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Back issues
I actually have a deformity in my spine that makes it painful to hold my arms out in front of me for very long. I’m improvising by resting my right elbow (that’s the side that gets it worst) on the arm of a chair while playing. Not sure if that’s a long term solution, I’ve just started, would love to hear other suggestions.
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6 Replies
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I have a comparable problem (cause nerve/muscle disease), leading to the same issues. For me it worked, kind of, to have my (floor)harp a bit lower than usual, so I need to lift my arms less. All other options that I tried failed or didn’t work at the long run. It’s too bad. I can play for 20-30 min max.
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I hear you, I have to keep my time short too. Still, it’s better than no harp at all…
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Back Health
I went from a lap harp (harpsicle) to a lightish, really well balanced floor harp (Hermes) which helped relax my lower back and upper back almost immediately.
Also, I put the harp a bit farther from my neck on my right shoulder and changed the angle of the harp from around10 to about 15 degrees (so the pillar is angled more towards my left side) and it seems to be helping me keep everything straight in my spine and made it easier for me to get good arm position on both sides with less fatigue.and it seems to be helping me keep everything straight in my spine and made it easier for me to get good arm position on both sides with less shoulder fatigue.
I put my music stand on the right side of my harp (just behind the strings) so it is straight in my eyeline which is also helping me keep my back straight. (If I get good enough to need 3 sheets of music during one song I may need an alternate solution but not even close to there yet.)
One of the videos on harp column academy has some good “how to sit tutorials.”
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Lately I’ve been experimenting with playing “backwards”, that is playing with the harp on my left shoulder and playing the right hand part with my left hand. Everyone says not to do that but I have no interest in becoming a professional musician or performing harpist, and they say the old Celtic harpists used to play it that way so it is apparently not impossible. It does seem a little easier on my back on the right side. Does anyone have thoughts about this?
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I’m continuing to play backwards, it does seem to give me a little relief since my right side is worse than my left. So far it’s working for me.
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Given my skill level and the fact that I never plan to play at a very high level I think being able to play at all is probably more important than being able to flip levers fast. But if that gets to be a problem I guess I’ll have to deal with it. I can’t really change the fact that part of my spine is missing.
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