Harp Tuning

Tuning your harp with the aid of a piano or a tuning meter.

Piano Method

In order to tune the harp in the key of E flat, simply follow the diagram for the notes required

As a guide, start with middle ‘C’ on the piano which is the 4th Octave ‘C’ on the harp

Make sure that all the levers are in the ‘off’ position (i.e. clear of the strings). With the tuning key and whilst positioned at the harp, turn the top of key away from you to sharpen the note, towards you to flatten it.

Tune it until the note on the piano and the harp are in unison.

Meter Method

This method uses a digital tuning meter to display the nature of the note being tuned (i.e. sharp, flat or natural).

This is the Korg digital tuner with a clip-on contact microphone. This picture shows the best method of storing the contact microphone, always detach from the tuner and loosely wind the lead.

Turn on the tuner and clip the contact mic onto the opening on the back of the sound box that is nearest to the strings you are going to tune:

Tune the harp string until the needle or the green LED stabilises on the centre position. The screen should show which particular note you are tuning. It’s a good idea to start beneath the note (i.e. flat) and wind to the centre position of the tuning meter display as sometimes if you go above the note the string will eventually wind down and settle slightly flatter than intended.

The meter is reading the note as flat (and the red ‘flat’ LED is lit):

The meter is reading the note as sharp (and the red ‘sharp’ LED is lit):

The string is tuned to perfectly natural (and the green ‘natural’ LED is lit):

Purchase a Korg digital tuner with a clip-on contact microphone from our Online Shop

TUNING AND MUSICAL KEYS

Although it’s possible to tune a lever harp in any key, they are normally tuned in the key of E flat. This is because by tuning to this specific key 14 other different keys are readily available making it most versatile. These are as follows: