Autobiography Of A Harp Essay

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Orchestras have become a major part of the musical society. My favorite part of the orchestra is the string section. Especially when the harp is used for a piece. Did you know the harp is one of the oldest musical instruments in the world? The harp went through many changes before achieving the one we see used today.
Many people today believe the earliest harps came from the sound of a hunter’s bow. Many images of the bow harp appeared in Pharaoh's tombs, showing there were many harps in ancient Egypt. The angled harp came to Asia from Egypt in 1500 B.C. Being built from a hollow soundbox joined to a straight strong-arm at an angle. The strings were tuned by rotating the knobs that held them in place.
During the middle-ages, the …show more content…

The earliest illustrations of a harp were on a vase found in a Babylonian temple. These harps were angled with 12 to 15 strings. Representing the next step towards the modern harp. Differing from what we call the harp today because there wasn’t a pillar. It was also played “upside down” and the pegs you turned were on the bottom of the harp instead of the top
The harp didn’t have any mechanical devices for providing the player with different keys, causing players to constantly have to tune the harp for different pieces. During the seventeenth century, a row of metal hooks was placed on the left side of the harp. These hooks helped raise and lower the pitch of the strings. Today's modern harps that have no pedals are built with advanced sharping levers that produce a good tone when used. These levers are generally used with the left hand and skilled players can achieve change quickly.
The earliest known picture of a frame harps from the British Isles is on an 8th century stone cross. Music was an essential part of life in ancient Ireland. The harp was actually an aristocratic instrument, played in the courts of kings. Harpers were required to achieve three different types of emotions in their audience by their music: laughter, tears, and sleep. With the Anglicisation of the Irish nobility, the traditional harper's became street musicians, to accompany the harp, they would recite poetry and sing folk

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