Standard Autoharp Chord Bars

As of this writing, only four factory-built autoharp models have been made consistently for the last thirty years - the Oscar Schmidt 15- and 21-chorders and the Chromaharp 15- and 21-chorders.

All four of these (and several others made in the past) use the same string tunings and chord bar designs.

We're not enamored of them, necessarily, but they create a starting point for anyone tweaking or repairing one of these instruments.

• Replacing Missing Felts - Often one or two felts will come off a chord bar, but you can usually see where they should go because of the glue residue still on the bar. But if you can't tell for sure, these charts may help.

• Refelting - Occasionally an autoharp will turn up with the felts so badly worn that they need repaced. Hopefully these resources will help you if you need to do a complete refelt. (That said, don't cut your new felt into little blocks - glue the whole thing on and just notch it where you see the gaps in our pictures - the felt will adhere better.)

• Sorting - the chord bar buttons on Oscar Schmidt 21-chorders aren't attached to the chord bars, and the individual chord bars aren't always marked correctly. If you've had a mixup, hopefully these charts will help you identify your chord bars properly. Test them on a tuned autoharp before you mark them, but be sure to mark them.

• Tweaking - We've included three chord bars, E major, B minor, and F# minor, that autoharpers who want to play in Folk, Bluegrass, or Country keys often add to their instruments (usually sacrificing chords like Ab, and Bb7 that they never use.) Don't expect to find these chords on a standard autoharp.

  We also included three "diminished 7th" chords that appeared only on a small handful of early 15-chorders, but which some autoharp players like to have on their instruments.

  In addition, folks who want to play in keys that the standard autoharp doesn't support so well may be able to find tweaks to make certain chords sound fuller. (See the "Inversion Issues" section below.)

• Designing from Scratch - If you want to create your own chord bar setup from scratch, these charts will hopefully give you a starting point. Again, don't cut your new felt into blocks - apply the entire felt strip and cut notches where the charts show gaps.

Caveats

"Optional Strings Our chord bar charts shows some of the lower strings as being optionally open or muted (dark grey blocks). Different manufacturers and autoharp designers will make different choices, depending on one of these issues:

• Dissonant Harmonics - The "third" of a chord is the middle part of any chord triad. For example, the C chord consists of C, E, and G. E is called the "third" since it's the third note of a C scale. A is the "third" in an F chord, and so on.

  Those notes sound great in the middle and upper octave, but in the lower octave, they may produce overtones that clash with the chord's notes in the middle and upper octave. For example, Low E has an overtone (G#) that clashes with the G of the C chord. You can't hear that "G#", but it makes the sound "muddier." Many designers mute such notes, especially when they occur lower than the tonic of the chord, as they do on Eb, Ab, and Bb. Some designers mute low "fifts" as well (such as G in a C chord), but their overtones aren't quite so objectionable, so they're more likely to be left ope.

  That said, some chords on a standard autoharp don't have many notes at all in the lower octaves, so some designers leave notes like that open just to have a fuller sound.

• "Inversion Issues" - If a standard 1, 3, 5 triad is changed to 3, 5. 1, or 5, 1, 3, that's called an "inverion." Some chord inversions make it hard to determine what chord you're playing. For example, if you have an A minor chord that has C in the bass, it can trick hearers into thinking you're playing a C6 chord (C, E, G, A) instead of an A minor (A, C, E).

  So the lowest C may be muted in an A minor chord bar, the lowest G may be muted in an E minor chord bar, and so on.

  Or they may not.

If that's not complicated enough, Oscar Schmidt autoharps from different years go back and forth on some of those notes.

In other words, they're optional. If you're repairing or reconfiguring your own autoharp, how you deal with those notes (shown by the dark gray blocks) is up to you.

If you're just using this chart to help you identify your mixed up OS21 chord bars, ignore the dark gray felt blocks. They could be open or muted on your chord bars. Look at the rest of the felts instead.

15-Chorder Bars vs 21-Chorder Bars If you have a 12- or 15-chorder, the felts extend all the way to the end of the bar. They rest on the springs. The chord bars in this chart are designed like the 21-chorder bars, which have no felt on the ends. That said, the REST of the felt blocks are the same, whether you have a century-old OS73 or a brand new OS110.

If I had infinite time, I'd draw the chord bars both ways, but I respect your intelligence, and I have to respect my other commitents.

Chord Bar Sequence - We didn't attempt to put the chord bars in the same sequence as you'll see them on your autoharp, because different autoharps arrange them differently. And not all of the chord bars shown appear on every harp. (In fact E major, B minor, and F# minor appear on almost none of them.)

Note: We did not include any chords that are "missing" on virtually all autoharps. For example, no standard autoharp has F minor or B major. If you want to make a chord bar that isn't represented in our charts, contact us. and we'll try to help.

String Spacing - Our charts are designed so that if you print the PDF version at 100%, the strings and felts should line up to your autoharp's real strings and felts. However, autoharp manufacturers have to retool every so many years, and every time they retool, there's a chance of the string spacing changing slightly. So, before you use our charts to do some massive rework on your autoharp, make certain, the chart is lining up with your strings properly. You may have to print the chart at 99% or 101% to get it to do so.

In addition, our articles on tweaking and reconfiguring autoharps also offer some tips that may help you get through repairs regarding chord bars, springs, etc.

As I have time, I'll write more specifically about these problems and others you may encounter. In the meantime, I hope our available articles help answer your questions about these under-rated instruments.

Chord Bar Charts

Clicking on any of the illustrations below will link you to a printable full-sized PDF file. If you print it at 100%, the string spacings should be the same as the string spacings on your autoharp. But make certain they are before you start cutting things.

Whatever else you get out of our pages, I hope you come away with some great ideas for "sharing the joy."

And please stay in touch!

    - Paul Race

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