Any harpists out there?

Cafe Society
1

We went to the LA Symphony yesterday, and one of the performances was Rimsky-Korsakoff’s Scheherezade. The first violin did a splendid job, but I was transfixed by the harpist. And now I want to know everything about playing the harp.

First, how much does a concert harp really weigh? They toted it off on a dolly, so I guessed it must weigh about 100 pounds? How many strings are there, and what’s happening with those pedals? Do concert harps come in different sizes/tones/ranges? How much does a harp cost? And how much time does it take to study the harp and learn how to play it decently?

The symphony was great, and yes Disney Hall is amazing. During the performance, it was a quiet time, I heard someone across the hall from me drop a coin on the floor. Amazing acoustics. And the featured performer, a 21 year old pianist from China, played Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto (number 2, maybe? anyway, it was a huge piece of work) with incredible skill.

Classical music rocks!

2

Not a harpist, but I can answer a few of those. The pedals change the tuning: there’s seven, each corresponding to one note letter-name. All the strings are tuned to a flat, so for example all the D strings are tuned to D flat, and the corresponding pedal has two positions, the first raising all those strings to D, and then to D sharp.

One person can lift a harp, in a push, but it’s much easier with two, more due to bulk than actual weight (Wikipedia says 80 pounds, so good guess!) Cost? Brace yourself - here’s one manufacturer’s prices. That page also answers the question about how many strings.

Learning it, it’s the same as any other instrument, many years of hard work, normally starting in fairly early childhood, and a great deal of talent are necessary to play it at the highest levels.