I heard a recording back in the 1950s that I didn't buy at the time and really wish I had, because I never ran across it again. Pretty good singer with some very nice songs (the best translation from the Welsh of "Venture Gwen" that I've ever heard). The singer's name was Joe Hanson and the title of the record was "The Stranger from the Sea."

Anyway, he accompanied himself on the autoharp. Rather than playing it upright and cradled in his left like the Stoneman family or Maybelle Carter, he played it laying flat on his lap. This allowed his left arm to simply hang down from the shoulder with, I would presume, no particular tension or strain. Along with strumming chords, he did manage to play some melody lines between verses and pick out some harmony lines while he sang.

With my shoulder problems, I've given some thought to getting myself an autoharp and trying this. Hanson's accompaniments were well worked out and sounded good with the songs he sang. Mostly ballad-type songs.

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Addendum:
By the way, if anyone should happen to run across that record, I would be eternally grateful for a copy of it (CDR or cassette). Hanson died some years ago, I think the record company is long since out of business, and all the songs on it are traditional (public domain), so copying it would involve no copyright problems or ethical questions that I can think of. PM me and we'll negotiate.

(Now back to our regular broadcast.)

Don Firth