- Key People:
- Sébastien Érard
- Related Topics:
- ardin
- ngombi
- chromatic harp
- kinde
- double harp
harp
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What is a harp?
A harp is a stringed instrument with strings of uneven length attached to a resonator and a neck. The strings run perpendicular to the soundboard, distinguishing it from other chordophones.
The earliest harps were bow-shaped and found in Mesopotamia and Egypt around 3000-4000 BCE. Today, the frame harp is common in Europe, exemplified by the modern orchestral harp and old Irish and Scottish harps. In Africa, the kora is a harp-lute traditionally played by men, contrasting with the frequent association of harps with women in other cultures.
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What does a harp look like?
A harp is a stringed instrument with strings that run perpendicular to its resonator, or belly. The length of the strings varies, with shorter strings producing higher pitches and longer strings producing lower ones.
Harps come in a variety of shapes, including arched, angular, and frame harps. Arched harps feature a neck that curves away from the body, while angular harps have a neck and body that form an angle. Frame harps have a column that connects the neck and body.
Many ancient harps and lyres have anthropomorphic and zoomorphic shapes. The Irish Brian Boru harp, for example, has a variety of animal shapes.
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How is a harp played?
The harp is a stringed instrument with strings of different lengths that each produce one note. The modern double-action pedal harp combines the structure and sound of ancient harps with a complex mechanism to obtain a full chromatic range.
Playing the pedal harp requires coordination between the hands, which pluck the strings with the fleshy part of the fingertips, and the feet, which select the necessary pitch changes for the strings using the pedals.
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What are the main parts of a harp?
The harp is a stringed instrument with three main parts:
* Strings of uneven lengths that produce different notes, with length corresponding to pitch.
* A resonator (or belly) that amplifies the sound of the strings.
* A neck that supports the strings away from the resonator. The neck may be arched, angled, or connected to the body by a pillar.The orientation of the strings is perpendicular to the soundboard, which distinguishes harps from other chordophones. The modern pedal harp combines the structure of ancient harps with a mechanism for a full chromatic range.
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What different types of harps exist?
Harps are stringed instruments distinguished by a resonator that is perpendicular to the strings. String length corresponds to pitch, from high to low.
Different types of harps include:
* Arched or bow-shaped harps These instruments were known in Egypt as early as 3000–4000 BCE. The player either kneels or stands while supporting the harp on their shoulder. These harps can be found in West and Central Africa.
* Angular harps The bowlike support is replaced with two crosspieces at right angles to one another, with the strings stretched between these at a 45° angle. This type originated in Assyria, though it can be found in Egypt and Greece.
* Frame harps These harps are characteristic of both medieval and modern Europe. The shape of its frame is triangular, strengthened by the pillar that encloses the strings in a tripartite structure. The modern orchestral pedal harp is a frame harp.4 Britannica SourcesCreated from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles. -
How has the harp been used in different musical traditions around the world?
The harp, a stringed instrument with strings perpendicular to its resonator, has been used in diverse musical traditions across the world.
Ancient Use
Harps were prominent in ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia around 3000 BCE. These were often played vertically, plucked with both hands, and used in secular and sacred contexts.
Regional Variations
- Africa Arched harps are traditional in West and Central Africa and are associated with women. The kora, a harp-lute, is played by men.
- Asia Harps are well-known in Myanmar. Though once used in China and India, they are no longer common there.
- Europe The harp is a national symbol of Ireland and is featured in folktales and legends. Frame harps appeared by the 9th century and were important in Celtic societies.
- Latin America European harp traditions flourish in Mexico and South America, where the harp is part of folk ensembles and often played by men.
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harp, stringed instrument in which the resonator, or belly, is perpendicular, or nearly so, to the plane of the strings. Each string produces one note, the gradation of string length from short to long corresponding to that from high to low pitch. The resonator is usually of wood or skin. In arched, or bow-shaped, harps the neck extends from and forms a curve with the body. In angular harps, body and neck form an angle. In frame harps (mostly confined to Europe), body and neck are set at an angle and are connected by a column, pillar, or forepillar, that braces against the tension of the strings. Harps lacking a forepillar are strung at relatively low tension, which results in a lower pitch than frame harps. The modern double-action pedal harp combines the basic structure and sound of ancient harps with a complex mechanism in order to obtain a full chromatic range.
Harps were widely used in the ancient Mediterranean and Middle East, although rare in Greece and Rome; depictions survive from Egypt and Mesopotamia from about 3000 bce. Many were played in vertical position and plucked with the fingers of both hands, but Mesopotamia also had horizontal harps. Placed on the player’s lap, strings toward the player, they were plucked with a plectrum. Horizontal harps are pictured in India as late as 800 ce but apparently died out in the Middle East about 600 ce. At this same time arched harps fell out of use in the Middle East, but they survive today in Africa, Myanmar (Burma), and a few isolated areas. Angular harps survived until the 19th century in Iran.
Frame harps appeared in Europe by the 9th century; their ultimate origin is uncertain. Medieval harps were apparently wire strung, typically had outcurving forepillars, and eventually were tuned diatonically (seven notes per octave). They were particularly important in Celtic societies. In the late 14th century the earlier form was displaced on the Continent by the Gothic harp, with a slender, straighter neck; thin, shallow soundbox; and nearly straight pillar. By approximately 1500, possibly earlier, it was strung with gut strings. This European diatonic harp developed into the modern harp and survives in the folk harps of Latin America.
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From the 17th century the harp was progressively subject to efforts to give it the chromatic notes demanded by changing musical styles. Two approaches were used: hooks or pedal mechanisms that altered the pitch of selected strings when necessary, and harps with 12 strings per octave (chromatic harps).
Hooks were first used in the Tirol in the 17th century. In 1720 the Bavarian Celestin Hochbrucker added seven pedals that controlled the hooks via levers set in the forepillar. Hochbrucker’s single-action pedal harp was improved in 1750, when Georges Cousineau replaced the hooks with metal plates that gripped the strings while leaving them in plane, and in 1792, when Sébastian Érard substituted rotating disks for the metal plates.
Chromatic harps were built as early as the 16th century—e.g., the double harp, with two rows of strings, and the Welsh triple harp, with three rows. They also include the chromatic harp, invented in the late 19th century by the Pleyel firm of Paris, with two crossing sets of strings (like an X), and its U.S. predecessor, in which each set of strings has a separate neck and forepillar.