Why won’t my harp stay in tune???
Harps like a temperate environment.
The strings may go flat if they are suddenly exposed to a much warmer room (the strings loosen) and sharp if exposed to a much cooler room, or a breeze (the strings constrict, and can gain more tension than they are used to, and possibly snap).
And the wood changes with temperature changes too – remember, it was once a living tree. Some harps have been moulded to shape or laminated under pressure and the harp in general is a triangle with many, many pounds of pressure on each side….. so sudden or extreme changes in temperature can adversely affect any of these variables.
Is it new?
If it’s brand new, the strings take quite a while to settle on the instrument. When I’m tuning up an absolutely new harp (after putting the strings on myself) I tune it 3, 4, 5, 6 or more times a day, bringing it slowly up to pitch and when I get it to a place where it will hold pitch for little while – I play it – hard out chords and up and down, all over the harp, giving it a really good work out. I’m trying to stretch the strings, and get the knot in the bottom of the string to settle as tightly as possible. I then continue to tune and play, tune and play. I probably spend 45-60 minutes on tuning and playing it (in ten-15 minute slots) each day, for a couple of weeks.
Then when it goes home to its new owner, it has had a bumpy car ride, and a new environment to settle in to, so it will take daily tuning to help it settle.
If you choose – yes, it is a choice – not to tune it daily when you bring it to its new home, you are choosing to let the harp go flat, and out of tune. It’s just like when you bring a new baby (or fur baby) home – if you let it choose the routine, you become it’s slave, if you guide it into a pattern you can live with, it’s going to be easier for you in the long run. Both new harp and new baby are new to the world, you need to help them recognise how things are going to be now they are living with you!
So – say you made the choice to not continue tuning the harp daily when you get it home …when you take it out to your next ensemble gathering (or some such event) don’t be surprised if the harp decides to play up and be a little difficult to get to stay in tune – you haven’t taught it to do so …. You can come to the same analogy with the baby, I’m sure!
Or if you made the choice to tune your harp daily, and get it used to being in tune all the time, it will be a much more stable, in tune harp, less likely to need regular tuning in the long term.
If you have just changed one strings, it too has to settle in the same way as a full set of strings (though it may settle more quickly as the strings around it are settled) and the knot at the bottom has to get completely tight to settle. So again, I tune it up, play it hard, tune it again and again when I first put it on. Then I tune it every time I play it (maybe twice a day or if I am teaching on it, I tune it at the start of every student (half hourly) for the evening) to help it settle well. It takes time ….
Harps like a temperate environment.
The strings may go flat if they are suddenly exposed to a much warmer room (the strings loosen) and sharp if exposed to a much cooler room, or a breeze (the strings constrict, and can gain more tension than they are used to, and possibly snap).
And the wood changes with temperature changes too – remember, it was once a living tree. Some harps have been moulded to shape or laminated under pressure and the harp in general is a triangle with many, many pounds of pressure on each side….. so sudden or extreme changes in temperature can adversely affect any of these variables.
Is it new?
If it’s brand new, the strings take quite a while to settle on the instrument. When I’m tuning up an absolutely new harp (after putting the strings on myself) I tune it 3, 4, 5, 6 or more times a day, bringing it slowly up to pitch and when I get it to a place where it will hold pitch for little while – I play it – hard out chords and up and down, all over the harp, giving it a really good work out. I’m trying to stretch the strings, and get the knot in the bottom of the string to settle as tightly as possible. I then continue to tune and play, tune and play. I probably spend 45-60 minutes on tuning and playing it (in ten-15 minute slots) each day, for a couple of weeks.
Then when it goes home to its new owner, it has had a bumpy car ride, and a new environment to settle in to, so it will take daily tuning to help it settle.
If you choose – yes, it is a choice – not to tune it daily when you bring it to its new home, you are choosing to let the harp go flat, and out of tune. It’s just like when you bring a new baby (or fur baby) home – if you let it choose the routine, you become it’s slave, if you guide it into a pattern you can live with, it’s going to be easier for you in the long run. Both new harp and new baby are new to the world, you need to help them recognise how things are going to be now they are living with you!
So – say you made the choice to not continue tuning the harp daily when you get it home …when you take it out to your next ensemble gathering (or some such event) don’t be surprised if the harp decides to play up and be a little difficult to get to stay in tune – you haven’t taught it to do so …. You can come to the same analogy with the baby, I’m sure!
Or if you made the choice to tune your harp daily, and get it used to being in tune all the time, it will be a much more stable, in tune harp, less likely to need regular tuning in the long term.
If you have just changed one strings, it too has to settle in the same way as a full set of strings (though it may settle more quickly as the strings around it are settled) and the knot at the bottom has to get completely tight to settle. So again, I tune it up, play it hard, tune it again and again when I first put it on. Then I tune it every time I play it (maybe twice a day or if I am teaching on it, I tune it at the start of every student (half hourly) for the evening) to help it settle well. It takes time ….