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Zither Shopping Frustrations
May. 28th, 2022 04:32 pmSo. 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!
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!
