The strings are plucked with the right hand fingers from the outside. The left hand is used to dampen the strings to promote clarity and produce staccato notes. Stopped tones are produced by using left thumbnail to press against the string from the inside to increase its tension. History The Burmese harp is a very ancient instrument. The saung may have been introduced as early as 500 AD from southeastern India, based on archaeological evidence, namely in the form of Burmese temple reliefs that depict a long-necked harp very similar to depictions found in Bengal. The earliest archaeological evidence of the harp is at the Bawbawgyi Pagoda of the Sri Ksetra kingdom of the Pyu people, near present-day Pyay (Prome). At that site, there is a mid-600s sculptured relief depicting the arched harp with about five strings appears in a scene where musicians and a dancer are depicted. Contemporaneous Chinese chronicles from the same period cite Pyu musicians playing the arched harp. A Pyu embassy to China in 801-802 documents an orchestra containing an arched harp with 2 pegs. The harp has survived continuously since that time, and has been mentioned in many chronicles and texts. The current Burmese word for the harp "saung" has been recorded in Bagan temples, as well as in pictorial representations. Burmese chronicles describe the presence of harps in ceremonial ensembles at medieval Pagan, and female harpists who performed for royals, also shown on surviving temple reliefs and mural paintings, including at Nagayon and Lawkahteikpan temples. The earliest song-poem texts in Burmese date to the early 14th century, although the music has not survived. It is conjectured that this song-poem was harp music since text refers to the siege of Myinzaing, and "Myinzaing" is one of the classical tunings and musical forms in use today. By the Ava dynasty, the harp had taken the form of an incurved arch with 11 strings. The harp benefited from the cultural renaissance of the Konbaung era (1752–1885). When the Burmese king Hsinbyushin sacked Ayuthaya, he brought back with him many Siamese courtiers. The captured Siamese actors and musicians fueled new forms and experiments in harp music. The most significant innovator was the talented courtier Myawaddy Mingyi U Sa (1766–1853), who adapted repertoires of Siamese music into Burmese, adapted the Siamese Panji tales into Burmese Enaung-zat, composed harp music for it, and developed a whole new genre of harp