Tuning a Harp

It is easy to tune a harp, it only takes a few minutes and there are several methods: using an electronic tuner, tuning to another instrument and tuning to a pitch fork or by ear using the circle of fifths. We are going to describe using the electronic chromatic tuner because it is the easiest and does not require developing the skill to match pitch with your ear. (We do, however, strongly encourage all players to learn the circle of fifths and to learn to tune by ear to at least some degree.)

Electronic chromatic tuners can be obtained from virtually any music store. Be sure you are purchasing a chromatic tuner because electronic guitar tuners will not work. We recommend a tuner that has a note indicator which tells you the note you have played and a meter with a needle that tells you if the note is flat or sharp. The photo above shows this type of tuner. Once the tuner is turned on, sound from the harp is received by a microphone. When shopping for chromatic tuners, you will find that they vary in price from $30 to $300. Many tuners have all sorts of bells and whistles which you will not need but one important characteristic separates a usable tuner from one which is not usable. All tuners have electronic filters inside which allow them to identify a single frequency (note) and screen out all other noise. The filters are made to select the strongest signal and block out everything else. Our experience has been that occasionally filters, even those on some very expensive tuners, actually filter out the tone you want. Harps have a wider range than most other acoustic strings and we have found that many tuners will not work with harps as a result. When you purchase a tuner, take your harp with you or be sure you can return the tuner in case it is one of those models that will not work. To the best of our knowledge, all tuners will work on the midrange of harps but, depending upon the tuner, either the upper or lower octaves can be problematic. Be sure to try the tuner throughout the range of your harp before committing to keep it. [You can find the least expensive tuner we have found to be effective in our Accessories Catalog.]

An accessory you might consider, is a pick-up clip for your tuner. A tuner pick-up can be attached anywhere on the harp (preferably to a metal surface, since the alligator clip can damage wood) using the clip end. The jack end of the clip plugs into the tuner at the "input" port. The pick-up then amplifies the tone as you pluck and tune each individual string. Tuner pick-ups do a much better job of picking up vibrations from the harp than the built-in microphone does. When you plug in the tuner pick-up the built-in microphone is automatically shut-off leaving only the pick-up to receive the tones from your harp. This is important if you are tuning your harp in a noisy environment where a microphone would be picking up all the other sounds around you. We have seen two types of pick-up construction. One has two very thin, twisted wires which form the cable and the other has a single thick cable (which contains the two thin wires). Our personal experience is that the thin wire type brakes more easily. We have had considerably more success with the heavier cable type. [We do carry one of these heavier cable-type pick-ups in our Accessories Catalog.]

You will be tuning your harp to a do-re-mi diatonic scale starting with C (the red strings). Begin with middle C which is the red string closest to the middle of most harps. If you are tuning a lap harp middle C is probably found near the pillar of the harp. If you are not sure, ask your harp maker. The notes you will be tuning to in ascending order from C are D, E, F, G, A, B, and then another C. The scale then repeats itself. When you reach the top string go back to middle C and work your way down. Go back and double check all the strings.

Let's start tuning your harp:

1. Turn on your tuner and either place it close to your harp so that the microphone can pick up a good signal or attach the pick-up clip to the harp.

2. Pluck middle C. The indicator lights and/or needle on your tuner will show you what note the string is producing. If your harp is out of tune it will read something other than C. In most cases your harp is going to be flat. If the indicator light reads B, A or G the string is low and you are going to raise the pitch by tightening the string until the indicator light reads C. Place your tuning wrench on the middle C tuning pin and turn it clockwise to tighten the string. Make sure that when you reach C the "sharp" light does not turn on. C sharp is higher than C. If you have never tuned a harp before, you will be surprised at how little you have to turn the tuning pin to get a big change in the note. Be gentle.

3. Now that the indicator light reads C look again at the meter. If the needle reads left of center it means that the C is low and you need to tighten the string a little. If the needle reads right of center the C is high and you need to loosen the string a little until the needle is in the center.

4. Be careful when tuning that you place the wrench on the same tuning pin that you are plucking. This may sound funny, but with as many strings as the harp has this can and does happen! You'll pluck the string and turn the wrench on the string next to it. The pitch doesn't change so you turn the wrench again until you break a string. Not very funny.

5. Now pluck the D string (the next shorter string to C) and repeat steps 1, 2, & 3.

6. Repeat the process with the other strings. Tuning the harp for the first few times may take awhile, but after you get accustomed to it you will be tuning the harp up in about 3 minutes time.

7. Especially with a young harp or a new string, it is often wise to go through the entire tuning process more than once. You will find that by tuning up all the strings, the ones you did first may be flat again because the tightening of the others raised the soundboard just enough to reduce the tension on the original strings just slightly.

 

Alternate Tuning Scale

Once you are becoming proficient at playing the harp and if your harp has a full set of sharping levers, you will want to tune the E and B strings down to E flat and B flat. The sharping lever, when actuated, will then give you E natural and B natural and then when not actuated will give you E flat and B flat. This alternate tuning will yield easy access to the keys of F and B flat major. The following shows how this is done:

1. Flip the E and B sharping levers up into the sharp position.

2. With your electronic tuner, tune these strings to E and B, respectively, with the lever up.

3. When you flip the E lever down, you have an E flat. Flip the B lever down and you have a B flat. Wallah!

 

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