Glass harp facts for kids
A glass harp is a cool musical instrument made from a bunch of upright wine glasses. People also call it musical glasses or singing glasses.
To play it, you gently rub your wet or chalked fingers around the top edge (rim) of the glasses. Each glass makes a different sound, or "pitch." You can tune the glasses in two ways:
- Some glasses are specially made, so their pitch never changes.
- Others are tuned by adding water. More water makes the sound lower. You can change the pitch of a glass quite a bit by adding water!
Sometimes, musicians even use a bow, like the one for a violin, to play the glasses. This can make different sounds, including higher notes.
History of the Glass Harp
People have known about musical glasses for a long time. They were first written about in Persia way back in the 14th century.
The glass harp we know today was created in 1741 by an Irish inventor named Richard Pockrich. He was the first famous player of this instrument. Pockrich called his invention the "angelic organ." He played it using sticks, not by rubbing the glasses with his fingers. It's said that in 1760, Pockrich even played Handel's famous Water Music on his glass harp! Sadly, Pockrich and his instrument were lost in a fire in 1759.
Another famous musician, Christoph Willibald Gluck, also played musical glasses. He performed in London in 1746. His instrument had 26 glasses, all filled with spring water.
The glass harp was very popular in the 1700s. Later, in 1929, Bruno Hoffmann created a new kind of glass harp. It had 46 specially tuned glasses attached to a table that helped the sound echo.
Glass Harps Today
The glass harp is still played by musicians around the world!
In 1924, a radio station in Minneapolis-St. Paul, USA, even broadcast performances of musical glasses.
On March 9, 1938, Bruno Hoffmann played his glass harp at the London Museum. He performed music by Mozart, and people loved it! The sound of the glass harp blended so well with the other instruments, like the flute.
On February 18, 1979, Gloria Parker played the glass harp with the Hartford Symphony Orchestra. She performed popular songs like "Lara's Theme" from the movie Dr. Zhivago.
Today, there are many professional glass harp players. Some famous ones include the Glass Duo from Poland, Philipp Marguerre and Clemens Hofinger in Germany, and Thomas Bloch in France.
Even rock bands have used the glass harp!
- Pink Floyd used it on their song "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" for their 1975 album Wish You Were Here.
- David Gilmour, Pink Floyd's former guitarist, also used the glass harp in his concerts.
- Peter Gabriel used the instrument on his song "And Still" from his 2023 album i/o.
The glass harp has also appeared on TV! In the 2009 Korean TV show Queen Seon Deok, a character named Mishil plays a colorful set of water-tuned glasses with metal sticks.
In 1980, Gloria Parker released an album called A Toast To Christmas with the Singing Glasses. It was the first album to feature the glass harp playing Christmas songs, making flute-like sounds.
More recently, in 2016, British musician Jacob Collier created his own version of the instrument for his music.
Playing the Glass Base
You can make sounds not only by rubbing the rim of a wine glass but also by rubbing its base (the foot). This works best with glasses that have a long stem, like a glass used for gin and tonic.
See also
- Glass harmonica
- Jal tarang
- Stick-slip phenomenon
