Basic Harp for Beginners
The five harps illustrated above are some of the most
common types. They are:
1. Irish low-headed lap
2. Gothic lap harp.
3. Medium-size folk harp
(also called Irish, Scottish or Neo-Celtic).
4. Irish high-headed harp
(usually with metal strings).
5. Pedal harp.
(Also see about
In this article we will focus on the two most common types of harps: the
large orchestral harp with pedals, and the smaller folk-type harp with
Most harps have one set of strings in the order of the
piano’s white keys: C-D-E-F-G-A-B-C. The C strings are red, and the F
strings are dark blue. The rest are white.
Concert grand PEDAL HARPS have 47 strings, or
six-and-one-half octaves, almost the full range of the piano. The
bottom string is C, three notes above the piano’s lowest A. The top
string is G, four notes below the piano’s highest C.
The large concert harps that you see in the orchestra
have seven pedals (below), one for each note in the scale, that are attached
mechanically to discs (below) at the top of the strings and are used
to change all octaves of each note by two half-tones, flat (in the highest
position) to natural (middle position) to sharp (lowest position). Note that
the lowest D and C strings and the top G string do not have any mechanism
and are not connected to the pedals, but can be re-tuned beforehand if
largest LEVER HARPS
usually have 36 strings (a few go up to 38). Most lever harps range
between 29 and 36 strings, or four to five octaves.
Lever harps have a manually controlled device (flip-up lever, cam lever, or
blade) at the top of each string
that can change each string by one half-tone: flat to natural or natural to
sharp. The left hand usually changes levers.
Pedal harps have pedals that simultaneously change all octaves of any given
note, so one pedal change will result, for example, in all F naturals
becoming F#, or all B naturals becoming Bb. Lever harps, on the other
hand, can be set however the composer wishes, with one F# and two Bbs, for
example, and all the other Fs and Bs natural.
Tuning the lever harp
When a lever or cam is engaged, the string pitch is a half-step higher,
and when disengaged it's a half-step lower. We're using the word
"engaged" because while most levers are moved up to raise the pitch and down
to lower it, some are the reverse, and some are sideways-moving blades.
Lever harp players commonly use the terms “tuning in C” or “tuning in Eb”.
Those tuning in C (with all levers disengaged) can play in the key of C and
the keys with sharps: G (F#), D (F#, C#) etc. Those tuning in Eb
(tune in C with the B, E, and A levers engaged, which can be disengaged to
flat the string) can play in C, in the three flat keys of F, Bb, and Eb, and
the four sharp keys of G, D, A, and E.
Here are the notes that are readily available in each tuning:
C tuning: C C# D D# E E# F F# G G# A A# B B#
Eb tuning: C C# D D# Eb E F F# G G# Ab A Bb B
(For more on tuning, click
Below, see an example by
Ray Pool of the use of levers in the
chromatic scale harmonized for lever harp tuned in Eb. (The diamond
notes represent levers that must be raised or lowered to make the
accidentals, and are not played.)
From “Clever Levers”
Writing well for the harp
As we have noted, probably the biggest mistake made by composers is
writing for harp as if it were a piano. An apparently easy passage for the
piano may be quite formidable or even impossible on the harp. A few
fundamental things to remember are:
- The harp is a plucked instrument; it physically takes longer to
pull a string than to depress a piano key.
The harpist sits at the upper end of the instrument’s range with the
right arm wrapped around the instrument, compared to the pianist who sits
in the center of the instrument’s range and can move both hands freely in
either direction. This means that the harpist’s right hand cannot
reach the lower strings.
The harpist relies heavily on visual cues to
locate specific notes (hence the colored strings), unlike the pianist who
can feel his location on the keyboard by the arrangement of black and
white keys. (This issue is further complicated by the harp’s
orientation to depth, unlike the piano’s orientation to width; the pianist
has full use of peripheral vision to find notes, but the harpist does not
have this ability.) Wild leaps and skips in fast-moving passages
should be avoided, especially in orchestral parts when the harpist
must watch the conductor, the score and the strings, which are all in
Now let’s look at some specifics.
Write on a piano grand staff, generally with right hand (RH) in the upper
staff, left hand (LH) in the lower.
