Donner 7 String LYRE Review & Demo | Is it worth it? 

Thank you! :)

I know my strings weren't the best for another lyre brand (no clue which one cause my mom bought it for me when I was 12 haha) and so I recently just bought some d'addario guitar strings to help them sound MUCH better haha! It was mainly the low strings that sounded too wonky for me but ye. It definitely helps upgrading mainly the strings! Besides that I rlly like this lyre. Also comes with a rlly cool bag, I need one of those cause mine is crap haha

Yes it does!!!! 🤣

Awesome! Thank you! If you have any question about the lyre, feel free to leave me a comment. I'll share what I know. :)

Yes, it's quite a cute instrument to own! In this video I just played a little but the pentatonic scale becomes even more amazing when you play it for longer.

I guess it's kinda off topic but do anyone know of a good site to stream new movies online?

@Phillip Mitchell flixportal xD

@Declan David Thank you, signed up and it seems to work :D Appreciate it !!

@Phillip Mitchell You are welcome :)

@@phillipmitchell2969 😂 Solar movies is good for free movies and shows!

Thanks again for the appreciation! ❤️❤️❤️ I like videos to be to the point and that's how I make them. In my videos I usually play with one hand because I was holding down the lyre with the other. You can use both hands if you sit the lyre upright on your lap. Works on the little 7-string up to 21-string and more. :)

@@SamanthaonMars I wasn’t sure if all of the design styles of the lyres, such as on Amazon, allow for two-handed playing. I know a few of the strings are blocked by the instrument body. (thank you SO much for taking the time to answer! I so appreciate it.)

I just flip my lyre and teach my left hand to play the notes the right can't reach. Dont stress about strings being backwards etc. Remember Jimi Hendrix played his guitar upside down before he could afford a custom

You are welcome! Glad it was helpful! :)

You're welcome! I hope you will enjoy playing it!

Thank you!

I'm always amazed by people who make their own instruments. That's so cool!

Ah yes, my 7-string is mostly used for meditation now. I like just pluck the strings at random and not look. 🤣

This is definitely a more affordable option. I'm glad my video could provide some insight for you. 😊

I'm scared of the bad reviews though. Did u buy it?

So far nobody I know has figured that out, lol

😁 Somebody said the lyre sounded like a drunken sailor and I have to agree, haha!

There are 7 strings, but the tablature has just 6 lines.

@@SamanthaonMars Didn't spot that... Still looks like tab though. Try playing it like that to see if it sounds right?

Exciting! Once your tuner arrives, you'll be able to get your lyre in tune. I wish to get myself a good tuner too. I've only ever used mobile apps.

@@SamanthaonMars Tuners are dirt cheap and I think the better ones probably have microphones built in made specifically for the notes a stringed instrument makes. I mean more accurate than a smartphone.

Hi! Welcome to my channel. Sorry, I don't own a 10 string lyre ☹. I only have 7 and 16 strings.

Could you please tell me more about the problem? I'm guessing the strings don't stay in tune well? New strings need time to settle down. Tune daily and give it a week and see if it gets better. =)

D4, E4, G4, A4, B4, D5, E5 is what the manufacturer recommends. This tuning has worked well for me.

@@SamanthaonMars yes that sounds good. I need to get a 7 string next. Love the pentatonic scale.

@@Iceland874 Love the pentatonic too. There are no wrong notes. I can literally close my eyes to play and it still sounds good.

I was just randomly plucking the strings. LOL. The good thing about a pentatonic lyre is that there are no "wrong" notes.

Thanks!

What I don't understand is there are 7 strings on the lyre but only 6 lines. The numbers don't match up. It's been months and I still haven't figured it out, lol.

It’s probably for a different lyre., possibly the 7 stringed one.

@@joandonati2324 I have the 7-stringed lyre, the tabs had 6 strings. It's odd because Donner doesn't make 6-stringed lyres. The guitar has 6 strings, but the tabs don't seem like they're made for the guitar.

I’m curious now. That does sound odd.

This is a "pentatonic" lyre which has a limited 5-note scale. Unless you want to play pentatonic music specifically (e.g. a lot of traditional music from different cultures are pentatonic), this may not be the lyre for you. To play more songs, look for a "diatonic" lyre. Diatonic is "do re mi fa so la ti", or a scale made of just the white keys of a piano. The 16-string lyres I use on this channel are diatonic. There are 7-string diatonic lyres. You're correct in saying the number of strings limit what you can play. Some people have found workarounds by playing the same notes despite the octave. And then there are "chromatic" lyres, which has both white & black keys of a piano. They have the best range to play lots of songs. These lyres tend to have 30+ strings, are bigger, and are more expensive. I have not delved into these so I can't comment on them.

