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Autoharp

Musical Instrument
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

A stringed instrument with dampers activated by buttons, used for chordal accompaniment

Detailed Definition
The autoharp’s gentle, resonant strumming appears in folk poetry to signify simplicity, domestic music-making, or Appalachian heritage; its ease of play and warm harmonies often symbolize communal storytelling and the democratization of musical expression in lyrical contexts.
Example
Example in poetry:
In Appalachian folk poetry, the autoharp’s strummed chords accompany verses of labor and longing; Poets describe the autoharp’s dampened strings as “whispering secrets through a veil”; Its use in gospel settings lends the autoharp a voice of humble devotion in spiritual verse; The autoharp’s simplicity becomes a metaphor for clarity amid emotional complexity; In memoir-poems, the autoharp recalls childhood evenings filled with family song; Contemporary poets use the autoharp to evoke authenticity—its unamplified sound resisting digital noise.
Additional Notes
The autoharp is a fretless zither with chord bars that dampen strings, producing harp-like strums; its gentle, folk-tinged resonance suits lyrical or introspective verse—often used in Appalachian and singer-songwriter traditions, it can evoke simplicity, domesticity, or quiet emotional revelation in poetic imagery.
Also Known As
Chord zither
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