Musical Instruments : "Harp"

The harp is a stringed instrument which has the plane of its strings positioned perpendicular to the soundboard. It is also considered to be a percussion instrument. ^[1] All harps have a neck, resonator and strings. Some, known as frame harps, also have a forepillar; those lacking the forepillar are referred to as open harps. Depending on its size (which varies considerably), a harp may be played while held in the lap or while stood on the floor. Harp strings can be made of nylon (sometimes wound around copper), gut (more commonly used than nylon), wire, or silk. A person who plays the harp is called a harpist or a harper. Folk and Celtic musicians often use the term "harper," whereas classical/pedal musicians use "harpist."

Various types of harps are found in Africa, Europe, North, and South America, and a few parts of Asia. In antiquity harps and the closely related lyres were very prominent in nearly all musical cultures, but they lost popularity in the early 19^th century with Western music composers, being thought of primarily as a woman's instrument after Marie Antoinette popularised it as an activity for women.

The aeolian harp (wind harp), the autoharp, and all forms of the lyre and Kithara are not harps because their strings are not perpendicular to the soundboard; they are part of the zither family of instruments along with the piano and harpsichord. In blues music, the Harmonica is called a "Blues harp" or "harp", but it is a free reed wind instrument, not a stringed instrument.

From Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia