If you know me at all, you aren't surprised that I play an
unusual instrument. Because it’s not your standard instrument like a
guitar or fiddle, I get a lot of odd questions and comments. Here are a few of the common ones:
What is that instrument called? Is it a harpsichord?
It’s called an autoharp. Another name for it is the
chorded zither. The name autoharp is actually a brand name, much like
Kleenex, but it has become synonymous with the autoharp, and it was never actually
trademarked, so that is what people call it today. It’s not really a harp
– and it doesn’t actually play itself, like the name implies. And it's completely different from a harpsichord.
That’s a very ancient instrument, isn’t it?
 |
| zither |
Actually, it was developed around 1880, which is fairly new
as instruments go. It was developed from an older German instrument called a
zither. A zither looks much like an autoharp, except there are no chord bars. (See the picture to the right.)
Do you ever tune it?
Yes, I do tune it. You would hate to hear it out of
tune. Before they developed electronic tuners, it was much more difficult to tune. I probably would have never taken up the autoharp in
those days, because tuning it is just too hard. Now I simply attach the
electronic tuner, pluck a string, and it tells me the note I’m playing and if I’m sharp or
flat. Then I use a tuning wrench to adjust it. Tuning an autoharp is still quite a task. There are 36 strings – compared to 6 on a guitar
or 4 on a fiddle. So I don’t tune as often as I should – especially
since I have 3 autoharps.
You can play in any key, right?
It depends on the autoharp. The standard, factory made autoharp is a chromatic 'harp, which means the strings are tuned to all the notes, including sharps and flats. A chromatic 'harp usually can be played in about 7 different keys. However, I prefer to play a diatonic autoharp. A diatonic harp is designed to play in one or two keys. It's not as versatile as a chromatic, but it sounds heaps better. Diatonic autoharps are often made by luthiers, but you can also convert a factory made chromatic autoharp into a diatonic or have someone do it for you. I do recommend putting on high-quality strings and luthier made chord bars.
You hold it on your lap and strum it, right? (Closely related comment: My third grade teacher had one of those.)
Most people have an image of an autoharp as something that
is very easy to play and that people play in a very simple way. Usually
they picture someone placing the autoharp on their lap and strumming it while
singing
While, this was probably the original intent of the autoharp
– thus the word "auto"– there are many ways to play the autoharp. Most
serious autoharp players, use finger picks and they pick it up to play. (See photo on the right.)
But you can do more than just strum the autoharp. You can play tunes. The first time I saw a video of someone playing a tune, I thought, That's impossible. But it really isn't as hard as it looks. You just press a chord that contains the note you want to play. Like most instruments, you start by practicing your scales. After a while it becomes intuitive. Take a look at the videos on my page or – better yet – search on YouTube for autoharp. You will be
amazed at the music that can be produced by this amazing instrument.
The autoharp lends itself well to playing by ear or playing by notes (usually a lead sheet with melody and chords.) You can buy music books especially for the autoharp, which makes it easier, but you can also adapt a typical lead sheet. For more difficult pieces, I work through the piece on a piano first, writing down the chords that I need to play to play the tune. I use a pencil because once I start playing on the autoharp, I usually make some adjustments.
One of my autoharp friends says that when we get to heaven, the music we’re going to hear is not those
big harps that you see the angels playing. It will be autoharp music – and you know – sometimes I think he’s right.
