Cross-strung harp

The first cross-strung harp is believed to have been created in the late 16th century in Spain and was known as the arpa de dos órdenes.

There was a chromatic harp developed in the late 19th century that found only a small number of proponents, and was mainly taught in Belgium.

Contemporary cross-strung harps are being built with gut, nylon, or wire strings in a variety of sizes ranging from two to five or more octaves.

[3] Emil Geering (now deceased), a retired machinist in British Columbia, began building cross-strung harps based on Robinson's rough plans.

The advantage of this layout is that only two sets of fingering patterns are required for major scales, one set when the root of the key is on the left strung strings and the other for the root on the right strung strings (though there is no advantage in fingering for chords, as the 5x7 and 6x6 configurations use the same number and types of pattern shapes to produce major, minor, augmented, and diminished triads).

Another advantage is that a 6x6 harp can include a broader range than a 7x5 of similar size, since there are only six strings per octave in each row.