Every key.
Two rows.
No levers.
xharp harps carry all twelve notes in two crossing rows of strings, so you play in any key, sharps and flats included, without levers or pedals. Built from birch plywood and Sitka spruce, in four sizes.
xharp opens in January 2027. Until then nothing is for sale and all the music here is free. Tell us what you would want, and we will write when it is ready.
Four sizes, one string list
Every xharp uses the same strings for the same notes, from a 37-string lap harp to the 82-string xharp66. Side views to one scale. The xharp66 is drawn from its real design; the Small, Medium and Large are not designed yet and are shown as the same profile at their planned size.
xharp Small
- Strings
- 37
- Range
- C4 to C7
- Height
- about 0.82 m
- Weight
- about 6 kg
xharp Medium
- Strings
- 49
- Range
- C3 to C7
- Height
- about 1.03 m
- Weight
- about 9 kg
xharp Large
- Strings
- 61
- Range
- C2 to C7
- Height
- about 1.28 m
- Weight
- about 14 kg
xharp66
- Strings
- 82
- Range
- B0 to G♯7
- Height
- about 1.48 m
- Weight
- about 19 kg
Nothing is for sale before January 2027. Prices are planned and in US dollars, before shipping and sales tax. The xharp66 prototype is built and tested first; each smaller size follows once it has held full string tension for six months.
Learn a grip once, play it in every key
On an xharp the notes alternate between two rows: C, D, E, F♯, G♯, A♯ on one; F, G, A, B, C♯, D♯ on the other. Move a hand shape up a whole step and every note stays on its row, so the grip looks and feels the same. Move it a half step and the rows swap, so you play the mirror image.
Lessons and practice books are built on that idea: a handful of grips, practised over a simple left-hand pattern, then carried into all twelve keys. Try the minor pentatonic grip here.
Start with a free sheet: Amazing Grace, in two keys
One page for any 6/6 cross-strung harp: the melody with chords in G, then a half step higher in A flat. Under each note, o marks the C row and x the F row. Compare the two halves and every o has become an x: the tune keeps its shape and the rows swap.
On a lever harp, A flat means re-setting levers. Here it is the same hand shapes, mirrored.
Tune: New Britain, traditional. Words: John Newton, 1779. Public domain. Free to copy and share.
Written for two rows
Every xharp sheet shows which row each note is on, red or blue, so you read the shapes as well as the notes. All of it is original or public-domain music, and all of it is free to download until xharp opens in January 2027. Most titles come two ways: in standard notation with the row marked under each note, and in xharp notation, a 13-line staff with red notes on the lines and blue notes in the spaces.
Amazing Grace, in two keys
Melody and chords in G, then a half step higher in A flat, with the row under every note.
Grip Licks in D minor
36 original licks built from four-string hand placements, with finger numbers and the row under every note. Starts with the D grip and its mirror, the A grip.
xharp Drills
20 short drills for both hands: oom-pah, walking bass, Alberti patterns, rolled chords and more, with the chords named and the row under every note.
Old Hundredth
The hymn tune from the Genevan Psalter, 1551, in four-part chords in G. Public domain.
What Child Is This
Greensleeves, English traditional: the melody over held chords, in A minor. Public domain.
Guárdame las vacas
The Spanish Renaissance ground, a short chord pattern to play variations over. Public domain.
Prelude in E minor
Chopin, Op. 28 No. 4, bars 1 to 12: a slow melody over chords that slide down by half steps. Public domain.
The xharp Circle of Fifths
The circle of fifths in string colours: every key with its relative minor and diminished chord, the triad colours, the inversions, and all 51 chord types as two shapes each, one for a red root and one for a blue root.
xharp Chord Book
Every chord type drawn twice, on C and on C sharp, split between the hands. A whole-step move keeps the shape; a half-step move swaps the colours.
Planned: lessons, practice books, kits and plans
Lessons
From 2027Cross-strung harp lessons in the Huntsville workshop or online, starting with grips, hymns and lead sheets. Students can learn on the shop's xharp66.
Planned at $50 an hourPractice books
From 2027Grip-by-grip practice books for cross-strung harp: short drills over a left-hand vamp, then phrases that use each grip in all twelve keys. Original material, written for the two rows.
The sheets above are free in the meantimeKits and plans
From 2027The xharp66 as a kit: every part CNC-cut and drilled, hardware and strings included, with a build manual; you glue up, sand, finish and string. Or buy the plans, drawings and CNC files to build your own.
After the prototype is proven. Planned: kit $4,500, plans $125Where the xharp66 stands
- 2026
Designed
Every part drawn, CNC files made, strength of the neck checked, build plan written.
- 2027
Prototype
Parts cut in Huntsville, the first xharp66 built and strung.
- Late 2027
Proven
Six months at full string tension, the neck measured every month, recordings made.
- 2028
First harps
Three pilot harps at $5,500 for players who give feedback; lessons begin.
Tell us what you would want
xharp opens in January 2027. Nothing is for sale yet, and this is not an order. It tells us which sizes and offers to build first, and we will write to you once when yours is ready. Or write to orders@xharps.com.