Autoharp
Posted: Tue Oct 24, 2023 12:02 pm
I'll put this under "Anything Else" because it sure doesn't have anything to do with building guitars.
About 8-10 years ago I saw an autoharp at a local flea market for $25. I figured I could get at least $25 worth of amusement out of it, so I bought it. And it's sat around collecting dust ever since. The other day I decided it had probably stabilized in its new environment sufficiently ;-) and it was time I did something with it. I think it's an early model autoharp. It has only 12 chord bars (newer ones have up to 21 chord bars), it has small round pushbuttons, and the construction is a bit on the crude side.
The selection of chords and their layout puzzled me. I looked on the internet, and found some discussions of chord layout on an autoharp. Those descriptions were for 21-bar autoharps, but I decided the concept could be applied to 12 bars as well.
I couldn't figure out which keys it was intended to play in, but it didn't seem to be what I wanted. With only 12 chord bars you can't get too extravagant, but I finally decided on this layout, 3 rows of 4 chords each:
C G D A
G7 D7 A7 E7
Am Em Bm F#n
That will let me play in G, D, and A, and a bit of C. Seven of the chord bars I can use as-is, but I have to cut new felts for 5 of them. I hope the old felt on the bars I want to keep still has the proper hardness to work.
About 8-10 years ago I saw an autoharp at a local flea market for $25. I figured I could get at least $25 worth of amusement out of it, so I bought it. And it's sat around collecting dust ever since. The other day I decided it had probably stabilized in its new environment sufficiently ;-) and it was time I did something with it. I think it's an early model autoharp. It has only 12 chord bars (newer ones have up to 21 chord bars), it has small round pushbuttons, and the construction is a bit on the crude side.
The selection of chords and their layout puzzled me. I looked on the internet, and found some discussions of chord layout on an autoharp. Those descriptions were for 21-bar autoharps, but I decided the concept could be applied to 12 bars as well.
I couldn't figure out which keys it was intended to play in, but it didn't seem to be what I wanted. With only 12 chord bars you can't get too extravagant, but I finally decided on this layout, 3 rows of 4 chords each:
C G D A
G7 D7 A7 E7
Am Em Bm F#n
That will let me play in G, D, and A, and a bit of C. Seven of the chord bars I can use as-is, but I have to cut new felts for 5 of them. I hope the old felt on the bars I want to keep still has the proper hardness to work.