A harp is a stringed instrument which has the plane of its strings positioned perpendicular to the soundboard. As many other non-percussion instruments, it can also be used as a percussion instrument. All harps have a neck, resonator and strings. Some, known as frame harps, also have a forepillar; those lacking the forepillar are referred to as open harps. Depending on its size (which varies considerably), a harp may be played while held in the lap or while stood on the floor. Harp strings can be made of nylon (sometimes wound around copper), gut (more commonly used than nylon), wire, or silk. A person who plays the harp is called a harpist or a harper. Folk and Celtic musicians often use the term "harper," whereas classical/pedal musicians use "harpist."

Various types of harps are found in Africa, Europe, North, and South America, and a few parts of Asia. In antiquity harps and the closely related lyres were very prominent in nearly all musical cultures, but they lost popularity in the early 19^th century with Western music composers, being thought of primarily as a woman's instrument after Marie Antoinette popularised it as an activity for women.

The aeolian harp (wind harp), the autoharp, and all forms of the lyre and Kithara are not harps because their strings are not perpendicular to the soundboard; they are part of the zither family of instruments along with the piano and harpsichord. In blues music, the Harmonica is called a "Blues harp" or "harp", but it is a free reed wind instrument, not a stringed instrument.

Origins

Harps were most likely independently invented in many parts of the world in remote prehistory. It is often said that the harp's origins may lie in the sound of a plucked hunter's bow string; the converse is considered possible. A type of harp called a 'bow harp' is nothing more than a bow like a hunter's, with a resonating vessel such as a gourd fixed somewhere along its length. To allow a greater number of strings, harps were later made from two pieces of wood attached at the ends: this type is known as the 'angle harp'.

The oldest depictions of harps without a forepillar are from 4000 BCE in EgyptFact: date=December 2007(see Music of Egypt) and 3000 BCE in Persia (see Music of Iran)Fact: date=December 2007. While most English translations of the Bible feature the word 'harp', especially in connection with King David, the Hebrew word is nevel, a type of lyre with 10 strings and not a harp at all. The kanun is a descendant of the ancient Egyptian harp and was introduced to Europe by the Moors during the Middle Ages.

Structure and mechanism

Harps are roughly triangular and are usually made primarily of wood. The lower ends of the strings are fastened to the side closest to the player. This side is hollow and acts as a resonating chamber, much like the body of a violin. The crossbar, or neck, contains the instant-tuning mechanism to which the upper ends of the strings are attached. The longest side, the shaft, encloses the rods controlling the tuning devices. At the base are seven pedals, which activate the rods. The modern sophisticated instrument—spanning 6½ octaves in all keys—was perfected by the 19th-century French maker Sébastien Érard.