Discuss the effect of string length on pitch. Have the students guess if longer or shorter strings will produce higher or lower sounds. Here is an interesting question to discuss with your students: Why do we use the word “high” to describe pitches of a higher frequency, when it has nothing to do with the height away from the ground?

Why do you think harp makers placed the shorter strings closer to the player and not the other way around?

Have a look at this idea you can use to demonstrate the workings of the harps pedals.

Background information: The double-action pedal harp has seven pedals. What happens is each pedal changes all the strings of one note name. Each pedal has three positions: top (flattens pitches by a semitone), middle (no change), and bottom (raises pitches by a semitone).There are three positions for each pedal: In the top position it lowers the pitch by a semitone, in the middle there is no change, and in the bottom it raises the pitch be a semitone. If all the pedals are in their centre position, the harp plays a C major scale

Procedure: On the whiteboard, draw seven pedals laid out from left to right (simple ovals or rectangles will do), and label them with the note names from C to B. You can then have the students follow along the whiteboard while you play the C major scale on a keyboard instrument. Play the scale again with one of the notes chromatically altered, and ask students which pedal should be moved and in what direction. Get a volunteer to erase the pedal in question and redraw it in the correct position. You could repeat this as many times as you wanted for a fun game. For a greater challenge, alter two or more notes.

If you have access to an electric guitar and an acoustic guitar, you can easily demonstrate the need for a resonator, both on the guitar on the harp. The electric guitar only uses electrical amplification instead of a resonator, so it produces only a faint sound if it is not plugged in. However an acoustic guitar is easy to hear because the body of the guitar is its resonator, amplifying the sound. The harp also would be far to quiet to hear without a resonator, so you can point it out to the students and demonstrate its function.

firstly, compare the sizes of violins and violas with other objects of different sizes Show or speak pairs of objects, and have the students indicate the relative size relationships with the words “violin” (for small) and “viola” (for large). For example, “elephant, mouse” would be “viola, violin” and “bicycle, airplane” would be “violin, viola” This will help students remember the relative dimensions of the instruments, which may be a little tricky to remember.

You can make a home made diddly bow (a basic blues instrument with one string) by stretching some kind of instrument string or wire on a wooden plank. Insert objects beneath the string at either end to elevate the string and increase its tension. Use the diddly bow to explore the effects of string tension and string length (press down on the string with a finger to effectively shorten the string. Higher sounds are created by greater string tension and shorter strings

The music lesson plans from the fun music company contain many more ideas for teaching about these instruments

Why do you think harp makers placed the shorter strings closer to the player and not the other way around?

Have a look at this idea you can use to demonstrate the workings of the harps pedals.

A modern double action pedal harp has seven pedals. What happens is each pedal changes all the strings of one note name. Each pedal has three positions: top (flattens pitches by a semitone), middle (no change), and bottom (raises pitches by a semitone).There are three positions for each pedal: In the top position it lowers the pitch by a semitone, in the middle there is no change, and in the bottom it raises the pitch be a semitone. With all the pedals in the middle position, the harp plays a C major scale.

Draw up on the whiteboard seven pedals (represent them as simple ovals or rectangles), and name them from C to B. Play the C major scale on a piano or other instrument while students follow the pedals on the whiteboard. You can then play the scale again, and alter one note by either a semitone up or down. Ask the students which note was altereed, and in what direction it needs to be moved. You can then have one student run out the pedal in question and draw it again in the position you played. Repeat as desired with different notes altered. For a greater challenge, alter two or more notes.

You can demonstrate the need for a resonator quite easily if you have acces to both an electric and acoustic guitar. The electric guitar only uses electrical amplification instead of a resonator, so it produces only a faint sound if it is not plugged in. By contrast, an acoustic guitar is readily audible because the guitar body acts as a resonator. Similarly, the harp would be too faint to hear without a resonator, but with a resonator it projects a clear, pleasing sound.

These are just a few simple ideas for writing music lesson plans about the Harp.

firstly, compare the sizes of violins and violas with other objects of different sizes Show or speak pairs of objects, and have the students indicate the relative size relationships with the words “violin” (for small) and “viola” (for large). e.g.”mouse, elephant” would be “violin, viola” and “train, feather” would be “viola, violin” This will help students remember the relative dimensions of the instruments, which may be a little tricky to remember.

You can make a home made diddly bow (a basic blues instrument with one string) by stretching a wire or string along a wooden plank. Insert objects beneath the string at either end to elevate the string and increase its tension. The diddly bow is an excellent tool as a teacher to demonstrate the effect of string length and string tension (press down on the string with a finger to effectively shorten the string. Higher sounds are created by greater string tension and shorter strings

Gather objects of different sizes, or collect pictures of such objects, or simply make a list of such objects (e.g., elephant, mouse, airplane, bicycle, etc.). Show or speak pairs of objects, and have the students indicate the relative size relationships with the words “violin” (for small) and “viola” (for large). e.g. “mouse, elephant” would be “violin, viola” and “train, feather” would be “viola, violin” This will help students remember the relative dimensions of the instruments, which students often struggle to remember.

