Welcome to HarpersGuild.com!

This is Paul Race, musician and primary contributor to the musical instrument articles on this page and several others, including Creek Don't Rise.com.

After about a decade of dabbling with autoharps and writing about my findings, I have met plenty of newbies looking for information that most long-time autoharp players know, but few newbies can track down easily. And some resources, such as Becky Blackley's excellent The Autoharp Book, are out of print and hard to find.

This site is an attempt to gather what I've learned and to link to other reliable sources. We are still "filling in the gaps," but it's a start.

In the meantime, we've been answering questions about two related instruments: zithers and bowed psalteries. Both are fun to play and can produce lovely sounds without much effort (though the zither is a little harder than the autoharp or bowed psaltery, to be honest). So this seemed like a good place to put those articles as well. (Our articles about another related instrument, the Appalachian dulcimer, will stay where they are for now, on the CreekDontRise Appalachian Dulcimer page.)

Our HarpersGuild Facebook page lets you ask questions or contact me privately through direct messaging.

One other major resource is our downloadable booklet Your First Autoharp. This is a result of years of answering user questions that, frankly, most autoharp books do not begin to address.

Learning to play an autoharp that is in repair and perfect tune is one thing. Owning an autoharp, is another. Countless readers who have acquired autoharps through gifts, inheritance, thrift shops, auction sites, or impulse purchases have no idea where to begin, what to look for, how to troubleshoot minor issues, and so on.

Of course, we also have tips that ease you into playing all sorts of tunes. One reviewer has said it has more "meat and potatoes" than other, much more expensive books.

Please click on the picture for more information.

Our Online Resources

Here is an index to the resources I have so far.

Note: A few of these articles started out on our CreekDontRise.com site, but this site contains the updated, expanded - and in some cases corrected - versions. Search engines still pull up the old articles more often than not, but we've put a link in each of those to bring you to this site. Sorry for any inconvenience.

You may hover over any topic to see the list of related articles. If your browser has trouble viewing the index below, please click here to see the same page with the articles all listed out.

- Home Pages
Harper's Guild Home CreekDontRise Page RiverboatMusic Page FolkArama Page
- Overviews
Introduction to Autoharps What Are Autoharps Good For? Is my Autoharp a Type A or Type B? Autoharp Factory Chord Setups Autoharp Pickups Introduction to Zithers Introduction to Bowed Psalteries
- Choosing Autoharps
Choosing Autoharps (Overview) Shopping for Used Autoharps Autoharp Buyers' Guide on Riverboat Music Finding Folk- and Bluegrass-Friendly Autoharps Autoharps for People with Short Arms Autoharps for Children How Much is my Autoharp/Chromaharp Worth?
- Playing Autoharp
Playing Autoharp: Overview Transposing Keys on an Autoharp Your First Autoharp
- Autoharp History
Autoharp History Overview Mountain Music, Bluegrass, and Autoharps Ivan Stiles' "The True History of the Autoharp" The 5-Chord Wonder OS 15-Chord Appalachians Early Autoharps Video Early Autoharp Chord and Note Numbers Shifter Autoharps Hopf Autoharps Musima Autoharps Autoharp Precursors and Competitors
- Tweaking Autoharps
Tweaking Autoharps Overview 15-Chorder Tweaking Overview Chromatic 21-Chord Tweaking Overview Making Your Autoharp Folk- and Bluegrass-Friendly Simplest Folk Chord Addition for 21-Chorders Making Your OS73C Folk- and Bluegrass-Friendly Video: Cutting New Chord Bars for an OS73C Tweaking the Appalachian and Bluegrass What is a Diatonic Autoharp?" George Foss' G/D Recommendations
- Autoharp Repair
Autoharp Repair Overview Replacing Loose Felt on an Autoharp Cleaning Dusty Autoharps Video
- Other Autoharp Resources
Other Resources Autoharp Discussion Groups Informative Autoharp Sites
- Zithers
Introduction to Zithers Beginning Guitar Zither Playing 3-Chord Zithers Finding Zither Strings Fretless Zithers Archive
- Bowed Psalteries
Introduction to Bowed Psalteries Unboxing Your Bowed Psaltery Bowed Psaltery Buyers' Guide Unicorn Strings Bowed Psalteries Fretless Zithers Archive of Bowed Zithers
- Contact
Message Us HarpersGuild Facebook Page Sign Up for Our Momma Don't 'Low Newsletter Paul's Facebook Music Page Paul's Blog Site

Since my autoharp journey started, I have written and rewritten any number of articles, and done autoharp workshops at several Folk festivals, where I learned the questions that many people have about the things but are afraid to ask.

As a longtime Folk singer, I can't help bringing my own POV to some topics, like tweaking autoharps to make them play in keys that Folk, Bluegrass, Country, and other guitar-based genres use. Some of my friends are deliriously happy playing Tin Pan Alley songs in flat keys, so, I'm just trying to say, there's room for a lot of different approaches and preferences. Don't let what anyone says about your autoharp or your autoharp playing intimidate you. Even me. :-)

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