Hello autoharp beginner here. I recently got my hands on a second hand autoharp but unfortunately it did not come with a tuner. I have bought one online but while I wait, is there anything else i can use to tune the instrument instead? Would a socket wrench work?
I discovered autoharps not long ago and now plan on getting my first one. Im in Europe though, so my choice is very limited, I only found one used in my country.
From what Ive read, Oscar Schmidts are pretty good for beginners, and also available new in my country, so Im thinking of getting one of those, but not sure what are the differences between the models. From the 21-chord models and in my price range, theres OS21C, OS45C, OS150FCE and OS21CE. Theres about a 100€ difference between them. Is it mostly built/material quality difference or something else?
Either in Lexington or within a short drive.
What pickups do folks prefer for their autoharp. I’m looking to use a pickup to run the autoharp through some pedals but am unsure which is best. Has anyone ever tried this one?
https://www.bluestarmusic.com/Schatten-AD-02-Autoharp-Pickup-with-External-Mount-14-Jack_p_2661.html
Hi, autoharp beginner here. There is a small problem on my Oscar Schmidt autoharp where if I press down on the Eb key, it sounds very wrong and out of tune. This does not happen with any other chord on my harp, thankfully.
I attached audio of it, I play a Bb then an Ab for reference, then the out of tune Eb (I tuned my harp earlier today so I know it isn't a tuning issue, this has been happening since I got the harp). I believe what's going on is the Eb isn't properly muting the strings it isn't supposed to be playing. Sorry for the poor audio quality, I had to recording it using the camera app since Reddit doesn't let you attach audio files, so I couldn't switch to my nice mic.
https://reddit.com/link/qavl2h/video/h0422793t9u71/player
My best friend recently got an autoharp but hasn’t been able to find a teacher. Does anyone know a good autoharp teacher in town or nearby?
Just got my first autoharp today from the supplier and it seems very out of tune (both too flat and even sharp on some notes). Is this normal or should I be trying a different tuner (currently using the Cleartune app to tune as it was recommended). Thinking they could have also loosened the strings to protect it while it was shipped?
Hello,
I just got this:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1yNQJOKWHYGAc_GaWjf72lhtw4QDQCW7p/view?usp=sharing
I don''t know anything about it but it looks like it missing the thing that goes over the strings.
Can I buy one of these?
Also, can you tell me more about this like model # or year it was made?
I'm thinking of taking the plunge into learning the autoharp (my first "real instrument" other than my voice). I don't want to be held back by a bad instrument, so I'd like to get a high quality autoharp, get it tuned up by someone who really knows what they're doing, etc (for example one well-regarded autoharp repair person has a vintage Oscar Schmidt on offer that they have refitted with all new strings/mechanisms and a fine tuner). But of course this is not as cheap as just getting something from Amazon. I'm a little worried that I'll neglect practicing and give it up in a few years (though of course I intend to make a good try of it!). If I decide it's not for me, how practical do you think it would be to sell a good quality instrument down the road for most of what I paid for it, assuming I keep it in shape?
I think the harmonic language of pandiatonicism strikes a lovely balance between familiar and interesting. All of the functional harmony, voice leading, and conventions of traditional tonality that we discuss in this sub can be employed, or completely thrown out, or any hodgepodge thereof. Anything is legal as long as you stay "in key", which means that you'll never get anything so dissonant as a cluster of 5 minor 2nds (and just to pre-empt anyone who is angered by what I'm saying, this is a matter of personal taste and I agree that chromaticism is awesome).
But isn't hanging out in a single key or scale for an entire piece kinda boring? Well! Dmitri Tymoczko's paper "Scale Networks and Debussy" posits an incredibly smooth way to modulate from one scale to another: that is, by changing only one note. This means that from the starting point of C Major, we can visit not only G Major and F Major by the alteration of a single note, but less common scales as well, such as C Harmonic Major, A Harmonic Minor, G Acoustic (AKA G Lydian Dominant), and F Acoustic (AKA F Lydian Dominant): you can use my Scale Navigator web app to try it out for yourself. If we take this idea to its furthest conclusion and see how all transpositions of the pressing scales can be connected in this way (by the alteration of a single note), and we get a very interesting network of scales, of which the circle of fifths is just one route!
This strategy for modulation compliments the pandiatonic approach to harmony very well. If the combination of notes in your current scale becomes too stale or boring, go ahead and change a single note, and now you are in a completely different harmonic world while retaining much of what is familiar, and you've made the second link in a chain that will eventually become a scale progression that is the harmonic backbone of your piece of music.
I've been trying to think of ways to improvise pandiatonic harmony on acoustic instruments within the context of this kind of
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