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The scheitholt or scheitholz is a traditional German stringed instrument and an ancestor of the modern zither. It falls into the category of drone zithers.


History

The scheitholt may have derived from an
ancient Greek Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...
instrument for theoretical education in music and physics, the so-called
monochord A monochord, also known as sonometer (see below), is an ancient musical and scientific laboratory instrument, involving one (mono-) string ( chord). The term ''monochord'' is sometimes used as the class-name for any musical stringed instrument ...
(an oblong wooden box with only one string). Scheitholt originally referred to logs split into firewood or '' Scheitholz'' (Scheit = ''piece, chip''; Holz or
Low German Low German is a West Germanic languages, West Germanic language variety, language spoken mainly in Northern Germany and the northeastern Netherlands. The dialect of Plautdietsch is also spoken in the Russian Mennonite diaspora worldwide. "Low" ...
Holt = ''wood''). Since the 16th century, the instrument was called by that name, presumably because it had a similar shape or size. The best known description of this instrument is by
Michael Praetorius Michael Praetorius (probably 28 September 1571 – 15 February 1621) was a German composer, organist, and Music theory, music theorist. He was one of the most versatile composers of his age, being particularly significant in the development of ...
in 1619. A number of regional names for the instrument exist. In
northern Germany Northern Germany (, ) is a linguistic, geographic, socio-cultural and historic region in the northern part of Germany which includes the coastal states of Schleswig-Holstein, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Lower Saxony and the two city-states Hambur ...
the instrument is often called '' hummel'', meaning "
bumble bee A bumblebee (or bumble bee, bumble-bee, or humble-bee) is any of over 250 species in the genus ''Bombus'', part of Apidae, one of the bee families. This genus is the only extant group in the tribe Bombini, though a few extinct related genera ...
" (a reference to the humming sound of the drone strings—the same word was also used for the
bagpipe Bagpipes are a woodwind instrument using enclosed reeds fed from a constant reservoir of air in the form of a bag. The Great Highland bagpipes are well known, but people have played bagpipes for centuries throughout large parts of Europe, No ...
). Other names include the Dutch ''noordse balk'', French ''bûche'' or ''bûche de Meuse'', Dutch ''vlier'' and
Swiss German Swiss German (Standard German: , ,Because of the many different dialects, and because there is no #Conventions, defined orthography for any of them, many different spellings can be found. and others; ) is any of the Alemannic German, Alemannic ...
''Hexenscheit''. In the Bavarian/Austrian region, the scheitholt can be traced back to the 14th century. Similar instruments are found in other parts of
Northern Europe The northern region of Europe has several definitions. A restrictive definition may describe northern Europe as being roughly north of the southern coast of the Baltic Sea, which is about 54th parallel north, 54°N, or may be based on other ge ...
; in
America The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
, the scheitholt was probably brought to
Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...
by German settlers and spread into the Appalachian mountain region, where it later evolved into the
Appalachian dulcimer The Appalachian dulcimer (many variant names; see below) is a fretted string instrument of the zither family, typically with three or four strings, originally played in the Appalachian region of the United States. The body extends the length of t ...
in the late 18th century. The Appalachian dulcimer (or mountain dulcimer, or lap dulcimer), is a scheitholt fingerboard mounted on a larger sound box.


Description

The original scheitholt usually consisted of a wooden soundbox about 50 cm (19.7 in) long and 5 cm (2 in) wide, with a simple headstock and two or three strings. Besides brass, these strings were often also made of simple materials such as animal hairs, gut or waxed linen. There is no fingerboard but there are wires which are set in the wood under the strings as frets. Beginning in the 16th and 17th centuries, the scheitholte had three to four strings. In the further development the size of the soundbox was increased, and an independent fingerboard was glued on. From the scheitholt with a change of form the kratzzither or scherrzither developed around the mid-18th century.


Playing

The Scheitholt was played similarly to the modern zither. It was placed horizontally on a table or on the player's lap, the left hand pressed the strings with a wooden stick sometimes called a 'noter', while the thumb and index finger plucked the strings either directly, or with a horn or wooden plectrum, or with a
goose A goose (: geese) is a bird of any of several waterfowl species in the family Anatidae. This group comprises the genera '' Anser'' (grey geese and white geese) and '' Branta'' (black geese). Some members of the Tadorninae subfamily (e.g., Egy ...
quill. Some strings functioned as drones. The scheitholt and/or hummel was played throughout the 19th century in the alpine regions in south Germany. Northern Germany, in the Erz Mountains of
Saxony Saxony, officially the Free State of Saxony, is a landlocked state of Germany, bordering the states of Brandenburg, Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia, and Bavaria, as well as the countries of Poland and the Czech Republic. Its capital is Dresden, and ...
and in the
Oberlausitz Upper Lusatia (, ; , ; ; or ''Milsko''; ) is a historical region in Germany and Poland. Along with Lower Lusatia to the north, it makes up the region of Lusatia, named after the Slavic ''Lusici'' tribe. Both parts of Lusatia are home to the ...
.


See also

*
Appalachian dulcimer The Appalachian dulcimer (many variant names; see below) is a fretted string instrument of the zither family, typically with three or four strings, originally played in the Appalachian region of the United States. The body extends the length of t ...
* Epinette des Vosges * Hummel (instrument) * Langeleik * Langspil * Music in Germany


References


Literature and websites

* Kulturreferat der Landeshauptstadt München (Hrsg.): ''Das Tiroler Raffele und die Allgäuer Scherrzither'', September 1990
Andreas Michel: Scheitholt und frühe Formen der Kratzzither


External links



- Episode 001: Scheitholt Part 1.

- Episode 003: Scheitholt Part 2. {{Authority control Fretted zithers German musical instruments