Buying First Harp

[Alison]

In fact, at your age, I would advise you to get a 38 string clarsach, with good levers –

[shelby-m]

Definitely go for something with levers.

[Tacye]

If this is the harp I assume then it is merely retailed by an English company and I not a harp I like or consider an improvement on the ‘cardboard’ ones.

[Louise Hirst]

That does look like a very nice harp, but as you know I’ve already got one now :3
Perhaps that will be my next aim providing I can actually get good at playing the harp first 🙂
Thank you :3

[Louise Hirst]

I did end up getting a harp with levers in the end. :3 I had a suspicion that I would start craving levers after a little while as I do love transposing songs .
I unfortunately live in the midlands. In an area where the most musical store we have sells only guitars.

[Louise Hirst]

I found that out after it was bought. I did seriously consider sending it back as they did put up the front that it was english made. However, the harp was a gift for my birthday from all my friends and family and I don’t have the heart to say ‘this isn’t good enough I want a better one’ after all the effort they went to. I don’t really see anything wrong with cardboard ones though :/ I mean they have opened a whole new market for prospecting harp players for an inexpensive but nice sounding instrument. I unfortunately only had about £80 of my savings to buy a harp and I consider £80 to be a lot of money. Thanks to the contributions from my friends and family I think it came to about £150? I did a lot of research and couldn’t find a single harp in that price range that wasn’t mid east or have 12 string or less.
Basically what I’m saying is that harps are very expensive and I just can’t manage to afford a proper harp. The one I have is nice and will serve me well no doubt. After all I’m not planning to become a concert harpist! :3

[randal]

Congratulations! Louise on acquiring your harp. No doubt it will at least serve to learn on–no reason to not have great affection for your instrument. And now while acquiring skills you can patiently keep an eye out next year for a used sharpscicle or equivalent…they do come up occasionally ; )

I would have loved a nice 26 string that was for sale a couple of months ago, but the timing was such that I only had the funds available a week after it sold. C’est la vie. Meanwhile, I’m finding immense satisfaction with a little 22 string I paid very little for–of course it has the requisite D/G levers, and while I thought maybe it wouldn’t inspire me like the larger harp, I’m completely wrong in that I’m loving it more each day…not least of which is due to the fact that I can play my entire repertoire of O’carolan tunes on it. I have meager, yet satisfying harp ambitions.

I’m no stranger to tone–having spent my life in music and owning some fine instruments–my little sound box on my folkcraft renders not a lot of volume nor projection. Yet, harps are what they are–and this little one has a pleasing tone (not to mention solid woods, which are rich and luxurious–satisfying yet another aesthetic aspect of the beautiful harp).

Enjoy!

[alice smile]

OK, Here’s Paris, the sequal. Or PARIS, PART DEUX. About 10 years ago I
read some Sunday travel section article about Paris and things to see,
and one of the things mentioned was the Museum of Plans-relief, which is
housed in the Military Museum at the Invalides. I’d never heard of it,
so on my next trip to Paris I went there and had the surprise of my
life.
womeninbuzz

[Author]

Posts