HANDBOOK OF THE COLLECTION OF MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS 77 



then imagine a pillar connecting the end of the arm with the sound 

 box, and we have the structure of the triangular harp. 



The Burmese harps were held in the lap when played, with- the 

 neck toward the left. Both hands were used to pluck the strings, 

 and occasionally the left hand was laid across the neck of the in- 

 strument, stopping the strings. No. 175190 has six strings of gradu- 

 ated lengths tuned by transverse pegs. Another instrument (95490, 

 pi. 32<?) is tuned like the primitive African lyres by slipping the 

 string up and down on the neck. This harp was played at mar- 

 riages and at the boring of children's ears. In the days of the 

 Burmese kings it was played for the amusement of royalty before 

 retiring. 



The characteristic of the harp previous to the eighteenth century 

 was that each string produced only one tone, though makers of the 

 guitar had learned long before that time to produce many tones 

 by stopping the strings, and therefore were able to reduce the 

 length and number of the strings. No. 95258 is a Neapolitan dia- 

 tonic harp said to have been made about the year 1600. Compari- 

 son with the magnificent specimen No. 324705 will show that the 

 earlier harp lacks the pedals which make possible the production 

 of three tones from each string. The Neapolitan harp exhibited had 

 originally 36 strings of lengths graduated from 3 to 47 inches, and is 

 typical of the medieval harp. 



The pedal mechanism of the modern harp was preceded by a de- 

 vice consisting of little crooks of metal screwed into the neck. 

 These could be turned against the strings, shortening them and 

 raising the pitch a semitone. The invention of the pedal mecha- 

 nism is generally credited to Hochbrucker, of Bavaria, about the 

 year 1720, and the perfecting of the mechanism was accomplished by 

 Erard in the early years of the nineteenth century. No. 95327 (pi. 

 32c?) is a single-action harp made by Erard, probably before 1810, 

 the year in which he brought out his double-action harp. It is 

 called a " lap harp chromatid." The pitch is affected by four thumb 

 keys, whose action is, in part, described by Uphara as follows: 

 k ' If the strings are tuned in the diatonic scale from c (second space 

 base clef) to f (fifth line treble clef) then turning the first thumb 

 key would sharpen all the Fs of the different octaves, giving the key 

 of G major; turning the first and third keys would sharpen all the 

 Fs and Cs, giving the key of D major," etc. The double action with 

 its pedal mechanism, perfected in 1810 by Erard, makes it possible 

 to raise the pitch of any group of strings a whole tone. The harp of 

 the present time has a compass of Qy 2 octaves, 47 strings, and 7 

 pedals and is tuned to the scale of C flat. The harpist uses both 

 hands in playing, and the music is written on treble and bass staves, 

 the same as for the piano. 



