 Earlier pedal harps had a single-action mechanism that provided only sharped notes, the first of which was made in 1720 by Jacob Hochbrucker in Bavaria.The pedal harp is played with the fingertips of the first four fingers (thumb, index, middle and ring fingers).The little fingers are not used because they are too short and cannot reach the correct position without distorting the position of the other fingers (although on some folk harps with light tension and closely spaced strings they may occasionally be used).