Introduction to the Harp

Harps around the World

There are many different types of harps. Some harps are more popular in certain parts of the world such as the Celtic Harp, played from 700 A.D. in Ireland. This harp, also called a lever harp, remains an important part of Irish and Scottish cultures and is played all over the world. The Paraguayan Harp, which serves as Paraguay's national instrument, is played all over South America and is becoming increasingly popular in the United States. The Pedal harp, or classical harp, was evolving in France during the 18th Century and is currently used in symphonies throughout the world.

Varieties

A harp might have lever action or pedal action, it could be double-strung, triple-strung, or cross-strung, and it may be tuned to concert C or another modal tuning scheme. Harps are strung with wire, nylon, or gut strings. The typical orchestral concert harp in the United States has pedals, is single strung (one row of strings) and has wire and gut strings to obtain the fullest sound. Small harps have around 22 strings and the largest harps found in symphony orchestras have 47 strings.

Tuning

Most harps in the United States are organized much like the white keys on the piano. The pitch of the strings in order are:

C - D - E - F - G - A - B - C

A color-coding system is used so that the player can locate the correct strings. Traditionally, every C is red, and every F is black or blue. Paraguayan harps, however, are tuned five halftones higher than classical harps thus having red strings as the F note and blue strings as B flat (Sometimes C). These harps use "taquitos" or wooden rods pressed against the strings to obtain sharp notes much like levers on Irish harps. Sharp and flat notes are played on a symphony harp by changing pedals at the base of the harp, each pedal corresponding to a note on the harp.

The Pedal Harp

The pedal harp has 7 pedals each with 3 positions: up, middle and down. When the pedal is in the up position, the note is flat. When the pedal is in the middle position, the note is natural. When the pedal is in the down position, the note is sharp.

From left to right, the pedals are: D C B E F G A

As shown above, there are 3 pedals on the left side of the harp and 4 pedals on the right side of the harp. Most of the time, the left foot works the pedals on the left, and the right foot works the pedals on the right.

Each pedal is connected to a rod that runs up through the harp column. The rod is connected to a series of links that are connected to pronged mechanisms at the top of each string. Moving the pedal causes the pronged mechanisms to move, which pinches the string and changes the pitch. When the pedal is in the flat position, the string is not pinched. When the pedal is in the natural position, one of the mechanisms pinches the strings and shortens it slightly. When the pedal is in the sharp position, both mechanisms pinch the string, shortening it even more. Sometimes, if two neighboring pedals are placed in the flat and sharp positions, the same note can be played on two different strings.