Tuesday, April 22, 2014

The History Of The Psalteries

By Essie Osborn


One has probably read of or seen olden instruments that were either square or triangle in shape and had strings wherein one used their hands or bows to strum. These instruments are known as psalteries and they have existed years before modern civilization came into place. Nowadays, they are still being created and many people still play this instrument as a hobby because of the beautiful sounds they create.

Nowadays, this instrument has already become a little bit different as compared to its forefather as it is now bigger and has a triangular shape. Like its forefather, it has a bunch of strings that would make sound but the only difference here is that there are some pins attached to it. Unlike its forefather, the modern one uses a bow to make music.

Now the version with the bow was invented only during the twentieth century while the old version was created even in the Bible times. The earliest record of such an instrument was during the time of the famous King Nebuchadnezzar. Often, King Nebuchadnezzar would ask all of his servants to play this instrument for him so that he could be entertained when there were no royal meetings with the council.

Now other than the Bible, one could actually also find some records of this instrument that would date back to the Medieval period or even the Renaissance period. Of course during this time, this instrument was already slightly modernized in order to sound better. The middle of the psaltery now had a hole so that the sound could echo further and make a solid sound.

It was only during the nineteen twenties that the bowed version was introduced into the modern world. It was created by a German and a patent of it was issued to the German company Clemens Neuber Company which meant that only they could reproduce the instrument during that time. During this time, they were known as violin zithers and it was also during this time that they began to get really popular.

After the original bowed psaltery, the Americans tried to create something similar but with some Hawaiian inspiration to it. They called this the Ukelin and this was usually used to make music during Hawaiian themed parties or luaus that would take place. Now the Hawaiians did have their own version of this instrument and was often used by people as a hobby.

Now this instrument really gained worldwide popularity after the ending World War II. A German primary school teacher known as Walter Mittman used the psaltery in some of his classes. He was following the footsteps of famous music teacher Edgar Stahmer who popularized the use of this instrument for classes.

In the modern world, the psaltery has withstood the test of time as many people still love to play it. The only difference is that nowadays, it can be played in so many ways with so many different bows. One can see that the instrument has not only withstood the test of time but it has also evolved over the years.




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