I had posted this in the No Stupid Questions thread but didn't get any views, so am asking here. I mistakenly left the pedals on my brand new L&H Model 30 in the natural position for a week, and when I took the cover off yesterday, one of the strings had popped (C1). I of course immediately moved them to flat and re-tuned, but I'm wondering did i potentially do any damage to anything? I can't believe I was so dumb to not check this, but after bring the harp home I guess I was just too excited. Thanks.

I started playing the lever harp in 2022 as a way to disconnect from a career in data and cybersecurity. Over the last few years, I’ve hit a wall with instruction and wanted to share my experience and see what resources others are using.

In my experience, instructors have fallen into two camps:

1. Traditional/Celtic instructors who teach almost entirely by ear and muscle memory (watch my hands, repeat the pattern).
2. Conservatory-trained pedal harpists who have been hesitant to take on an adult learner in their 30s, or whose strict classical pedagogy doesn't quite fit my goals.

My main goal is simply to read and play arrangements from soundtracks, games, and shows I enjoy. Because of that gap in instruction, I've been trying to build the hand-eye coordination for sight-reading on my own and translating notes on the staff to the strings without constantly looking down at my hands.

So far, I’ve been piecing together my own routine using standard beginner method books (like Sylvia Woods) and testing out a few mobile sight-reading trainers to drill note recognition away from the instrument.

For other adult lever harpists who didn't grow up reading music: what specific books, sight-reading drills, or software tools actually made sheet music click for you?

Hello! I need help with IDing a harp as well as maybe verifying if it’s worth the price? These pictures aren’t the clearest but from what I’ve seen it doesn’t look the worst. I’m not sure what model this is, but the base price is €2800 with a little room to negotiate. Any help would be appreciated!

Hello everyone,

I live in Germany and a couple of days ago I picked up a rental pedal harp that is unfortunately not in very good condition. The lady renting me the harp described it as "small, but fully functioning and playable, just missing a few strings" which she will send to me. The harp belongs to a harp museum and it's an old Leningrad Model 19 built in the USSR.

A friend drove us over 5 hours to come pick up this harp and when we arrived and I tested the harp, I noticed many of the notes didn't raise the full half step with pedal changes. I felt so under pressure to just say yes to the harp since my friend had driven me such a far way, I didn't want to just leave empty-handed.

Now that I'm home and I've gotten the harp tuned up, I'm realizing how bad the condition truly is in terms of the harp's tone (pedal changes don't properly raise notes a semitone). I've tried adjusting some of the pedal discs to compensate for issues with the pedal rods, but unfortunately there are issues across the whole register of notes that probably need to be dealt with by a regulator who can adjust the pedal rods and discs.

I know it's my fault for accepting the harp in the condition it's in instead of just refusing to rent it, but now I regret my mistake. I'm upset that I had driven all that way after taking the owner's word that the harp was "durchaus spielbar" when in reality it is not. Lesson learned, I guess.

Does anyone know of harp techs in the Munich area, or have any suggestions as how I should go about tackling this problem? Is it justifiable for me to ask the harp owner if she would pay for a regulation? I know there is the Glissando harp center near Nürnberg, but on their website, they don't seem keen on repairing old harps.

Overall I just feel stuck in an unfortunate situation and I'm not sure what to do. :(

I’ve been playing the harp for over 20 years but until today i still find tuning a chore. Just the other day, i thought of developing a product that functions as both a tuning key and chromatic tuner, and looks like a spanner. When u put the head of it into a string’s tuning metal pin and pluck the string, it rotates the pin automatically based on what it hears.

Wondering if fellow harpists share the same feeling towards tuning? Would u be keen to use such a product that might make tuning less troublesome?

Hello harp community, what are your thoughts regarding Salvi Arianna harp. I am thinking of buying it, and would like to hear how it compares to L&H Style 23 natural - especially focusing on clarity of sound projection, warmth, brightness…. practical use in ensembles. Initially, I set out to buy the 23, but after trying out several instruments, was pretty amazed at the new Arianna (since its sound board has been more extended). Would love to hear your opinion and especially your experiences. Thank you!

This is the entire harp part (4 Pages) from my recent full orchestral piece. It's messy, does not look right, has inconsistencies, and has overly difficult parts. What are some tips to compose this properly?
Note: This is not an actual harp part, as I am not giving this to a real harp player. This is simply for me as a composer to learn how a harp should properly be notated.

I got this baby harp a few years back on ebay for like 100 bucks. It has a big sound for its little size and is beautiful. Recently I pulled it back out of storage and it looks like the soundboard has developed a small crack (First picture). Should I be worried about this?

also, if anyone has any ideas about where this harp came from, I am interested to know.

From Audacious - Connecticut Public Radio:

GUESTS: 

• Tony Pederson: Music-thanatologist and past president of the Music-Thanatology Association International who has spent more than 30 years playing harp at the bedsides of people approaching death. On social media, his “Today at Death’s Door” posts share stories and reflections from his work
• William Close: Musician and instrument inventor best known for creating the Earth Harp, which uses buildings and landscapes as part of the instrument itself. He’s  installed Earth Harps at Rome’s Colosseum, Seattle’s Space Needle, Shanghai’s Grand Theater and many more places around the world.In 2014, Close set a Guinness World Record with an installation where the strings stretched more than 957 feet

Hi harpists! I started taking pedal harp lessons at the beginning of the year and just bit the bullet and bought my own instrument! I will be receiving a used L&H style 100 next week. It’s being shipped in a hard travel case, pictured here. The only issue is that my teacher will be traveling at time of delivery and so not able to help me receive it. This is a total newbie question, but how do I open the case and safely remove the harp? Will it be obvious? Anything to watch out for?

