No comments about Pixie Harp Case.

No comments about Sabine Chromatic Auto Tuner/Tone Generator 1100.

No comments about Pixie Harp TM, Arm Kit.

No comments about Lute Harp String Set.

3 comments about First Act Discovery FG500 Lap Harp.

1. The First Act Discovery FG500 Lap Harp comes with 10 printed cards of marked notes for nursery rhymes and some other songs that are not most desired choice for play. The chords are too simplified to make the lap harp a desireable instrument for even a child. The recommendation would be to package or make available a CD or book like other First Act instruments with varing degrees of difficulty. That is the feature that I enjoy the most of First Act--their instructive CDs and books. The instrument is of good quality with a tuning key and pick.



2. I bought this for my son for xmas. I was very dissappointed in it. Usually I love First Act instruments. But this one was seriously out of tune when we opened the package. After trying to tune it myself with their tool I took it to my local music store for them to tune. No matter what she did the instrument wouldn't stay in tune. She finally gave up trying to tune it to the notes they said it was supposed to be tuned to and just generally tuned it so at least it was in tune to itself. By the next day it was out of tune yet again. I was really disappointed and have since started looking for a better quality lap harp..which in case you decided to look else where, is also called a hog nosed psaltery.



3. This is unbelievably poorly designed. It uses a single string to span two notes making it impossible to tune and keep in tune. You can get a better sound out of some wooden mixing spoons and 99 cent buckets from the hardware store. It's such a waste, I don't even want to give it away.

No comments about Heather Harp, (Natural design) Case and 2 Learn to Play Books.

3 comments about Heather Harp TM, 22 Strings.

1. I own 5 harps. This is the smallest and cheapest I own. It is a really good deal for this price. Most harps are very expensive. A harp of this size from a "good" manufacturer with full sharping levers would be over $1000. This one is made in Pakistan. It sounds fairly nice for the price. I like it as a nice portable harp to carry to classes. And, since it's cheaper, I don't need to worry as much if it gets bumped around during a class. I think it would also be a great harp to learn on, to see if you like it or are good at it before making the commitment to buy a more expensive harp.
   
   At classes, this harp has a really bad reputation, probably due to its inexpensive price and the fact that most people who buy them know nothing about harps.
   
   However, it really is a nice little harp. The string spacing and tension are excellent. I like the way they extended the top to give your hand room to reach the higher strings -- that is difficult in some small harps. This harp has broken fewer strings than some of my really expensive harps. After about 6 years, mine has no cracks or problems of any kind. The harp piller and harmonic curve are both laminated and pretty strong. However, I keep it out of direct sunlight and high heat, and make sure it doesn't dry out too much in our midwestern winters (when most homes get very, very dry and many wood things crack). You would need to do that with any wooden musical instrument. I also know how to take care of it -- like how to push in the tuning pins if they loosen up (which they will do on any Irish-style harp). If you take care of this harp, it will last a long time.
   
   If you do buy it, buy an extra set of strings. And also buy Sylvia Woods book on learning to play the harp and how to correctly care for the harp.



2. This was the first harp I bought. For the price it's a very good deal. A decent student classical harp will run thousands of dollars. I'd recommend this harp for a beginner who is planning to play folk harp. I have moved on to a classical lever harp with concert tension, which is much different. This harp's strings are very loose compared to a pedal harp or classical lever harp. Beginners should note that because the strings are so loose, it's difficult to play without some buzzing, so don't be discouraged by that.
   
   I outgrew this harp quickly because of the pieces I wanted to play. It has three full octaves, which is great for most folk pieces, it's difficult to play classical pieces (such as Pachelbel's Canon) given its limited lower range. It's generally recommended to buy a harp with as many strings as you can afford.
   
   All the strings on this harp come with sharpening levers, which is fantastic. However, they're not exact and you may have to fool around with them to get the notes to sound right and this makes accidentals tricky. Many lever harpists tune their harps to E flat and unsharpen B, A and E to flatten when needed. This was not possible with my harp due to the unprecise nature of the levers.
   
   Having said the above, I plan on keeping this harp around. It's great for travelling and is much more portable than my 5'5" harp. It's really quite nice to look at, with a nicely carved soundboard.



3. Years ago, I bought a more expensive lap harp which was so unstable that after over a year of tuning it daily, it would never hold its tune for more than five minutes. Ultimately, I gave up on it.
   
   I was nervous about buying this very inexpensive harp, but I really wanted to give it another shot. I am so glad that I did!!!! The harp is very well made, and the tuning stability has been great, pretty much from the day that I received it.
   
   My husband, who is a professional musician, has commented several times about how well constructed the harp is, and how great it sounds.
   
   I suspect that I will want to buy a larger harp in the fairly near future due to the somewhat limited range of this one, but I will still love this harp, nonetheless. I will definitely go back to Mid-East for my next harp!!!

No comments about Lily Harp, 8 Strings, Knotwork Design.

No comments about Semsemia Egyptian Harp.

5 comments about First Act MG901 Lap Harp.

1. This instrument is a simple and fun one for any child to learn basic music theory and skills. However, this specific one only comes with the song sheets provided and does not offer any extra packets of song sheets so that the child isn't stuck learning the same twelve songs. I ordered it and tried to use song sheets for a similar lapharp from another company, but the sheet would not fit the frame of the instrument. I looked everywhere, from the First Act website to other Amazon products, but couldn't find any song sheet packets that would work with this lap harp.



2. This little lap harp does what it says it will do:
   that is, let you play with ease the song cards provided.
   Using the tuning key is a but trickier, but possible with practice.
   It would not be too hard to create your own song cards
   for other music once you see the format of the cards included.
   Fun for a beginner!



3. I ran across a lady who had one of these and could not tune it. I brought it home to tune for her. My husband picked it up, along with one of the song sheets and played a song. He has always liked the thought of playing music, but never been able to. He liked that one so much that we ordered one for him. I contacted First Act and requested that they look into providing more song sheets. It may or may not happen. So, I traced the shape of the song sheet onto a piece of paper. Then, I made light lines where the strings would cross. This I scanned into my computer and printed onto card stock. I have used these to work out several more songs for him to play. He likes my versions better than the originals.



4. We bought a lap harp for our home use when we were in Tennessee years ago. Our grandchildren love to use it when they are here so we wanted to get one as a birthday gift for a grandchild. They are not something that is available in local stores and the one we just bought through Amazon was equal quality to the one we had and at a lower price. It also has the additional features of a storage pocket machined into the top with a pivoting retainer to store the tuning key plus it has an oversized pick that is easy for the kids to hold and it makes it easy to store by sliding it between (over and under) 3 strings. As with any string instrument it will need tuning and the short ears of the tuning wrench may tempt some to move the post more than the slight tweak of a turn that is usually enough to bring it back into tune (provided that you have a piano or other instrument to use as a reference).
   The one negative is the limited music supply. Combine that with the fact that the angles on the side bars that locate the music are not universal between brands which means that sheets from other brands are not usable. The only options are to make your own sheets and mark them for the songs you want or modify the outline of sheets made for another brand.



5. My granddaughter loves this toy. She can play tunes on it. I wish there had been more music but I wrote some out for her.