Given the harp’s diatonic possibilities, glissando is a typical playing technique where the harp shines above all other instruments. The more pedals need to be operated at the same time, the longer it takes the harpist to change the tonality of the instrument. Changing the scale from C major to A major therefore requires three pedal changes: F to F#, C to C#, and G to G#. Pressing the C pedal down to its bottom position presses a second set of pins against the strings to shorten them by a semitone, resulting in C#/Db. Moving, e.g., the C pedal up to the top position removes the little pins that press against each C string so that they ring freely in their entire length, sounding a semitone lower, in this example Cb, which is also B enharmonically. With all pedals in their middle position the tuning of all strings corresponds to the white keys of the piano. There are seven strings per octave, and seven pedals: C, D, E, F, G, A, B. The range of the harp is almost equivalent to that of the piano.
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