I'm planning on getting a instrument.

[Keno]

Well two if I'm lucky.  I'm getting a clay ocarina and maybe a small irish harp to learn to play.  I use to have both and remember how calming they were to play and listen to.  They were stolen from me by my family and I know if there isn't any chance of them being returned in working order..   So it will be great to be playing again.   I'm looking for some faire style songs, so any tips or links will be helpful.

[duffy]

i would look up some books on amazon, theres nothing like having the notes to a song on paper. as far as websites there are tons. i recently decided to learn an instrument myself. i have actually jumped around a bit till i found something that just fit me. i started with a recorder thinking i would like it, it was ok but not me. i then decided to give the bagpipes a try and may again in the future, but i wasn't comfortable with it.  actually batninja recommended a pennywhistle and i purchased one and have been the most comfortable with it. my wife just purchased a mountain dulcimer and i have been playing that also and like it. i have a ton of web sites saved and have purchased several books. when i have the time i will post some helpful sites here for you. is there anything specific you are looking for?

[duffy]

i am waiting on this book which looks promising, Mel Bay Cantiga's Renaissance Festival Favorites.
some sites with sheet music
http://www.traditionalmusic.co.uk/
http://www.tinwhistler.com/index.aspx
http://unitedireland.tripod.com/index.html
http://www.guitarnut.com/folktablature/index.html
http://www.diabolisinmusica.com/music.htm

nothing harp specific but plenty of traditional music. just curious is the harp difficult? my wife seems to like stringed instruments and i thought of buying her one of the cheaper ones for christmas. something like this http://www.worldmusicalinstruments.com/p-1724-baby-harp-tm-12-strings-knotwork.aspx

[Keno]

I don't think its very hard, its like my guitar, I play strings til I make something.  Well I got the ocarina and the harp, and was lucky enough to get a book for the harp on faire style songs.  I hope to at least know a few songs by next year faire time. 

If your thinking of buying a harp I wouldn't go too cheap, maybe look over ebay and do some homework.  I picked one that was small, but would travel sound. 

[duffy]

If your thinking of buying a harp I wouldn't go too cheap, maybe look over ebay and do some homework.  I picked one that was small, but would travel sound. 

i know nothing about harps, the travel sound part is even new to me. as i said i would get it for the wife, but i imagine i would tinker with it also. any recommendations?

[Keno]

Nothing I would tell you to put money down for... I would go to a music (not cd) store and hope they havd a wood and string section beside guitars.  They can tell you lots of things and info to look at.  I'll look around for things and post them.

[Thistle]

First, the most wonderful thing about harps is that it's virtually impossible to sound *bad* on one!
Let me amend that a little.. it's virtually impossible to sound bad on a modern nylon strung folk harp. The wirestrung traditional Irish harp is another story. But more on that in a minute.


Second... If I may be so bold, I think the Stoney End harps have an *amazingly* good sound for their price range. In fact, having had the chance to play them side by side with much spendier Dusty Strings and suchlike, I'd *still* likely opt for a Stoney End. I don't know why, but they just sound awesome.

Definitely avoid the various Pakistani harps on eBay, usually marketed as "engraved rosewood" or suchlike. Some are kind of pretty, but all the ones I've heard sound like toys - no resonance or tone at all, more a "fishing line tied to a cardboard box" kind of sound. *Maybe* they'd be okay as a "toe in the water" but there's going to be a lot of frustration there. If you think you're going to stay with the instrument, bite the bullet and move straight to Stoney End, even if you have to save a little longer.

If you do go nylon, you'll probably want levers at least on your Cs and Fs, and possibly on your Bs. It's fairly common to tune your Bs flat so as to be able to quickly skip down to F, but normally keep all the B levers up to play in C. But since lots and lots of Celtic stuff is written out in D.. you'll probably want C and F levers at least.

Next.. range. I have a 22 string Stoney End Brittany. It's a lap harp.. and here I confess to my one caution in their line. I like it, it's beautiful, and it sounds awesome. But it's in that awkward territory that's too small for a good performance harp and too big to be a good travel harp. It's just about perfect for picking and sitting in bed or on the sofa with, but know it's going to be a little more cumbersome than you might expect for a travel harp, especially once you factor in the padded case. A friend of mine has a Lorraine - it's MUCH bigger, and a pain to move. But that extra octave makes a MUCH bigger difference in playing that you'd think.


Now... all that applies to nylon strung. If you want to go really traditional (and don't want to go for the stuff that's obscure these days like the Welsh horsehair strung varieties) - you want a Gaelic bronze strung harp. The biggest differences you'll notice -

1. No levers. Period.

2. Telling the strings apart is a pain in the rear, especially at first. Patrick Ball uses paint pens to marks his Cs and Fs in the traditional colors to tell them apart... but it comes off fast, and in dim light, well.... your fingers had best know where they're going, 'cause your eyes probably won't. Obviously it can be done... a goodly number of the original Irish harpers were blind, so no colored strings was hardly a handicap to them.

3. The long sustain of the bronze strings demands a different playing style from the "piano-esque" style that's been adopted for the neo-celtic harps. Ann Heymann is a lady to look up for this, as well as http://www.earlygaelicharp.info/. The transition from one instrument to the other is not a particularly easy one. The instrument is marginally easier than fiddle I think, but scads harder than nylon harps.

4. Most of the "clairseach" you see for sale... aren't. If it's period you're after, look longer and harder for a good replica. See the earlygaelicharp site for more there. Bring money.

5. On the average, for a given range wirestrung harps will be smaller, more portable, and more expensive than their nylon strung counterparts. The mostly-traditional clarsach I have is a light feather compared to my Brittany, and they're both 22 string models. It's also got a much denser richer tone... and is luthier made instead of factory made, so cost twice as much.

6. *Personally* I find nylon strung more relaxing, for what it's worth. They're both beautiful, they've both got their own sweet personalities, and you can get lost in the melody and fabric of the music in either.. but the wirestrung feels a little more like "work" if that makes any sense. Then again, it could just be my familiarity and upbringing talking there - I learned on a nylon-strung folk harp (from a Classical teacher). I'd be curious hearing from anyone who's got a lot more time on the latter what their impression is.