Près des Chevilles

Près des chevilles is French and means to play close to the tuning pins. The strings are played between the bridge pin and the tuning pin.

The harpist plucks the strings just below the tuning pin and above the bridge pin.

The strings between the bridge pin and the tuning pin are extremely short and the tension is great, therefore this technique is quite painful for the fingers in the long run.

The sound of strings played p.d.ch. has little resonance and their pitch is high and random. The pitch does not correspond to the string played and it is different on every harp.

Près des chevilles or p.d.ch is written above or below the note or notes. An x replaces the note head since the resulting pitch is undefined. The x indicates on which string the effect should be produced.

The register above the middle c is most suitable for playing p.d.ch.

The effect is also playable below the middle c. However, the strings are hard to reach and the tension of the strings is so great that they are hard to play.