Occasionally all notes are in the same staff, and then it’s helpful to
indicate those played by the LH with stems down, and by the RH with stems
up, as in the following example:
Only four fingers are used on each hand: no pinky! Therefore
the maximum reach in each hand is the interval of a 10th. Please
leave fingering suggestions to the harpist, unless you allow a harpist to
look over the music prior to publication.
Since harpists use only four fingers, please
avoid figures like that in the following:
What makes this figure difficult to play
quickly? The second group that appears to be four 16th notes
actually needs five fingers to reach from the D at the bottom of the group
to the G on the first beat of the next measure.
Range of hands: in general, because the harpist’s right arm
is wrapped around the instrument, the RH shouldn’t be asked to reach below
the first metal string [the G one and one-half octaves below middle C].
The LH can play the entire range, if necessary. Harp strings are
closer together than piano keys, however, and harpists are accustomed to
reaching a tenth.
Best keys for the best sound: the ones that have the fewest
levers/pedals engaged, because unengaged strings vibrate at their longest
length and result in the richest tone. On the pedal harp that would be the
key of Cb. (See Benjamin Britten’s Interlude from the “Ceremony of
The sustain of the harp: Once strings are plucked, they set
their own duration of sound without any other means – pedal, bow, breath –
to keep them going. Therefore, there may be several harmonies lasting
over some seconds as the sounds are produced and decay. The upper
notes have very little sustain, so writing long, tied notes in the treble is
useless. The bass notes, however, have an extremely long sustain, and often
need muffling before proceeding to the next chord. (Country and pop harpist
Louise Trotter likes to say that you can play a bass octave and go down to
the corner to get groceries. When you get back it will still be vibrating!)
Harmonies and voicing: the sustain makes thick chords in
the lower strings sometimes sound “muddy” rather than “lush”. It is
better to under-harmonize than over-harmonize in a harp composition.
Staccato, legato, sostenuto: the natural sound of the harp
is a sostenuto, with the plucking action creating a tone that rings until it
decays completely or the string is plucked again. The only way to
achieve a staccato-like effect is to muffle the strings with the finger or
hand immediately after playing, so do not write staccato notes on
fast-moving passages, or with large leaps between the notes or chords.
Whatever legato the harpist produces is achieved by phrasing and careful
About rests: Rests signify the cessation of sound,
and for most players that means a separation from the instrument. Wind
players stop blowing, string players lift their bows. Harpists,
however, replace their hands upon the strings to stop sound. When
you write quarter note, rest, quarter note, rest, do you want the harpist
to stop the sound on the rest, or could two half notes produce as
desirable a sound?
Repeated notes: One cannot repeatedly play the same string
in rapid succession as you can on a piano. The best way to accomplish this
is by using an enharmonic equivalent, for example setting D# and Eb pedals
or levers and alternately playing those strings, so that two fingers can
create the effect of a repeated note. It is played fastest between two
alternating hands. [Harpists who play with their nails long (on some
Paraguayan and wire harps) play repeated notes very well with their nails,
keeping fingers stiff and moving back and forth across the string.]
Arpeggios can be played very fast when using both hands and
alternating them (think of the Nutcracker cadenza as it is commonly played,
with arpeggios in the same direction). If you write the arpeggio in
one hand and something else in the other, the arpeggio will be much slower.
Glissandos for the pedal harp can be in any arrangement you want
– diatonic, pentatonic, whole note, diminished, etc. – but glissandos for
lever harps are limited to the notes available depending on how the
instrument is tuned (in C or Eb). In both cases, remember that every
note of the scale must be accounted for (unless you stop some notes, as Ray
Pool has experimented with). See A Harpist’s Survival Guide to Glisses, by
Kathy Bundock Moore.
Harmonics are produced by "stopping" the string at its midpoint
and plucking the string just above that point, producing a note an octave
higher than normal, with a clear, bell-like tone. Notate harmonics on
the string where they are played, not where they sound. Harmonics
sound best on open strings, that is, as a flat on the pedal harp, or with
the lever disengaged on the lever harp.
