How

Usually when I tell people I am a harpist they say, “{choose one or several: wow, cool, really?, that's awesome}!…….(their face grows contemplative)…..how did you get into playing the harp?” Often, especially if said person is female, they answer their own question by including, “I’ve always wished I could play the harp.”  Based on my unofficial research (aka the number of women who have told me they wish they could play the harp) becoming a harpist is the childhood dream of 90% of the world’s little girl population.  The harp is the epitome of elegance, the harp is the instrument of angels, the harp is a rare and exotic instrument of legend.  The harp is,  frankly, awesome.  So the short answer is I got into playing the harp by wanting to really badly.   

The long answer involves a bit of practical inspiration (ha, am I really associating the word “practical” with the harp?).  My grandparents had a small Paraguayan harp in their home.  One of my earliest childhood memories is staring at the strings of that harp.  My Uncle Dave schlepped it all the way back from Brazil when he returned from serving a mission there for the LDS church.  It was an incredibly sweet gift for his parents and it changed my life.  I pestered my parents to get me a harp for years until they finally thought I was old enough to start lessons.   

Somehow I was born in one of the harp capitals of the world.  Lyon and Healy, my favorite harp company, has two stores in the U.S.  One is in Chicago.  That’s where they actually make the harps.  Big city; makes sense.  The other one is in Salt Lake, where I grew up.  In New York City where I currently reside (that big city where all things are supposed to be possible) it is not possible to go to a store and come home with a harp or even harp strings.  But in Salt Lake City it is possible to go to a store and come home with a harp, strings, music, a tuning key any color of the rainbow, harp jewelry, harp Christmas ornaments and any other harp accessory you can imagine.  Throw in a harp-shaped cookie cutter.  Only your imagination of harp merchandise is the limit.  (I love you New York, but you're really letting me down here...) So my parents took me to a music store one day and we came home with this baby:

That's how I got into playing the harp.