The history of the harp
There are few musical instruments as old as the harp. In reality nobody knows just how old the harp actually is. What we do know is that the harp has had a huge influence over the history of music even if it is not all that widely played these days. This is largely because all of the other string instruments were developed from the harp and it is these instruments which are used in almost every concert these days.
The first harps were probably developed during the prehistory period and were probably discovered by several different peoples. There are a couple of different theories on how they were developed with the most likely being that harps were made after hearing the sound of hunters bow. The belief is that extra strings were added to produce additional sounds and creating the first harp. The other theory is that the harp was developed based on the strings on a loon. Either way the harp has been around since before recorded history.
The first harp that we know to have existed came from ancient Egypt. These early harps were all of a similar design and were either bow harps in which the strings were all attached to one bow or angle harps where the strings were attached to two pieces of wood that were joined at an angle. These types of harps are still in existence today. However what we generally think of as a harp is called the triangular frame harp. This is one that has a long pillar that serves as a third structural member. This harp was designed in medieval Europe around the tenth century and it offers a much wider range of sounds.
The next major development in the history of harps would not occur until the eighteenth century with the development of the pedal harp. This was a harp that used a pedal to change the tension on the stings so that the pitch could be changed. On the early versions there were as many as seven different pedals but this number has since been reduced. It used to be that the pitch could only be changed before the start of the concert but with modern pedal harps it is possible to change the pitch during the performance.
The harp is one of the oldest musical instruments that man has created and it is really the father of all of the string instruments. Although the concert harp is intended to be used for symphonies there are not a lot of them that are written with parts for the harp. As a result the harp is not all that widely played any more although there are still quite a few people who use it. These days it is usually used for solo performances for which it is still popular because of its unique sound.
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