Music (and the Harp) as Therapy

It has been proved that learning a musical instrument improves a child's concentration. I can well believe it. When you play the harp your brain has to concentrate on the notes on the page, your posture, your hand position, your feet, your balance, and the sound you are making - including pitch, rhythm and tonal quality. Every part of your body seems to be actively involved. You cannot play while slouching or with a poor hand position and your mind has to be totally focussed.

I have taught several people who regarded the lessons as therapy. One child with a slight deformity of the shoulder from birth enjoyed many years of harp playing and maintained that her shoulder was greatly strengthened. One child with a degenerative disease maintained that playing the harp kept their upper body strong for longer than was expected. A lady who was paralysed from the waist downwards after an accident continued playing the harp for many years, giving her upper body much needeed exercise and giving her much satisfaction. Dyslexic and dyspraxic children have also reaped much benefit from learning the harp.

Above all the harp can be a very soothing and satisfying instrument to play. Although a difficult instrument to master, in the early stages of learning it probably sounds better then any other instrument because it is impossible (nearly) to make a horrible noise with it!