First Note FN600 Firstnote Melody Harp

Just purchased this for our four year old granddaughter, and wanted to offer a comment about tuning the harp, as some others have had some difficulty with this.First of all, the instrument sounds just delightful.The product does not come from the factory accurately tuned right out of the box, and it is unrealistic to expect it to be so.All stringed instruments require tuning, but especially when they are brand new, as new strings stretch out after they are first installed.Strongly recommend if you do not have a piano, or a guitar, or are otherwise *very* familiar with tuning musical instruments, that you obtain a digital tuner.Attempting to tune this harp without a piano, a guitar, a digital tuner or other reliable frame of reference for setting the pitch of each string is a sure recipe for getting the tuning wrong, and exposes you to the probability of over-tightening strings and breaking them.I used the Korg GA1 Guitar and Bass Tuner to tune this little harp: it took about an hour to zero in on the just the right tightness for each note. The Korg is accurate, easy to use, and cheap.Following are comments on how to use the Korg to tune the harp.The harp has 15 strings in total. There are two strings each, high and low, for the notes E, A, D, and B, and a high, a low, and a middle string for the note G.The harp, however, also has a low C string, a high C, a low F, and a high F.Like all guitar tuners, the Korg tunes for the six notes associated with the six strings of a guitar played "open", that is, the correct tuning of each string played without any fingers on the guitar frets: from the lowest guitar string, the sixth, to the highest, the first sting, the notes the Korg automatically recognizes are Low E, A, D, G, B, and a high E.This high E on the open first string of a guitar is referred to as "E over middle C". On the harp, the string that should be set to this E over middle C note is string number 10, counting from the top. Likewise, the lowest string on the harp, number 15, is a G corresponding to the 3rd string on a guitar played open. The 13th string from the top on the harp is a B, corresponding to the 2nd string on the guitar played open.Please note that the Korg does *not* have a reading expressly for the notes C and F, but you can still use it to tune strings to the notes C and F - just follow the comments below.To use the Korg to tune the two harp strings for the low and high C, just very slowly tighten the string while plucking it until you see the Korg meter read a B note that is very sharp (too high), but not so high as to generate a reading of the next note higher that the Korg recognizes, which would be a D.You'll then have hit the spot right between the B note and the D note, which is a C.To use the Korg to tune the two harp strings for the low and high F, again very slowly tighten while plucking the string until you see the Korg read a very sharp E, but not so high as to generate a reading of G.You'll then have hit the spot right between the E note and the G note, which is an F.And by the way, the four year old loves it.

Well build with nice look. Range: G-G, 15 sounds. Out of box sounds terrible - high pitch, tuning helped but it took awhile to tune it properly. Still from time to time I need to tune again some strings. The strings are very sensitive to turn of the tuning key - slight turn can change the sound too much, so need some practice with it. The strings represent only white keys of piano - to play in C or Am scale. So, you can not play melodies which use some black keys (# or b sounds). But maybe you can play harmony instead for such songs, plucking several strings at the time - sounds pleasant. To play chords in C or Am just pluck 3 strings skipping one after each string. For example, C: C-E-G (4-6-8 or 11-13-15 strings from bottom), Am: A-C-E (2-4-6 or 9-11-13 strings from bottom).I think it's a little pricey toy but fairly cheap harp.Pros:- nicely made- pleasant sound when tuned properly- can play harmony- tuning key (don't loose it, you'll need it often)Cons:- hard to tune. Needs to be tuned often.- expensive a bit for a toy.- no demo or tutorials about how to use all it's abilities. This is a type of 15-string harp which must be able to produce the similar music as more expensive real harps with the same number of strings not just simple melodies using only one string at the time.- no marking near strings. It would be nice to put numbers or note names near each string to be able to find notes fast. Can use marker for it. Then you'll be able to play any melody with note names not just those which are provided with the harp.Bonus melody :) : "Twinkle, twinkle...":1) 4 4 8 8 9 9 82) 7 7 6 6 5 5 43) 8 8 7 7 6 6 5 (x2)4) repeat 1), 2)

Bought this for our 7 year old daughter and she loves it. Most instruments are so loud and not fun to hear played, but this harp has a very pleasant, soft sound. From the beginning she has been able to play the songs. It is a little hard to tune, but luckily I have a violin repair apprentice in the family that was able to do it for me. Would definitely purchase again.