Make a diddly bow (a rudimentary single-stringed blues instrument) by stretching a wire or string along a wooden plank. Insert objects beneath the string at either end to elevate the string and increase its tension. The diddly bow is an excellent tool as a teacher to demonstrate the effect of string length and string tension (you can effectively shorten the string by pressing down on it with a finger). Greater string tension and shorter strings lead to faster vibrations, which in turn produce higher sounds.

This is just a sample of the materials available in our Music Lesson Plans product from the Fun Music Company.

Collect objects of different sizes, or gather pictures of such objects, or simply make a list of such objects (e.g., elephant, mouse, airplane, bicycle, etc.). Demonstrate the differences between the pairs of objects and ask the students to recognise the relative size of the instruments with the terms “viola” for large and “violin” for small. For example, “elephant, mouse” would be “viola, violin” and “bicycle, airplane” would be “violin, viola” This will help students remember the relative dimensions of the instruments, which students often struggle to remember.

Make a diddly bow (a rudimentary single-stringed blues instrument) by stretching some kind of instrument string or wire on a wooden plank. Insert objects beneath the string at either end to elevate the string and increase its tension. The diddly bow is an excellent tool as a teacher to demonstrate the effect of string length and string tension (press down on the string with a finger to effectively shorten the string. Higher sounds are created by greater string tension and shorter strings

Gather objects of different sizes, or collect pictures of such objects, or simply make a list of such objects (e.g., elephant, mouse, airplane, bicycle, etc.). Demonstrate the differences between the pairs of objects and ask the students to recognize the relative size of the instruments with the terms “viola”, for large and “violin” for small. e.g. “mouse, elephant” would be “violin, viola” and “train, feather” would be “viola, violin” This will help students remember the relative dimensions of the instruments, which may be a little tricky to remember.

There are more similar ideas to these in our music lesson plans product from the fun music company.

You can make a home made diddly bow (a basic blues instrument with one string) by stretching some kind of instrument string or wire on a wooden plank. Insert objects beneath the string at either end to elevate the string and increase its tension. Use the diddly bow to explore the effects of string tension and string length (you can effectively shorten the string by pressing down on it with a finger). Greater string tension and shorter strings lead to faster vibrations, which in turn produce higher sounds.

Gather objects of different sizes, or collect pictures of such objects, or simply make a list of such objects (e.g., elephant, mouse, airplane, bicycle, etc.). Show or speak pairs of objects, and have the students indicate the relative size relationships with the words ‚”violin” (for small) and “viola” (for large). For example, “elephant, mouse” would be “viola, violin” and “bicycle, airplane” would be “violin, viola”. This will help students remember the relative dimensions of the instruments, which may be a little tricky to remember.

Make a diddly bow (a rudimentary single-stringed blues instrument) by stretching a wire or string along a wooden plank. Insert objects beneath the string at either end to elevate the string and increase its tension. Use the diddly bow to explore the effects of string tension and string length (press down on the string with a finger to effectively shorten the string. Higher sounds are created by greater string tension and shorter strings

firstly, compare the sizes of violins and violas with other objects of different sizes Demonstrate the differences between the pairs of objects and ask the students to recognise the relative size of the instruments with the terms “viola” for large and “violin” for small. For example, “elephant, mouse” would be “viola, violin” and “bicycle, airplane” would be “violin, viola” This will reinforce the relative sizes of these instruments, which students often struggle to remember.

Make a diddly bow (a rudimentary single-stringed blues instrument) by stretching a wire or string along a wooden plank. You can place objects underneath the string at one of the ends to life the string up and alter its tension, and thus its pitch. The diddly bow is an excellent tool as a teacher to demonstrate the effect of string length and string tension (press down on the string with a finger to effectively shorten the string. Greater string tension and shorter strings lead to faster vibrations, which in turn produce higher sounds.

Gather objects of different sizes, or collect pictures of such objects, or simply make a list of such objects (e.g., elephant, mouse, airplane, bicycle, etc.). Show or speak pairs of objects, and have the students indicate the relative size relationships with the words “violin‚” (for small) and ‚”viola” (for large). e.g. ‚”mouse, elephant‚” would be ‚”violin, viola” and “train, feather” would be ‚”viola, violin” This will help students remember the relative dimensions of the instruments, which may be a little tricky to remember.

Make a diddly bow (a rudimentary single-stringed blues instrument) by stretching a wire or string along a wooden plank. You can place objects underneath the string at one of the ends to life the string up and alter its tension, and thus its pitch. The diddly bow is an excellent tool as a teacher to demonstrate the effect of string length and string tension (press down on the string with a finger to effectively shorten the string. Greater string tension and shorter strings lead to faster vibrations, which in turn produce higher sounds.