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A good many years ago I told my guitar repairman (a violinist) that I would love to play the harp. He sniffed and said it was a very limited instrument. And him a pro!
Well, eventually I did get to play the harp, and of course it was no sech thing as limited. But it took Deborah Henson-Conant to show me just how untrue that perception was. After hearing and seeing her, I went home and played some Leadbelly on the harp.
Regarding the notion that the harp was a woman’s instrument: female guitarists have had to fight a similar prejudice.
Did anybody mention that lap harps are not a great idea as a first harp? For one thing, you have to keep them from sliding all over your lap, which is not a problem with a floor harp.
Yep, those are the three, and I’ve been known to fool with the balalaika and bowed psaltery too, but frankly, I don’t do all of them justice. And yes, I like a lot of different harps.
Quite true, Eb is the way to go. That gives you the same choice of keys as a lever harp, but frees your left hand. A curiosity–some of the smallest, intended for kids, have only FIVE pedals. Can’t help wondering what they are and how you tune the darn thing.
Agreed, pretty neat little harp! I’m just a smidgin under 5’0″ and would love to have one.
However, I think it wasn’t the smallest pedal harp ever made. It was the smallest L&H pedal harp ever made–but I think the Pilgrim Progress pedal harp was the smallest. Still being made, and it sounds pretty good. However, importing a harp costs an arm and a leg.
Some of the Tyrolean harps are pretty small–but they’re single-action and not intended for classical music.
I play guitar, harp and banjo and picked them up in that order. They complement each other. Would not want to drop any one of them, though in a desert-island scenario, I would choose the harp.
Patricia, thank you. I remember I had the same problem WAY back in my teens and my mother made me lemon-juice jello and V8-jello to tackle it.
For the folks with dry-skin problems: dunno if they still make it or not, but there was some stuff called Corn Huskers Lotion, mostly glycerine, that was very effective. Takes a good while to actually work it in.
I think it’s because of the “King David” association; he probably played a lyre rather than an actual harp, no?
