Xpun3414
137 posts
Nov 25, 2010
4:34 PM
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How in the world did it EVER come to be called a harp. Considering that there is an instrument called a harp or harpsichord.? Where does it stem from,who came up with the nick name "Harp". Why-when-how ??? ;)
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MrVerylongusername
1379 posts
Nov 25, 2010
4:38 PM
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I believe it's short for French harp, but that doesn't really answer the question.
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ZackPomerleau
1316 posts
Nov 25, 2010
4:40 PM
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I have always heard that it was because the inside looks kinda like the shape of a harp.
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Xpun3414
138 posts
Nov 25, 2010
5:16 PM
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Come to think of it..MrVerylongusername does answer the question..to a small extent. Now that he has said that,brings me to think,I too have seen it called the french harp when reading about the history of the harmonica.Though never was it covered as to how we came to call it a "harp". I suppose that IS where it steams from.
Any other info on it guys? Lets hear it.
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clyde
76 posts
Nov 25, 2010
6:01 PM
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i believe it came from the usual number two meaning in the dictionary.
harp...to repeatedly and boringly speak about a subject....origin 16th century.
just change the speak to play
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bigd
246 posts
Nov 25, 2010
7:33 PM
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From Pat Missin:
In many parts of the American South, the harmonica is called mouth harp, French harp or just plain harp. The term is partly inspired by the Aeolian harp, a stringed instrument that is left outdoors to be played by the wind, whose name was taken from Aeolus, the god of the wind. Early names for the harmonica were Aeolina, Aeolian and Mund-Aeoline, which stressed this link with the Aeolian harp. As the earliest harmonica-like instruments were little more than a few reeds attached to a reedplate that was held to the players lips, the resemblance to a harp was quite pronounced. The introduction to Instructions for the Aeolina, or Mund-Harmonica, published in New York in 1830 proudly boast:
THE AEOLINA from the originality of its construction and the beauty of its effects, is a decided novelty in the musical art; the expressive sweetness of its tones, the richness of the harmonies it renders, and the contrasts of its exulting swells and dying cadences, realize the poetical descriptions of the harp of Aeolus and greatly surpass its practical results; while the regularity of its scale gives it advantages of the most important kind, which that instrument does not possess. From the close resemblance of its tones to those of this harp of the winds and from the analogous circumstances under which the sound is produced in both instances, the name of the Aeolina has been derived.
The word harp has also been used to describe many instruments other than the stringed harp, including the Jew's Harp (also called Jaw Harp or Mouth Harp and often known in some parts of Germany by the name MundHarmonika) and the Aeols Harfe (literally air harp). This latter instrument was also known as WindHarmonika or AeolsHarmonika and was a funnel-shaped device which was mounted on tops of houses in 19th century Germany, directed the wind though a set of free reeds tuned to produce a chord. Here is an illustration of one from a 1914 catalog of the Koch harmonica company:
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ZackPomerleau
1317 posts
Nov 25, 2010
7:42 PM
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That's my source, actually. Thought it was something like that.
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rharley5652
283 posts
Nov 25, 2010
8:07 PM
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Bigd got it right <>
also check out:
What Is This Thing Called Harp?
http://media.wiley.com/product_data/excerpt/9X/04703372/047033729X.pdf
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Rev. Jim
35 posts
Nov 26, 2010
12:46 AM
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My sister thought I was playing one of those things angels are always strumming while sitting on a cloud.
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The Gloth
518 posts
Nov 26, 2010
5:59 AM
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I wonder why "french harp", knowing that it was invented and manufactured in Germany.
I think it has been also called "pocket accordion" or something like that (the accordion itself is nicknamed "piano à bretelles" ("supenders piano") in France).
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barbequebob
1444 posts
Nov 26, 2010
7:55 AM
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Well, part of the reason for calling it French Harp is that one of the methods for getting single notes, tongue blocking, is somewhat kinda like the art of French kissing, and on that note, I'll leave it at that......
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Sincerely,
Barbeque Bob Maglinte
Boston, MA
http://www.barbequebob.com
CD available at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/bbmaglinte
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barbequebob
1445 posts
Nov 26, 2010
7:58 AM
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Well, part of the reason for calling it French Harp is that one of the methods for getting single notes, tongue blocking, is somewhat kinda like the art of French kissing, and on that note, I'll leave it at that......
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Sincerely,
Barbeque Bob Maglinte
Boston, MA
http://www.barbequebob.com
CD available at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/bbmaglinte
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RunsWithScissors
46 posts
Nov 26, 2010
8:22 AM
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Bob,
That answer was sooooo good you gave it to us twice ;-)
or you were so worked up thinking about it you double tapped
the send key, lol
Thanks
Last Edited by on Nov 26, 2010 8:23 AM
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