Finger spans in 3- and 4-note chords

[William Rinatti]

Hello. I’m a composer learning to write for harp and I would like to know about the interval spans in 3- and 4-note chords.

The Stanley Choloupka book says a maximum stretch from 1 to 4 is an 11th, but other books say that it is a 10th.

Coloupka also says that in a 4-note chord, the lowest two notes can span a 5th, and in a 3-note chords the lowest to notes can span an octave.

Can anyone provide more detailed insight into this?

TIA

[balfour-knight]

Harpists will have different opinions about this. It depends on how large the harpist’s hands are, and the spacing of the strings on a particular harp, since it is not entirely standard. Also, most chords are “rolled” on the harp, or “arpeggiated,” so it is like reaching those notes on a keyboard by rolling a chord, as opposed to a “blocked” chord.

If in doubt, post something here so we can try it out and see if it is a comfortable reach for most of us. Hope this helps.

Best regards,
Balfour

[William Rinatti]

Thank you very much.

[Gregg Bailey]

I don’t have all that much experience as a harpist yet; however, I thought I would give my 2-cents. I have fairly small hands. Whenever I come across a 4-note chord in one hand that spans a 10th, and there’s no way to take one of the notes with the other hand, I can only play it as a 3-note chord in that particular hand by leaving out one of the inner notes. For example, if the left-hand part calls for a chord consisting of C-G-C-E (starting from the lowest note of the chord), I can reach the outer 10th (barely) with the left hand, but I have to leave out the higher “C” and play it as C-G-E so that I can play the “G” with the 2nd finger. My little hands just don’t want to play a 5th between fingers 4 and 3! I’m sure harpists with larger hands don’t have this problem.

-Gregg

• This reply was modified 1 year, 7 months ago by Gregg Bailey.

[Gregg Bailey]

Edit: My issue may be more to do with trying to force an octave between fingers 4 and 2, as I just now discovered that I CAN play a 5th between fingers 4 and 3 without too much difficulty in a 7th-chord spanning a 10th, such as G-D-F-B.

-Gregg

[Gregg Bailey]

So here is a summary of what I’ve discovered with my small hands. I CAN play a 7th chord in one hand which spans a 10th, such as G-D-F-B, but if the 3rd note from the bottom is an octave above the lowest note, as in G-D-G-B, I have to leave it out (the upper G in this example), because I really struggle to force my hands to play an octave between fingers 4 and 2.

Again, harpists with larger hands probably don’t have this problem.

-Gregg

[Gregg Bailey]

Additional edit:

I just did some more experimenting on chords spanning a 10th in one hand on my L&H Prelude 40 harp, and I discovered that I CAN play a chord in one hand consisting of 1-5-8-10 in the upper half of the harp where the string spacing is a little narrower (regardless of right or left hand), but it’s much more difficult for me down in the bottom two octaves where the spacing is wider. Down in that lower range, my difficulty is mainly in trying to play an octave between fingers 4 and 2, which isn’t quite as difficult higher up the harp.

-Gregg

[balfour-knight]

Gregg brings up an interesting point–the string spacing is wider at the lower end of the harp, and gradually gets closer together as you move up, unlike a keyboard instrument, where every octave has the same spacing. The bass wire strings are also harder on the fingers when you attempt large chords.

Add to this problem the fact that some pedal harps are equipped with “extra large spacing,” meant mainly for male harpists who have very large hands and fingers. Those of us who are smaller and have small hands have a real problem when playing a harp with this kind of spacing!

Going back to your original post, William, I would say that a 10th would probably be safe, preferrably alone or with only one note in-between. But, like I suggested earlier, you could show us an example of what you would like to write for the harp part and then we could let you know if we think it would work well.

Thanks for all these posts, my friends!
Have a great harp day,
Balfour

[Saul Davis Zlatkovski]

For most harpists, you do not want to go beyond a tenth in total, or a fifth between 4 and 3. But it depends on the total spacing of a chord and if it is broken (as usual) or flat (exceptional). A chord of all 4ths is possible, or all fifths, when broken. Vaughan-Williams wrote many chords with a sixth on the bottom, c-a-c-f, but one would omit the doubled note and play c-a-f 421. Some harpists can do it comfortably. Many cannot.

[Author]

Posts