In ancient times, harpers had three properties, or “strains” used in their music, each property having a different effect. The harp had the “sleep strain,” which lulled people to sleep, it had the “sorrow strain,” which caused people to weep, and it had the “joy strain,” which caused people to laugh.

These three harp strains are still the property of harp music today – music that can lull us into a restful state, bring tears of beauty to our eyes, or enliven us and set the foot tapping.

With these three strains, harp music affects us; it pours comfort, calm and rest into the soul laden with cares, burdens, and anxieties, giving it rest with the sleep strain; it reaches into the depths of sorrows and grief, of loneliness and bereavement, releasing the angst with the sorrow strain; it reconnects those who are lost, stressed and humorless with the vitality of life with the joy strain.