Hi folks

As some of you may know, I'm learning the harp. This last fortnight I've really taken advantage of some free time to get extra practice in. However, I've noticed the hard patches of skin on my fingertips getting bigger and larger almost day by day. I've had to re-evalute how I approach plucking, as the hardness is making a difference to the qualities of sound I produce.

I was wondering, do you guys get this on the instruments you play? Is it a matter of just adjusting the way you play to accomodate this, or do you prefer to use something that softens the hard patches without losing the pads?

if you play a bow instrument youd love hard finger tips, my teacher even suggested rubbing surgical spirits into my finger tips to harden them.

But i have no idea about harpists

Harp calluses are an interesting problem. Without any many players are prone to blisters (which ruin the tone quality) and with too much they can harshen the sound especially when playing fortissimo, even with great care over technique.

If you want to soften them which solution will work for you is very personal depending on your skin. I would advise you to go to a chemists and look in the foot care section for hard skin treatments and experiment. Mostly I use a moisturising cream, but occasionally when I have really serious calluses and need the best possible sound for a concert I will thin them with soap and pumice- don't, and I speak from experience, over do this. Another temporary help can be holding your hands in warm water before playing- Grandjany apparently did this, though I don't know if it was to soften the finger tips or as a warm up.