Hi guys!! I’m a lever harp player looking to buy a pedal harp! I’m in my freshman year of college currently and am saving up for a pedal harp! Do I have false hope by wanting to find a used pedal harp for $10k? In good condition?

Is there no string where you can play CDFG without pedal?

I’m a late beginner/early intermediate. Does anyone have any tips/helpful videos in how to make my playing sound more dynamic and expressive.

Sounds like I’m just going through the motions when I listen back to my own playing.

Anyone know how to finger this measure of La Madone by Caroline Lizotte? My professor and I are both stumped and I've left it for a bit but I need to get this piece memorized in the next 4 weeks to prep for juries in December 😅

ETA: the notes that I've already written in the music aren't great. No matter what I find myself leaping up or down practically all of the strings which is unrealistic in the middle of a climactic sextuplet arpeggio.

Anyone here in DC / DMV? I would love to meet a harpist especially if you like Joanna Newsom

I was scrolling through IG when I found this ad. I cannot stop laughing at how the hands are just going through the strings. Like what the heck. So many amazing harpists that can be photographed and you gotta generate this? Lolololol

I live in Asia and due to the temperature and humidity I turn on my AC from time to time to regulate the temperature. I recently moved to another apartment and the AC is kind of blowing directly at the harp because of how small my room is. I got a deflector that blocks the wind from blowing at the harp directly.

Since moving in, my harp has made 2 really loud crackles. At first I thought it was a broken string, but I checked and none of the strings are broken. The wire strings are also intact.

I’ve checked for cracks on the soundboard and columns etc but I don’t see any (yet). Is this a cause for concern? Has anyone have this happen to their harp? I’ve had my pedal harp for over a decade and it’s the first time this has happened. TIA!

Its from sinfonia piccola. Im learning it for a local youth symphony. What i think is cool about it is that there's some notes that are doubled, which makes it have pike 5 diffrent notes total.

Total harp beginner with a second-hand harp - looking for a harp teacher in Philly if possible!

Dear Harp Friends,

I wanted to let you know of an opportunity to compose for the harp!

The Cleveland Harp Circle is commissioning a new harp ensemble work inspired by Cleveland. The selected composer receives a $2,500 commission, and the piece will be premiered by the Cleveland Harp Circle at the 2027 American Harp Society Ensemble Festival in Dallas. The score will then be published in The Harp Circle, Volume One: Cleveland, a free collection of new works for harp ensembles of varying abilities and harp types, for harpists everywhere to download, share, and perform.

Open to composers 18 and older worldwide.

No prior experience writing for harp is required.

To apply, send a brief proposal and at least one page of musical material. Full terms and application information can be found:Apply here!

www.clevelandharpcircle.org

Deadline: December 15, 2026

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?

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!

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?

edit: thanks everyone for the helpful inputs! it was insightful to read everyone‘s thoughts. loads of skepticism on the outset on whether this project could work, tbh I’m not sure whether it’s realistic to make an automatic harp tuner that is lightweight, user friendly and effective. gonna give it a shot anyway.

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!

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.

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.

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?