Everything about The Zither totally explained
The
zither is a musical
string instrument, most commonly in
Slovenia,
Austria,
Hungary, the southern regions of
Germany, alpine Europe and East Asian cultures. The term "citre" is also used more broadly, to describe the entire family of stringed instruments in which the strings don't extend beyond the
sounding box, including the
hammered dulcimer,
psaltery,
Appalachian dulcimer,
kantele,
guzheng,
koto,
gayageum,
đàn tranh,
kanun,
autoharp,
piano,
harpsichord,
santur,
swarmandal, and others.
Etymology and instrument family
The word "citrara" is derived from the Greek word
kithara, an instrument from classical times used in
Ancient Greece and later throughout the
Roman Empire and in the Arab world (Arabic قيثارة); the word "guitar" derives from "kithara" as well.
History and development
The earliest known instrument of the zither family is a Chinese
guqin found in the
tomb of Marquis Yi of Zeng dating from
433 BC, featuring tuning pegs, a bridge and goose-like feet.
In modern entertainment, the zither is perhaps most famous for its role in the
soundtrack, especially in the opening scene, of the classic
film noir The Third Man. The instrument has a prominent solo in one of
Johann Strauss II's most famous waltzes, "
Tales from the Vienna Woods". It is also used by multi-instrumentalist
Laraaji on the third release of
Brian Eno's
ambient music series,
Ambient 3: Day of Radiance. In more popular music, Australian-born singer
Shirley Abicair popularised the zither when she used it widely as accompaniment in her popular TV shows, live performances and recordings in Britain in the 1950s and 1960s. More recently,
Jerusalem-based multi-instrumentalist
Bradley Fish has used zithers in a multitude of styles on the soundtracks of various Sony Digital Pictures films. In
Slovenia, at the end of the 19th century, in particular in small towns and boroughs the concert zither was well-liked and inspired people to make music at home.
Slovenian zither
Like many other stringed instruments,
acoustic and
electric forms exist; in the acoustic version, the strings are stretched across the length of the soundbox, and neither version has a neck. They can be divided into two classes:
fretted and
fretless. A musician that plays the instrument is called
citarist or
citre player.
Violinske citre (Violin zither)
Violin zither are,new version of slovenian zithers.
Sources
- "Zither"
from the University of Michigan School of Information's CHICO project
Further Information
Get more info on 'Zither'.
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