What is the difference between a pedal and a lever harp?
Lever harps are also known as folk or Celtic harps. These harps can come with no levers, a few select levers or with a full set of levers. The levers are moved up or down to raise the pitch of each string by a half step. The lever harp has some limitations. There is a limit as to the number of key signatures that can be used. Lever harps have a range from between 12 to 38 strings. This limits the types of music that can be played. The traditional body is box shaped, but a staved body (rounded back) is more comfortable for most people. Most lever harps have a lighter tension (the strings feel easier to pluck, the sound is lighter) and smaller spacing between the strings. Lyon & Healy Harps offers a lever harp with the tension and spacing of a pedal harp. This makes the transition from a lever harp to the pedal harp a bit easier since the student is used to the “feel” of the concert tension that is used for pedal harps. Starting on a lever harp is just fine. After starting on a lever har
