Welcome to the world of autoharp playing!

I'm sure this instrument will give you a great deal of pleasure—both in playing it for your own enjoyment and using it to share your music with others.

This instrument is meant to be played in an individual and original style. Others can help you get started and teach you new techniques, but you will actually learn to play the instrument by playing it. Give yourself the gift of some time each day to sit down, relax, put your `harp to your ear, and let it sing to you. Please read over these general hints as you get started. They will help you learn faster and have more fun. 

The the first rule of autoharp playing: 

KEEP YOUR INSTRUMENT IN TUNE! 

You must keep your autoharp in tune if you're going to enjoy it and if you're going to play with or for anyone else. Probably the most inconsiderate thing you can do is to play for someone or come to an instrumental jam with your `harp out of tune. This will perpetuate a common misunderstanding about autoharps, and will make you an unwelcome guest at any musical gathering. In order to tune 

Here's how you do it. Start with your highest note (usually C) and tune each C on the autoharp. Then do each B, each A#, each A, each G#, etc. If you do it this way, rather than just chromatically going up or down the `harp, you will apply stress more evenly across your `harp, and will bring the `harp more evenly and easily in tune and help it stay in tune better. You may find that your tuner doesn't register too well on the lower notes, and so you'll need to tune those by ear. Once you have tuned all the individual strings on the `harp, slowly play all the chords you have, and make certain they are tuned to your ear. This will allow you to make fine adjustments and also to catch any mistakes you may have made by tuning a string to the wrong note (a frequent occurrence). Remember to always use your ear as the final measure of whether the chords that the `harp produces are in tune. 

THE AUTOHARP

The `harp can be played either on your lap or holding it up to your body. The older "A" model harps were made to be played on the lap or on a table and strummed below the chord bars. The newer `harps are designed to be held upright against your body (which produces a much better sound on virtually all `harps), and so are awkward when played on the lap because of the necessity of crossing your hands. If you hold the `harp upright, you will need to support it in some way. Most people like a leather or nylon webbing strap to support the `harp in such a way that the hands and arms need only be occupied by playing. Your `harp will need to have strap buttons on either side. The arrows point to the correct position for strap buttons on the picture here on the left. The strap then hooks to the buttons and goes under the right arm across the back and over the left shoulder. Having to hold your harp in your arms and play at the same time can occasionally lead to shoulder, arm and hand discomfort. You need to position your `harp so that your right arm strums through all the strings from the lowest to the highest naturally with a simple rotary motion of your elbow. Your hand should be in a loosely flexed position...like you're holding a big orange, and wrists should be neutral or only slightly flexed. It's a good idea to look in the mirror occasionally while playing to check that your body is straight, your head is balanced and not slouched forward, and that your right shoulder isn't hunching up as you play. 

PICKS

In most cases, the autoharp cannot be played satisfactorily or comfortably with bare fingers. Most people use a pick on their thumb and index and middle fingers of the right hand. Some also put picks on the ring and little fingers. The kind of picks you use are a matter of preference. I like to use a plastic thumb pick that is quite wide over the thumb and has a moderate amount of "give" to it. Metal thumb picks, in my experience, are too stiff and cause too harsh a sound as well as discomfort and fatigue in the thumb. The thumb pick must be tight so it stays in place and doesn't rotate around the thumb while playing. You need to try out a number of different thumb picks and decide which one works best for you. 

Finger picks can be made from metal or various plastic or nylon materials. Most people prefer the metal picks of the heaviest guage (Dunlop steel .025 guage picks or similar) These seem to keep their shape and stay on the best, and can be bent to really fit the fingers. I also like either the clear resin Dunlop or heat-molding nylon finger picks. It's a good idea to try out both and decide which you like best. There are always new picks coming on the market. It's a good idea to try some out and decide which work best for you.

Your autoharp requires very little care. There are two things it doesn't like. Those are water and extremes of temperature. Please don't let your `harp sit in the sun, in or out of its case. Autoharps have actually "exploded" when subjected to extreme heat in the trunks of cars(not a pretty sight). To clean it, just wipe with a dry cloth. Don't use waxes or polishes on it, except for a good commercial acoustic guitar polish (I use Martin guitar polish. ) The strings will sound better, play more easily, and last longer if you keep them clean. Also, if you're playing in a warm environment, make sure to wipe any sweat completely off the harp body, and perhaps clean it with guitar polish after playing. This will keep the finish from getting ruined and also from taking up an odor from your skin. Keep your 

The first calamity you are likely to encounter when playing the autoharp is a broken string. This simply happens, and is unavoidable. If you do break a string, it's fairly easy to replace. You need to figure out first what kind of strings you have. Modern Oscar Schmidt harps, such as the one shown on the left, use "B/C strings". Some older Oscars and Chromaharps, as well as many custom `harps like the one shown on the right, use "A" model strings. These are a bit longer than the 

sharp. Once the string is out, unwind the pin approximately four full turns from its "strung" position. Then hook the ball of the string at the base of the `harp, thread it carefully under the chord bar mechanism, and feed it into the hole in the pin. If you then turn under about the last 3/8" of the string into a little loop and tuck the end back into the hole, it will be more secure and also the end won't catch on your clothing or cut your fingers when you're done. Now, wind the string carefully and neatly without overlapping, and bring it up to tune. Note that a new string will take a few days and 3-4 tunings to "settle in", and so you will find that the string you just replaced will frequently be out of tune at first, and thus require special tuning attention. 

You'll probably want to replace all the strings about every one to three years, depending on how much you play. The strings will begin to sound dead when they need replacing. This job takes about four to five hours, and is best to do when you have a good deal of time with few distractions and good music to listen to. Replacing your strings also gives you a good opportunity to clean up and polish the entire `harp, and also to check and if necessary polish or replace the bridge rods on "A" model `harps. 

