Belly Harps

Inspired by our daughter’s first pregnancy, I decided to design a musical instrument that could play gentle, pleasing sounds directly to the baby “in utero”. It’s been known for years that babies in the womb hear or sense sounds, both inside and outside the mother’s body. My assumption was that the mother’s belly would essentially become a part of the sound chamber, and that the gentle sound vibrations would be transmitted to the baby. Our daughter found playing the Belly Harp very relaxing and after a while, noticed that the baby moved a lot more when she was playing. Our grandson is now a year old and has always responded very positively and joyfully to the sounds of the Belly Harp, as well as to the Celtic Harp, didgeridoo, kalimba, and musical sounds in general. Aside from its use with pregnant women, the Belly Harp is also being used in other frameworks- both for its musical and therapeutic value- the calming effect of its gentle tones. The Belly Harp is tuned to a Pentatonic (5 tone) scale, so that the sounds are always harmonious and pleasing. These types of scales are used in traditional and folk music throughout the world.