I was invited to submit an article for a Harp Society newsletter last year, and they asked me this wonderful question. I could probably have written a much longer response, but I’d LOVE to hear from you how you have fun with music!
“In your music book A Walk in the Woods, colorful solos for lever or pedal harp, you mentioned "having fun with the music." Would you share a few tips on how we have fun with music.”
Teachers often share with me that they have used my pieces in themed recitals, and the students have dressed in costume for the song. They might even change the title to go with the theme. I love this.
Though it's important to learn to read music and interpret what is written on the page, for me that's just the starting point. Once I have a piece "in my fingers", it's time to try taking things up or down an octave, add or omit passing tones and ornamentation, change the tempo or dynamics, improvise on the chord changes for a few bars, change the accompaniment pattern, introduce alternate chords, or even try out some extended techniques if it seems right. When I'm being creative like this, I don't critique or stop. I just go in a stream of "trying things out". I particularly listen for mistakes, because often my best ideas come out of them.
Even if you don't change a note, having fun with the music means letting the song have its own personality. If it's a bouncy piece, make the rhythm dance and feel it in your body. Be courageous with off-beats, live for the syncopations. If it's a scary piece, give yourself and your audience the chills! When you are playing a love song, feel those lyrics and try to phrase them as a vocalist would. Being an artist and a musical explorer does not mean tamely following the printed page. It's feeling the music inside you and not being afraid to express it.
At a long ago tea party, the organizers popped a hat on my head so I would be in compliance with the party dress code! It kept sliding off while I was playing, which struck me as terribly funny.