Anyone know anything about Autoharps?

[Badger]

I listened in on a bluegrass jam session Saturday and someone brought an Autoharp. I haven't thought about those for years and it sparked my interest again. I use to play a little guitar and have 4 that just stay in the cases because of stiff hands these days. I thought maybe an Autoharp would be fun to learn

Oscar Schmidt is the most well known and probably what I would buy since custom harps are a bit out of my price range. I could use some guidance on what to look for and which model would be a good purchase if I don't plan on trading up in the future. I'm considering a 21 chord model.

Cheers!

 

[braumeister]

Wow! There sure are lots of opinions out there:
autoharp buying guide

 

[RonBoyd]

This is all I know of the Autoharp:

 

[Koolau]

Here's what little I know about autoharp:

Tuning must be a bear.

 

[imoldernu]

Consider an Omnichord or a QChord.

 

[harley]

What I know about them is that they are not as easy to learn to play (well) as they appear to be. I messed around with one back in the 70s and it was sort of like the harmonica - easy to start on, then you hit a wall where you have to put in some serious time to get better. But it is definitely an instrument you can learn the basics on pretty quickly. And probably a good choice with the stiff hands. I didn't stick with it since there were half a dozen other instruments I needed to learn to not play well.


As far as brands and such, no idea.

 

[HFWR]

...there were half a dozen other instruments I needed to learn to not play well.

+1

Have not even thought about an autoharp since elementary school...

 

[ERD50]

What? No one here knows of Bryan Bowers? He takes the auto-harp to new levels. I saw him in the 70's, he was amazing, he picks out complex stuff as he strums it. He is still active.

check youtube for more examples.

-ERD50

 

[ERD50]

And this lady has a great series of videos:

-ERD50