Zither in the context of "Bandura"

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⭐ Core Definition: Zither

Zither (/ˈzɪðər, ˈzɪθ-/; German: [ˈtsɪtɐ], from the Greek κιθάρα, cithara) 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.

Zithers are typically played by strumming or plucking the strings with the fingers or a plectrum. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, the term refers to a larger family of similarly shaped instruments that also includes the hammered dulcimer family and piano and a few rare bowed instruments like the bowed psaltery, bowed dulcimer, and streichmelodion. Like an acoustic guitar or lute, a zither's body serves as a resonating chamber (sound box), but, unlike guitars and lutes, a zither lacks a distinctly separate neck assembly. The number of strings varies, from one to more than fifty.

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👉 Zither in the context of Bandura

A bandura (Ukrainian: бандура [bɐnˈdurɐ] ) is a Ukrainian plucked-string folk-instrument. It combines elements of the zither and lute and, up until the 1940s, was also often called a kobza. Early instruments (c. 1700) had 5 to 12 strings and resembled lutes. In the 20th century, the number of strings increased initially to 31 strings (1926), then to 56 strings – 68 strings on modern "concert" instruments (1954).

Musicians who play the bandura are referred to as bandurists. In the 19th and early 20th centuries traditional bandura players, often blind, were called kobzars. It is suggested that the instrument developed as a hybrid of gusli (Eastern-European psaltery) and kobza (Eastern-European lute). Some also consider the kobza as a type or an instrument resembling the bandura. The term bandura occurs in Polish chronicles from 1441. The hybridization, however, occurred in the late-18th or early-19th centuries.

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Zither in the context of Veena

The veena, also spelled vina (Sanskrit: वीणा IAST: vīṇā), is any of various chordophone instruments from the Indian subcontinent. Ancient musical instruments evolved into many variations, such as lutes, zithers and arched harps. The many regional designs have different names such as the Rudra veena, the Saraswati veena, the Vichitra veena and others.

The North Indian rudra veena, used in Hindustani classical music, is a stick zither. About 3.5 to 4 feet (1 to 1.2 meters) long to fit the measurements of the musician, it has a hollow body and two large resonating gourds, one under each end. It has four main strings which are melodic, and three auxiliary drone strings. To play, the musician plucks the melody strings downward with a plectrum worn on the first and second fingers, while the drone strings are strummed with the little finger of the playing hand. The musician stops the resonating strings, when so desired, with the fingers of the free hand. In modern times the veena has been generally replaced with the sitar in North Indian performances.

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Zither in the context of Kanteletar

Kanteletar is a collection of Finnish folk poetry compiled by 19th-century Finnish linguist Elias Lönnrot. It is considered to be a sister collection to the Finnish national epic Kalevala. The poems of Kanteletar are based on the trochaic tetrameter, generally referred to as "Kalevala metre".

The name consists of the base word kantele (a Finnish zither-like instrument) and the feminising morpheme -tar and can be roughly interpreted as "maiden of the kantele" or "zither-daughter", a kind of muse.

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Zither in the context of Gusli

The gusli (Russian: гусли, Russian pronunciation: [ˈɡuslʲɪ], Ukrainian: гусла, husla) is the oldest East Slavic multi-string plucked instrument, belonging to the zither family, due to its strings being parallel to its resonance board. Its roots lie in Veliky Novgorod in the Novgorodian Republic. It has its relatives in Europe and throughout the world: kantele in Finland, kannel in Estonia, kanklės in Lithuania, kokles in Latvia, Zither in Germany, citera in the Czech Republic, and psalterium in France. Furthermore, the kanun has been found in Arabic countries, and the autoharp, in the United States. It is also related to such ancient instruments as Chinese gu zheng, which has a thousand-year history, and its Japanese relative koto. A stringed musical instrument called guslim is listed as one of the Me in ancient Sumer.

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Zither in the context of Psaltery

A psaltery (Ancient Greek: ψαλτήριον), or sawtry, an archaic form, is a fretboard-less box zither (a simple chordophone) and is considered the archetype of the zither and dulcimer. Plucked keyboard instruments such as the harpsichord were also inspired by it. Its resonance box is usually trapezoidal, rectangular or in the form of a "pig's head" and often richly decorated.

