Do you have a bone sticking out in your left shoulder that’s not there in your right? I do from years of harp playing. Musicians are often left with aching pain from spending hours holding strange postures and holding tension in the body, often around the neck, shoulders, back and wrists. It’s so important to make sure you’re sitting at the right height for the harp, either raising up your harp on a box or sitting on a lower chair. I neglected this for too long and can have recurring back and shoulder pain.

Whether you have perfect posture or this is something you need to work on, giving some TLC to the shoulders is always a good thing. As harpers, we can be prone to rounding our shoulders forward, particularly on the left side with the reach of the left hand. Here are some great yoga videos to help counteract this shoulder-rounding and back pain. 

And of course, we gotta give some love to those hands:

 

I find it’s always really worth it when you’re performing to check in with yourself and ask yourself if you’re holding tension anywhere in your body as you’re playing. Your body will thank you and it can often help you to play in a more relaxed, easy way - and who doesn’t want that, eh?!

 

I really hope this is useful for you.

 

Aisling x