Finding Folk- and Bluegrass-Friendly Autoharps

In the United States, autoharps were generally built and engineered by German-Americans.

No offense to my own German-American ancestors, but those people favored "flat" keys over "sharp" keys because of their own musical traditions. So it's much easier to play in keys like F, Bb, and even - in some cases - Eb than it is to play in "guitar-friendly" keys like D, A, or E.

Sorry if this seems like I'm splitting hairs, but I jam a lot with fellow Folk and Bluegrass players. While it's technically possible to play three-chord songs in guitar-friendly keys like D, many songs like "City of New Orleans" use chords like F#m and Bm that seldom appear on commercial autoharps.

Consequently, folks who play in string bands or their offspring - Folk, Bluegrass, Rock, etc. tend to find autoharps less useful than you might expect. And the Folk Revival, during which autoharps should have thrived, virtually left them in the dust.

Roll Your Own? - Many autoharp players have reconfigured their 'harps to play chords that Folk and Bluegrass players use, such as E, B7, Bm, and F#m. If you already own an autoharp you don't mind modifying, our article "Making Your Autoharp Folk-Friendly" gives some examples and tips.

Also some folks who know they'll never perform outside of certain keys (say, C, G, and D), retune strings they'll never use to double notes they DO use (such as tuning Bb down to A). The resulting "Diatonic Autoharps" have a fuller sound that meets those folks' specific needs.

Searching Out Autoharps that are "Preconfigured" for Folk, Bluegrass, etc." - If you find the notion of modifying an autoharp daunting for now, there are a few discontinued options you could keep your eye out for, as well as a few expensive new options.

Unfortunatly, the choice is pretty much between "Hard to Find" and "Hard to Afford." But if you're up for a challenge, read on.

Getting a Little Closer with Discontinued, Hard-to-Find 'Harps

The O.S. Appalachian and Chromaharp "Bluegrass" models shown above give you E and A chords by sacrificing the Eb and F7 chords. (The instrument includes Bb, F, C, C7, G, G7, Gm, D, D7, Dm, A, A7, Am, E, and E7.) So you can play simple songs in F, C, G, D, and A.

So if you are playing with a fiddler who loves doing old-time fiddle tunes, you can play along (and trust, me, you'll never miss Eb or F7 in that environment). On the other hand, if you're playing with a guitarist who wants to do anything by Paul Simon, James Taylor, Judy Collins, Gordon Lightfoot, Steve Goodman, Noel Stookey, Dolly Parton, Garth Brooks, or most other Folk, Folk-Rock, or Country artists, you'll probably be missing chords you need, like the aforementioned Bm and F#m.

Note: Like the standard 15-button autoharp, this arrangement keeps the "basic" 12 keys the same, even though playing in D is still awkward, and the reach from A to E7 is "dicey." That said, as long as you don't disassemble your autoharp over shag carpet, there is no compelling reason you can't move the keys around to make your favorite keys easier to play.

In fact, I did just that, plus I doctored the E7 chord bar just a little to make it play Em instead. (You figure out which bits of felt deaden the G strings, carve those off, and reglue them over the G# strings.) If I got really creative, I could probably reconfigure the Bb and Gm chord bars as well (maybe to B7 no third and F#m), but that's a little more work than just moving one note. For a little more detail on the conversion, see our article on "Chromaharp Bluegrass Reconfiguration."

Note about other Oscar Schmidt "Appalachians" -

Later on, Oscar Schmidt introduced other autoharps labeled "Appalachian," including two with a cool-looking flower-shaped tone hole. These used the standard chord setups, though, not the modified setup described above.

Again, the original 15-chord OS Appalachian and Chroma Bluegrass models are hard to find, but if you come across one, you may find it useful for your needs.

OS-10

I don't know why Oscar Schmidt never made more than a relative handful of these. Maybe it never caught on. More likely, Oscar Schmidt discontinued it because people who bought it seldom saw the need to upgrade to larger instruments.

