Harps are a musical instrument that is played all throughout a great deal of the world. Consider the fact that in Africa alone there are more than one hundred and fifty different distinct traditions involving the harp. The harp's ancestor is suggested to be a hunting bow, but the history of the harp is complex and not all together very clear despite suggestions from historians in the tradition like Francis Galpin. What we do know, primarily through poetry, art work and epic tales is that harps have existed at least since 4000 BC, especially in Mesopotamia and Babylonia. Harps have regularly been depicted and represented in paintings, including in the tombs belonging to the Egyptian Pharaoh Ramses III from 1166 BC, as well as in sculptures hailing from Ancient Greece, in Iraqi votive carvings from before 2900 BC and many other places as well.
It is assumed that during Islam's growth, the harp saw a great deal of travel to Spain from North Africa during the 8th century, which is when it saw growth and spreading throughout Europe.
Harps are strung with sinew, wire or silk, and they vary significantly in their size, their structure and their decoration according to the technological and physical environments of each origin. African harps, for example, have been made using a wide variety of different materials including wood and gourds, and cow or animal hide coverings. Some have a sound box and string arm that is bow shaped or arched. The sound box is the body and the resonator of the instrument and the string arm is the neck of the instrument where the tuning pegs can be found. Some other harps, such as the Turkish "ceng" harp is curved or C-shaped. European harps on the other hand have had a triangular frame instead, with a column or pillar which is added to the string arm and the sound box. There is one element that is shared among all harps, which is the fact that the strings run vertical to the sound box rather than parallel to it.
Harp instruments are central to musical cultures in many different communities ranging from Central America to Indonesia. In Jalisco, Mexico, for example, the harp was truly significant in how mariachi music was developed. Mariachi music traditionally featured only stringed instruments. In other Latin American countries like Ecuador and Guatemala for example, harps were suggested to have been introduced during the 16th and 17th centuries by African slaves that were brought to Central America and North America by Spanish explorers.
The contemporary orchestral harp of the west is a product of ancient heritage and centuries worth of technological innovations that consistently sought to improve the tone, range and speed at which different tuning systems could be altered through both pedal and hook mechanisms. In Northern America, there has been a dramatic increase in general interest for this instrument, stemming from around the 1950s. The harp may not be the most popular stringed instrument in existence today, but it certainly has a strong place in current and past culture and history.
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Originally posted 2008-10-16 05:45:53. Republished by Blog Post Promoter
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Acoustic Musical Instruments, Harps, Instrument History
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