Lyrical Lap Harp 15 Steel Strings Instresting Musical Instrument Kit with Portable Gig Bag Song Books Turning Wrench Picks for Kids Children Beginners Music Lovers- Natural Color

Exploring but interesting to learn and play

The media could not be loaded.  I've been collecting an assortment of instruments for teaching my children in the future. They are ages 2, 4, and 5, and I'm homeschooling them. They have everything from a piano, to guitars, to ukuleles, violins, to a flute, clarinet, drums, and even a lyre harp. My 5 year old has been interested in playing and I've taught him a little on the ukulele, but it's still difficult for him. I saw this and immediately had to get it as I thought it looked like a very beginner friendly instrument... potentially the most beginner friendly instrument (excluding maracas, shaker balls, and other "toy" instruments they have).THE SHEET MUSIC:I got this in and couldn't wait to unpack it. I noticed the sheet music was in 5 piles(4 piles each in their own envelope and 1 loose), but they were not labeled by level of difficulty and personally it's not clear which is which. 4 piles have circles to represent the notes (black short beats or quarter notes, half black half white a little longer beats or half beats, and open circles are long beats or whole notes). These piles also offer lyrics to the songs. The last pile has standard looking notes with stems and all, and no lyrics. I was hoping his favorite song would be included, and it was! But unfortunately it was in the pile with the stems, so it appears to be in the difficult pile.A big reason why I had to get this package was I loved the idea that he could put the sheet music on the instrument and just follow along. I thought it made things as simple as you can possibly get them. It's hard to explain to him where the notes are on on the ukulele/guitar fretboard, and this took all the memorization out of it. I was excited that this had over 50 songs and hoped there would be some that he knew. I give this 5 stars for song selection!!! Great assortment of kids songs that you are sure to be familiar with, with lyrics too! Here's the list:Auld Lang SyneBuffalo GalsClementineDown in the ValleyKumbayaOh SusannaShe'll Be Coming Around the MountainShenandoahHome on the Range (Note: they have this one with lyrics and circles and without.)Swing Low Sweet ChariotTurkey in the StrawYou Are My SunshineAmazing GraceMichael Row Your Boat AshoreAura LeeYankee DoodleLondon BridgeWhen the Saints Go Marching InRed River ValleyTake Me Out To the Ball GameA Hunting We Will GoA Tisket, A TasketCripple CreekShoo FlyEensy Weensy SpiderJimmy Crack CornFroggie Went A CourtinHickory, Dickory, DockJack and JillMary, Mary, Quite ContraryTen Little IndiansThree Blind MiceA Babe Is Born In BethlehemIt Came Upon A Midnight ClearO Come, O Come EmmanuelO Holy NightHere We Come A CarolingWe Three KingsGood King WenceslasI Saw Three ShipsSanta Claus is Coming to TownWhat Child Is ThisThe Holly and the IvyUp on the HousetopNo Lyrics or Circles:Are You Sleeping (Frere Jaques)Bicycle Built For TwoBilly Boy (The music is EXACTLY the same as He's Got the Whole World in His Hands, so I think this was a mistake and you don't actually have this song.)He's Got the Whole World in His HandsHome on the Range (Note: they have this one with lyrics and circles and without.)In the Good Old SummertimeLoop-de-LoopOver the River and Through the WoodSkip to My LouThe Man on the Flying TrapezeThe More We Get TogetherThis Old ManTHE ACCESSORIES:So I'm thrilled that this lived up to my hopes as far as a good song selection and simplifying them so he can play along. However, now I'll move on to the accessory package. It's so so, I give it 3 stars, and that's generous. They have a very thin, unpadded, travel bag for the lap harp to be put in. In fact, I find I can just leave the lap harp in the bag and fold the top under the harp and play it. I would have liked a padded case. The extra set of strings are wound whereas the ones on the instrument are not, so I don't know that these strings go with it.THE INSTRUMENT:The instrument itself is nice. Now I have a lyre harp, so tuning and such was not unfamiliar. However it was unfamiliar how they had the strings on. Instead of having each string go from one peg to another peg, they would use one string for two different notes (for two string positions). The string would loosely go around 2 pegs on one side but be tightened around the pegs on the other side. This is strange to me, but it mostly worked... however I don't think it's as "professional" as giving each string it's own 2 pegs. They also influence each other as far as being in tune or out of tune. I tuned up the instrument. It has very fine tuning... just the slightest turn will take it a whole half step and possibly a whole step up a note. So you likely will have to deal with a tuning that is slightly flat or sharp, instead of spot on, as the fine tuning is that sensitive. I used a tuner I already have, but there are plenty of apps you can use to tune too... it'll listen to the note you play. I had to go through tuning twice to settle in the realm of the correct notes. And I had to adjust a bit as I played. But it's too soon to say how well it stays in tune. It's not as easy as a guitar/ukulele to tune, so you would not want to have to do it when you are out with friends. It's similar to fine tuning a violin if I had to compare it to another instrument, or well, like a lyre harp.The quality of the instrument is par. It has some colored spots that stand out a bit too me, although others probably wouldn't notice. The wood is veneer/laminate, but that's fine and many good instruments are made that way. There is some solid pieces too, so neither cheap wood, nor fancy. It looks as shown. It sounds good... if you can get the tuning relatively close to what it should be. It's easy enough to play.SUMMARY:I ended up laminating all the sheet music to better protect it from hopefully the years of use the kids will get on this instrument. A small corner stuck out from the lamination pouch, but it mostly covered it. The sheets are already a heavy stock, but I knew they would ruin them in no time otherwise. It still sounds fine playing through a laminated sheet. My 5 year old tried his favorite song and probably did it around 75% successful, which is quite impressive as this is so easy to use. So all in all, I'm happy with this instrument. The song package impressed me more than I expected. The instrument is nice. The bag could be so much better... I ended up finding a large laptop sleeve/bag to put it in in addition to the bag it comes in. It barely fits but gives better protection, and I can store the stuff it comes with too. I'm happy with it, especially for a kids instrument to learn on. The big perk is how you can play a song without really remembering anything, and you have all you need right in front of you. It's not fancy and didn't wow me, but it didn't disappoint either. Overall I'm pleased with this product!

