[Harp-L] Beginner Harp

["Bill Kumpe" <bkumpe@xxxxxxx>]

What I think the gentleman is asking is "Is there a more intuitive harp out
there?"  I can empathize with the gentlemen and I say yes, there are easier
harps.

I have several solo tuned harps.  The best of the batch is my Hering Master
Soloist which I removed the windsavers from.  Glassy smooth, sweet toned and
easy to play once you become accustomed to its tiny size.  My Hohner 364
Solo was so bad that I wouldn't play it for a year.  It is now in a custom
shop being rebuilt (comb treated and sealed, nails converted to screws,
gapped properly, etc) and hopefully it is being turned into something that
leaks less than the hundred year old Eastern European barn door that (in bad
moments) I accused it of being made from.  Solo tuning is wonderful for
beginners who play another instrument and simply need to knock out a few
bars of melody.  The expected scales are there with no advanced skills
required.  I call my solo's my country or church harps because it is very
easy to pick up a few bars of a country standard or hymn with one.

I also have a couple of Melody Makers tuned harps, a Lee Oskar and a Mike
Peace Custom Special 20.  When you are a little further along and begin
wanting to play some simple standards in second position without overblowing
or even excessive bends these guys fit the bill nicely.  They are truly
workhorse harps.

I love the venerable diatonic but have never completely understood the cult
that blindly worships it and insists that the player jump through the hoops
of bends and overblows to get notes that are already there in other tunings.
I have nothing but admiration for the geniuses that can play Bach or
Gershwin on a Marine Band, but I'm not one of them (at least right now) and
I am happy to reach into my case and pull out a simpler tuning.

Bill Kumpe
Tulsa, OK