Modern Renaissance

The Harp Guitars: Passion • Imagination • Artistry story concludes with the modern revival and present popularity of this instrument, which started around the 1960s.

The San Francisco area, a center of the cultural revolution of the 1960s, was also the place of origin of much of the exploration of world’s musical traditions and instrument experimentation. The interest at this time shifted to an internal exploration of higher spirituality, consciousness, shamanism, revival of repressed spiritual practices and simply the quest for individual self-expression. During this period of political and social upheaval, music became a defining characteristic of individual identity. The guitar assumed an iconic status—representing the freedom of self-expression. The new context refueled the desire to discover broader ranges of sound and unique polyphonic qualities within the guitar.

Contemporary luthier Duane Noble crafting a modern harp guitar in his workshop.

A number of luthiers in the Bay Area, Seattle and the Midwest began experimenting with additional strings; rediscovering “old harp guitars” and making the guitar an instrument representing the New Age mentality. Renewed attention to sophisticated artisan expression, craftsmanship, natural (as opposed to industrial) settings and the romantic quest for freedom of self-expression guided by higher artistic ideals contributed to the modern resurgence of the harp guitar.

During this period, the harp guitar acquired a new status. It became the instrument to satisfy the creative urges of higher-level artistic and original expression. The harp guitar easily lends itself for creative self-expression due to the broken canons of instrument design. It lacked precise form and definition from the musicological viewpoint. The presence of extra strings—which could be plucked, used for sympathetic vibration or played regularly if they happened to be fretted—provided the player with a greater field of improvisation. Likewise for the luthier, the body and form of the harp guitar is shaped for creative and imaginative thinking, offering multiple possibilities for innovative sound experiments and fanciful artistic play.