Zither Shopping Frustrations

[eller]

So. I'm looking for a zither. A proper zither, that is. The search is proving quite frustrating.

The thing is: most zithers on the market are concert zithers. The things with an actual fret-board. Unfortunately, while there is - obviously - nothing intrinsically wrong with that kind of instrument, I can't play it. ;___; I mean, at some point I could learn, but, uh, what I really want is a traditional chord zither based on the Scheitholt concept. I can play chord zither, it's idiot-safe. (It's designed to be idiot-safe, seeing how it's a folk instrument for people without any kind of musical education! You can learn it in half an hour, and playing styles are super flexible. It's awesome!)

Cultural comment: While Wikipedia lists 'chord zither' and 'Scheitholt' as different instruments (with one as the ancestor of the other), in Platt-speaking areas, a chord zither is also still commonly referred to as Scheitholt.

Language comment: Yes, my culture may be the only one that ever produced a musical instrument literally called log of firewood. I'm not sure whether that refers to the shape, the way of making one (that is: draw some log out ouf your pile of firewood, put some strings on it, paint a nice picture - done!), or the general sound quality (BURN IT! JUST BURN IT!)... But... Anyway... Draw your own conclusions about whether you're likely to see or hear this thing in a 'polite', high-class concert setting. LOL

Unfortunately, because the chord zither is not considered a proper musical instrument (where I'm from, it's only played by women, and only in a home/family setting, never in public!), it's kind of difficult to find one. I mean, getting an old chord zither on eBay is easy - but the really old instruments are purely decorative. (The real folk zithers are usually made from cheap wood that warps and/or cracks after some time, so they'll sound horrible. Firewood, literally! People just keep them for the traditional zither art!) And while there are newer models, they all lack the traditional paintings (how horrible!!! I'd never buy one that's not painted!) or they have a modern tuning that's unsuitable for playing traditional music.

I'll keep searching!

Comments

[castiron]

I also thought "huh! the autoharp is a zither cousin!" when I watched that video. When I was a kid, the autoharp was used a lot in church (not music for the service itself, but for things like songs in Sunday school and vacation bible school), and I think it was also used in public school music programs. The kids rarely got to touch them, but when I did, it was so cool to push one of the buttons and be able to make a chord.

[eller]

Now I really kind of want to see an autoharp. XD I mean, I've encountered a lot of different zithers (including a Japanese koto, which is almost the same thing, just in reeeeally large and with, uh, things under the strings) in my life, but not that one.

[yhlee]

They were popular in American-type schools because they were designed to be easy to play - you want a D major chord, you push the D major button and strum! :D This YouTube video seems pretty nice as an intro.

[eller]

Oh, thank you! That's an interesting instrument - I'm surprised at how she holds it (against her body, not on a table or on her knees), so it's a bit unusual for a zither, but it's a really cool concept!!!