zither

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zither

(zĭth`ər), stringed musical instrument, derived from the psalterypsaltery
, stringed musical instrument. It has a flat soundboard over which a variable number of strings are stretched. Its origin was in the Middle East, and it is referred to in the Bible. It appeared in Europe in the 12th cent. and flourished until the late Middle Ages.
..... Click the link for more information. and the dulcimerdulcimer
, stringed musical instrument. It is a wooden box with strings stretched over it that are struck with small mallets. The number of strings may vary. The dulcimer is related to the psaltery and modern zither.
..... Click the link for more information. . It has a flat sound box over which are stretched from 30 to 45 strings; these are plucked with the fingers and a plectrum. In the 18th cent. one or both sides began to be curved to produce greater sonority. The term zither is also used generically for various instruments, including the dulcimer, the psaltery, and several Asian instruments. The dulcimer in use in the Kentucky mountains is, in fact, a zither.

The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.

Zither

a stringed instrument played by plucking. The zither has an irregularly shaped flat wooden body. Two sides of the soundboard, one long and one short, form a right angle; opposite them lie a convex and a concave side. Along the long straight side is a fretted fingerboard over which are stretched four or five metal strings that are plucked with a plectrum worn on the thumb of the right hand. Beyond the fingerboard are 25 to 40 gut strings, which are played with the remaining fingers of the right hand. The zither was known in several ancient countries and had a different number of strings. The zither has been known in Western Europe since the late 18th century and was especially popular in 19th-century Germany and Austria. The instrument appeared in Russia in the second half of the 19th century.

REFERENCES

Iodko, V. Tsitra. Kratkii istoricheskii ocherk i opisanie instrumenta. Moscow, 1914.
Modr, A. Muzykal’nye instrumenty. Moscow, 1959. Pages 56–58.
Brandlmeier, J. Handbuch der Zither. Munich [1963].

zither

a plucked musical instrument consisting of numerous strings stretched over a resonating box, a few of which may be stopped on a fretted fingerboard

Collins Discovery Encyclopedia, 1st edition © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

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