Lap harps are the brothers of the standard harps which everyone is familiar with and which are sometimes called Celtic harps. Lap harps come in a variety of sizes ranging from about 24 inches to about 36 inches. As the name suggests, the key thing about lap harps is that they can fit in the harpist’s lap as he or she plays them.

There are two quite distinct looking flavors of lap harp. One is the familiar type made widely known as the logo of Guinness beer. But the other type is quite distinctive in shape and is probably not all that well known outside specialist groups. Which is a shame since as described below this latter type of lap harp is perfect for musical novices to make attractive music on before they have even mastered the basics of music.

The plucked psaltery
Despite its slightly odd sounding name, and its weird shape, this is a lap harp. It is made of a wooden base with strings pulled over the base which are pulled to create music like any other harp. You only need to use one hand to use this sort of lap harp, although you can use your second hand to make the sounds vary in fascinating ways if you like. The most important feature of this instrument is that you don’t actually need to possess any musical ability to sound good. The secret to this is that under the strings the plucked psaltery holds music cards which are simple guides for plucking out a tune. All you have to do is to tweak the harp as the instruction indicates to create the song. Of course expert musicians need not use such aids and will be able to enjoy playing the plucked psaltery just like they would any other instrument.

The Irish style lap harp
This is a miniature variation of the more familiar style of harp. It has less strings and doesn’t possess the pedals the bigger version does. This reduces its musical range, but the ingenious use of hand operated levers in top end models compensates for this. Although this sort of lap harp can literally be held in the lap, a more comfortable arrangement is to use a frame or harp sling. In contrast to the plucked psaltery type of lap harp, it does require some musical ability to play.

Why choose a lap harp?
In a word, portability. The lap harp is a take anywhere instrument. Ideal for taking round to friends and family on visits for example. Many experienced harpists have a lap harp as an alternative harp for exactly this reason. Lap harps are the right solution for anybody without the space to hold a bigger instrument.

Their simplicity makes lap harps also great to learn music on, particularly for children. For those without the inclination to learn music, a plucked psaltery style lap harp is the ideal way to play for pleasure without effort.

If you would like to learn more about this wonderful instrument, then lap harp central is a the place to go.

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