Our children and grandchildren constantly amaze us with their abundant curiosity and their seemingly effortless ability to learn and create wonderful music when given the opportunity and the proper tools. Most of the stringed instrument families we love such as fiddles, guitars, dulcimers, ukuleles and the like come in smaller sized models that are more appropriate for smaller learners. A few child sized autoharps have been produced over the years by the factories and even by a few autoharp luthiers but they are becoming scarce and are seldom available in playable condition.

With that in mind, I present my own iteration of a child size autoharp designed as a serious, good sounding, and well built instrument for the young learner. I believe that a quality, attractive, and stable instrument with standard string spacing, and a logical chord bar setup will make it easier to learn and to later grow into a standard autoharp. My aim is to produce a smaller scale instrument for fun as well as serious study and not a colorful toy of passing interest.

It’s no secret that I have based this instrument on the old Zimmermann and Oscar Schmidt models 2-3/4 that were produced from the 1890s to the 1950s. The size seems just right for smaller learners and the tuning schedule favors young singing voices with the keys of C and F.

I have made some dramatic improvements on the old black 2-3/4s. A one piece laminated frame with a birch ply back adds greater stability.  The solid poplar soundboard with tuned bracing lends greater resonance with better sustain. There are seven chords in two rows (instead of a single row of five) positioned for play above the chord bars with ample space to pick the higher strings. Additionally, the instrument is trimmed with an attractive side veneer, end cover, and chord set. It’s appearance and construction is much like my full sized thirty-six and thirty-seven stringed autoharps, but with only twenty-three strings it is smaller and lighter. At 18 inches long and 10-1/2 inches wide it weighs only 4-1/2 pounds.

The high quality Schreiber custom string set is specially gauged for a string schedule tuned: G-C-F-G-A-B-C-D-E-F-G-A-A#-B-C-D-E-F-G-A-A#-B-C.

The seven chord bars are in two rows. The top row is:                         Bb     F     C     G

and the bottom row is:    Gm     Dm       Am

At this time the only option I can offer is the choice of woods for the side veneer, chord set, bridges, and end cover. This prototype is cherry but other choices include walnut, maple, and mahogany. In the future I plan to add greater customization and alternate chord setups with more chords in two or three rows.

Here are two links with  Marsha playing two unofficial national anthems on the new child sized autoharp, one in the key of C and one in the key of F.

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1qa1fC5kBbjalMabgW9cDBRbLuCweyLCT

https://drive.google.com/open?id=14_b7cFDwAIaisBRjZlMu21gr7ijf-12P

Do those girls and boys spend too much screen time? Contact me for more information and a price that is sure to be less than a smart phone and requires no monthly data plan.