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Each string of the harp is attached to a wooden peg or metal pin. Strings are tuned by adjusting these pegs or pins. Since tuning was diatonic, only one mode could be used at a time.
According
to the Laws of Wales (twelfth century), the three items indispensable
to a gentleman were his harp, his cloak, and his chessboard, while
the three proper things for any man to have in his house were a virtuous
wife, his cushion on his chair, and his harp in tune.
Due to the lack of a notation system, little is known about how the harp was used, how it accompanied troubadour melodies and what kind of preludial and interludial material might have been performed. Players relied on memory and improvisation.
The harp had an important role in legend and folklore. It not only was the instrument assigned to King David, but also was credited with supernatural powers which could destroy the feynde's myght.
The Romanesque harp was developed in the eleventh through thirteenth centuries. One of Musica Antiqua's harps is based on a late twelfth century English Bible illumination. It has twenty gut strings, a range of almost three octaves (f to d3), is thirty inches tall, and is ideally suited to accompany minstrel, troubadour and trouvere songs. The brass strung clarsach replica was made by Tim Hobrough of Scotland.
Additional Resources:
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King David playing the harp
stained glass by P. von Andlau - late 15th century
formerly in the choir of the collegiate at Tubingen
now in the Wurtemburg museum at Stuttgart