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Picture with a Key...

Many and many a year ago, this traditional instrument by the name of zither was presented to my grandmother by my grandfather as a gift to entertain her while she was expecting with my father... to this day very much cherished by the family as a most precious treasure telling a story ...

 

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en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zither

 

Zither

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

The zither is a musical string instrument, consisting of many strings stretched across a thin, flat body. It is played by strumming or plucking the strings, either with one's fingers, or using a tool called a plectrum. Like a guitar or lute, a zither's body serves as a sound box, but unlike them, a zither has no neck. The number of strings varies, from as few as twelve to more than fifty.

 

The term 'zither' organologically refers to a broad family of Eurasian musical instruments, but in modern usage most commonly refers to one of three specific instruments: the concert zither and its variant the Alpine zither and the fretless (or "guitar") zither. Zither are most commonly found in Slovenia, Austria, Hungary, northwestern Croatia, the southern regions of Germany, alpine Europe, and East Asian cultures, including China.

 

The instrument underwent a popularity boom and resurgence in the late 1940s through to 1960s, following its prominent success as the theme music of the acclaimed 1949 film noir, The Third Man.

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Update:

The Zither has been played worldwide with its use reaching as far as the US, Brazil and Australia...!!

 

Updated Update:

More Zither trivia - Dolly Parton played her most iconic song "Coat of Many Colours on a Zither also known as an Autoharp see www.youtube.com/watch?v=6me_kOQX3jQ. She has just played it for her first time at Glastonbury Festival. The movie and TV series "The Third Man" Harry Lime theme was a Zither here is a link on youtube www.youtube.com/watch?v=r8jN1treRKQ

 

Update info has been provided by my Flickr friends, Pat Adams and Bob, for which I offer them my sincere thanks!

 

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Uploaded on July 7, 2014
Taken on July 6, 2014