Harp-Ukulele Players: How did/do you learn to play these?

Tommy B

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Hi everyone. I’ve owned two harp ukuleles. I sold the first one because I couldn’t wrap my brain around how to play it in a way that made use of its drone strings. A few years later, I decided to give it another try, bought another harp uke, and told myself that this time I would really put some effort into learning how to play it, but... nope, it still eludes me. Before I put my second (and most likely last) harp up for sale, I’d like to give this one more try. So...

Those of you who play harp ukulele: How did you learn? And if you taught yourself (as I suspect many of you did), how did you approach your exploration into playing? Were you coming from a classical or fingerstyle approach to playing ukulele? Was there an a-ha moment for you? Do you know of any learning materials online or in print? Got any tips you can share?

Oh, and while I’m asking: re-entrant or low-fourth?

Thanks all!
 
I do not have one yet, but I am planning on ordering one of the carbon fiber ones in the future. My plan will be linear tuning and I will be asking about installation of harp levers.

For me, I tend to think of a lot of ukulele music as written in one voice, and like a very limited second voice. Because of the limitation and available notes. alternately I think of music that is primarily about a melody, with a chord that makes sense backing it up.

For both of these styles of play, the additional strings would add complexity. For instance instead of using the low g as a drone note, I would be able to alternate with the other bass strings for a more complex second voice while keeping the CEA strings available for the melody.

For chord melody, whatever chord is being played, hit whichever bass string is contained in the chord.
 
I do not have one yet, but I am planning on ordering one of the carbon fiber ones in the future. My plan will be linear tuning and I will be asking about installation of harp levers

I'm assuming you're looking at buying an Emerald, and no such luck on the levers. I requested them to be installed on mine, and they don't feel that they work well enough for them to install them as an option.

I haven't had mine for long, and have only learned a few songs so far, so I unfortunately can't help much in terms of suggestions.
 
Hmmmm, I wonder if hipshot tuners might work. I am going to get an emerald. Hopefully!
 
Thanks for the comments. Hmmm... I need to see what these "levers" are all about. Although, honestly, the unmodified harp uke is complicated enough for my pea-brain.
 
OK, I'm not an expert but this question intrigued me so I had a look on YouTube.
The harp uke is kind of in the same family of instruments as a Mohan Veena that Harry Manx plays and when he described playing it he said the thing is that you DON'T play the harp strings, they play themselves, and after a look, the answer is the same. You don't really play the harp strings, they play themselves but you can play them if you wish.

So in principle, the harp strings are tuned to a certain key. When you play in that key and play those notes, the harp strings ring on their own and add depth and reverb to the sound. If your finger picking, which probably does work best, you can pick one of the harp strings as a root/bass note for the chord your playing.

The harp uke will definitely work better in a handful of keys that you tune the harp strings to.
 
Plunker, that player, Jan Laurenz, is amazing. In the video you shared, he's playing the Anuenue harp uke, which is the first one I owned. Now he's playing the Emerald carbon-fiber harp ukulele, and the things he's doing with it are inspiring.

https://youtu.be/LYxmGBJu9DU

And here, it looks as though he has a custom Emerald harp ukulele that has additional treble strings. This freakin' blows my mind.

https://youtu.be/Ea_g6Aa4JUQ
 
The harp uke is kind of in the same family of instruments as a Mohan Veena that Harry Manx plays and when he described playing it he said the thing is that you DON'T play the harp strings, they play themselves, and after a look, the answer is the same. You don't really play the harp strings, they play themselves but you can play them if you wish.

Thanks anthonyg. I can definitely say that my treble strings are not playing by themselves! But I do think I hear them faintly cursing me and my lack of musicianship.;)
 
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