How to Stop Hitting Extra Strings on the Harp

If your fingers have been hitting more than one string and you just can’t seem to get a clean sound, you are in the right place!

I’m Samantha, welcome or welcome back to the harp studio, and today I’m going to show you the same tricks I’ve taught my students for the last ten years that have fixed this problem every time.

There are a few things that might be happening here, and the first one you’ll want to check is the angle of your fingers.

1. Finger Angle

If your fingers are pointing toward the wall or are angled pretty horizontally, that can cause your finger to hit extra strings, because the path your finger takes when you play goes straight into the string behind it.

To fix this, all you need to do is angle your fingers a little more diagonally downward, sort of pointing to where the wall meets the floor. Leave your thumb where it is, and your other fingertips may need to slide down the strings just a little bit; don’t stretch them too far away.

2. Finger Direction

If that didn’t fix your problem, don’t worry! You might just need to think a little more about the direction you move your finger when you play it.

Imagine an invisible line from the tip of your finger to where it will land in your palm when you close it. That should be down and outward from the strings at an angle that won’t intersect with the strings.

Then when you play, try to have your finger follow that path, and you should get a nice clean sound.

3. Hand Position

If you’re still having trouble, let’s double-check a couple of things in your hand position.

First, make sure you haven’t put too much of your finger through the string. If you’ve got too much of the squishy part of your finger pad on the far side of the string, it can make it hard to move past the string, and the extra effort you need to play can send your finger off in a direction you didn’t intend.

Then, make sure you’ve got at least a little curve in your fingers. If your finger is too straight, it can be really hard to play it in a direction that misses other strings.

To fix this, you’ll need to position your palm a little farther forward so your fingers don’t have to reach as far. If you feel like now there’s not enough space for your fingers, bring the palm a little farther outward away from the strings.

And with that, you should have a beautiful clean sound from every finger.

Thanks for reading, and happy harping! 🎵

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