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Home Forums Harps and Accessories Need advice

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  • #77685

    Hello!

    I am wondering what kind of harp I should get. There is a ocean of different harps and its difficult to understand. I have seen harps which are the same type of harp but with different amounts of strings. Why? Why not set a standard for the amount of strings?

    Anyways. I play the piano and I am mostly playing renaissance music. And as for the piano thats what I wanna play on the harp too. What kind of harp do I need? What kind of composers will I be playing?
    On the piano I play William Byrd and Orlando Gibbons for example.
    How many strings should there be and do I need a harp with levers to make them chromatic when playing so early music?

    Thanks

    #77686
    Allison Stevick
    Participant

    Hi Lars, welcome to the world of harp! I will try to answer some of your questions, though I know there are many others here who will also have input–and better than mine! 🙂

    Different harps have different numbers of strings for several reasons: size, sound, cost, style of music played, etc. Some people want a small, portable harp to take anywhere they go. Others want a large floor harp for folk music. Still others want a large pedal harp for complex classical music. All of these have different strengths, uses, and costs.

    Alison Vardy has some good info on her site about the history of medieval harps.
    http://www.alisonvardy.com/harp-info/medieval-harp-history.htm

    There are, of course, many other resources out there, and a search of these forums would probably help you as well. I hope you enjoy find what you’re looking for, and enjoy the harping adventure!

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