harp playing & carpal tunnel question
Aeronstorm
I developed carpal tunnel from guitar playing (and aggravated it with much
typesetting). I have always been interested in learning the harp but I don't
want to get into the expense of a new instrument if it will turn out to put too
much stress on my left wrist. Any information from harpists out there would be
greatly appreciated. Is harp playing linked with any repetitive stress injuries
such as carpal tunnel?
Thanks in advance.
In service,
Ariane
eril...@trashspamwin.bright.net
In article <199806220108...@ladder01.news.aol.com>,
aeron...@aol.com (Aeronstorm) wrote:
I'm sure you'll get answers from people who have played much longer than
I, but I find the harp much easier on both fingers and wrist(especially
easier on the left wrist) than guitar, to say nothing of violin. It's also
much harder to make an unpleasant sound with a harp;-)
erilar--who has been a harpslave for a bit over a year now
--
Mechthild zur Drachenhoehle, erilar
|\ /|\ | |\ |\ |\
| \/ |/ | | |\ |/
| |\ | | | |\
Erilar's Cave Annex:
http://www.win.bright.net/~erilarlo
Vicki Hyde
eril...@TRASHSPAMwin.bright.net wrote:
> I, but I find the harp much easier on both fingers and wrist(especially
> easier on the left wrist) than guitar, to say nothing of violin. It's
About the only hassle of that sort that I have had in a year or two of
perpeatually learning the harp is a pain in the ball of my right foot
(!)
I couldn't figure out why it was hurting until I noticed that, when I
sat on anything other than my harp stool to play, I would shove my foot
under the foot of the harp and flex my toes upwards to provide a more
stable platform.
My tutor suggested I make a small cushion to wedge under it (which I'll
do one of these days to match my harp stool cover), but being sure to
use seating of the correct height has helped too.
katherine kerr, who doesn't normally walk like this, honest...
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C&HWOOD
Greetings from Linette de Gallardon, a 9-year (my God, has it really
been that long???) harper from the East Kingdom!
aeron...@aol.com (Aeronstorm) wrote:
>I developed carpal tunnel from guitar playing (and aggravated it with much
>typesetting). I have always been interested in learning the harp but I don't
>want to get into the expense of a new instrument if it will turn out to put too
>much stress on my left wrist. Any information from harpists out there would be
>greatly appreciated. Is harp playing linked with any repetitive stress injuries
>such as carpal tunnel?
The short answer: yes, harp playing *can* be linked with carpal
tunnel syndrome.
The long answer: however, there's a lot you can do about it to try to
prevent it from happening to you. First, get a harp that is
*light-tension*, meaning the strings are not as tense as those on a
concert harp (those large harps with pedals you see in orchestras).
This works out well if you want a period-looking & -sounding harp.
Most folk harps have lighter tension than concert harps, but there is
wide variation. My harp has very low tension, sounds wonderful, and I
can play it a fair amount despite having bad arthritis in my hands and
wrists since I was 3 years old. I've tried some other harps with
higher tension, and my hands were in significant pain after just a few
notes. Or, conversely, you could get a wire-strung harp. I've heard
from wire-harpers that because you use the fingernails to pull the
sound from the metal strings, the strength of pull needed is not as
much as with nylon or gut. I'd suggest not getting gut, even though
of course it's terribly period. It's usually very high-tension and
requires a really good technique to play, and it sounds like that
might be too hard on your wrist.
Secondly, find a teacher who is flexible enough in his/her idea of
"technique" to help you find something that works for you. Especially
if you're doing this for fun, and not for music "competitions," MHO is
that you should worry about getting the sound you want from the harp
without hurting your body, not whether your hand and wrist position
conforms with some teacher's idea of "perfect" technique. I recommend
a booklet by Laurie Riley on preventing harp related injury - can't
remember the title just now but I'll try to search it up.
Thirdly, take it slow for a while. It's easy to get caught up in the
music and play for hours a day for a few weeks...and then to pay for
it for as many weeks or more. You really need to listen to your body,
and stop when muscle tiredness sets in. You have to build up those
muscles, even though they're tiny ones in your hands and wrists.
Finally, unless you plan to play *a lot*, you probably don't have to
worry too much. Most people I've talked to who play for fun have had
no problem. It's usually professionals who have a risk, and often
they're working for 6-8 hours a day on high-tension concert pedal
harps.
If you plan on going to the Pennsic War, I'll be teaching a class
called Introduction to the Harp (twice, on Saturday and Wednesday, I
think), running a low key harp competition (Wednesday?), and running
the Pennsic Performing Arts Festival Instrumental Day (Thursday) (Uh,
can we say Linette volunteered for a few too many things this year?).
I'll also be spending at least some time at my Dad's booth
(Silvershell Musical Instruments), and conducting tours of the
harpmakers at the War. I love to help people find the right harp for
them, and to talk harp, so feel free to contact me if you have any
other questions.
