I have very strong views (suprise, suprise!) on the subject of hand poition
and technique. They are complex, being based on a lot of work on
biology\anatomy, historical practice, modern technique and playing a *lot*
of harps. They could be expressed by several K of message space but can be
summerised by one line.
Find what works best for the combination of your harp and your hands and use it!
I have looked at and tried many modern positions ('correct ones' that is!)
and the logic behind them is fine *if* you need the sort of leverage
required to pluck a concert harp. That these positions are taught on small
and even early harps ( a pupil turned up with a gothic and perfect Salzedo
technique and wondered why she kept pulling the strings out of the
soundboard!) is a reflection on the dominance of the pedal harp in
teaching. Even on my single action harps, a 'thumb up, elbows up' technique
overpowers the harp and prevents the tone from coming out. By just relaxing
the hand and 'feeling the sound', the light stringing comes to life and
instead of sounding thin, it sounds bright.
Also, on the smaller harps, if one plays with a 'classial' position, the
distance between fingers and thumbs is such a huge amount of the string
length that if the thumbs are anywhere near the middle of the string, the
fingers are virtually PDLT!
All I would say in caution is that the hand and shoulders *must* be
relaxed. So many harpists have lower back trouble ( not , as common belief
would have it from lugging our babies about) caused by the strain of
holding the arms in the positions taught by certain schools.
Be open to what can improve your sound or make it easier to play but don't
feel that you are not doing it properly simply because you dont have
someone elses technique.
Be happy,
Mike.
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You cannot prevent the birds from flying over your head but you can stop
them from nesting in your hair. M Luther.