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Everything about Zither
Class of stringed musical instruments
Zither is a class of stringed instruments, and the term also refers to a specific subset of instruments of the zither class, most usually the concert or Alpine zithers. The modern instrument has many strings stretched across a thin, flat body. Wikipedia →
🧭 Start here: a 6-step reading path
- Read the overview: ZitherA 5-minute orientation
- Skim a recent paper: Integrated auditory-vocal embodied training for expressive authentic intonation in Chinese zither performanceInfluential work since 2022
- Pick up a classic book: Handbuch der ZitherThe most-reprinted book on the subject
- Read the landmark paper: Automatic composition of Guzheng (Chinese Zither) music using long short-term memory network (LSTM) and reinforcement learning (RL)Cited 21 times
- Go sideways: Appalachian dulcimerA closely related topic
- Go sideways: Guitar zitherA closely related topic
📖 Definitions
Noun A musical instrument consisting of a flat sounding box with numerous strings placed on a horizontal surface, played with a plectrum or fingertips.
Noun Related or similar instruments in other cultures, such as the Chinese guqin or Norwegian harpeleik; especially any chordophone without a neck, and with strings that pass over the body.
Verb To play a zither.
Verb To make a sound similar to that made by a zither; to move while making such a sound.
🏆 Landmark papers (most cited)
Automatic composition of Guzheng (Chinese Zither) music using long short-term memory network (LSTM) and reinforcement learning (RL)
Choreographic and Kinesthetic Elements in Performance on the Chinese Seven-String Zither
Meaning and structure ‐ the case of Chineseqin(zither) music
Wood quality of Chinese zither panel based on convolutional neural network and near-infrared spectroscopy
Self-designed hierarchical network based hand shape intelligent recognition and evaluation for Chinese zither performing
Historical Interdependency of Music: A Case Study of the Chinese Seven-String Zither
Neural network for classification of Chinese zither panel wood via near-infrared spectroscopy
Knowledge and data co-driven intelligent assessment of Chinese zither fingerings
🆕 Influential since 2022
Integrated auditory-vocal embodied training for expressive authentic intonation in Chinese zither performance
Zither. Tradition and Actuality.
Performing Heavenly Numbers: Structure and Voice in the Duke of Zhou’s Zither Dance
The tongkungon of Sabah: Acoustic analysis and organological perspectives on a Kadazan-Dusun bamboo zither
A Study on Narrative Hunting Imagery of the Warring States Period —Taking the Painted Lacquer Decoration on the Painted Zither (Jinse) from Chu Tombs in Xinyang as an Example
📚 Books worth reading
- 📕Handbuch der ZitherJosef Brandlmeier · 1963
- 📕Higashi Ajia kin sō no kenkyūYōko Mitani · 1980
- 📕How to play the MacArthur harp and all numerical harp-zithersMargaret MacArthur · 1986
- 📕Gitarre und ZisterMusikinstrumentenbau-Symposium (22nd 2001 Michaelstein, Germany) · 2004
- 📕Temerini citerákFerenc Borsi · 2008
- 📕Die Zither in der Vergangenheit, Gegenwart und ZukunftHans Kennedy · 1896
- 📕Darstellung der Zither in ihrem Wesen und ihrer GeschichteJ. Christ · 1891
- 📕Die ZitherLorenz Mühlemann, Schweizer Zither-Kulturzentrum · 2014
Ranked by number of editions on Open Library, a rough measure of how lasting a book is.
🔗 Related topics
- Appalachian dulcimer The Appalachian dulcimer (many variant names; see below) is a fretted string instrument of the zither family, typically with three or four strings, originally…
- Guitar zither The guitar zither (also chord zither, fretless zither, mandolin zither or harp zither) is a musical instrument consisting of a sound-box with two sets…
- Fingerboard The fingerboard (also known as a fretboard on fretted instruments) is an important component of most stringed instruments. It is a thin, long strip of…
- Fret A fret is any of the thin strips of material, usually metal wire, inserted laterally at specific positions along the neck or fretboard of a stringed instrument…
- Fretless guitar A fretless guitar is a guitar with a fingerboard without frets, typically a standard instrument that has had the frets removed, though some custom-built…
- Extended-range bass An extended-range bass is an electric bass guitar with a wider frequency range than a standard-tuned four-string bass guitar. One way that a bass can be…
- String instrument In musical instrument classification, string instruments, or chordophones, are musical instruments that produce sound from vibrating strings when a performer…
- Autoharp An autoharp is a string instrument in the zither family. Its distinctive structural feature is a set of bars, each with damping pads that mute the strings…