I’m not a harp professional but I have used all of them. Not having the E would be limiting on the repertoire as the low E does not necessarily apear only in advanced music. I have come across simple music/arrangements that requires that low E note.

For me, it would have been extremely frustrating to start a piece and later finding myself to have that one missing note so I’d rather go for the full range.

If you will play primarily lever harp music on a pedal harp, it will be fine. If you’re going to switch to a pedal harp repertoire, you’ll miss them at some point of time.

Think of it not as savings made by leaving out 3 low strings which seem not to be used often. Rather it’s savings made by compromising the opportunity to play the full range of pedal harp repertoire.

Check with Camac to be sure, but I would say it should be quite safe. The very slight increase in string thickness would be more than compensated for by the reduction in tension from tuning a step lower.

As I understand it, the Camacs use cables rather than rods that run through tubes in the column, so they should be able to rearrange the cables at the factory. Interestingly, I’ve worked on several antique crochet-action harps that had had the rods rearranged to change the range of the harp but keep the pedals in the usual sequence.

They don’t have to redesign the action. They have to change which linkage chains the rods hook into. If the E chain is right next to the front plate, then the E rod attaches to that chain. But if the F chain is right next to the front plate, and the E chain is say next to the back plate, then that rod will have to be moved so it crosses all the other rods and connects to the first chain. And in addition, all of the rods will have to be reconfigured. I just don’t know if any company can do that. Remember, the rods, or cables, have to stay in the same order at the bottom, but what you want will require all of the rods to cross other rods inside the column.

The other way of approaching this would be to talk to them about building you a custom instrument. That way, when they assemble the action, they can build the linkage chains to fit the way you want. But that will be very expensive, if they are willing to do it at all. Just how often do you think you will need that low E?

Hi Karen!

I have, by no means, an expert opinion. I am a student player and just got my 47 string pedal harp last year. I thought I would just be playing for churches, nursing homes or perhaps weddings in the future. However, I unexpectedly joined a community orchestra when I first purchased the harp. The orchestral music I have encountered has had the 7th octave E a few times, most often played with the octave above it simultaneously. Sometimes, I determined that at my skill level leaving off the 7th octave E and just playing the 6th E allowed me to get to the next notes faster. So, even though I have the string, and my music has called for it, I haven’t always played it because of the nature of the music and my skill level.

I guess what I’m saying is there is almost always a work-around, at least at the level that I play at: Intermediate music that seems to make people happy. I haven’t ventured into the truly “big” works, so someone will have to chime in there.

Quick question, though… Why a semi-grand in the first place? Transport? Cost?

I thought I wanted a semi-grand until I sat behind both sizes. The semi-grands did not feel comfortable, they didn’t fit my body as well as a grand. So, don’t make up your mind until you try some harps on for size!