Veeh harp
The Veeh harp is a plucked instrument that was developed from the accordion zither in the late 1980s by the farmer Hermann Veeh (1935–2020) . Veeh designed the Veeh harp and a corresponding notation for his son Andreas, who was born with Down's syndrome .
Construction
The so-called Veeh harp , a box zither in terms of instruments, is available in different sizes and with different strings. Spruce or maple is mostly used for construction. The surfaces can be painted, waxed or oiled. The sound hole is in the bottom of the Veeh harp , on the flat ceiling a sheet of music is pushed under the strings. The course of the melodies and accompanying voices is notated so that the noteheads of the individual voices are directly below the strings to be plucked. In this way, even a musical layman can play a piece of music directly by plucking the connected notes in the specified order.
The original Veeh harps are made in the Franconian town of Hemmersheim in the Gülchsheim district.
Chromatic box zithers of a similar design are on the market under names such as elf zither, table harp, magic harp or core sound board. Diatonic instruments use fewer strings, but are limited to one key. But they can be purely agree. To change the key you have to retune one or more strings. The diatonic instruments are offered under the names Diatonic table harp, small table harp or song harp. Veeh harps are among the instruments that can be built by yourself under supervision or with the help of kits.
Diffusion and context
In addition to folk songs and simple pieces, concert music can also be played on the Veeh harp as a soloist as well as in smaller and larger ensembles up to the Veeh harp orchestra. The instrument is taught at several German music schools and in further training courses, e.g. B. in the context of music geragogy or music therapy . Playing with Veeh harps is used in work with amateur ensembles, in social work , in work with disabled and elderly people. Specially prepared sheet music is available. The instrument can also be used in musical improvisation.
Similar instruments
literature
- Theo Hartogh: Togetherness makes you strong and creative. Committed to the integration idea - the instrument maker Hermann Veeh. In: Neue Musikzeitung. Vol. 47, No. 3, 1998, p. 48.
- Theo Hartogh: Musical support for mentally handicapped people. Theory and practical examples of a holistic ecological approach. Luchterhand, Neuwied 1998, ISBN 3-472-03571-4 .
- Sibylle Hoed-Schmidt: Active music-making with the Veeh harp. A music geragogical concept for people with dementia syndromes. Waxmann, Münster 2010, ISBN 978-3-8309-2279-7 .
- Hermann Veeh (ed.): A song sleeps in all things ... Ten years of the Veeh harp - portrait of a musical instrument. Self-published, Gülchsheim 1997, DNB 1065350244 .
Web links
- This is how you learn to play the Veeh harp. Helpster. The guide editors
Individual evidence
- ↑ Construction
- ↑ Photo of a sheet of music
- ↑ Kern sound board
- ↑ The Diakonie: Magic Harps. ( Memento from June 30, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Evangelical Church District Lübbecke
- ^ Harp Forum
- ↑ Sibylle Hödt-Schmidt: Active music-making with the Veeh harp: A music geragogic concept for people with dementia syndromes . Waxmann-Verlag, Münster 2010, ISBN 978-3-8309-2279-7 .
- ↑ sheet music