The harp is a simple stringed instrument that is comprised of a plane of strings that is positioned perpendicular in relation to the instrument's sound board. All harps have similar elements, like the neck, the strings and the resonator. Some harps, frame harps as they are referred to, also have what is known as a forepillar. Harps that are lacking this forepillar are known as open harps. Depending on the size of the harp, which is a variable that can vary significantly depending on its purpose, a harp may be played either while held in the lap or while stood on its base on the floor.

The strings of a harp can be made from numerous different materials, including nylon, nylon wound over copper, gut, silk and wire. People who play the harp are known as harpists or harpers. The term harper is more common among Folk and Celtic musicians. Classical and pedal musicians on the other hand prefer the term harpist.

There are a number of different types of harps, and these different types of harps can be found in North America, South America, Africa, Europe and Asia. Harps and Lyres were very prominent in nearly every musical culture in the past, but they saw a drop in popularity in the early part of the 19th century which is when Western musical composers began to regard them as primarily a woman's instrument and not something that anyone could play and enjoy. The lyre, Aeolian harp or wind harp and the auto harp and the Kithara are not considered to be traditional harps because their strings are not perpendicular in relation to the sound board, which means they are a part of the Zither family of instruments instead. The Zither family of musical instruments is where the piano belongs, as well as the harpsichord.

Harps were most likely invented independently in numerous parts of the world. It has often been said that the origins of the harp may lie in the sound that comes from plucking the bow string on a hunter's bow. One of the most original formers of harps is the bow harp, which has a resonating vessel such as a gourd that is fixed somewhere along its length. Harps were later made using two pieces of wood attached at the ends in order to allow for a greater number of strings, and this type of harp is known as the angle harp.

The oldest depictions of harps that did not possess forepillars go back as far as 4000 BCE in ancient Egypt as well as Persia in 3000 BCE. While most English Biblican translations use the word Harp, the Hebrew word for this particular instrument is actually "nevel", which is a type of lyre that possesses ten strings rather than an actual harp. A descendent of the ancient Egyptian harp is the Kanun, which was introduced by the Moors to Europe during the Middle Ages.

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Originally posted 2008-12-02 05:05:26. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

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Acoustic Musical Instruments, Harps, Instrument History

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