Harp tuner

The strings in Hz

E♭ major

Other tunings

At A4 = 440 Hz; the reference switch above moves them all.

How to tune a harp with this tuner

Put every lever down, choose E♭ major or C major above, tap Start tuning and allow the microphone. Pluck the string the tuner asks for near its middle, and damp its neighbours with your other hand. The needle shows which way it is off; turn the tuning key until the needle stands in the middle, and at five cents or closer a tick comes and the tuner asks for the next string up. The notes above are one octave, but the tuner hears any octave of the note: for the E♭ two octaves down, tap E♭ and pluck that string. With the microphone off, a tap plays the note.

To find the string, count from the colours: every C string is red and every F string black or dark blue; D and E sit between C and F, G, A and B between F and the next C. Some regional harps differ: then the maker's chart decides. Start with the octave the switch shows, around middle C, then work outward an octave at a time, down to the bass and up to the treble. A string reads a little sharp the moment it's plucked: let it settle before you turn. Follow the string up to its pin before you turn: the pins sit close together, and a key on the neighbour's pin is the usual way a string snaps. Turn a few degrees at a time; a harp string moves a long way for a small turn. Come up to each note from below, and when you've been round the harp, go round again: every string you raise adds tension to the neck and soundboard and pulls the earlier ones a little flat.

E♭ or C: which tuning your harp is in

A lever only raises its string a semitone, so the tuning decides which keys the harp reaches. Fully levered harps usually leave the maker in E♭ major, E♭ F G A♭ B♭ C D; smaller and partly levered harps often in C. Raise the levers on the A strings and the harp plays B♭ major, the E levers too and it plays F, the B levers and it plays C, then on through G, D, A and E: eight major keys. A fully levered harp in C goes the sharp way only: C, G, D, A, E, then B, F♯ and C♯, also eight keys, but the last three are rarely played, and F and B♭ need a flat, which a lever can't make. Small lap harps and lyre harps are usually in C too.

Not sure which yours is? With every lever down, pluck the second string above a red C, an E string, on the chromatic tuner: E♭ means an E♭ harp, E a harp in C. The maker's string chart says it too, with each string's octave.

Pedal harp: tune in C♭, pedals up

A concert pedal harp has 47 strings, C1 to G7 as written, and seven pedals, one per note name, each with three positions. Tune with all seven up, in the flat position: the open strings sound C♭ major, C♭ D♭ E♭ F♭ G♭ A♭ B♭, so a tuner shows the C strings as B and the F strings as E. That is right. The natural and sharp positions then come from the discs, which a harp technician regulates. The switch on this page has lever-harp tunings only, so tune a pedal harp on the chromatic tuner, which names any note.

The reader goes up to about 2,000 Hz, a B6. The top few strings of a pedal harp are above it: tune each against the string an octave below until the beating stops. The lowest wires read through their overtones; pluck them firmly near the middle.

Lyre harps, lap harps, song-sheet harps

A lyre harp, with anything from 7 to 21 strings, usually ships in C major, so the C major switch is yours: tap a note and tune one string of that name; after the tick the tuner moves on, so tap the same note again before each further string of that name (it hears any octave), then go to the next note. Most lyres and small lap harps have zither pins, turned with a small T-shaped key instead of a harp's tuning key. A lap harp that plays from song sheets slid under the strings is tuned to the chart printed for it: follow it note by note on the chromatic tuner.

Why a harp won't stay in tune

• New strings stretch: a nylon string for days, a whole new harp for weeks. Tune a new string up several times a day at first; it creeps flat each time, less each day.
• Weather. Gut and nylon move with humidity and temperature, which is why most harpists tune before every practice. Brought in from a cold car, a harp needs time at room temperature before the tuning holds.
• In tune open, out with the lever up is regulation, not tuning: the lever's position on the neck and its screw set the raised note. Never retune the open string to fix the lever note; regulate the lever, or have it done.
• A pin that won't hold however you turn has worn its hole; that's a harp technician's job, not more force.
• The key. Use the one that fits your pins snugly. A loose key rounds the corners of the pins.

Which electronic tuner for a harp, and tuning by ear

Any chromatic tuner that reads the whole range will do. This page reads up to B6, which covers most lever and lap harps; for the top strings of a pedal harp, a hand-held electronic tuner reads the full range, or tune them by octaves as above. A phone works in a quiet room; in a noisy one, a clip-on on the harp's neck hears the wood instead of the room. Set the reference to the group you play with: A = 440 Hz is the standard, and many orchestras tune to 442 (the switch above has both). To tune by ear, set one octave with the needle, then bring every other string to its octave until the beat goes; octaves are the easiest interval to hear.

Can you tune a harp yourself? Yes. Harpists tune their own harps, most of them every day. What goes to a technician is regulation: the levers, the pedal discs, worn pins.

The notes you tuned go into Brumm as a short melody over a beat.