The OS-10 loses the seventh chords that waste space on many autoharps, replacing them with minor chords that give you a lot more flexibility if you're playing in "guitar-friendly" keys like G and D. By the way, this is the only 'harp "made for children" that can play in the key of D, one of the most popular Folk and Country guitar keys.

Chords (in "Circle-of-Fifths" sequence) are Bb, F, C, G, D, Dm, A, Am, Em, Bm. This gives you room to go beyond 3-chord songs. For example, many songs in F use Dm; many songs in C use Am, many songs in G use Em, and many songs in D use Bm.

If I was asked to design a 10-chord harp that would be especially useful for jaming with guitar, banjo, fiddle, and mandolin players, this harp would be a good starting point. (Though I'd probably replace the Bb with E7, so I could play 3-chord songs in A as well. No guitar, banjo, fiddle, or mandolin player I know willingly pitches a song in F.)

True Folk- and Bluegrass-Friendly Autoharps

Fortuately for experimenters, it's REAL easy (maybe too easy) to move around the chords on an Oscar Schmidt 21-chorder.

Autoharp virtuoso Bryan Bowers changed the chord bars to add useful chords like Bm and F#m.

He also moved the other chord bars around into a setup that makes sense for musicians used to the "circle of fifths (a logical arrangement of chords used by composers and songwriters for centuries and generally ignored by Oscar Schmidt).

Giving into pressure, the Oscar Schmidt company finally made an autoharp that uses Bryan Bower's chord setup - the "Americana."

Yes, it would have been nice if Oscar Schmidt would have retroactively put that arrangement on their fancy "Appalachian" models, instead of just claiming falsely that the fancy tone hole made those models more useful for Bluegrass than the other models that used the same exact setup..

Unfortunately, the Americana is one of their most expensive 'harps. As of this writing, it's currently available on Amazon for about $750 plus tax.

So you can see that it's no wonder folks who already own perfectly fine Oscar Schmidt 21-chorders are tempted to buy some extra felts or chord bars, unscrew the chord bar covers, and take a whack at converting their own.

Custom Folk- and Bluegrass-Friendly Autoharps

Over the years, a few custom builders have offered replacement chord bars that you could just strap onto an existing O.S. Autoharp to give it a "Bryan Bowers" setup, though most of those folks have retired.

Sparrowharp - One of the best custom options is Evo Bluestein's "Sparrowharp." It's slightly smaller and less expensive than other custom options, but it has a great sound for its size and can be ordered with any chord setup you want.

We especially recommend it for people who have trouble reaching around a full-sized autoharp to push the buttons.

At the moment, these seem to be chiefly available from Pete D'Aigle, who is building them with Evo's permission and specifications. Pete's link is here. If you visit Pete's site, tell him I sent you. :-)

D'Aigle Autoharps - A very wide range of custom autoharps is available from Pete D'Aigle. Countless "harpers" who have outgrown their Chromaharps and Oscar Schmidts have opted to upgrade to truly professional instruments with custom key layouts and options such as better fine tuners than Oscar Schmidt offers.

To see some of Pete's offerings, click here. Again, if you stop by his site, tell him I sent you. (No, Pete doesn't pay me to send folks my way. I just have a lot of respect for Pete and his products.)

Lucking into a Used Folk- or Bluegrass-Ready 'Harp

The photo on the right shows an OS73C that has been retrofitted with custom chord bars that provide Folk- and Bluegrass-friendly chords, plus a semi-Bowers setup that is easy to get used to. I got it at an online auction at a price so low I suspected that it had been stolen and contacted the luthier that did the work. He never got back to me, so I guess it's okay.

No, this doesn't happen often, but there's a lot to be said for keeping your eye out. . . .

Rolling Your Own?

This brings me back to something I've addressed before - reconfiguring a standard 21-chorder with chords you need, like E, Bm, and F#m.

For example, I recently ordered new buttons for an OS73C I got cheap on another online auction because of cosmetic damage. Elderly Music, in Michigan had the buttons. I had to cut the chord bars from blanks, because the string spacing is different on an OS73C than it is on a standard 21-chorder.

