Post by Dick Glasgow on Jul 6, 2007 2:51:46 GMT 1
The Bowed Psaltery
Thumbnail History of the Bowed Psaltery
Psalteries are found, in one form or another, in every major folk culture in the world, dating back thousands of years. They came in all shapes and sizes and some were plucked, some were struck, and some were bowed. The most sacred musical instrument of the ancient Hebrews was a plucked psaltery with 10 strings, which dates back to Biblical times.
The hammered dulcimer is actually a struck psaltery that originated in the Middle East over 3,000 years ago. The bowed psaltery probably dates back around 300 years in Ireland, but it was a great deal different from the ones we have today. Its shape was a right triangle with the longest string on the left, and the strings got shorter as they moved down toward the right. This allowed the bow to get between the pins and reach every string. It was held in the left hand, and the bow was in the right hand.
The modern psaltery is very different from its ancient relatives. The contemporary bowed psaltery is an isosceles triangle with hitch pins on both sides and tuned to the chromatic scale (the same as a piano, with both natural notes and sharps and flats).
The contemporary bowed psaltery was probably developed in the late 1940s in Germany. It was brought to the United States in the late 1950s as a simple, easy to play, cheap-to-buy novelty instrument. It spread across much of the U.S. in the next 30 years or so, but most builders built their instruments almost exactly like everyone else before them.
Bowed Psaltery - Thumbnail History
Thumbnail History of the Bowed Psaltery
Psalteries are found, in one form or another, in every major folk culture in the world, dating back thousands of years. They came in all shapes and sizes and some were plucked, some were struck, and some were bowed. The most sacred musical instrument of the ancient Hebrews was a plucked psaltery with 10 strings, which dates back to Biblical times.
The hammered dulcimer is actually a struck psaltery that originated in the Middle East over 3,000 years ago. The bowed psaltery probably dates back around 300 years in Ireland, but it was a great deal different from the ones we have today. Its shape was a right triangle with the longest string on the left, and the strings got shorter as they moved down toward the right. This allowed the bow to get between the pins and reach every string. It was held in the left hand, and the bow was in the right hand.
The modern psaltery is very different from its ancient relatives. The contemporary bowed psaltery is an isosceles triangle with hitch pins on both sides and tuned to the chromatic scale (the same as a piano, with both natural notes and sharps and flats).
The contemporary bowed psaltery was probably developed in the late 1940s in Germany. It was brought to the United States in the late 1950s as a simple, easy to play, cheap-to-buy novelty instrument. It spread across much of the U.S. in the next 30 years or so, but most builders built their instruments almost exactly like everyone else before them.
Bowed Psaltery - Thumbnail HistoryAfter the Second World War,Walter Mittman, a primary school teacher in Westphalia, popularized the conventional triangular bowed psaltery, which had earlier been advocated for use in education by Edgar Stahmer (1911-1996).
Bowed Psaltery - Wikipedia
Bowed Psaltery - Wikipedia