Autoharps are very folky, quite authentic, but are VERY hard to keep in tune - lots and lots of very short strings with primitive piano-style tuning pegs that need precise equal temperament tuning - and because the strings are short, tiny changes in temperature (or humidity, which affects the wood) create havoc, and because there are so many strings, retuning is not a task to be approached with equanimity.

Out of tune they sound horrid, so the poor autoharpist really needs to tune at the last second before performing.

They are hard to mic or to put a contact pickup on because they are quiet and the bodies don't vibrate much.

They sound best played with steel guitarists' claws picking at the strings, and then they can sound quite like a harp. The picking does not need to be very precise because the bars of the autoharp mute the unwanted strings. My late wife Jacqui Walker whom some of you may remember used sometimes to play that way.