That said, if you have a standard 21-chorder, you should be able to order chord bars that are already set up for E, Bm, and F#m and just plug them into your 'harp. (Elderly music tries to keep them in stock, but they go through a lot of them. As of May, 2024, the cost for the chord bars and buttons you need is about $50. If you already have an OS21, that's a lot cheaper than saving up for an Americana or custom 'harp.

And if you can't find preconfigured chord bars for chords you want, you can always buy the felt and refelt the chord bars you're removing.

Charts, templates, tips, etc. are included in our article "Making your Autoharp "Folk- and Bluegrass-Friendly."

More to Come

As I do more conversions and repairs, I expect this list of articles to continue growing.

• Autoharp Factory Tunings - Describes the four most common chord layouts for new autoharps, and the two most common variations.

• Early Autoharps Video - This YouTube video shows some of the earliest autoharps, and explains how they evolved between the 1880s and the mid-1900s.

• Cleaning Dusty Autoharps Video - A short video with tips for quickly cleaning a dusty autoharp.

• Mountain Music, Bluegrass, and Autoharps - How autoharps were used in early string bands and "Mountain Music," and why you don't see them as much in Bluegrass or Folk.

• Making your Autoharp "Folk- and Bluegrass-Friendly" - Adding chords you need for songs in G, D, A, and E, while removing chords you almost never need like Ab and Bb7.

• What is a Diatonic Autoharp? - An overview of the way some people reconfigure their autoharps to play in fewer keys but with doubled strings for a richer sound.

• Autoharp Buyers' Guide - Contains much of the content on this page, followed by more buying tips and a list of new Autoharps worth considering.

• Autoharps for People with Short Arms - Suggestions for folks who find standard-sized autoharps inconvenient or painful to play.

• Autoharps for Children - Though long discontinued, two lines of autoharps made specifically for children occasionally turn up. Other suggestions are included as well.

• Is my Autoharp a Type A or Type B? - In 1968, following Chromaharp's lead, Oscar Schmidt reconfigured their instruments to be more ergonomic. They also changed the string attachment and removed the bridge. A late model A may still be a very playable instrument, but used model Bs tend to be in better playing condition just because they're newer. Either way, if you want to restring an autoharp, you'll find out that the strings are different between the two models. How do you find out which one you have?

• Early Autoharp Chord and Note Numbers What's with the weird labeling system on early 3, 4, and 5-chord autoharps, and why do they label both A and Bb as note number 6?

• How Much is my Autoharp/Chromaharp Worth? - How do you determine the value of an Autoharp or Chromaharp that has come into your position. Configuration and condition are the most important factors.

• Shifter Autoharps - Discontinued by 1926, these somewhat "overengineered" instruments allowed you to play up to 16 chords with just six buttons, plus some little levers you'd squeeze.

• Replacing Loose Felt on an Autoharp - The easiest Autoharp repair, often needed for instruments that have been stored in very dry areas.

• Chromaharp Bluegrass Reconfiguration - In the 1960s, the Chromaharp Bluegrass and the original Autoharp Appalachian 15-chord autoharps included D and A chords to make them a little more useful to Folk musicians. But they didn't include an Em chord bar. And playing in D was almost impossible, since the G chord bar was at the other end of the instrument. I moved the chord bars around to make them more useful and converted E7 to Em. Some more tweaks would probably be helpful, but this is a start on a more Folk-friendly instrument.

• Autoharp Precursors - Before the kind of autoharps we know and love came on the market, countless other instruments that also purported to make anyone a musician appeared. Most of these are mis-labeled "autoharp" when they appear on the used market, and too many folks have bought unsuitable instruments (or wall decorations) as a result. This is an overview of the major classes of these autoharp precursors.

I also picked up four very different autoharps I didn't really need because I wanted to do the projects I was reporting on myself. But time to spend on those projects has run out, so I won't be getting back to them for a while. In the meantime, I hope these articles help answer your questions about these under-rated instruments.

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

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