In some of the examples in this thread, such as with free divers, much of the effect seen is actually due to an increased ability to reduce oxygen consumption through efficient use of muscles. I spent many years free diving and although I do believe my lung capacity increased, my ability to go to and stay at depth was much more due to an increased ability to reduce oxygen consumption. Hyperventilation beyond mild efforts can be damned dangerous in free diving (shallow water blackout). Similarly, preoxygenating by hyperventilation, as in the running example, attacks the same problem by loading oxygen. However, I don't think either of these relate much to harp playing. For increased lung capacity you would need to increase the volume of air you can move which is an increase in vital capacity. Two things that I haven't seen mentioned yet (maybe I just missed it) to improve this are both good posture, which opens up the chest, and doing yoga, which also trains you to open up your chest area and control your respiration. Yoga has pretty remarkable results in this respect. These two, coupled with deep breathing exercises go a long way to increasing vital capacity and breath control.
my $0.02
Jon
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