re: #55 makeitstop

Question, CD - What exactly do the pedals do? I play pedal steel guitar and am familiar with them but am completely ignorant as to what the ones on harps do.

Is there a short explanation you could provide?

I do not play a pedal harp, but what they do is adjust string tension to allow you to play in different keys, thus making the harp a fully chromatic instrument.

Cross strung harps are another solution to the chromatic problem, and African American harper Ben Brown has done a fantastic job of resurrecting this nearly forgotten instrument.

I play a lever harp, and that means you must use a mechanical lever that changes or sharpens the pitch on a string. This is fine for folk/Celtic music, but can be difficult for classical pieces that may require multiple level flips throughout a performance.