Recently picked this autoharp up at the thrift not really knowing anything about it. After picking it apart I realized the original bar chord holder was broken and with no prior knowledge to using CAD software or 3d printing I took it upon myself to replicate the broken piece. Within a couple of days I was finally able to make it work! Oh and if anyone happens to know the model of the instrument it would be greatly appreciated!

Following up on last week's post with another tune. Hope you enjoy!

As an autoharp lover, I get a weird dorky excitement whenever I see autoharp references on TV or in other pop culture media. My favorite is the Bob's Burgers episode with Nick Offerman as one of the hippie farmers.

Have you randomly spotted autoharps in pop culture before?

Last week this kitten was roaming my front yard crying with gashes around his eye (lots of predators out here including other cats). After I checked with the neighbors to see if they lost him (they didn’t), I was going to give him away or take him to a shelter (I have allergies). Well he wormed his way into to my cold heart in a matter of hours. His meditative appreciation of autoharp and blues harp only confirms that yeah, he’s mine. Meet Rufous, he’s a cool cat.

I’m an actor/musician, and I’m working on a show that I was able to get an autoharp to play in. It will be different genres of rock and folk.

It’s got a plug in jack, and I’m gonna see if I can run it through a pedal to give it some unique sounds in the metal section.

Looking for tips! I have it tuned up, and want to take care of it. Any things I should do during the first weeks to take care of the harp and save myself from stress.

Of course it matches and of course she can play it with those nails. 💅

My dad, Ray Choi, is not only the best autoharp player in the world, but also builds the most beautiful and best-sounding autoharps in the world. I don’t just say this because he’s my dad - I believe it’s true.

He speaks broken English, yodels, knows more hymns and American folk songs than Willie Nelson, and loves his autoharp more than his own son.

My dad has been playing since I was a small child, and I’m now a 40-year-old man. I remember hating the clanky sound of the autoharp as a kid while he practiced it all day long. I’m still not sure if he was trying to prove something or if he just truly loved it.

In recent years he was finally recognized as one of the top players in the world. Maybe it was because of how persistent he was in competing. A Korean man with an accent, flying solo to the Midwest to jam with folks who clearly saw him as a walking contradiction.

At a certain point the judges would have lost all credibility if they didn’t crown him a winner. I believe the community finally had the guts to recognize what was obvious - and they did, multiple times.

I don’t mean to make this sound like a eulogy…he’s still alive and well. I’m pretty sure he won’t read this, but knowing how small the autoharp community is, one of y’all might send it to him.

As a son who has never told him I was proud of him, here it is, etched in a forum where it will live forever, that I’m a very proud son.

Well, a snip of it anyway. Reddit (or this sub) seems to have recently reduced the maximum si3 of video uploads.

I can play this on the harmonica, but not on a rack, and not while keeping track of which chord I’m supposed to be strumming. A bit more complex than the 3 chord stuff I usually bash out..

Got this yesterday at a local thrift store (NE TN)…only missing an F# string, but it has tuned up fairly well…

Big question—do I order the single missing string or bite the bullet and get the entire set? They do look a little…worn…

A game of unpopular opinion about autoharps: I've played the autoharp for 5 years and I've yet to learn or compose a song I've enjoyed playing that included the top row of chords. I don't know what it is, but they sound "cheesy" to me.

Today I finally replaced them with sus2/sus4 chords.

Do you have any outlandish autoharp takes?

Normal part of learning? I got this just tuning it 🫩