You can see and hear
examples of various pedal harp techniques on this video,
Discover the Harp, provided by
harpist Gail Barber
. You will need the
Real Player (and a fast internet
connection!) to view this. If you move the viewing slider to about 10
minutes into the video, you will see and hear examples of arpeggios,
glissandos, harmonics, and other techniques. The
Philharmonia Orchestra web site also has some videos in their Orchestra
section that demonstrate various harp techniques.
More about pedals
1. Pedal harpists can easily play in keys with six or seven
sharps or flats – they just set the pedals and go.
2. If you write in an unusual sonority, say with A flats and D
flats, but B naturals and E naturals, indicate this in the key signature
with the B and E naturals in parentheses, then the A and D flats.
3. Pedals are in this order:
Two pedals can be changed simultaneously and quickly if they’re not on
the same side.
Pedals are depressed to make the sound higher, and raised to make the
sound lower. You can push the pedals down (flat to natural to sharp) faster
than you can raise them (sharp to natural to flat). Still, both these
moves can be done very quickly.
4. Pedal changes can create unwanted sounds in some
circumstances. If a string is still sounding and the harpist’s hands
are too busy to muffle it, a pedal change on that string may be noisy.
Sometimes this can be avoided by using enharmonic notes.
5. The harp can play any note enharmonically except for D natural, G
natural and A natural. This is helpful to know when working with
pedals. Careful writing can sometimes distribute fast pedal changes
more equally between the two feet such as changing D# and F# (left and
right feet) rather than Eb and F# (both right foot).
6. It is usually preferable to leave pedal markings to the
harpists, who often have personal preferences. If you do feel the
need, however, write only “F#” rather than the unnecessary “change F
natural to F#”, and make that notation directly under the note or chord
where the F# occurs. You might, however, write a small pedal diagram
periodically throughout the piece especially in sections where there are
rapid modulations, and always at each rehearsal number or letter in
[Note names FYI only] (D, C, Bb,
Eb, F, G, Ab)
(D#, C#, B, E, F#, G#, A)
7. Every accidental, key change or glissando requires pedal
movement – allow time for it.
Many symbols have been developed in harp notation. Here as an
introduction are some from Marilyn Marzuki’s “The Sacred Harpist”, publ.
(Note: More up-to-date notation usually places the harmonic note
where it will be played, and it will sound an octave higher.)
What's easy to play
Harp Spectrum special projects person John Carrington, harpist with the
Pacific Northwest Ballet and Seattle Symphony, suggests the following:
1. Glissandos, preferably
with the first octave notated to make perfectly clear what notes are
2. Arpeggios – a few up
or down, not an on-going chromatic series.
3. A few rolled chords
spread over four octaves in voicing.
4. A melody over a simple
harmonization in half notes.
5. A perpetual “motor” in
one hand with a repeated sequence of running 16th or 8th
6. A single harmonic that
is doubling for extra color the entry of another instrument, i.e. a French
horn, piccolo or trumpet long tone.
What's difficult to play
Abundant rapid chromaticism (think Chopin).
Five-fingered piano-derivative material.
of quickly changing notes and chordal harmonies.
Rapidly repeated attack on the same chords.
And finally, work with a harpist
Even after you’ve learned the theory of how harps work and the basic
rules for writing for them, it still makes sense to see if it all fits on a
real harp played by a harpist. As you read in the introduction, Kevin Kaska
learned from Deborah Henson-Conant and Ann Hobson Pilot that there’s more to
harp music than glissandi and diatonic playing.
Elizabeth, says: I suddenly needed
a harp part in a chamber/choral Christmas setting, so although I had never
even seen a piece of harp music, I included a fairly straightforward part.
To make up for my inexperience and lack of knowledge, I took the piece to
Heidi Soons, the first chair harpist with the Vermont Symphony Orchestra, to
check it. Since she graciously gave me the opportunity, I composed a piece
for harp and mezzo with a kind of Klezmer feel to show her as well. I didn't
know anything of the specialized vocabulary or notation for harp, but I was
intrigued by the sound, and Heidi saw through my inexpert notation and
choices, and she enjoyed the second piece so much that she said she'd
perform with me (and we did several concerts the next year). So she played
my pieces and I learned from her about the harp's capabilities, limitations,
and notational requirements. As soon as I saw her do a technique, I would
include it (as appropriate) in my music. I began to learn about pedaling,
fingering, tapping on the soundboard, and enharmonics. I would write
something and watch and listen as she tried it and commented on it. Then I
revised, as necessary. She still checks any new harp piece I write.
