Broken strings? Just restrung your harp? Upcycle them! Not only can you sometimes tie them to make them still playable (exhibit A, exhibit B), but you can also use them for a fun craft project! Try assigning your student to make something out of used harp strings. You can let the student have creative say and you never know how you’ll be pleasantly surprised!
You could also try your hand at something like this, found on the University of Illinois’ harp department Facebook page.
String crafts could be a fun activity for a music camp as well. Harp strings are so pricey, it’s a shame to just toss them! Plus, reusing is not only trendy as a “green” activity, it’s also fun, free/inexpensive, and lowers the amount of waste!
If you or your students make some harp string art, show me in the comments, on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter! You could also certainly try this with other instrument strings!
What’s the craziest thing you’ve seen made out of musical instrument strings?
-Barbara
UPDATE: Shop upcycled harp string earrings in the Fischarper shop!
Barbara Fischer runs Fischarper, LLC and loves her job as a harpist and private music educator. She enjoys blogging about various aspects of the music field on fischarper.com/blog. For more music resources, check out the Fischarper store. Find out where you can find Barbara on the interwebs here. And you can sign up to receive Fischarper updates by joining the email list.