Warming up . . . the harp?

[kay-lister]

OK, this is probably a stupid question, but I have been thinking. We warm ourselves up with exercises both body and fingers before we get into

[catherine-rogers]

Harps need a little time to acclimate to new temperature and humidity level after moving to a new place before you tune it, but at home, I don’t think it needs “warming up,” like my dad’s car in the winter when I was a child. After you’ve warmed up, your tone perhaps improves because you’re more relaxed?

[shelby-m]

Well, woodwinds (and likely brass, too) need “warming up” because cool/cold metal or plastic resonates or vibrates differently than when it’s warm.

[tony-morosco]

What they said. Warming up in a literal sense, in that the instrument should be at a “comfortable” temperature. As I have been told, a general rule of thumb is that if the temperature is comfortable to you it is generally good for the harp.

When transporting a harp in the cold I always leave the cover on for a while after arriving to my destination to allow it to slowly come to room temperature. If my house is cold and I turn up the heat I always give the harp time to adjust to the temperature change before trying to play.

But I don’t think that the harp itself needs a “warm up” like people do. Once the physical temperature is OK and the harp is tuned it is ready to go.

[deb-l]

My Prelude is new.

[Donna O]

Deb,
I also keep a string log and I just checked.

[Donna O]

BTW:

[deb-l]

Karen, it took me about 15 minutes to tie the knot for one string
last night, then about a minute each for the other two.

[jessica-wolff]

Good golly Miss Molly, have they still not learned to make decent levers at L & H? Mine are the original brass levers on Troubadour I, dato pre-1978, and they are real string chewers. I notice that Loreena McKennitt on YouTube videos is playing the same harp I am but has replaced the levers, TG.

[deb-l]

Jessica, I don’t think it’s the levers, at least not in my case.

[Donna O]

Deb
I agree.

[deb-l]

I’m up to 6 strings in 7 days now.

[tony-morosco]

[harp guy]

I don’t know why I do this, but I always play my harp a little bit before tuning. For some reason it seems to tune better and hold pitch better. So even though it doesn’t necessarily ‘warm up’ it certainly seems different as you play more.

[deb-l]

Tony, weird thing is I had the Ogden for a month and never broke a string!

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