General notation remarks

Harp music is notated on two staves, a treble and a bass stave. The two staves should serve as a register orientation but not as a division between right and left hand. The left hand, for example, has an unlimited access to the whole range of the harp and is frequently used for playing notes in the high register. Division between the hands should be left up to the harpist, since it depends on personal preferences.

Therefore harp music should be notated to show its musical sense as clearly as possible. No attempts should be made to divide notes between the hands. The music should be notated as a score rather than a keyboard part. [Gould2011]

The harpist, unlike many other instrumentalists, cannot play by touch alone. He/She has to constantly control the position of the hands on the strings visually during playing, and therefore cannot read the music uninterrupted. For this reason notes should always be notated where they are played. This is valid for harmonics, effects, scordatura et cetera. The harpist needs to know and see immediately on which string the note or effect should be produced.