The other things that will inevitably need some attention are the felt pieces that cushion the chord bars as they hit the strings. Particular in older `harps, the glue on these felts often becomes hard and comes loose. A quick fix for these will be to simply glue them back on. I find that "Tacky Glue" works best for this, as it is easy to work with and dries with some flexibility. At some time, you may need to replace all the felts on your `harp. This is time-consuming but not difficult with some advance plan

If you need some expert repair help, you can sometimes find someone through a local shop that specializes in acoustic stringed musical instruments; however, be careful about entrusting your instrument to someone who does not play the autoharp or see it as a "real" instrument. 

ACCOMPANYING YOUR SINGING

The best way to get started with the autoharp is to use it to accompany your singing. You'll find that this is easy to do, and will let you begin to get an idea of how songs are constructed as well as build the skills for learning to pick melodies. The first thing to become comfortable with is long, even strums through all the strings of the `harp. I find it useful to have folks practice a smooth, rhythmic stroke with the thumb only, and not do anything else with the autoharp until they have a really comfortable strum. When you strum the `harp, your shoulder and elbow should be as still as possible and your forearm working like the hand of a clock in a smooth vertical arc from the lowest to the highest strings. Start with a round on one chord, hum or sing the words, and strum the rhythm, then slowly add different kinds of rhythm strokes and rhythm strums. As you progress,you will want to add a few two-chord songs and then progress to three-chord songs and more complex ones. It's a really good idea, if possible, to get one song really under one's belt before starting on a new one. I find that humming or singing "la-la-la" on songs while I learn the chord pattern and get comfortable with the rhythm strokes is the best way to learn a song. Once the autoharp accompaniment is more or less automatic, I then add the words and....voila!....I've learned a song. 

MELODY PICKING

The melody that comes out of your autoharp is determined by two things: (1) which chord button you push down with your left hand, and (2) which strings you hit with the right hand at what time. 

Getting your left hand to push the right chord bar button down consistently and easily is the first and most important step in playing melodies. Whether you are playing a simple unembellished melody line or a complex tune with lots of strums and brushes and frills and furbelows in-between, your left hand is doing exactly the same thing. So, if you learn where the left hand goes, and can play the melody of a song comfortably and automatically, you can then be free to embellish it with any kind of right hand licks that strike your fancy. 

When learning a song, then, it's best to start very simply, with little short thumb strums or little plucks with your right index finger in the rhythm of the melody, and concentrate on which buttons you are pushing down with the left hand. 

Once you can play the song smoothly and evenly, without pauses and without having to look at where your left hand is going, you can then begin to work on more precise picking with the right hand. 

Now it's time to concentrate on the pinch. This consists of bringing your thumb and third (long) finger together in a short, fast motion, so that your finger is only hitting one or two strings above, and your thumb is hitting two or three strings below. After practicing that motion and getting it so that 

Now that you've learned the song, can play the melody clearly and evenly, and feel at ease and comfortable while doing it, it's time to add some "rhythm fills". This will take advantage of the wonderful properties of your instrument and make your songs more beautiful and interesting. 

Rhythm fills can be (1) a simple strum (2) a back-brush (3) one or two single notes or (4) a combination of these. It's important to remember that rhythm fills are embellishments...they are secondary to the melody. If the song becomes crowded with extra notes and the melody is not brought out above them, it becomes muddy and un-pleasing. If you listen to the very best autoharp players you'll notice that their playing is more precise and in many ways more simple than people who don't play so well. Virtuosity is often a process of eliminating unnecessary notes and emphasizing the ones that will have the most artistic impact. 

One last thing about picking melodies: your chord bar arrangement. I played along for about 5 years before I realized I could change around my chord bar arrangement to suit myself...I had always thought I had to stick with the way my `harp had been set up in the factory. Then, I had the good fortune to spend some time learning from Bryan Bowers, who is the best-known autoharp player in the country, and who plays with great skill and musicality. Bryan showed me how much easier it was to play with a `harp that was set up consistently so that the three strongest fingers shared the work of pushing buttons equally. This results in the buttons being arranged with the majors in the middle row, the minors in the farthest row with the relative minor right underneath the major, and the sevenths in the closest row, with the seventh right above the same major. This can be arranged so that it is almost totally consistent among all the keys (with some variations on either end of the `harp), as illustrated here for a typical 21-bar setup: 

HIGH STRINGS ARE UP HERE

Eb F7 C7 G7 D7 A7 E7

Bb F C G D A E

Gm Dm Am Em Bm F#m B7

LOW STRINGS ARE DOWN HERE

In this way, you don't have to do much thinking about what key you're playing in, and the keys fall automatically and comfortably beneath your fingers. Once I changed my `harp around this way, my playing and enjoyment in playing improved immeasurably. As you can see, this is a three-row setup. If you're really serious about playing melodies on the autoharp, I'd advise that you invest in a chordbar 

A Note About Autoharp Teachers:

This book is meant to help you get started playing the autoharp. It's not in any way a "complete method" for the autoharp. The best way to learn is to find a teacher who has experience teaching music and who loves the autoharp and plays it well. Many musicians who don't know much about this instrument consider the autoharp a "no-brainer", and think they can teach you how to play the autoharp without actually playing it themselves. These folks are not going to be effective autoharp teachers. Choose a teacher who really loves and respects the instrument, who plays it professionally, and who will take your autoharp playing seriously.

One last piece of advice: 
 Work on PLAYING BY EAR every single day. This may seem like a mysterious and futile process at first, but if you just keep at it, suddenly one day, patterns will begin to emerge from the music for you and your fingers and brain will start to find those melodies and chord accompaniments, as if my MAGIC.