Where Did Those Bees Come From?

Beautiful harp playing sounds fluid, flowing and even. It sings with lovely melodies and resonates with lush chords. It sounds rich and warm and sparkly, all at the same time. What it doesn’t sound is buzzy, buzzy like a roomful of bees.

We all try not to buzz when we replace our fingers on the strings, but it takes a lot of work to get rid of all the “buzzing bees.” You can eliminate many of them however, and a great way to start is by doing less. Not less practice or less playing, but by moving less. Let me explain.

The core of our harp technique is closing our fingers all the way and then reopening them to replace them on the strings. Closing our fingers fully keeps us relaxed and produces a rich, full sound. The closing motion is one we need to keep.

On the other hand, excess motion that is not necessary for our playing can cause our hands to be unsteady and make our placing inaccurate and buzzy. Extra motion of our wrists - going in and out or twisting forward and back - can be a culprit. We need to have relaxed and supple wrists to play, but the motion should be related to our playing and not merely decorative. The same goes for our arms and elbows; move as needed, but not just for show. Efficiency and eliminating excess motion will help you reduce your buzzing.

The composer Mozart once said, ”The music is not in the notes, but in the silence between.” When we eliminate our buzzing, we can have silence between the notes, too.