Buying a Harp - do I need levers? (Harp Tuesday ep. 100)

[@georgcantor7172]

Some harp players who play harps without levers wear a "sharpening ring," which is a metal ring with a hook. The harper wears this sharpening ring on his/her finger, and this ring can raise the string's tone by a semitone: The hook tugs on the string; and when the string is vibrated, the pitch is raised one semitone.

[@christinapugliese3896]

Just purchased my first harp a few days ago, without levers. Have never played harp, always wanted to, and of course the cost was a huge consideration. Played flute for a number of years, and dabbled with piano when one was available, so I am able to read music and hopefully will be able to somewhat adapt pieces to playing without. The more I read, the more I hear that finding music for a 22 string without levers is difficult. Hopefully I have not made a terrible mistake, just really wanted to dive in and begin to learn, particularly just become practiced with technique prior to spending thousands of dollars. Here's hoping. Thank you for the informative video.

[@JoshLayne]

Hi Christina, I think there's more and more music available specifically for small harps! The biggest downside to me is the ergonomics of a small harp - it can be difficult to find a way to get it set up and hold comfortably compared to floor standing harps (the Ravenna 26 is an example of a smallish harp that's actually quite nice to start on because it can have a stand and long legs). I'm sure you'll have a lot of fun with your new harp and should be able to do quite a bit with it, no levers notwithstanding!

[@AriD2385]

Thanks so much. This is really helpful!

[@GoOKuSj33]

Hi,i'm writing a symphony for chamber ensemble and i chose a small 3 octave lever harp, so i have a big question: Can you change a lever and play on the same measure like you would do with a pedal? Also is there any small pedal concert harp?

[@JoshLayne]

Hi, yes, as long as one hand is free to change the lever (normally the left hand) you can change it right before playing, pretty much like the pedal harp. And yes, there are pedal harps at least as small as 40 strings. Hope that helps!

[@mariannecoffell6395]

I have a harp without levers. Am I able to tune it to create the lever effect if a whole song does not require a lever change throughout? Many thanks

[@JoshLayne]

Hi Marianne, you can always tune any individual string to natural, sharp, or flat - whatever you need! You just won't be able to change it during the piece, if that makes sense.

[@AriannaCunningham]

I have gotten a Harp for my birthday. It has 12 Strings, but with no levers.

[@jazeolo]

Hello - can the levers tune the string down, like from G to G♭?

[@JoshLayne]

Hi, good question! The levers give you access to two pitches, a half tone apart. With the lever down you have one tone, and then raising the lever raises the string half a tone. So if you want access to a G flat you can tune the G strings to G natural with the levers UP, and then they'll be G flat with the levers down. (Note that you also have potentially have access to a "G flat" by using an F# instead!) Hope that makes sense :)

[@jazeolo]

thanks for the reply :-) while it's true that you could lever the F strings to F# which is equivalent to G♭, I was thinking about if you were playing in a key like D minor, where you would want B♭ instead of A# because it would interrupt the scale. Is there a way around that without re-tuning all of the strings? I was wondering if the levers had three settings (♭, ♮ and ♯ - like the pedals on a pedal harp) - so thanks for the info. :-)

[@JoshLayne]

Hi jazeolo, A very common tuning for a lever harp is to tune it in Eb major with all the levers down. So you'd have no problem playing in D minor/F major - the A and E levers would be up to make them natural, and the B would stay down so you have a B flat. Hope that makes sense! :)

[@jazeolo]

Josh Layne thank you :-)

[@shellaidles]

Hi Josh! I've been learning lever harp for 6 months but I'm a pianist and have been going crazy trying to play Beatles songs and classical so I'm obsessed with cross strung harps but no one seems to teach it! why haven't they taken off do you think?

[@JoshLayne]

Hey Shelley! Good question - I'm not sure. Perhaps partly because so few people play them - a bit of a vicious cycle. Hard to find a harp and a teacher. Also, with levers or pedals it is possible to do a lot, chromatically, just requires some fast changes... Dunno, I certainly would love to explore the cross strung harp at some point :)