Scheitholt
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The scheitholt or scheitholz is a traditional stringed instrument and an ancestor of the modern zither. It falls into the category of drone zithers.
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[edit] History
The Scheitholt may have derived from an ancient Greek instrument for theoretical education in music and physics, the so called monochord (an oblong wooden corpus with only one string). Scheitholt literally refers to a piece of wood (Scheit = piece, chip; Holz or lower German Holt = wood) and appears to have described the general shape, and is best known through the description of this instrument by Michael Praetorius in 1619. A number of regional names for the instrument exist, though: Especially Hummel is the predominantly Northern German name, meaning bumble-bee (a reference to the humming sound of the drone sounds. Note that the same name was also used of a small kind of German bag pipe for the same reason). In the Bavarian/Austrian region the Scheitholt can be traced back to the 14th century. The fact that similar instruments are found in Asia as well may suggest that there was a common ancestor from the Caucasus that was brought west to central Europe in the Migration Period.
[edit] Description
The Scheitholt consisted usually of one about 50 centimeters is enough and five centimeters spreads holzkasten, at whose top a simple eddy board was and which was covered with two or three strings first. These strings were beside brass often also made of simple materials such as tierhaaren, dried intestines or gewachstem flax. A griffbrett in the usual sense was missing, under the strings was let in in the wood of wires as federations. Starting from 16. and 17. The Scheitholte had century then three to four strings. In the further development the schallkoerper was increased and its own griffbrett was up-glued. From the Scheitholt originated in with the change of the form around the center 18. Century the Kratzzither or Scherrzither.
[edit] Playing
The Scheitholt was played similarly the today's zither. In addition horizontally on a table or on the thighs, the left hand painted with a Stoeckchen the strings were put along, while thumbs and index fingers of the right hand marked out directly or with a horn or a Holzstaebchen or a goose keel the strings. Individual strings functioned as Bordun.
Scheitholte and/or hummeln became in the alpine regions, in South Germany, in Northern Germany, in the Saxonian ore mountains and in the Oberlausitz in 19. Century inside easily..[1]
[edit] 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(German)
