Getting a harp

If you are seriously curious about learning harp, then you should learn on the best-sounding instrument that you can afford to rent or buy. Why? If your harp doesn’t sound good to you, then you will not enjoy playing on it. If you don’t play it, you won’t make the kind of progress you are looking for, and you’ll give up before having given yourself and the harp a fair shot.

How to choose a harp

First, determine your budget.

If you want to have a regular teacher, then pick a teacher next. Your teacher might have their own preferences for harp brands and might even rent harps from their studio. They can give you a recommendation based on your music goals and whether or not you want to play pedal or lever.

As a lever harp teacher, here is what I tell my students:

  • Get a harp that you can play securely. If the harp is wobbly, then you will end up using your hands and the rest of your body to hold it up, which will hurt you, sooner or later. I cannot emphasize this enough: make sure you can completely stabilize your harp before trying to learn on it. If you’re looking at a small harp that does not come with a stand, make sure you take the price of adding a stand into account for your budget.

  • Know how heavy a harp you can accommodate. Are you going to be moving your harp from room to room in a hospital? Are you going to be driving to hospice patient houses? Are you going to be gigging in coffee shops with tight spaces? Know what kind of weight that your vehicle and your body are able to handle carrying (or lugging).

  • Get as many strings and levers as meet the other restrictions. For your budget, for your weight limit, and on a harp you can play securely, provide yourself with as many notes as possible.

If you are going for levers, and you cannot afford to put levers on all of the strings, here are my recommendations:

  • If you can do one string, get F (this gives you G major, E minor, D Mixolydian, and A Dorian). This is the most common lever I use.

  • If you can do two strings, get F and B (this gives you the list above, plus F major, D minor, C Mixolydian, and G Dorian). This is the second most common lever I use. In addition to the modes listed, it also allows you to do a C7 chord, which is used in blues and gospel (C-E-G-Bb).

  • If you can do more than two strings:

    • and if you're going to do more folk music than therapeutic music, then also get C, so you can do tunes in D major and the relative modes. I do not use my C levers as much in therapeutic music.

    • and if you're going to more therapeutic music than folk music, then instead of C, add both A and E, so you can have C minor (which means you can use your lowest string in minor). I use the A and E levers more in therapeutic music than I do my C levers.

Finally, play the harp. It doesn’t matter if you don’t know how to play yet. You are the person who is going to learn, so you are the person who you are going to hear playing. If you have someone else play on the harp, you will hear what they sound like, and you will hear it from where you’re standing. You need to hear what you sound like when you sit at the harp. Whoever is showing you the harp will be able to help you play it enough to get a feel for its sound. If you don’t like how you sound, you will be less likely to practice.

Here are things you can compare between the sound and feel of different harps:

  • The feel of the pedals or levers. You should be able to easily engage them while you are playing. If it is difficult to see which lever goes to which string, or if it is difficult to tell when the lever/pedal is at its stopping point, then it will be more difficult for you to use them. (For pedals, this will depend on the individual harp. For levers, Truitt, Camac, and Loveland are common brands, and they will feel the same regardless of what harp they’re installed on.)

  • String tension. How hard do you need to pull the strings to make a good sound? Pedal harps are strung more tightly than almost all lever harps. If you have arthritis, tendonitis, carpal tunnel, or other pains/inflexibility with your hands or fingers, you might want a lever harp that has very light string tension.

  • The feel of the soundboard against your shoulder. Some backs are round, some edged.

  • Range and number of strings. Can you play the repertoire that you want on a harp with only 22 strings? Will you be happy if your lowest string is the G below middle C, or do you need strings that are lower?

  • Wood type. Can you hear a difference between maple and walnut? Cherry? Bubinga?

  • Luthier. Do you hear/feel a general similarity in harps by the same maker such that you could say that you do or do not like a particular builder?

The best place to play a whole slew of harps is to go to a harp conference that has an exhibit hall, and wander through the stands for all of the luthiers and shops. There will probably be more harps than you would find at a local store...but of course you have to wait for the event to occur. (The Somerset Folk Harp Festival➚ in New Jersey, near New York City, happens every year in July.)

As a double-strung harp teacher, of course I recommend double-strung harps to max out your strings at a lighter weight (see full list of luthiers below). As an owner of a Don Peddle harp, I recommend the Marini Made double-strung➚, which is made in his style.

Rent a harp

If you are looking for a teacher who provides regular lessons, ask if they also rent harps. (I do not.)

In New Jersey, Virginia Harp Center➚ in Haddonfield, near Philadelphia, allows the possibility of rent-to-own. Check their site or call for the latest prices. Here is a list of other harp stores in the United States.

If you're not in New Jersey or the Philadelphia area, then there is no better advice that I can give you than to just search the Internet for "rent a harp near [your location]." There might be more opportunities near you than you might have thought.

It is often possible to rent directly from the harp luthier, but I’m assuming you would have already played on that harp before you decided to rent it. Instead of paying for shipping, check with the shops above and see if they have it first.

Buy a used harp

Prices on used harps vary. It is important to play on the harp that you are going to buy, and it is especially important to look over a used harp for wear and tear. 

Here are places that sell used harps:

Buy a new harp

The least expensive new harp is usually one with a small number of strings and no levers. For each lever you add, the price goes up. The more strings you add, the more cost. And then, of course, you add cost for quality.  

Most of the harp stores listed here sell new harps.

You can also buy directly from the luthier, either by contacting them through their website, or by checking them out at a conference, like the Somerset Folk Harp Festival➚ in New Jersey. 

Here is a list of luthiers who build double-strung harps.

Talk to your teacher about buying a new harp. It’s a big purchase. Here are trustworthy, inexpensive harps:

  • Harpsicles➚ are absolutely terrific. They come in models with no levers, some levers, and all levers. They are all single-course harps.

  • Waring Harps➚ have a cardboard soundbox, which really sounds just fine. There are no levers. They have a single-course and a double-strung model. This is the least expensive, trustworthy option for a harp.

  • Between those two in cost is a Fireside Harp➚, which also has a cardboard soundbox. There are no levers. It is a single-course harp. (I personally have not played on these, but people I trust have said good things.)

Inexpensive harps of dubious quality:

  • Roosebeck, Pakistani, or Rosewood harps: There are a few people who have purchased these harps with positive experiences. There are many, many more people who have been disappointed.

  • Mikel: This is a company that advertises themselves as reverse-engineering the designs of reputable luthiers and cost-cutting them.

Inexpensive, middling quality: AKLOT makes a very inexpensive, completely wood harp that has more positive reviews than the dubious harps above. Single-course, no levers, and fewer strings than any in the trustworthy list. If you buy an AKLOT and don’t like it, you won’t have lost a good deal of money, and maybe possibly you can resell it for a few bucks. However, look at used Harpsicles➚ (excellent quality), and think about how much money you’d be out if you had to resell one of those. Is getting the AKLOT really worth it?

Here’s the important thing: If you like it, then you will practice on it, and all will be fine. If you purchase something where the quality is so poor that you don’t want to play it…then not only have you wasted that money, but you might incorrectly convince yourself that you don’t like playing the harp, when really you just don’t like playing that harp.

I also encourage you to use the internet and search for "buy a harp near [your location]”. See what comes up.

Ready to contact me? You can learn about my teaching style. There are also answers to frequently asked questions.