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Zither in the context of Geumho River

The Geumho River (Korean금호강) flows through North Gyeongsang Province, South Korea, and drains into the Nakdong River. It rises in the hilly area of western Pohang, flows west for 116 kilometers before meeting with the Nakdong in western Daegu. It drains an area of more than 2,000 square kilometers. Notable tributaries include the Sincheon, which flows north through Daegu. The name Geumho-gang means "river of the zither-shaped lake," a reference to its oxbow curve in northern Daegu. Much of the riverbank in Daegu has been transformed into parkland.

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Zither in the context of Music of Hungary

Hungary has made many contributions to the fields of folk, popular and classical music. Hungarian folk music is a prominent part of the national identity and continues to play a major part in Hungarian music. The Busójárás carnival in Mohács is a major folk music event in Hungary, formerly featuring the long-established and well-regarded Bogyiszló orchestra. Instruments traditionally used in Hungarian folk music include the citera, cimbalom, cobza, doromb, duda, kanászkürt, tárogató, tambura, tekero and ütőgardon. Traditional Hungarian music has been found to bear resemblances to the musical traditions of neighbouring Balkan countries and Central Asia.

Hungarian classical music has long been an "experiment, made from Hungarian antedecents and on Hungarian soil, to create a conscious [variant of] musical culture [using the] musical world of the folk song". Although the Hungarian upper class has long had cultural and political connections with the rest of Europe, leading to an influx of European musical ideas, the rural peasants maintained their own traditions such that by the end of the 19th century, Hungarian composers could draw on rural peasant music to (re)create a Hungarian classical style. For example, Béla Bartók and Zoltán Kodály, two of Hungary's most famous composers, are known for using folk themes in their music. Bartók collected folk songs from across Central and Eastern Europe, including Croatia, Czechia, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Serbia, whilst Kodály was more interested in uncovering a distinctively Hungarian musical style.

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Zither in the context of Gamelan

Gamelan (/ˈɡæməlæn/;Javanese: ꦒꦩꦼꦭꦤ꧀, romanized: gamelan (in the ngoko register), ꦒꦁꦱ, gangsa (in the krama register); Balinese: ᬕᬫ᭄ᬩᭂᬮ᭄ᬮᬦ᭄; Sundanese: ᮌᮙᮨᮜᮔ᮪) is the traditional ensemble music of the Javanese, Sundanese, and Balinese peoples of Indonesia, made up predominantly of percussive instruments. The most common instruments used are metallophones (played with mallets) and a set of hand-drums called kendang, which keep the beat. The kemanak, a banana-shaped idiophone, and the gangsa, another metallophone, are also commonly used gamelan instruments on Bali. Other notable instruments include xylophones, bamboo flutes (similar to the Indian bansuri), a bowed string instrument called a rebab (somewhat similar to the gadulka of Bulgaria), and a zither-like instrument called a siter, used in Javanese gamelan. Additionally, vocalists may be featured, being referred to as sindhen for females or gerong for males.

Although the popularity of gamelan has declined slightly since the introduction of modern popular music to Indonesia, the art form is still widely respected, being commonly played in many traditional ceremonies. It may also be performed as entertainment for some modern events, such as official cultural, corporate, government or educational functions, both formal or informal. Gamelan is also, traditionally, arranged and performed to accompany religious rituals, ceremonies, dance theatre, dance-drama, traditional Indonesian theater, wayang puppets theatre, singing, concerts, festivals, exhibitions, and many more. Many consider gamelan to be an integral part of Indonesian culture.

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Zither in the context of Stick zither

Bar zither is class of musical instruments (subset of zither) within the Hornbostel-Sachs classification system for a type of simple chordophone (stringed instrument), in which the body of the instrument is shaped like a bar.

In the system, bar zithers are made up of musical bows and stick zithers. Musical bows have flexible ends, stick zithers are rigid or have only one flexed end. Bar zithers, whether musical bow or stick zithers, often have some form of resonator. Examples of resonators include the player's mouth, an attached gourd or an inflated balloon or bladder.

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