The harp for kids: how it works and what to hear

The harp is a tall string instrument that the player plucks with the fingers. A concert harp has 47 strings stretched across a large wooden frame, and seven pedals at its base. The player sits, tips the harp back onto one shoulder, and plays with both hands, one on each side of the strings. Its rippling sound is one of the easiest to pick out in an orchestra.

Quick facts

• Family: strings
• Size: about six feet tall
• Strings: 47 on a concert harp
• Pedals: seven, worked by the feet
• In an orchestra: one or two

How it makes sound

Each string plays one note. Short strings near the player give high notes, and long strings far from the player give low ones. The player plucks a string with a fingertip, and the hollow wooden base of the harp makes the sound louder.

Harpists use the thumb and the first three fingers of each hand. The little fingers are too short to reach, so they are not used.

How the player finds the notes

Forty-seven strings would be easy to get lost in. Two things help.

Colored strings. Every C string is red. Every F string is black or blue. The player finds the other notes from those.

The pedals. The strings are tuned to the white keys of a piano. Each pedal is linked to all the strings of one letter name. Moving the C pedal changes every C on the harp at once, to make it a half step higher or lower. Three pedals are worked by the left foot and four by the right.

The sound everyone knows

A harpist can sweep a hand across many strings in one motion. The run of notes that results is called a glissando. It is the sound films use for a dream or a magic spell.

Its job in the orchestra

The harp sits at the side, often on the left behind the violins. It adds color: a ripple under a tune, a soft chord, or a sweep at a magical moment. Now and then it gets a solo passage all to itself.

Pieces to hear

“Waltz of the Flowers” from The Nutcracker, by Tchaikovsky. The harp plays a long solo before the waltz begins. See the listening guide.

“This Little Babe” from A Ceremony of Carols, by Britten. A harp is the only instrument with the choir.

Concerto for Flute and Harp, slow movement, by Mozart. Two soloists share the tunes.

“Conversations of Beauty and the Beast” from Mother Goose, by Ravel. A harp sweep marks the moment the Beast becomes a prince. See the listening guide.

One of the oldest instruments

Harps are shown in the art of ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia, thousands of years ago. Those early harps had a few strings on a curved frame. The pedals came much later, in Europe, in the 1700s and 1800s.

Starting to play

Children do not begin on a concert harp. They start on a small harp with levers in place of pedals. A lever harp sits on the floor or on a stand and has fewer strings. Many harp teachers take beginners from about six or seven.

Harps are costly, so many families rent at first. Some teachers and harp shops rent small harps by the month.

Things to do together

Shoebox harp. Stretch rubber bands of different lengths and widths over an open box. Pluck them one at a time, then sweep a finger across them all.

Listen for the sweep. Play “Waltz of the Flowers” and raise a hand each time the harp sweeps up or down.

Find the red strings. Look at a photo of a harp and count the red strings.

Spot the harp. In a concert video, look at the left side for the tall golden frame.

Print and play

Tick the strings on the instrument families listening chart. For the rest of the family, read string instruments for kids. For all four families, see instruments of the orchestra for kids.