HELP!!! I probably wont be able to keep playing much longer… =(

[madelaine-gutierrez]

Hi there,

I’m 17 years old and live in Chicago IL. I rent a Lyon and Healy Prelude from the harp connection but I’m going to college next year and NEED A PEDAL HARP!!! My harp teachers has been telling me for ages to get a pedal harp as if I can actually afford one. I’ve only had my prelude this long because since I’ve been in soo many hospitals through my life one of them decided to pay for my harp for 4 years. Now these 4 years come to an end in January of next year. I’m desperate. I work two part time jobs

[deb-l]

I’m confused, can you not keep the Prelude even though you can’t afford a pedal harp isn’t it still better than nothing?

[deb-l]

sorry for the double post but another option is to rent a pedal harp but I think that is at least $140 or so a month.

[anita-burroughs-price]

Perhaps your university will have a harp you can use. Good luck. I hope you continue to play and grow as an artist.

[unknown-user]

That’s terrible I’m so sorry! I’m 17 too, and I just got a petite pedal harp last year. It took lots of babysitting money, a fundraiser from my church, and my dad sold his Harley so I could get my baby! I don’t know of any scholarships, but I do know lots of harp dealers have “rent to own” programs. Basically the money you pay towards rent goes to the price of the harp, kind of like monthly payments. I don’t know if that would work for you, but I thank God for such wonderful families from church so maybe someone you know would be willing to have a fundraiser? That’s a long shot but I never expected for someone to do that for me! My last bit of advice is to set aside a specific savings account for your harp. I did and in the course of a few years I saved up $2,000 in babysitting money. O_O This is how I did it, but also I didn’t have bills to pay I was just a kid so I know this would be really different for you, I would tithe and give %10 of everything I got to God and then the remainder I would split 50/50. 50% I kept around for whatever I needed and the other 50% went into a harp savings account that NOBODY touched! I know a pedal is what you need, but consider a lever harp like past replies have said. Look into the college you’re attending and see if you’d be able to practice on their pedal harp. And if all else fails see if you could rent a lever. Maybe you could even call around and see if there’s a harp teacher in the area who would let you come and play her harp. I don’t know if any of this will help, but I hope all goes well for you and I can completely sympathize with the pedal harp blues. I played on a 20-something stringed lever harp until I got my pedal. Oh and call the harp connection and see if those 4 years of renting would apply as payment for the rent to own program, I doubt it but it’s worth a shot! God bless!

[J P]

If you plan on majoring in harp the school you’re attending should have a pedal harp available for you to take lessons and practice on- if not find another school. Someone mentioned finding a pedal harp rental that’s just as good, Carl Swanson rents lovely harps at reasonable prices. Aside from that there’s really nothing else to do aside from trying to finance a pedal harp from Allegro Financing which carries extremely high rates at least 13% so by the time you’ve paid it off you could’ve bought two harps for the price that you paid for one!

The truth is a lot of harp majors in college don’t own their own pedal harp until they’ve graduated or get to their senior year. I’m afraid you’re not alone when it comes to finding a way to obtaining a pedal harp. One final thought, if you do purchase a harp I would look into getting a harp from Lyon and Healy that’s part of their bounty program so that you can trade it in within 5 years towards a larger pedal harp. Just my .02

JP

[Saul Davis Zlatkovski]

Maybe Mr. S. can be of help.

[Tacye]

If you are staying in Chicago would L&H let you practice in their showroom?

Wasn’t it Dan Yu who had never owned her own harp until she won the Bloomington competition?

[madelaine-gutierrez]

I would keep my prelude but even the audition pieces to go into college require a pedal harp as their full of accidentals.

[sherry-lenox]

There’s a great deal on an 85P today on the L&H website gently used section!

[Author]

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