!!!Zither

Zither, folk music instrument, most common in the Alpine area. The 
modern zither (concert zither) developed from the mediaeval dulcimer 
in Austria and Bavaria in the 17%%sup th/%  century. Today the 
"Salzburg zither", in which the side away from the player is 
rounded, has displaced the "Mittenwald zither", in which 
both sides are rounded. Among the different types only the Munich 
(a%%sup 1/%-a%%sup 1/%-d%%sup 1/%-g- c) and Viennese 
(a%%sup 1/%-d%%sup 1/%-g%%sup 1/%-g-c) tuning (or stringing) are still 
of importance: 5 melody strings across a chromatic finger-board 
arranged in 29 frets and 24-37 diapasons (open strings). The melody 
strings are plucked with a zither ring (plectrum), the diapason 
strings are plucked with the fingers.

!Literature
J. Brandlmeier, Handbuch der Zither, 1962.


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