Pedal Harps vs. Lever Harps

Before I get any further, I thought I should do some explaining about the basics. First, there are two main different types of harps: the pedal harp and the lever harp.


The pedal harp has 7 pedals at the base of the harp, one for each note of the octave- C, D, E, F, G, and A. Each pedal has three positions in which it can rest. The first position allows the notes to be flat (a half note lower) the second position places a certain amount of tension on the string bringing the tone of the string up to natural, and the third position places even more tension on the string causing it to be a sharp(a half note higher). Here’s an example of how I would use these pedals when playing. If the song was in the key of D major, which requires C# and F#, I would push the C and the F pedal into the sharp(#) position causing all the C’s and F’s to be sharp. Let’s say that there was one C flat in the song.  Using my feet, I would move the C pedal out of the sharp position into the flat position just before playing the C flat. Then I would move it back into the C sharp position to finish the song. I can explain about the mechanics involved with the pedals and the action later.


The lever harp has a small lever on the neck of the harp for each string. These levers need to be manually pushed up or down to sharp or flat the note. The lever harp is much lighter. One with 40 strings weighs approximately 25 pounds; a pedal harp with 40 strings is 65 pounds.