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Why has the harp survived for thousands of
years? There is something enchanting about the sound of a harp that
seems to penetrate into the human soul. Every single time we take
the harps out to an event we hear someone say, "I've always wanted
to play the harp" or see a tear of emotion coming from the eye of a
listener as the strings are set into delicate motion. Even when the
strings are silent, the enchantment of the instrument standing in a
room seems to draw people to it. There is a magic.
Within the spectrum of stringed instruments, the
harp is listed as one of the easiest to play. Meanwhile, the guitar
and violin are ranked among the most difficult. Even so, people have
the misconception that the harp is very demanding. Think about this,
for literally thousands of years people have been playing the harp.
Ancient civilizations developed and played simple, formative
instruments. The harp was among these. In the Middle East, Ireland,
South America and Mexico you can find harps being played by the well
to do, well educated and the common person alike. Harps have not
been mastered in these places because all these people have time to
spend in their music rooms practicing and the money to afford
lessons. Harps have survived because they are accessible and
generous to even the most basic beginner. Through time and across
civilizations, how have people learned to play? They either taught
themselves or learned from the village harper. The beauty of the
harp is that the music can be as simple as you want and the harp
sounds beautiful, or you can make it as complex as you want and the
harp sounds beautiful.
The strings of a harp are color coded with
the C's being red and the F's being blue or green. This way you
don't lose your place. We are able to teach people
with no musical training to play "Joy To The World" in about 1-2
minutes time. The hard part is prying them away from the harp so
other people can try it. Pianists find the harp especially easy
because they already read treble and bass clef and the fingering is
fairly similar. Like the piano, the lead or melody line on a harp is
played with the right hand and the chords and bass with the left
hand. Also, like the piano, the harp is not handed; both left and
right handed persons play the same instrument in the same way.
Pianists find harp music especially easy because, due to the
inherent resonance of a harp, there are fewer notes per bar than is
generally written for piano score.
If
this is going to be the first musical instrument you've ever played,
you will find the harp to be very friendly. People with a piano
background find it to be much like the piano and are usually
plucking two handed tunes the first night home with their harp.
Guitar players find there is no fretting of the strings or awkward
hand positions, no hammer-ons, no pick-offs and the technique is
much simpler. © Wm. Rees Instruments,
1997, 1998, 1999
The Celtic harp is also known as
the Folk Harp, lever harp, or non pedal harp. In addition to the
"Celtic" shaped harps, these harps can also be made with a straight
column that can resemble the look of a "concert harp." These harps
are often fitted with a system of levers that can raise each
individual string by a semitone. They can also be
made with two parallel rows of strings which is referred to as a double strung harp.
There are small harps, designed to be held on your lap, called lap
harps, and larger models called floor harps that are supported by
the floor.
Shop our selection of Harps by Wm. Rees,
Lyon & Healy, Dusty Strings, R. Harps
and Blevins at our store or
online.
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