Tuning the A & E Strings of a Harp

Video Transcript

Hi! I am Jesse Sparhawk on behalf of Expert Village. We are continuing to tune the harp. I can be reached at www.myspace.com/jessesparhawk. Now we are just going to go up the line with the As and Es tuning this A, tuning that E above that A. Remember to make sure you are putting your tuning key on the correct peg, so you are tuning the right string. That is the final Es and As. Then you continue down the line. Next thing we do is the D octave, relationship with the A. So these are all in tune from that first go round with these middle 10 strings. Remember we have already tuned the As with the Es, so we are only looking to improve the Ds. Again, it’s perfect fifth and perfect fourth relationships except this time with D and A. Everything sounds good with all the Ds and the As. The next thing we want to do is C octave with the G. Again, perfect fifth and perfect fourth relationships within an octave CGC, except with the Cs and Gs. Now just as a side note, you may notice, and it’s a very minimal, but if we play one of these wire strings quiet, and depending on what harp you are using this situation may or may not be more exaggerated. If played G very gently, it almost sounds like it has a different tuning than when I really give it a strong attack. So I play the G gently, just one sound and it’s really to the refined ear that you will hear almost slightly higher tone. So you just have to be aware that when you are tuning wire strings that you are trying to keep your attack consistent to get the strings in tune. Also the wires tend to get a little stuck. The wire tuning pegs can be a little difficult to maneuver gently and fine tune. So we have got all the Cs and Gs. Just spot-checking. Another side note, it’s best to tune up to a note, even if you are spot checking the harp when you come to a string….You say for example, ‘I’m not sure whether that is too high or too low.’ It’s always safer to tune down first, because only when you tighten a string and wrap it can you be assured that will stay tight and in tune longer. At least as long as another five minutes until you have to play a song and you have to tune it again, which isn’t actually the case but anyway. The C octave, so I have tuned it up to make sure that string is tight and in tune. We’ve done AE, DA, CGCs, and now the Bs and Fs. In this case, B flats Fs.

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