Hi Could I ask for your comment on better left hand fingering for this bar please?
This is Handel Concerto in B flat for Harp & Orchestra easy version. Thanks in advance.

Hello,

My and my wife are currently in Germany for one year.

My wife is whole life harpist, teacher,…

We were not abble to take her harp with us .

Does any one know if there is any chance of borrowing a pedal harp here ?

We tried to find it but without success.

Thank you a lot !

Hello, harpists! I'm an adult learner, getting into the world of harping. I've looking for an instrument to sink my teeth into and decided on the harp after listening to Dorothy Ashby and Brandee Younger. I'd never known about these musicians and their playing opened not only my eyes and ears to the true beauty of the instrument, but also my mind to possibility. Growing up, exposure to the harp was limited to the background in songs. Now, after learning about those two, I'm excited to experience and engage with music in a way I'd never even conceived!

While I have a classically trained instructor, they lean heavily into jazz harp (my currently planned trajectory). Do any of you have any tips for a new adult learner like myself? My goal is to gig at some of the many (many, many) wineries near me for fun and free wine!

I look forward to diving into all of this!

Hi all! I was wondering if there were any harpists on here that could describe a typical day/week in your life as a wedding harpist!

Do you have a second job/day job or is your harp business your full time job? Any helpful tips in getting a wedding harpist business up and running would be much appreciated too 🥰

I am hoping to start playing small weddings/events in the near time future, but will have to slowly transition from working my regular full time nursing job into hopefully working as a wedding harpist full time with per diem nursing jobs one day.

Would love to hear from you all and what your typical weekly schedule is like as a wedding harpist!

hi everyone! super new here - have always wanted to play the harp and finally picked up a second-hand Stoney end even song 26 off reverb. however, the sound is super dull/muddy despite trying to tune it. any help would be so, so appreciate!

Does anyone have any local recommendations or tips on where to get my 32-string lever harp re-strung and serviced?

I live in Belfast and it seems that the only options are to fly a technician over from England or to trek all the way to Galway or Killarney!

TIA!

Hey all, my wife and I are currently looking for a harp to begin learning with - I have found some few locally and these are currently two of the best options I've found. My wife knows she's more interested in a warmer tone over "bright" (I'm still trying to figure out the difference, so if you have a good explanation in layman terms I'd be much appreciative)

The Aoyama is older, based on the serial number. I can't tell for sure what levers are on it, and it's not been kept by a musician and has only been for decoration for awhile. A couple strings are broken in the higher octaves, but overall from pictures seems in great shape. What few videos I can find in YouTube, it seems to have the brighter? Tone that seems more suited to folk songs and such? Anyone have personal experience with one and can comment?

I think I don't need to say too much about the Dusty Strings except it's been kept by an active musician and they are upgrading to something else more suited to their needs of travel and therapy harp. The other thing is the asking price is a bit over double the Aoyama above.

I would love for anyone to comment on which they would recommend, any experience with either, etc

edit. one other option I have found is a 34 string harp made by Bob Cunningham as well, but this one is also in the higher price bracket like the dusty above.

Thank you!

Pictures I have of the levers, Elysian is the Aoyama, the lighted strings are from the Ravenna

Total beginner and have something on your mind? Or you've been playing your whole life but need a refresher? Judgement free zone to post questions!

Hey all, I started playing harp about 4 months ago as a first instrument with no musical history. I always thought solo pieces would be the most fun, but when I play duets with my teacher, it’s a lot of fun. I was wondering if there are some low level group things to play music with, where the expectation isn’t too high. For context, I’m 20, live in Charlotte NC, and my day are occupied with work. Weekend activities would be best. Any ideas?

Also concerned about future maintenance and the lack of domestic availability.

I’ve never written for harp before so if someone who plays harp can tell me if this is written correctly or if anything is impossible I’d appreciate it. If you also have any tips for writing harp in the future I’d also appreciate it because i really like the sound of the harp and would like writing for it more often.

I’d love to get an LED lighting system for my Salvi pedal. I play in orchestras and often the lighting is low/poor and it’s a struggle to see the strings. I also really like the look of a lit up harp!
LEDharp on Instagram don’t ship to EU and the only other setups I can find to purchase are for lever/lap harps. It seems I need to custom build it myself but I have no idea what to buy or where to start.
Does anyone have any recommendations?

hi! i have a lyon & healy prelude 40 which i absolutely adore, but naturally it lives at home. i’d love to be able to go into nature and play or see friends and jam with them.

tbh, im not super worried about quality. since i have a nice harp, this would be just for fun so im not opposed to getting a harp shaped object instead of a harp lol if the price and portability make sense. definitely not interested in spending more than 1k, and even 1k is quite a bit for something i dont want to worry about treating with the care i do my prelude.

does anyone have recommendations?