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Paraguayan Harps For Sale
For information about the Harps:
11 542 SW 117
CT, Miami,
FL 33186 About The Harp
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Harp #0003
Harp #0004
The harp is one of the oldest musical instruments in the world. The wall paintings of ancient Egyptian tombs show an instrument that closely resembles the hunter's bow and without
the pillar that we find in modern harps. During the Middle Ages the pillar was added to support the tension of extra strings. Paintings of these harps appear
in many early manuscripts and their shapes hardly differ from those of the Celtic harps that are still played today. As the early harps had no mechanical devices for providing the player with
different keys, harpists would be quick to retune those strings they required for each piece. In sixteenth century Spain, extra strings were added to provide the chromatic notes. This type of
harp was developed in Italy to become the Welsh triple strung harp as we know it today, essentially a Baroque instrument which has always existed side by side with the modern harp.
There have been many famous men who played the harp- King Alfred the Great and
King Henry VII, for example, and it was only towards the end of the eighteenth century when sumptuous gilded instruments became an essential decoration in elegant salons, that
the harp was almost exclusively played by women. Because of the enormous demands for harps, Sebastian Erard, who also made revolutionary changes in the pianoforte
mechanism, managed to design a modulating system which has remained basically unchanged until the present day. His ingenious system of pedals left the hands completely free for
playing. However, the Celtic harps still retains separate levers for each string which have to be moved with the left hand for modulating and a skilled player can achieve very quick changes of key.