Wow thank yo for replying so soon! I’ve been binging your videos, I think I’m going to get a 16 string lyre one day when I’m not tight on money 😊❤️

@@SamanthaonMars can you direct me to a 7 string diatonic lyre? I am intrigued

@@gregsullivan1095 Hi. A 7-string lyre has a small range and there aren't a lot of songs that can be played. If you'd like to play melodies, it's better to get one that is at least 16 strings. But if you want a lyre to play chords, then a 7-string diatonic is suited for the job. I haven't used any 7-string diatonic so I can't recommend any brands. You can take a look on Amazon or other marketplaces. Be sure to look at the reviews. If you can find unboxing or review videos on RU-vid, that's even better. Hope you can find the perfect lyre!

Amazon still has this model. The link can be found in the description. However, this lyre is in the pentatonic scale, a scale of only 5 notes. It probably isn't suitable for a lot of modern songs including Chrono Cross. The better option is a diatonic lyre (a scale of 7 notes - do re mi fa so la si) with at least 16 strings.

Thank you I'll look in to those models chrono cross is the music I wanna learn. I'll start off easy though I'm sure they aren't beginner friendly for me. Thanks for talking to me

Hi Irene. I used this lyre for meditation by plucking its strings mindlessly. I have a curated list of songs for 7-string lyres on my website. In case RU-vid doesn't show this comment because of the link, I'll put the link in my next comment. Let me know if you can't see it. :)

A list of songs you can play on a 7-string lyre: learnlyreharp.com/songs-for-7-string-lyres/ . Hope it helps!

Thank you Samantha!

Depends on the melody. This is a pentatonic instrument so only pentatonic melodies.

Hi. It depends on the type of music you want to play. 7 strings are suitable for historic music or strumming. I use my 7-string lyre only for meditation. If you want to play a wide variety of music, get 16 strings.

@@SamanthaonMars what if I want to play the songs king David played, 7 or 10?

@@Pravin_Yeshua_BTCI don't know about the songs that was played by King David. When I searched "king david lyre" on Google and several luthiers came up in the search results, the lyres were all 10-strings.

I feel you! There aren't a lot of small lyre videos. I only know "CHERRY" and "TapTheForwardAssist". Both play 7-string lyres and they have tutorials! Check out their channels: ru-vid.com/show-UCcBPXf89DlWC-GhI1FM-ZHw ru-vid.com/show-UCzQDojnn5cP13DrdJ7PLjCA Careless Whispers requires at least 11 strings. I'm afraid it won't work with only 7. Usually I just play this lyre with my eyes closed for meditation. Besides that, I don't have song ideas. Sorry about that! 🥺 If you'd like to play a wide range of music, including Genshin songs, I'd recommend exchanging this lyre for a 16-string lyre.

@@SamanthaonMars I'm sorry i messed up it's actually a 10 string Lyre :'D

Plus my big brother doesn't know how to tone it sadly.

@@Sacayou I got you covered on tuning! Here's a video on how to do that: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-GkFsgHpadgg.html . 10 is better than 7 when it comes to playing melodies. I still think it's a bit limiting compared to say 16 or 19 strings when it comes to a wide variety of music.

@@SamanthaonMars thank you so much hopefully me and my big brother don’t breaking another string :’D

Perhaps that's because it's a lyre made in China and they used the pentatonic scale in traditional Chinese music? Just guessing!

@@SamanthaonMars that could be it! i’m not so skilled in all of the terminology of music, but I have a very decent ear. And I enjoy some traditional Chinese music. It was just very reminiscent. I think it’s so cool these can be tune for different styles of music like this.

Sorry I don't. I use this harp for meditation. Usually, I play the strings at random. This harp is in pentatonic scale, so whatever notes played would sound harmonious.

@@SamanthaonMars ok

I'm not sure if prices differ by country. Right now, it shows up as under $60 usd for me. You can click the product link in my video description to find out the cost for you.

@@SamanthaonMars THANKS!

Not that late =)

Oh, how come I missed your comment? Sorry for the late reply. I'm from Hong Kong

@@SamanthaonMars niceeee

How cute you are! Tuning is a video that I've been planning to do. Stay tuned =)

@@SamanthaonMars okii! Ty

I was just randomly plucking the strings. LOL. The good thing about a pentatonic lyre is that there are no "wrong" notes.

@@SamanthaonMars did you make that up on the spot?? Because that was really good.

@@latinojohnson3146 Yes I did. Anyone can do it on a pentatonic instrument. Every combination would sound harmonious. =)