I have spent hours and it is still not tuned!

When I first got this, I did as I usually so with an instrument: I opened it up and tried to tune it so I could start playing.Then I realized I had no idea what I was doing, and didn't even know how to use this with a tuner.Thankfully it comes with a handy card insert you slot underneath the strings to guide you along. Grab a tuner and go to work. It's far more challenging to tune than a guitar, so you have to have patience and a decent ear, but the results are SO worth it.For such an affordable instrument, this thing sounds lovely. Just lovely. Beautiful, resonant notes that ring pleasantly with each pluck. Really distinctive. Loved it. But I didn't know what to play!Thankfully it comes with a songbook of card inserts to get you started, with beginner songs, then others that get progressively harder. Again, slide them under the strings and follow along. It makes it easy to learn, get comfortable, and get you playing. I spent more time with this than usual trying to feel comfortable with it, but it was never frustrating and I just loved how it sounded.It comes with a soft red carrying bag -- be warned, it won't offer any protection, so I recommend keeping the box -- a tuning wrench, extra strings, and two large picks.Its so small and lightweight, you can carry it anywhere, which is nice. It's fun to mix things up and bring THIS to a campfire jam instead of a guitar!Overall, I loved this. If you have thought about trying a harp, this is recommended!

This is... okay. I really like it more when I just play with the instrument versus try to play the songs on it. Pretty much none of the songs sounded like how I expected the songs to sound like. If you played "Itsy Bitsy Spider," I'd have no clue you were playing a nursery rhyme. I really only recommend this if you want to play your own tune and just dabble with the thing. Color and design are okay. It tunes decent-ish but can get off fairly easy and fine tweaks are a touch difficult to do. Overall, this is just a dabbler instrument in my opinion. If I had to get again, I'd probably get a lap harp/zither from someone else. 3 out of 5 stars. I neither am against or for recommending this.

This isn't my first lap harp, and I learned how to tune them the first time around. Yet I still make a mistake and broke a string :( So I recommend that anyone who gets this watch a Youtube video about how to tune it! Once tuned, it sounds great. And the case is great and also it comes with a lot of soungs. I'm happy with it and I would recommend it!

Sending it back. I think they just strung wire on it without any correlation to the correct tuning. Tried to do it myself but was impossible. Sad that this didn’t work out—

And this lap harp is very similar in design to a hammered dulcimer and may be an excellent way for a young person to start playing before investing in a much more expensive HD. I would encourage anyone wanting to learn the HD to try this first, pluck it as they show, but also purchase a pair of hammers so that you can get a feel for playing an HD. This lap harp is just a tiny bit smaller than my 9/10 backpacker hammered dulcimer and Lilliputian compared to my 15/16 HD, but that's the point - it is a wonderful gift to someone wanting to learn to play a stringed instrument and if they have an interest in hammered dulcimers, learn this, save to buy the HD of your dreams and this harp will have helped you get there!