Sitting at the harp

[unknown-user]

Hi folks,

I will ask my teacher to help me with this, but I am wondering what people look for/feel when they are sitting properly at the pedal harp.

[Saul Davis Zlatkovski]

You can sit higher than that. Your arms and legs both have to be comfortable.

[Briggsie B. Peawiggle]

I am almost 6′ tall. I don’t have that problem (even with a smaller harp), but I would if I pulled it up too close to me. Have you tried moving farther away from the harp and then finding the balance point?

Briggs

[carl-swanson]

I agree with Briggsie. You may be too close to the instrument. You may have to lean slightly forward while sitting further away from the instrument to find the right balance point. Maybe too, you just have to get used to the feeling of playing a smaller instrument and that it’s not that bad once you adjust. I’m 5’11” and I play a 45 string semi-grand built in 1899 as my preferred instrument. I sit quite low(on a diningroom chair) and I’m very comfortable. When I play a concert grand, I have to sit higher.

[unknown-user]

Thanks for the tips.

[Elizabeth Volpé Bligh]

When you’re sitting at the harp, your feet should be able to comfortably move all the pedals. With your shoulders at their normal height, and your elbows out, forearms parallel to the floor, your hands should arrive at the mid-point of the strings without having to reach up or down. There should not be a lot of weight on your shoulder. If you have especially long legs or torso, you will have to experiment with how low you sit and how far away from the harp, but keep trying until you’re comfortable. Then measure how high your chair is and how far away you are! After finding the ideal set-up, you’d hate to lose it again!

[Saul Davis Zlatkovski]

Also, mark the floor with tape or white pencil where the harp’s feet and chair’s feet are positioned, and if you keep them on rubber mats, they will swivel out of position less.

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