Today I was perusing the ol’ interweb and I stumbled upon a creation formally known as the harp guitar. While I personally prefer a synthesizing name such as the Guiharp (my personal favourite) or the Harptar, I guess I will bow down to formality and refer to it as the harp guitar. A whole bunch of information about the instrument can be found on the Official Harp Guitar website ( www.harpguitars.net ).

After looking around that website for a bit, I found out that Andy McKee (the artist I mentioned in the entry right before this one) uses a harp guitar in a couple songs. I have uploaded a video of him playing one in a song called Into the Ocean. The part that is incredible to me is that he can play both portions simultaneously without missing a note!

Into the Ocean (harp guitar):

As always, if you want to watch the video more than once, download the Riva FLV Player by clicking on the “FLV Player” under the “Tools” menu in the right-side bar. Click “save as,” and install it on your computer. Then you can download this video by clicking the link below and hitting “save as:”

Download Into the Ocean

Too cool! 😀
|:| Zach |:|

The only way that I know to describe Andy McKee is as a beautiful synthesis of Michael Hedges and Billy McLaughlin. He is absolutely incredible. The best part is that he is clearly passionate about his music. On his record label’s website (http://candyrat.com/artists/andymckee/) he said that he “hopes [his] music communicates something to the listener,” and that it is “an emotional experience.” To me, it surely is.

Here are two video clips of him playing. The first is a slower tune with an amazing amount of calming qualities in the introduction and outro. The second is more upbeat, while maintaining the same high level of passion.

Rylynn:

Art of Motion:

Please, if you want to watch the videos more than once, download the Riva FLV Player by clicking on the “FLV Player” under the “Tools” menu in the right-side bar. Click “save as,” and install it on your computer. Then you can download these videos by clicking the link below and hitting “save as:”

Download Rylynn (video clip 1)
Download Art of Motion (video clip 2)

Hope you enjoy! 🙂
|:| Zach |:|