If you don’t know any harpists, write to Harp Spectrum and we’ll
try to hook you up with a harp player in your area. We’ll be watching
for your new works!
Now it’s time for you to get a book. Fortunately there are several
available. Much of the contents of this article was borrowed, with
permission of the author, from The Pocket Guide to Harp Composing by
Darhon Rees-Rohrbacher. My sincere gratitude, Darhon, for your
generosity. You can see her many Dragonflower Music publications at
www.dragonflower.com, and they are available at most retailers, as
I am also very grateful to Beatrice Schroeder Rose for allowing me to use
several quotes from her recently published and invaluable book The Harp
in the Orchestra.
Here are some very helpful publications. They may be
found at Lyon & Healy (L&H)
www.lyonhealy.com, Sylvia Woods’ Harp Center (HC)
www.harpcenter.com, or Vanderbilt Music (V)
Master Glossary of Symbols and Special Effects for
Harp, by Faith Carman (L&H, V)
Harp Scoring, by Stanley Chaloupka (HC, L&H, V)
Writing for the Modern Harp (Q&A for a college
composition class), by Lucile H. Jennings. 740-594-5520
The ABC of Harp Playing including The Use of
the Harp in the Orchestra by Lucile Lawrence (HC, L&H)
A Harpist’s Survival Guide to Glisses, by Kathy
Bundock Moore (L&H, V)
Tuning Your Harp in Eb Major, by Ray Pool (L&H,
The Harp in the Orchestra, by Beatrice Schroeder
Modern Study of the Harp, by Carlos Salzedo
A Quick Reference Glissando Chart, by Sylvia
Writing for the Pedal Harp, 2nd edition, by Ruth Inglefield and
Lou Anne Neill (www.us.harp.com).
British composer F L Dunkin Wedd (www.myspace.com/dunkinweddcomposer)
has devised a simple method for keeping track of pedal positions.
He calls it The Virtual Harp.
Also: Sibelius Notational Software. Composer
Mary Elizabeth says, “the plug-in that adds harp pedal diagrams, by Neil
Sands, was for me an educational tool as well as a notational one.”
Permissions and Sources:
Drawing of five harps is from Mel Bay
Publications’ Basic Harp for Beginners, by Laurie Riley, MB#95109.
© 1994 by Mel Bay Publications, Inc. Pacific, MO 63069. All Rights
Reserved. International Copyright Secured.
Photo of gold pedal harp courtesy of the
Swanson Harp Company, with permission of Carl Swanson.
Pedal harp discs photo from
www.BlackandGoldHarp.com, with thanks to harpist/photographer Kari
Photo of Triplett Catalina lever harp with
permission of Debbie Triplett.
Photo of lever harp with labeled parts is
by Wm. Rees, Traditional Harps, used with permission.
The Chromatic Scale, Harmonized is from
“Clever Levers”, Harmonic Exercises for Advanced Lever Harpists, by Ray
Pool, © by Ray Pool, email
The Renié excerpt is from p. 51 of “The
Harp” by Marcel Tournier, Henry LeMoine & Cie, editeurs, 1959.
The Notation Guide is from “The Sacred
Harpist” by Marilyn Marzuki, Hinshaw Music, 1980.
Harp video was linked to by permission of
One composer took our advice to heart and wrote Harp Spectrum for the
names of harpists in New York who might help him. Here's what he had to say
This past spring, I composed a piece for orchestra. I rarely get a
chance to write for such a large ensemble, and my knowledge of the harp was
very limited. I turned to the Harp Spectrum for help. I found the articles
to be excellent and thorough. I took the advice to contact Joyce Rice about
finding a harpist in my area to review the part I was composing. Meeting
with professional harpists Ray Pool and Cynthia Otis was absolutely crucial.
I can't stress enough how dramatically this improved both my understanding
of harp technique and my ability to maximize the instrument's potential in
an orchestral setting. The Harp Spectrum and its community are valuable
resources for any composer, and I am very grateful for their existence!
Composer & Producer, New York City
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