Harp
Why did I want to learn to play the harp? I blames movies and TV.
In the movie A Mighty Wind Catherine O’Hara plays a little dulcimer. (I think it is a dulcimer.) I thought it was really cool. I thought that I might like to try to play something like that.
Then I did a rewatch of Gilmore Girls. In the first episode, Lorelei gets into an argument with the harpist in the inn lobby about the music she is playing. The harpist wants to play rock music. Lorelei doesn’t want that. The joke is supposed to be about rock music on a harp but that sounded like a good idea to me. I decided to get a harp.
I know me so I decided to get a small lap harp. I got just a tiny one to see if I would stay interested. I did play it a lot and eventually got frustrated by the limitations of that harp. I decided to take the plunge and get a bigger one. I didn’t get one of the giant pedal harps. I got a lever harp. The difference is that with a lever harp you can change keys by flipping a lever on the strings. It isn’t super easy to do on the fly though. Really complicated music needs to be played on a pedal harp where you can change the note of each string more easily. (I have the same harp that they are using in the video below but mine isn’t blue.)
So, can you play rock music on a harp? Absolutely.
I’m nowhere near this good. I just putter but it is fun. Mostly I say that I provide after dinner music for cats. I play and the cats come in the room and lay down and nap. They are a great audience.
