Wednesday, May 7, 2014

The Evolution Of The Psalteries

By Essie Osborn


The psaltery is a very known instrument during the olden times. It is a string instrument that is actually from the same family as the zither or the harp with the only difference is that one would be using a bow to play it like a violin. If one is curious as to how psalteries originated, here is a brief background of this very influential instrument.

Nowadays, this instrument has already become a little bit different as compared to its forefather as it is now bigger and has a triangular shape. Like its forefather, it has a bunch of strings that would make sound but the only difference here is that there are some pins attached to it. Unlike its forefather, the modern one uses a bow to make music.

Now even though the original psaltery was created quite a very long time ago, the bowed version was only invented during the twentieth century. The earliest version was made sometime during the reign of king Nebuchadnezzar from the Bible wherein his servants would use it in order to entertain him. So as one can see, this instrument had a very rich history which began even during the Bible times.

This instrument could also be found in Medieval literature alongside some other similar instruments namely the harp and the zither. Unlike the one from the time of King Nebuchadnezzar, the Medieval versions had sound holes in the middle which made the sound more solid and nicer to the ears. This instrument was also used in order to appease the kings and other royalty.

It was only during the nineteen twenties that the bowed version was introduced into the modern world. It was created by a German and a patent of it was issued to the German company Clemens Neuber Company which meant that only they could reproduce the instrument during that time. During this time, they were known as violin zithers and it was also during this time that they began to get really popular.

After the original bowed psaltery, the Americans tried to create something similar but with some Hawaiian inspiration to it. They called this the Ukelin and this was usually used to make music during Hawaiian themed parties or luaus that would take place. Now the Hawaiians did have their own version of this instrument and was often used by people as a hobby.

It was only after World War II that this instrument became very popular around the world. This became especially popular in Germany because a primary school teacher known as Walter Mittman used it for his class during that time. He used it for education purposes so that children could learn how to play it and appreciate folk music.

Nowadays, musicians and instrument makers have created a lot of ways to actually play this instrument. In fact, there are so many types of bows that were created like the bamboo bow, the wooden bow. Because of its evolution from the plucked psaltery, there have been many innovative ways that one can make music with this.




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