music, not an iPad. Kristina talks mostly about the iPad in her presentation, and I want to be sure that those of you who don’t have Apple products know what tools you need. So I have put together a free PDF called the Digital Sheet Music Cheat Sheet for Harpists. It’s a quick one-page guide to devices, apps, and foot pedals that will help you get started whether you’re an Apple, Android or Windows user. To get the PDF, just go to the link in the show notes for this episode. I’ll remind you about it, plus I’ll share a couple of other bits of info at the end of the show.

Right now, let’s get started with Kristina’s presentation.

Links to things I think you might be interested in that were mentioned in the podcast episode: 

• Free PDF resource: Digital Sheet Music Cheat Sheet for Harpists
• Related resource: Practice Friend or Practice Enemy: The Great Cell Phone Debate blog post
• Harpmastery.com

Get involved in the show! Send your questions for future podcast episodes to me at [email protected]