It's a zither, isn't it?"

John Kavanagh · From: Kentville, Nova Scotia, Canada * R.I.P.

In a recent thread Mike Haselman told the story of asking an enthusiastic but ignorant fan what she thought his instrument was and she said "It's a zither, isn't it?" Which is funny because, as someone else pointed out, the average person may not see many steel guitars, but surely they don't see many zithers either. Where did this come from?

Well, by a weird twist of circumstance, I am here to tell you that a steel guitar IS a zither. Really.

I know this, and a lot of other more-or-less useless information because I did about two-thirds of a master's in musicology and I've read a bunch of books and articles on organology, the study and classification of musical instruments. I neither defend this nor apologise for it, but there it is.

For the scientific-type organologist, a stringed instrument with a neck is a "lute" style instrument - includes the lute, but also your guitars, your banjos, your mandolins, your fiddles and cellos, and so on. An instrument that's basically a board with both ends of the string fastened to the sounding surface is a "zither" type. So this includes your zither proper, your autoharp (also called "idiot zither") ,a bunch of Asian instruments like the koto and the veena, and also your Appalachian dulcimer, your hammered dulcimer and I suppose in some sense your harpsichord and your piano.

Some zithers are played by plucking or hammering open strings only, and some have strings that are also stopped with the fingers, a little piece of wood, or, in our case, a polished steel bar.

There's a gray area, as the handle part becomes incorporated into the soundbox. A Hawaiaan guitar is a "lute", because it has a neck. A Weissenborn style guitar is a hybrid, because the "neck" has become an elongation of the soundbox. Any kind of console steel has become a "board zither".

(If you think about it, a Weissenborn guitar is structurally closer to an Appalachian dulcimer than it is to a regular guitar.)

Anyone who's played these instruments knows there's a difference in sound as both ends of the string excite the main vibrating body, even if it's a solidbody instrument. That's also why a squareneck sounds different than a roundneck, and a Weissenborn sounds different than a flattop.

Thanks for your time, fellow zitherists.

[This message was edited by John Kavanagh on 24 December 2002 at 09:47 AM.]

CrowBear Schmitt · From: Ariege, - PairO'knees, - France

i'll go along w: that !
the French have a Dulcimer called "Epinette des Vosges"

[This message was edited by CrowBear Schmitt on 24 December 2002 at 10:21 AM.]

Bengt Erlandsen · From: Brekstad, NORWAY

I have actully had the chance to play on a real Zither.
It had 7 necks with something like 10 strings on each neck. All necks where tuned to an open chord with each neck going back the circle of fifths. The tuning peg for the highest strings where located at different places on the body so you can play the whole major scale playing different top strings on different necks. And the similar thing with PSG was that on the nut end the was a lever that was tunable so you could change the 3rd of the open chord to b3 or 2.
Real fun to play that thing.

Bengt

R. L. Jones · From: Lake Charles, Louisiana, USA

Huunnh I wouldnt know

R. L.

chas smith R.I.P. · From: Encino, CA, USA

I have several zithers, one of which was called a Hawaiian Harp and came with all of the traditional courses plus a fretted neck and a bar like a "skinny" Stevens for the slides.

Paul Graupp · From: Macon Ga USA

chas: My father had a zither like that ! I tried to play it but pushing those strings down to the frets almost cut my finger tips.

As all little boys would do, I improvised and got a battery out of a flashlight and now you know the rest of the story.....

I idolized my father when he played and he would sometimes say: Vait until you hear the glochenspiel. But I never heard one or at least never recognized the sound.

Years later I asked Bobbe Seymour what those little bells were on one of his recordings. He replied that it was his guitar through a Protheous (SP??) with a glochenspiel selected. I finally got to hear one....

Regards, Paul

Al Marcus · From: Cedar Springs,MI USA (deceased)

Joe-You are right about that. Many times playing the clubs, customers called it a Zither. So I would tell them back in those days, it was a Hawaiian Guitar...al

Happy New Year....

Donny Hinson · From: Glen Burnie, Md. U.S.A.

Paul Graupp · From: Macon Ga USA

Thanks, Donny ! I appreciate that information. When I wrote to Bobbe about it, I had to ask a lady from Germany who works in the post office, how to spell it....

You can see I didn't do my homework.

Regards, Paul

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