harp

The harp is a plucked string instrument with a resonant soundboard, a neck, and an upright pillar supporting a curved frame. Strings run from the neck to the body at an angle and are plucked with the fingertips or nails, typically with the right hand handling the melody and the left providing accompaniment. A concert or pedal harp usually has about 47 strings and a range of roughly four octaves above middle C, though sizes vary by type.

There are several main types. The lever harp, used in folk and Celtic music, has levers on each string to raise pitch by a semitone. The pedal harp, common in classical music, uses a system of foot pedals to alter notes by half steps across strings. Modern concert harps are large and triangular, while lever harps are smaller and more portable. Strings may be nylon in the treble and wire in the bass.

Harps have ancient roots in Mesopotamia, Egypt, and elsewhere, with artworks and inscriptions dating back millennia. The modern pedal harp was developed in Europe in the 18th and 19th centuries, with the double-action mechanism popularized by Sébastien Érard, enabling rapid key changes. The pedal system, combined with the instrument’s wide compass, shaped its prominent role in orchestral and concert repertoire.

In performance, the harp appears in orchestras, chamber music, solo recitals, and various folk traditions, including Celtic and Paraguayan harp styles. Notation for the instrument is typically written on two staves (treble for the right hand, bass for the left), though some music exists entirely in treble or uses the grand staff to cover its range.