Harp for Beginners: how to work the pedal harp

Hey guys! Finally back from the hiatus to talk about how to work the pedal harp. Well I explained a lot of generic info about the harp in the last post, along with how to work the lever harp. So there isn't a lot to explain here, which is good because you won't have to read a lot with this one. So if you've read my "Harp for Beginners: how to work the lever harp" post you've learned about which strings are which and how to change keys with the levers. Now I'll tell you how to change keys with the pedal harp with, of course, the pedals. Now I don't personally own a pedal harp, so if I leave out any important info I"ll make it up to you. According to Britannia Encyclopedia there are brass and metal disks along the neck, or the curved top, of the pedal harp that rotate to change the key of the strings. Mystery solved for that one! Now the pedals. When I first tried out a pedal harp from a friend who owned one (or two, or three) I thought, 'hey, the pedals will go from left to right, c, d, e, f and so on!' NOPE. It actually goes in this order, from left to right, so these are the strings that each pedal manipulates: D, C, B, E, F, G, A. Here's a visual for you:

That's what it looks like when you're sitting behind the harp. The reason why they're set up like that is not really important, just so you know which order they're in. Confusing part number one. Now confusing number two involves each little pedal. The pedal is fixed in what looks like a crooked block from Tetris, as seen in the picture above on the right. The picture says that the steps are second notch, first notch and upper position, but I'll just call them steps for now. Now when I was younger and was trying out that same pedal harp I had another assumption that the top step would sharpen the strings, the middle would make them natural and the bottom step would flatten them. No again. I was only right about the middle step, it does make the strings natural. But it's the top step that flattens notes and the bottom step that sharpens them. Here's another visual:

So we have the mechanics down. So now let's say you wanted to play in E flat major, with three flats. You would have to move the three pedals for B, E and A up to the top step to flatten them. It's similar to the lever harp in that you still have to sharpen or flatten certain strings to change keys, but this just saves you time from having to flip every single lever. With one move of the pedal can change like a hundred of them at once. It helps too if you have a flat or a sharp note popping up in the middle of your song. You can just move the right pedal with your foot, keep playing and don't have to create a pause and think 'okay gotta go reach up and flip the lever right now.' I'm going to warn you though, just learn the feel of pushing the pedals around first. When I tried it out it took a considerable amount of effort to move them. Practicing with the pedals will be just as important as practicing with the strings, you may eventually have to move like Speedy Gonzales with them with more advanced, complicated songs. Alright there you go. If you have any questions guys, ask away! In the next posts I'll tell you about taking the harp outside of your house and transporting it to another place.