A musical instrument consisting of a flat sounding box with numerous strings, placed on a horizontal surface, and played with a plectrum and fingertips; similar to a dulcimer. In the Norwegian harpeleik and Swedish cittra versions, the instrument is considered a chorded zither and usually has 7 (Norwegian) to 9 (Swedish) chords, some with as many as 11 strings each, which are mostly strummed and damped as chords, although sometimes plucked. The Norwegian harpeleik and Swedish cittra are still in production by a German manufacturer
In the broadest sense a zither is a stringed instrument consisting basically of a string or strings stretched over a bar, board, tube, half-tube, or box Its history spans the history of civilization in all eras and most regions of the world Near-Eastern prototypes furnished important art instruments in both the East and West, notably the qanon, chin, koto, PSALTERY, and DULCIMER Generically, the zither includes the CLAVICHORD, HARPSICHORD, and PIANO The term is now customarily applied to folk box-zithers of the Alps--long, generally rectangular resonance boxes with a large center sound-hole, supporting, over a fretted fingerboard, melody strings played with a ring plectrum on the right thumb, and up to 37 accompanying strings plucked by the second, third, and fourth fingers The instrument is placed horizontally in front of the player Typically its music is folk melody accompanied by simple chords Many related forms are found in northern Europe ROBERT A WARNER
A stringed instrument constructed of a flat sound box with its 30-40 strings stretched over it horizontally It is played with a plectrum or plucked It can refer to any number of string instruments of similar construction and design
] a musical stringed instrument with strings stretch over a flat sounding box; it is laid flat and played with a plectrum and with fingers
A zither is a musical instrument which consists of two sets of strings stretched over a flat box. You play the zither by pulling the strings with both hands. a musical instrument from Eastern Europe that consists of a flat box with strings stretched across it. You play it by pulling the strings with your fingers or a plectrum (=small piece of plastic, metal etc) (kithara type of stringed instrument). Plucked or struck stringed instrument with a shallow soundbox. The common Austrian zither is roughly rectangular and has 30-40 strings; it is placed on the player's knees or on a table. Several melody strings pass over a fretted fingerboard; the player's left hand stops these strings, while the right hand plucks with the fingers and a thumb plectrum. Zither is also a generic term for stringed instruments, the strings of which are fastened across a frame that lacks any projecting neck or arms. The larger zither family thus includes instruments such as the Aeolian harp, autoharp, cimbalom, dulcimer, koto, and even the clavichord, harpsichord, and piano
It has from thirty to forty wires strung across a shallow sounding-board, which lies horizontally on a table before the performer, who uses both hands in playing on it
A musical instrument, consisting of a flat sounding-box with numerous strings stretched over it, that is placed on a horizontal surface and played with a plectrum and the fingertips
A general term for stringed instruments whose strings are stretched over the full length of the soundboard Specifically, a folk instrument of Bavaria and Austria consisting of a flat, wood soundboard with four or five melody strings which are fretted with the left hand and up to 37 accompaniment strings
A stringed instrument with 30 to 40 strings over a piece of wood that is played horizontally with a pick
a musical stringed instrument with strings stretch over a flat sounding box; it is laid flat and played with a plectrum and with fingers
A family of instruments with strings stretched across a hollow soundbox The strings may be strummed, struck with hammers, or even bowed The Dulcimer, psaltery, Ch'in, and Koto are all variations on the zither