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The

Time has laid his hand Upon my heart gently, not smiting it, But as a harper lays his open palm Upon his harp, to deaden its vibrations. ‐ Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

The harp is a multi‐stringed instrument which has the plane of its strings positioned perpendicularly to the soundboard. All have a neck, resonator and strings. A person who plays the harp is called a harpist or harper. Folk musicians often use the term "harper", whereas classical musicians use "harpist".

Various types of harps are found in Africa, Europe, North and South America and in Asia. In antiquity, harps and the closely related were very prominent in nearly all cultures. The harp also was predominant with medieval bards, and minnesingers throughout the Spanish Empire.

The Lute

“Is it not strange that sheep's guts could hail souls out of men's bodies?” ‐ William Shakespeare

The Lute is a plucked with a usually frette neck and a deep round back. The European lute and the modern Near‐Eastern both descend from a common ancestor. The lute is used in a great variety of instrumental from the Medieval to the late eras and was probably the most important instrument for secular music in the .

The player of a lute is called a lutenist, lutanist, "''lewtist" or lutist, and a maker of lutes (or any string instrument) is referred to as a .

The Organ

"Organ playing is the manifestation of a will filled with the vision of eternity." ‐ Charles Marie Widor

The organ is a , each played with its own keyboard operated either with the hands or with the feet. The organ is a relatively old in the Western musical tradition, dating from the time of Ctesibius of Alexandria (283‐222 BC) who is credited with the invention of it. By around the 8th century it had overcome early associations with gladiatorial combat and gradually assumed a prominent place in the liturgy of the Catholic Church; subsequently it has re‐emerged as a secular and recital instrument.