Harp Players
The harp is a stringed instrument which has the plane of its strings positioned perpendicular to the soundboard. It is also considered to be a percussion instrument. [1] All harps have a neck, resonator and strings. Some, known as frame harps, also have a forepillar; those lacking the forepillar are referred to as open harps. It was thought of primarily as a woman's instrument after Marie Antoinette popularised it as an activity for women.
Depending on its size (which varies considerably), a harp may be played while held in the lap or while stood on the floor. Harp strings can be made of nylon (sometimes wound around copper), gut (more commonly used than nylon), wire, or silk. A person who plays the harp is called a harpist or a harper. Folk and Celtic musicians often use the term "harper," whereas classical/pedal musicians use "harpist."
The oldest depictions of harps without a forepillar are from 4000 BCE in Egypt and 3000 BCE in Persia. While most English translations of the Bible feature the word 'harp', especially in connection with King David, the Hebrew word is nevel, a type of lyre with 10 strings and not a harp at all. The kanun is a descendant of the ancient Egyptian harp and was introduced to Europe by the Moors during the Middle Ages. Harps were most likely independently invented in many parts of the world in remote prehistory. It is often said that the harp's origins may lie in the sound of a plucked hunter's bow string; the converse is considered possible. A type of harp called a 'bow harp' is nothing more than a bow like a hunter's, with a resonating vessel such as a gourd fixed somewhere along its length. To allow a greater number of strings, harps were later made from two pieces of wood attached at the ends: this type is known as the 'angle harp'.
Harp are roughly triangular and are usually made primarily of wood. The lower ends of the strings are fastened to the side closest to the player. This side is hollow and acts as a resonating chamber, much like the body of a violin. The crossbar, or neck, contains the instant-tuning mechanism to which the upper ends of the strings are attached. The longest side, the shaft, encloses the rods controlling the tuning devices. At the base are seven pedals, which activate the rods. The modern sophisticated instrument—spanning 6½ octaves in all keys—was perfected by the 19th-century French maker Sébastien Érard.
Angle harps and bow harps continue to be used up to the present day. In Europe however a further development took place: adding a third structural member, the pillar, to support the far ends of the arch and sound box. The 'Triangular Frame harp' is depicted in manuscripts and sculpture from about the 8th century CE, especially in North-West Europe, though specific nationalistic claims to the invention of the triangular frame harp cannot be substantiated.
European harps in medieval and Renaissance times usually had a bray pin fitted to make a buzzing sound when a string was plucked. By the baroque period in Italy and Spain more strings were added to allow for chromatic notes; these were usually in a second line of strings. At the same time single-row diatonic harps continued to be played.
Harp playing uses all of the fingers except for the little finger, which is generally too short and weak to effectively pluck a string. Most types of harp only require use of the hands, with the exception of the pedal (concert) harp, in which the feet are also used to operate foot pedals.
The folk harp or Celtic harp is small to medium-sized and usually designed for traditional music; it can be played solo or with small groups. It is prominent in Welsh, Breton, Irish, Scottish and other Celtic cultures within traditional or folk music and as a social and political symbol. Often the folk harp is played by beginners who wish to move on to the pedal harp at a later stage, or by musicians who simply prefer the smaller size or different sounds. Alan Stivell, with his father Jord Cochevelou (who recreate the Breton Celtic harp), were at the origin of the revival of the Celtic harp (in the 50s).
The folk or lever harp ranges in size from two octaves to six octaves, and uses levers or blades to change pitch. The most common size has 34 strings: Two octaves below middle C and two and a half above (ending on A), although folk or lever harps can usually be found with anywhere from 19 to 40 strings. The strings are generally made of nylon, gut, carbon fiber or flourocarbon, or wrapped metal, and are plucked with the fingers using a similar technique to the pedal harp.
Folk harps with levers installed have a lever close to the top of each string; when it is engaged, it shortens the string so its pitch is raised a semitone, resulting in a sharped note if the string was a natural, or a natural note if the string was a flat. Lever harps are often tuned to the key of E-flat. Using this scheme, the major keys of E-flat, B-flat, F, C, G, D, A, and E can be reached by changing lever positions, rather than re-tuning any strings. Blades and hooks perform almost the same function as levers, but use a different mechanism. The most common type of lever is either the Camac or Truitt lever although Loveland levers are still used by some makers.
A multi-course harp is a harp with more than one row of strings. A harp with only one row of strings is called a single-course harp.
A double-strung harp consists of two rows of diatonic strings one on either side of the neck. These strings may run parallel to each other or may converge so the bottom ends of the strings are very close together. Either way, the strings that are next to each other are tuned to the same note. Double-strung harps often have levers either on every string or on the most commonly sharped strings. Having two sets of strings allows the harpist's left and right hands to occupy the same range of notes without having both hands attempt to play the same string at the same time. It also allows for special effects such as repeating a note very quickly without stopping the sound from the previous note.
A triple harp features three rows of parallel strings, two outer rows of diatonic strings, and a center row of chromatic strings. To play a sharp, the harpist reaches in between the strings in either outer row and plucks the center row string. Like the double-strung harp, the two outer rows of strings are tuned the same, but the triple-strung harp has no levers. This harp originated in Italy in the 16th century and towards the end of 1600s it arrived in Wales where it developed a high head and larger size. It established itself as part of Welsh tradition and became known as the Welsh harp (telyn deires, "three-row harp"). The traditional design has all of the strings strung from the left side of the neck, but modern neck designs have the two outer rows of strings strung from opposite sides of the neck to greatly reduce the tendency for the neck to roll over to the left.