types of stringed instruments small box zither

Two written sources (a play, Amsterdam 1639, and a Frisian inventory from 1660) mention a Noordsche balk ('nordic beam') (fig. Hommels appeared in various shapes: the earlier ones are plain rectangular boxes, later ones also trapeziform, in the shape of a half-bottle or viol, often finely carved, with up to four soundholes and some with a superimposed fretboard. It is probably the oldest preserved plucked dulcimer in Europe. The first known Dutch hommel dates back from 1608 and is housed in the Gemeentemuseum in The Hague. 1600 in a depiction of the parable of the Prodigal Son (Schleswig-Holsteinisches Landesmuseum, Germany). 1410), showing scenes of the life of the Virgin Mary and the passion of Jesus Christ, with a number of period musical instruments. 1) before Praetorius are rare, but appeared in the fifteenth century, for example, in the high altar of the Brüdernkirche in Brunswick (c. The melody string was stopped against the frets by a small rod held in the left hand, and the right-hand thumb struck across all the strings. The instrument he described had one melody string with 18 frets beneath it, set directly into the box, and three bourdon strings or drones, running over a sound hole in the shape of a rosette and tuned by wooden pegs laterally set in a curved pegbox. The hommel 1 and its French relative, the Épnette de Vosges, a disreputable instrument played by beggars.

Since zithers previously existed in eastern Asia (like the Chinese Guzheng or the Japanese Koto) the fundamental structure of these plucked instruments may have been brought to Europe in early sixteenth century by European merchants who had traveled to the Far East.

The first are tuned in unison and are stretched over a fretboard, while the second are always used as open strings, sounding the same chord in a drone. The hommel is distinguished from other box zithers by having two sets of strings: the melody string/s and the drone strings. Whereas the strings of a lute extend past the face of the instrument along a neck, the strings of a zither do not go beyond or away from the body of the instrument. This distinguishes zithers from 'composite cordophones' like the lute, cittern or harp, in which the string bearer and a resonator are organically united and cannot be separated. To learn more about how and for what purposes Amazon uses personal information (such as Amazon Store order history), please visit our Privacy Notice.According to the Hornbostel-Sachs system a zither is a 'simple chordophone,' consisting solely of a string bearer (and its string or strings) or of a string bearer with a resonator that can be detached without destroying the sound-producing apparatus. You can change your choices at any time by visiting Cookie Preferences, as described in the Cookie Notice. Click ‘Customise Cookies’ to decline these cookies, make more detailed choices, or learn more. Third parties use cookies for their purposes of displaying and measuring personalised ads, generating audience insights, and developing and improving products.

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Types of stringed instruments small box zither