David D mentioned:
"high strings are close to you (and played with the right hand), and the low strings are
farther from you (and played with your left hand). This seemed ass-backwards to me from
the standpoint of any other stringed instrument."
Yeah that's odd, but it is similar to the piano in that your left hand plays the low notes and your right hand plays the high notes.
I think I may get a small harp. It would be nice to have sitting in the corner of the living room...
Something To Harp On...
Moderator: Dave Mudgett
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David Doggett
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Yeah, the hands work like on a piano, but having the high strings close, and the low ones far is reverse of what steelers are use to. And even though the direction is perpindicular to a piano (close and far, versus left to right) it somehow seems the reverse of a piano.
I'm not sure how harpists number the strings, but the way guitarists and steelers number the strings has always made me dyslexic. The scale is numbered from low to high (which makes sense from left to right on a keyboard), but guitar strings are numbered from high to low. Then again, the frets are numbered from low to high. And have you ever noticed that cash registers and calculators are numbered reverse to touch-tone telephones? And then there's the typewriter/computer keyboard. Who did all this to us?
I'm not sure how harpists number the strings, but the way guitarists and steelers number the strings has always made me dyslexic. The scale is numbered from low to high (which makes sense from left to right on a keyboard), but guitar strings are numbered from high to low. Then again, the frets are numbered from low to high. And have you ever noticed that cash registers and calculators are numbered reverse to touch-tone telephones? And then there's the typewriter/computer keyboard. Who did all this to us?