Linette de Gallardon
Holly Wood
Remove the extra a from norseman to email successfully.
Julie M. Lehrman
There are many different types of harp on the market today…which makes it
hard to give an absolute answer about the correlation between hand/wrist
problems and playing the harp.
Modern Orchestral/Pedal harps usually have high tension on their strings.
The techniques used to play with the volume required to cut through/be
heard with an Orchestra are very demanding on the wrists and hands.
Especially when performed incorrectly, several of these techniques are
known to cause repetitive stress injuries in the hands, wrists, neck, and
back.
The harps that are more appropriate to the time period covered by the SCA
are usually built with MUCH lighter tension on the strings. Our
instruments are smaller, we don't need the volume to compete, the string
materials that would have been available have different mass to breaking
strength ratios and the glues holding the harps together would have
different properties than the modern materials used in Pedal Harps.
The historical information, and modern reproductions that I've seen lead
to very lightly strung instruments.
I know of at least one former professional in the Society whose repetitive
stress injuries from pedal harp forced her to change her career, but who
is still able to play her lightly tensioned folk harp as long as she is
careful. In order to do so, she had to analyze her playing technique and
modify it to prevent further injury…but she is still playing.
Laurie Riley has a booklet on the market concerning the prevention of
injury while playing harp. I've not read it, but it may be useful to you.
It is available via the Sylvia Woods Harp Shop (and other places too).
There is an active mailing list concerning harp playing. (Subscription
requests should be sent to harp-r...@zendo.com) I know repetitive
stress injuries have been discussed before, so you may want to check the
harp list archives at http://www.tns.lcs.mit.edu/harp/
I know I might be considered treasonous for suggesting an activity that
conflicts with Pennsic, but I would also strongly suggest trying to get to
the Historical Harp Conference which is being held as part of the Amherst
Early Music Festival this year. The Conference is at Amherst College
August 9-11 with a week of workshops the following week. I would suggest
trying to study with Bill Taylor and Cheryl Ann Fulton…I've never seen
anybody else get as much music out of as small a harp as these two.
My second suggestion to you is that you try to play as many different
harps as possible before you buy one. Everybody's hands are different
and the harp that fits me might be wrong for you and the harp that has the
sound you love might not be to my taste. The Conference provides one
opportunity to try/hear many harps (as does Pennsic). A harp with
narrower spacing between the strings (leading to a shorter reach for
chords in the bass hand) might put less strain on your left wrist. I've
had problems with the big reach on my larger harp when I don't play for a
while.
Juliana de la Harpa
--
Julie Lehrman May a song always brighten
UVa Environmental Health & Safety your heart and your hearth
jm...@virginia.edu -Gypsy blessing
http://www.people.virginia.edu/~jml2q
Yar...@my-dejanews.com
In article <8F_j1.16$QU4.1...@news3.voicenet.com>,
nors...@voicenet.com wrote:
>
> Greetings from Linette de Gallardon, a 9-year (my God, has it really
> been that long???) harper from the East Kingdom!
>
> aeron...@aol.com (Aeronstorm) wrote:
>
> >I developed carpal tunnel from guitar playing (and aggravated it with much
> >typesetting). I have always been interested in learning the harp but I don't
> >want to get into the expense of a new instrument if it will turn out to put
too
> >much stress on my left wrist. Any information from harpists out there would
be
> >greatly appreciated. Is harp playing linked with any repetitive stress
injuries
> >such as carpal tunnel?
>
> The short answer: yes, harp playing *can* be linked with carpal
> tunnel syndrome.
> Or, conversely, you could get a wire-strung harp. I've heard
> from wire-harpers that because you use the fingernails to pull the
> sound from the metal strings, the strength of pull needed is not as
> much as with nylon or gut.
much tighter than on most nylon or gut, which can be a blessing or a curse for
those with repetitive motion injuries. Advice: try one first!
> I recommend a booklet by Laurie Riley on preventing harp related injury -
Yes. All kinds of injury - shoulder, neck, and hand. You should be able to
find it through the Sylvia Woods Harp Center. Laurie also does workshops in
which she evaluates playing position.
> Thirdly, take it slow for a while. It's easy to get caught up in the
> music and play for hours a day for a few weeks...and then to pay for
> it for as many weeks or more. You really need to listen to your body,
> and stop when muscle tiredness sets in. You have to build up those
> muscles, even though they're tiny ones in your hands and wrists.
>
Also, take breaks *during* your practice session. Do stretches first. Make
absolutely certain that your posture and hand position are appropriate. And
watch out for the deadly combination of computer keyboards and harps - take
the breaks and do the stretches when computing as well.
(Mistress) Vivien o Caer Blaiddiau
a 14-year wirestrung player
Warning: there's no cure for harpies!
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