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Vintage Fret Shop
30 Riverside Drive
Ashland, NH 03217

603-968-3346

Keeping Your Autoharp In Tune

An autoharp has metal tuning pins which depend on friction to stay tight.The pins are tightened or loosened with a wrench.  It's similar to the tuning system of a piano.

Unlike the piano, however, an autoharp will not stay in tune for months and months. Even a beautifully made instrument should have its tuning "touched up" each time you play. This tuning is something we do before you take delivery of any new or used autoharp from our shop; we also tune every autoharp we repair, but please don't expect your 'harp to hang in there like the Steinway.

If you're not confident of your tuning ability, we'd be glad to show you how to align your tuning with the aid of an electronic tuner, pitch pipe, or another instrument.  There's nothing that quite equals the sweet, bright, zippy tone of a well-tuned autoharp, and the tuning is easier than you might think!

This also applies to hammered dulcimers, folk harps and most zither-related instruments.

written by Scot Maywalt