The medieval harp was built on a roughly triangular frame, with the hollow soundbox held against the player’s body and the strings running from it to the top part of the triangle, positioned like the crossbar of a bicycle frame. The strings were made of various materials, including twisted sheep’s intestines, horsehair and metals such as brass, silver and gold. They were fixed to the soundbox with L-shaped pins called ‘brays’. The brays were designed to interfere with the vibration of the string just enough to create an additional buzzing sound as the instrument was plucked. Harps at this time were readily portable laptop instruments. Because they did not interfere with the player’s breathing, they were ideal for singers to use for their own accompaniment.

Styles & Forms | Medieval Era | Classical
Instruments | Psaltery, Cittole & Gittern | Medieval Era | Classical