Concert harps, on the other hand, are fully chromatic and can play in any key. Keys are changed by moving pedals located at the rear of the harp with your feet. There are seven pedals one for each note of the scale , each of which which change all the relevant notes on the harp simultaneously. For more details you can watch Allan explain in the video on the left or we have a whole page dedicated to this very topic.
As you search for harps, one of the first things you will notice is that the number of strings differs broadly depending on the make and model, leaving the budding harpist or their parents! Put briefly, the more strings a harp has the bigger the instrument will be and in general the louder the sound please note: more strings does not always equal a better sound. The most common number of strings for lever or Celtic harps is This will allow you to play a wide range of music and is also the accepted number of strings for most exam boards.
A string harp can take you all the way from beginner to advanced. Harps with 36 strings are also fairly common. These tend to be bigger instruments in general and are often played by professionals who want a slightly louder sound with different string spacing and tension.
The extra two strings are of course useful, but not vital for a beginner. There can be many reasons for this, not least of which is cost and ease of transportation. Although it may seem counter intuitive, a larger harp is often easier to play than a smaller harp. Lap harps, for example, often need to be held in a particular way to prevent them from falling off your knee, whereas larger floor-standing harps only need to be rested on the shoulder — freeing up both arms and hands to concentrate on playing.
Young children might find it easier to begin on a lower tension harp until their fingers are stronger, but it does depend on the individual. If you have a string harp and are receiving lessons, your teacher should be able to help you arrange and find music suitable for a smaller harp. It is made of solid wood and measures 26 inches in length and 33 inches high.
This full-sicle harp has 26 strings, string type nylon monofilament and nylon wrapped. The strap buttons are natural cherry. A beautiful harp that is made from authentic rosewood. This harp is made from solid rosewood wood. It has 22 hard nylon strings, chrome levers, tuning pins, and premium brass finish stainless steel pins.
Comes with an ashwood ply soundboard. The body of the harp is hand-carved by a master luthier. This guide has been created to give you a basic overview of the different types of harps and to introduce you to some of their features and functions. While we have done our best to include some excellent products from various brands; there are a number of fantastic choices available that are sure to suit your musical requirements.
Regardless of which type of harp you play or what your playing style is, you will need a good quality instrument.
Consider buying a quality harp. A good harp should have a broad tonal range to appeal to all styles of music. You also want a one-piece, lightweight design, since a heavier, more cumbersome harp should be reserved for special occasions.
Some brands offer a warranty on their products. In this case, you can exchange or refund a product if the harps do not work well for you. Hiring an expert to help you set up and tune your harper is a wise decision. He or she should know how to change the strings, what materials to use, and how the sound is produced.
This part of the harp is what really matters. The harp must be strong enough to withstand repeated use and must not warp or break under pressure. While the overall strength of your harp is important, the durability of each strand is equally as important. The size of a given harp is measured in inches. We included both metric and imperial measurements. A harp must have a solid build to support its weight.
It should not be too heavy for children to drag around or push around. You can find a handful of good options here, but if you're just looking for an ordinary-looking instrument, this may be the best place to look. High-end instruments can cost a few hundred dollars, too. One of the main reasons to get a musical instrument is because you want to play it. You don't need to go to a professional musician to discover what a great instrument it is.
If you are a beginner, you might consider purchasing an acoustic harp. Its worth bearing in mind that it takes about years for a harp to mellow, so a new harp will sound less warm and rich than an older counterpart. Harps are designed to sound best to the audience, not to the player, so if possible, get someone to play the harp for you and listen to its sound at a distance.
You will need to choose between gut, nylon and wire strings. Gut and nylon strung harps have wire strings in the bass as standard.
Wire strung harps often known as Clarsachs are the most specialised of the three options. Popular in Scotland and Ireland, they have a distinctive sound imagine a hammered dulcimer being plucked rather than hammered. They require a different playing technique and for that reason, if you are attracted to the sound of this harp, its worth checking that there is a wire strung harp teacher in your area as a classical harp teacher would not know how to approach this instrument properly.
If you want to go on to the pedal harp, or take lever harp exams, then you will need to choose nylon or gut strings. Nylon strings have the advantage of being easier on the fingers. They stay in tune better, are less liable to break and sound brighter. Gut strings can break without warning and can go out of tune with the slightest change of temperature. They tend to be quieter and older strings can sound dull. However, in the opinion of many harpists, gut strings are capable of far more expressive playing.
This great and compact harp also comes with an additional set of strings and a tuning tool, which makes it a pretty great deal for the price. If aesthetics are an important factor in buying an instrument, then this is the one to look into. But even putting the overall looks aside, the instrument sounds pretty great. When buying the best harp for beginners that will suit your needs, one of the first things to consider is the number of strings.
However, beginner harps come with way fewer strings compared to professional ones. Standard full-sized pedal harps that professional concert performers play have 47 strings. With 47 strings, you get six and a half octaves. As you can see from this guide, there are harps with 22 strings or 26 strings as well. As you can already see by now, harps are versatile instruments, and the overall features depend on many different factors. As far as string materials go, it can get a bit versatile well.
In the case of those standard classical harps, nylon is a usual material, just like you can find with classical or flamenco guitars. This can also be heard in their tone. In many cases, you can also find steel strings.
Once again drawing a parallel with guitars, these are steel cores with a soft copper wire wrapped around them. But there are, of course, some other variants as well, like phosphor and bronze combo used for the core, with either a copper wire wrapped around it or interestingly enough a thin soft nylon string. Nylon strings have that softer tone with a very specific attack and an overall mellow vibe. Steel strings will resonate in a different way and will usually give a significantly brighter sound.
Nylon strings are typical of classical music, while steel strings are intended for many different genres, as is the case with guitar strings. Once again, we need to differentiate between professional harps and beginner harps. But when it comes to beginner harps, the weight gets significantly lower. Like we already explained, there are some harps that are about 6 or 6. But the more the strings you have and the more features it includes, the heavier this instrument gets.
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