who’s been playing my harp?

[deb-l]

I had every string tuned down a 1/2 step for 7 flats in Barcarolle.

[brook-boddie]

Deb, if it’s the same Barcarolle that you mentioned in another post, you can play it in C major and it will sound completely normal because there are no accidentals.

[deb-l]

thanks Brook I did notice that, and that I could play music written in the key of C when all were tuned flat and that sounded OK too.

[deb-l]

Brook, thanks for mentioning playing Barcarolle in C.

[kreig-kitts]

There were some other pieces I ran into like that, I think out of Salzedo’s Tiny Tales. They’re written for lever harp, but in progressively flat keys, for a lever harp tuned in C-flat. For anything with a lot of flats and no lever changes, you should be able to play it in the key a half step higher (D-flat to D, etc.) and read the same page.

[joyce-schemanske]

The reason that many pedal harp pieces are written in all flats is because that way you’re playing all all open strings.

[deb-l]

thanks Kreig, that’s a great way to explain it.

[michael-rockowitz]

Deb, I tune my harp daily, and I find that this happens quite often with my Xythia cross-strung as well, particularly with the middle and higher range of strings.

[deb-l]

Michael, I frequently have to tune as well.

[e-nb]

Do you use an electronic tuner? One which can shift the frequency? I use a Korg CA-30 which can shift A from 410 Hz to 480 Hz. I had a similar experience to yours, but my “Fairy” turned out to be a friend of my boyfriend’s who can’t resist any electronic gadget and when left unsupervised for a moment with a beer in his hand had discovered my tuner lying about, switched it on and started messing with all the buttons. I found myself trying to tune with A = 410 next time I used it.

There are definitely such things as fairies, but mine tend to appear in the form of large long-haired beer swilling creatures. Sweet natured, but need to be kept away from button-encrusted gadgets.

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