The Gaelic triangular, wire-strung harp has always been known by the feminine term cruit but by 1204 was certainly known by the masculine term ' clàr ' ( board ) and, by the 14th century, by the feminine form of ' clàr ', i. e., ' clàirseach / clàrsach '.

The Scottish medieval clàrsach ' Queen Mary harp ' Clàrsach na Banrigh Màiri, ( c. 1400 ) now in the Museum of Scotland, is a one of only three surviving medieval Gaelic harps.

The clàrsach or harp played by the Gaels of Scotland and Ireland between the 11th and 19th centuries was certainly wire-strung.

The harp also was predominant with medieval bards, troubadors and minnesingers throughout the Spanish Empire.

The oldest depictions of harps without a forepillar are from 500 BCE, which was the Persian harp of Perspolis / Persia in Iran and from 400 BCE in Egypt.

The original type was the arched harp as seen at Choghâ Miš and on later third millennium seals ( fig.

In the 18th century, a link mechanism was developed connecting these hooks with pedals, leading to the invention of the single-action pedal harp.

Later, a second row of hooks was installed along the neck to allow for the double-action pedal harp, capable of raising the pitch of a string by either one or two half steps.

There was a chromatic harp developed in the late 19th century that only found a small number of proponents, and was mainly taught in Belgium.

There was an ancient Chinese harp called konghou ; the name is also now used for a modern Chinese instrument which is being revived.

Franz Liszt was seminal in finding uses for the harp in his orchestral music, and Mendelssohn and Schubert used it in theatrical music or oratorios.

In ballet, the harp was utilized to a great extent in order to embellish the dancing of the ballerina.

Ludwig Minkus was celebrated for his harp cadenzas, most notably the Variation de la Reine du jour from his ballet La Nuit et le Jour ( 1881 ), the elaborate entr ' acte composed for Albert Zabel from his ballet Roxana ( 1878 ), and numerous passages found in his score for the ballet La Bayadère, which in some passages were used to represent a veena which was used on stage as a prop.

In the 1970s, a harp was common in popular music, and can be heard in such hits as Cher's " Dark Lady ", the intro of " Gypsies, Tramps & Thieves ", and " Boogie Nights " by Heatwave.

Art in America was the first known rock band featuring a pedal harp to appear on a major record label, and released only one record, in 1983.

The pedal harp was also present in the Michael Kamen and Metallica concert and album, S & M, as part of the San Francisco Symphony orchestra.

It was created to enable easier playing of complex African cross rhythms on an African derived modern electro-acoustic harp.

The harp was adopted as a symbol of the Kingdom of Ireland on the coinage from 1542, and in the Royal Standard of King James ( VI of Scotland / I of England ) in 1603 and continued to feature on all English and United Kingdom Royal Standards ever since, though the styles of the harps depicted differed in some respects.

A simplified harp was adopted in the 1990s.

Comb material was assumed to have an effect on the tone of the harp.

Healy was interested in developing a harp better suited to the rigours of the American climate than the available European models.

In the late 1970s, Lyon & Healy was purchased by Steinway & Sons ( then owned by CBS ), and consequently closed their retail stores in the Chicago area, that had been selling sheet music and musical instruments, and their education departments — to focus on the harp division.

* Jew's harp: An instrument often known for its historical purpose for men " serenading " their sweethearts, It even went to the extent of being repeatedly banned for its " endangerment on female virtue ", it is also believed that it was banned because of its construction of silver, and due to the great demand on silver in the 19th Century Austria this was another reason for its outlawing.

The harp found its early orchestral use in concerti by many baroque and classical composers ( Handel, J. C. Bach, Mozart, Albrechtsberger, Schenck, Dussek, Spohr ) and in the opera houses of London, Paris and Berlin and most other capitals.

One of the largest and most complete collections of 17th century harp music is the work of Turlough O ' Carolan, a blind, itinerant Irish harper and composer.

Strings were traditionally made from thin strips of hide, for example antelope skin-now most strings are made from harp strings or nylon fishing line, sometimes plaited together to create thicker strings.

The population of Leinster is 2, 504, 814 according to the 2011 census, making it the most populous province in the country The traditional flag of Leinster features a golden harp on a green background.

Marx frequently used props such as a horn cane, made up of a lead pipe, tape, and a bulbhorn, and he played the harp in most of his films.

Other styles of traditional regional music in México: Son Jarocho ( Veracruz, with guitars and harp ), Huapango or Son Huasteco ( Huasteca, northeastern regions, violin and two guitars known as quinta huapanguera and jarana ), Tambora ( Sinaloa, mainly brass instruments ) Duranguense, Jarana ( most of the Yucatán peninsula ) and Norteña ( North style, redoba and accordion ).

Aside from drums, whistles, bull-roarers and buzzers are also widespread, and the jaw harp and fiddle are both found, most likely recent imports.

He was the eldest of seven children, four of whom also played the harp, most notably his brother Thomas Thomas.

The most traditional of Welsh instruments is the harp, and is considered the national musical item.

Among the most popular instruments are: blown instruments soinari, known in Samegrelo as larchemi ( Georgian panpipe ), stviri ( flute ), gudastviri ( bagpipe ), sting instruments changi ( harp ), chonguri ( four stringed unfretted long neck lute ), panduri ( three stringed fretted long neck lute ), bowed chuniri, known also as chianuri, and variety of drums.

Undoubtedly the most famous name in modern Breton music is Alan Stivell, who popularized the Celtic harp first in the fifties and sixties and on a wider level since the 1970s, with a series of albums including most famously Renaissance de la Harpe Celtique ( 1971 ).

The Spanish guitar and European harp are among the most popular instruments, while dances include the lively polka and distinctive bottle dance, which involves the performer twirling a bottle around her head.

He perused the fleeing group to their retreat and on recovering the harp he played the most ancient form of Irish music starting with the goltrai until the women wept, he played the geantrai until they all burst out in laugher and then he played the suantrai until they all fell asleep, after which he released his Harper and brought him back.

They were often accompanied by the two most prevalent Ainu musical instruments: the tonkori, a plucked zither, and the mukkuri, a jaw harp played by women.

It is Chinese made, which is unfavorable to most harmonica players, but the Pocket Pal has caught on as an inexpensive, yet quality harp.

The story follows Captain Elias Stormfield on his extremely long cosmic journey to heaven ; his accidental misplacement ; his short-lived interest in singing and playing the harp ( generated by his preconceptions of heaven ); and the obsession of souls with the " celebrities " of heaven, like Adam and Moses, who according to Twain become as distant to most people in heaven as living celebrities are on Earth.

The most famous is the bull-headed harp, held in Baghdad.

The swarmandal (; ) or Indian harp is an Indian zither that is today most commonly used as an accompanying instrument for vocal Hindustani Classical music ( the classical music of North India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh ).

The Richter-tuned harmonica, or 10-hole harmonica ( in Asia ) or blues harp ( in America ), is the most widely known type of harmonica.

Blues harp or cross harp denotes a playing technique that originated in the blues music culture, and refers to the diatonic harmonica itself, since this is the kind that is most commonly used to play blues.

Blues harp subverts the intention of this design with what is " perhaps the most striking example in all music of a thoroughly idiomatic technique that flatly contradicts everything that the instrument was designed for "