Scheitholt
Encyclopedia
The scheitholt or scheitholz is a traditional German
stringed instrument and an ancestor of the modern zither
. It falls into the category of drone zither
s.
(an oblong wooden box with only one string). Scheitholt originally referred to firewood cut into logs (Scheit = piece, chip; Holz or lower German Holt = wood). Since the 16th century at the latest, the instrument came to be called by this name, presumably because it had a similar shape or size. The best known description of this instrument is by Michael Praetorius in 1619. A number of regional names for the instrument exist.'Hummel' is the predominant 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.
The scheitholt and/or hummel was played well into the 19th century in the alpine regions, in south Germany, in northern Germany, in the Erz Mountains of Saxony and in the Oberlausitz.
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
stringed instrument and an ancestor of the modern zither
Zither
The zither is a musical string instrument, most commonly found in Slovenia, Austria, Hungary citera, northwestern Croatia, the southern regions of Germany, alpine Europe and East Asian cultures, including China...
. It falls into the category of drone zither
Drone zither
Drone zithers or droned zithers are stringed instruments of the zither family that have few melodic strings and a greater number of drone strings. The oldest known form of drone zither is the Scheitholt....
s.
History
The Scheitholt may have derived from an ancient Greek instrument for theoretical education in music and physics, the so called monochordMonochord
A monochord is an ancient musical and scientific laboratory instrument. The word "monochord" comes from the Greek and means literally "one string." A misconception of the term lies within its name. Often a monochord has more than one string, most of the time two, one open string and a second string...
(an oblong wooden box with only one string). Scheitholt originally referred to firewood cut into logs (Scheit = piece, chip; Holz or lower German Holt = wood). Since the 16th century at the latest, the instrument came to be called by this name, presumably because it had a similar shape or size. The best known description of this instrument is by Michael Praetorius in 1619. A number of regional names for the instrument exist.'Hummel' is the predominant 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.
Description
The original scheitholt usually consisted of a wooden soundbox about 50 centimeters long and five centimeters wide, with a simple peghead and two or three strings. Besides brass, these strings were often also made of simple materials such as animal hairs, gut or waxed linen. A fingerboard in the usual sense was missing, but wires were 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 today's zither. It was placed horizontally on a table or on the thighs, 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 quill. Some strings functioned as drones.The scheitholt and/or hummel was played well into the 19th century in the alpine regions, in south Germany, in northern Germany, in the Erz Mountains of Saxony and in the Oberlausitz.
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
See also
- Appalachian dulcimerAppalachian dulcimerThe Appalachian dulcimer is a fretted string instrument of the zither family, typically with three or four strings. It is native to the Appalachian region of the United States...
- Epinette des VosgesEpinette des VosgesThe épinette des Vosges is a traditional plucked-string instrument of the zither family, whose use was confined to two areas in the Vosges mountains of France approximately 50 km apart: around Val-d'Ajol and around Gérardmer.-Origins:...
- Hummel (instrument)Hummel (instrument)The hummel is an old Swedish stringed instrument similar to an older type of zither and is related to the Norwegian langeleik. The name is thought to come from the German word hummel, meaning "bumblebee", referring to the droning sound created by the accompaniment strings.-History:The hummel is...
- LangeleikLangeleikThe langeleik also called langleik is a Norwegian stringed folklore musical instrument, a droned zither.-Description:The langeleik has only one melody string and up to 8 drone strings....
- LangspilLangspilThe Langspil is a traditional Icelandic drone zither. Since old folk music has been gaining more popularity in recent years, more and more people are able to play this instrument...