I suggest to beginning harpists to rent for a while and look for the right harp over time. At age 12 and just starting on a pedal harp, your daughter could change her mind many times about what she likes. I am 5’7″ with very big, long fingers, and a concert grand would be best IMHO. I have never had a problem with upper registers on any harp I’ve played – even lever harps. Buying a harp is a big investment so don’t rush into it.

Hi – I have a feeling that your daughter’s teacher is not referring to upper octave string spacing, but the amount of room in the top octaves to get your hand in to play those strings – it doesn’t seem to be standard and an extra half inch distance between soundboard and the mechanism can make a great deal of difference in playability especially players with larger hands or longer fingers – somewhere on the discussions, Carl Swanson has talked about increasing that distance when he re-necks a harp and what the ideal distance is – David Williams put a shim in my harp between the neck and body of about 1/4″ and it made all the difference in the world getting up into those upper registers –

Allyson,

The folks at L&H have YEARS of experience fitting people with harps. Mine was 1 year old and looked as if it had never left the show room floor. Natalie was GREAT to work with as well as Steve. This is what they do.

Can’t wait to hear what you get!

Good luck,
Kay

1. I wish I had bought a harp that had been in the showroom and already had settled and had its first-year regulation.

2. Who will be moving it? (At some point, your daughter will be going places to play.)

I bought my first harp many years ago. I wanted a concert grand, but I couldn’t afford anything but the LH 15, what with the down payment and the monthly payments for three years. After I started going out to play, I was SO GRATEFUL I didn’t have a bigger harp.

3. Later, I bought an Aoyama Etude (no longer made, I think), which is even smaller, which I use for outdoor playing, house parties, band rehearsals, etc. It’s very practical.

4. I’m 5’7”, 130 lbs, and have big hands. The 15 is a little tight at the top, but I manage OK.

I got my pedal harp when I was 10 and was about 5″5 but am now about 5″ 10. I took a long time to decide what I wanted. I could play all the concert grands OK but had trouble getting my arms round the Apollo when sitting low enough to reach the pedals. That’s a fairly expensive harp anyway! I would let her play everything you can find in your price range and she will probably find one that she loves that feels and sounds right. As they vary a fair bit from harp to harp even in the same style it is best to go in with an open mind. Some people are very determined on a colour and style beforehand but that limits your choice quite a lot. I ended up choosing sound over colour in the end when deciding between my final two of the same style. Many wait and see which one they fall in love with. There is usually someone available to play them for you blindly (you cant see which is which and just listen) if she cant make her mind up. And its good to hear a pro on them too. They give you a better idea of the tone and evenness over the whole range. Perhaps wait until there are some interesting ones in the preowned section before you go? The widest top to bottom top end space are Camac. It is unlikely your teacher is talking about actual string spacing – very, very few harpists play special models ordered with the strings further apart than usual. Camac are really nice and comfortable to play at the top end but I can adjust to any other harp OK and I have pretty big hands for a female. Just make sure she tries playing scales and arps up to the top as a lot of intermediate lever repertoire doesn’t actually go that high. You may have to ask around to see who has a camac you can try if you are interested in that. Will your car fit the harp? Most fit people can move their harps single handed but if you have stairs it gets harder. My mum often moves mine several times a week and is glad its one of the lighter concert grands.

My 15 was born in 1971. Alas, I think they make them bigger and heavier now.
You can see and hear mine on my website (which is also on my Harp Forum profile).
I’m playing the 15 for the music samples.
WeddingHarpMusic.yolasite.com