Hi Caitlyn,Are you warming up before you play with exercises like the Salzedo Conditioning Exercises or Deborah Friou’s Exercises, or simply scales and arpeggios?I can’t say enough good things about the Salzedo exercises. They really build hand strength and finger independence. It could be that you just need to be a little “warmer” when playing. If I don’t play warm, I sometimes experience stiffness and pain. A few other ideas:Are you keeping your wrist in a straight line with your hand or is it “popping up” when you play? Are you making sure to close each finger fully into your palm after playing the string? Are you lifting after playing each note or chord?Are you playing thumbs up, forearms facing the ceiling (whether the back of your hands face up or to the side, these two points are important).If there’s any way you can have a teacher or even another harpist check your hand position, it would be great – but another idea is to videotape yourself! My teacher has recommended this to me over the years and it really helps. Sometimes we just can’t see what we’re doing wrong from behind the harp Hannah