Harpo Marx & transferable steel skills

Dwayne Martineau · Post by **Dwayne Martineau** » 25 Jan 2005 11:31 am

I watched my first Marx Brothers movie a little while ago and noticed that (a) Harpo and Chico are extraordinary musicians; and (b) Harpo's right hand was picking and blocking in a very steel-ish way.

It looked like some of the mechanics of steel playing might transfer directly onto the harp... especially with its pedals and different tunings.

Has anyone ever played a harp?

Has playing steel opened up any other instruments for you, or vice versa?

P.S. I guess Harpo was at least a stealer, if not a steeler.

Pete Grant · Post by **Pete Grant** » 25 Jan 2005 11:43 am

I play lever harp (where there's a sharping lever on each string) and I've played pedal harp. The pedal harp has a middle position of the pedals that is the natural C D E F G A B, then the down position sharps the strings and up flats them. All the strings of the same name move up or down at the same time. Pedal harps are way cool and too much fun. They are far more expensive than a full-tilt pedal steel. Lever harps are closer in price and quite wonderful in themselves.

There is a transferable skill for steel players in grabbing groups of strings. Actually, a piano player would most likely have more transferable skills, since the harp is set up like the white keys on the piano.

David Mason · Post by **David Mason** » 25 Jan 2005 3:16 pm

I fiddled around with a pedal harp to know that I'm either not sane enough or insane enough to learn how to play it - but I'm not sure which. I think it's probably most comparable to playing a piano blind, because there's no hope for you if you're trying to look at the right strings - you just have to know.

Bob Doran · Post by **Bob Doran** » 25 Jan 2005 4:37 pm

I am glad to see someone else notice old Harpo.
I am not too knowledgeable about the harp, but I have never heard it played more beautifully.
All I can say is, when he played, the grace notes just cascaded from his instrument like water droplets over a falls.
He sounded like a symphony all by himself.
What a talent!
Bob

Winnie Winston · Post by **Winnie Winston** » 27 Jan 2005 2:58 am

Indeed. I just saw a pic with Harpo where he was playing some great harp-- including some lovely harmonics. And Chico was quite well known as a pianist.

But the pedals on the harp work *quite differently* than the pedals on a steel.
With a steel, the string length is constant and the tension on the string changes.
With a harp, the tension is constant and the string length changes.
On the harps I have seen, the pedals have a center position. Moving the pedal in one direction releases it and lets it move up. Moving it in the other direction lets it move down-- just like a shifter on an automatic transmission that has a "gate" to move through.
The actual change is made with a pivoting arm that looks sort of like an Emmons push/pull bell crank. If the arm is turned so that the string does not contact the two ends, the string is at the longest, or lowest pitch. If the arm is turned in one direction, the top of it comes into contact with the string, essentially making a new "nut" for it-- and raising it a half tone. If the arm is turned in the other direction, the bottom of the arm comes in contact with the string, giving it a "nut" that is even a shorter string length.
The pedals are tuned by moving the "nut" back and forth until the string length is right.
The pedals control the full set of strings that are all the same note-- All C notes go down a half and up a half on the same pedal.

Hope this is clear!

JW[This message was edited by Winnie Winston on 27 January 2005 at 02:59 AM.]

Len Cascia · Post by **Len Cascia** » 27 Jan 2005 6:50 am

Wow, this is weird to find this on the Forum. Just yesterday I was thinking about/researching on the web the scene where Harpo plays with himself in the mirror (Harp/Violin/& ????) trying to find out in which movie (The Big Store). Does anyone remember the third instrument he overdubs?

Bill Ford · Post by **Bill Ford** » 30 Jan 2005 6:39 pm

Here is a link to a harp site, it gives a pretty good overview on how they work. Also prices on harps can get upwards to $75,000, that would equate to about 10,or 12 new MSAs,also a set of strings,aprox.$45. PSG is not as expensive as you thought,now is it?

BF
http://www.harpspectrum.org/pedal/wooster.shtml

Dwayne Martineau · Post by **Dwayne Martineau** » 2 Feb 2005 12:05 pm

$22,000 and 1,000 moving parts!? Yowsers. I hate it when an entire class of instruments is inaccessible because of dumb ol' money. I'd really, really love to play one.

Especially because:

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR>
Are all female harpists beautiful?
Absolutely<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Holy cow, she's right...

Len Amaral · Post by **Len Amaral** » 3 Mar 2005 10:29 am

I viewed a Marx Brothers movie yesterday "A Day at the Races" where Harpo played a cobination of clasical with a jazz vibe. He used beautiful technique using various grips similar to what a steel player would use only with the 5 fingers on each hand.

It was a joy to laugh looking at the zany performances of the Marx brothers comedy. However, Harpo really impressed me with his talent.

Also, I hope they never "colorize" these movies as they will not have the same feeling as B&W movies have.

Jim Cohen · Post by **Jim Cohen** » 3 Mar 2005 10:40 am

Chico was an awesome pianist too. I crack up just thinking about those long runs he would do and then "shoot" the last notes out with his index finger. Too funny.