INTRODUCTION TO THE PARAGUAYAN HARP
The Paraguayan harp is the national instrument
of the country of Paraguay and a modified version of the classical harp
which was first introduced to the area by Jesuit missionaries in the 16th
century. The instrument captured the imagination of the indigenous people,
who adopted it as their own. Similar in look to its European counterpart,
this instrument has several unique features that make it an outstanding
harp.
The harp neck is designed so that the strings come from the center of the
neck, eliminating the tendency for the neck to roll over to the left because
of string tension as in other models of harps.
Because of the design, the sound is produced in two areas, the vibration
of the chords and from the vibration of the wide instrument. The warm sounds
produced are highly coloured and easily recognizable. The harp is made with
a diatonic scale and has no foot pedals, the five-octave, Paraguayan harp
has 37 strings. Made out of cedar or pine wood, it is much lighter and its
resonator longer at the base than other harps.
Since the pillar and soundbox don't need to be extra strong to accommodate
the "left-sidedness" of the tension, the whole instrument weighs
far less than a other harps. The traditional Paraguayan
harp weighs just 12 pounds.
The harp is lightly strung, and has the largest bass volume of all harps
played today. The upper register is very bright. Contrary to popular belief,
virtually any type of music can be played on this harp.