Product Review: Waring Harp

The Waring harp is a folk harp that suits adults and children, beginners and advanced harpers alike. It's light-weight, small, resistant to heat and water, and affordable. Here are its best features.

Portable. The Waring harp is only 26.5 inches tall, 4.5 inches across at the top, 10.5 inches across at the bottom, and 19 inches from front to back. It weighs a mere 4 pounds, making it easy for a child to carry or a busy music therapist to transport from place to place.

Heat and water resistant. The Waring harp has a 3-piece wooden frame and bridge. It features a die-cut cardboard soundbox, and the entire instrument is painted. The paint makes the Waring harp resistant to extreme heat and even a downpour of rain, and if it is damaged, a replacement soundbox can be ordered from the manufacturer, Dennis Waring.

Modern standards. The string spacing of the Waring harp meets all modern standards. In addition, a tuning tool is included with each harp, making it possible to tune the Waring to any key or mode. The strings are arranged logically and visually, with the C and F strings color-coded for easy access.

Affordable. There are 2 ways to get your own Waring harp, with its 19 strings starting with G below Middle C. First, you can buy one pre-assembled from several sites. These include amazon.com, westmusic.com, and waringmusic.com. Pre-assembled Waring harps sell for about $180.00.

Or you can make it a family, school, or homeschooling project and build your own. The kit can be assembled by high school students or adults and includes instructions and everything you need to build your own Waring harp. All you need to add is a screw driver and some glue. You can build this harp one day, and start playing the next! The kit sells for $120.00.

Sounds great! The Waring harp sounds as good or better than many harps made entirely out of wood. The more you play this instrument, the better it will sound. As the strings and soundboard stretch, the harp will stay in tune, and the sound will become more mellow over time. You can hear a sample MP3 of this harp at www.waringmusic.com.

The Waring harp is not only a great harp for its price, but a wonderful instrument in general. It's sturdy, light-weight, beautiful to look at and listen to, and fun to play. And if you're a parent, spending less than $200 on a harp, only to have your small child put it by the wayside in a year or two is much more attractive than spending $400 and up for a wooden harp!