The instrument is designed so that zither players can play a bowed instrument along with an ensemble. The tuning is the same as the fingerboard strings on a zither which would be CGDA. I'm not exactly sure about the type of strings to use. Zither fingerboard strings would work but I'm sure that ther...

I have my thumb cross the string at about a 45 degree angle and come to rest on the adjacent string. I file the back of the thumb pick so that I can use my thumb in both directions. For my particular hand this seems to work very well. It also means that I can use the thumb pick as if it were a flatp...

Hi Tom, Being basically a jazz player I tend to do a lot of playing by ear supported by a reasonable theoretical background. It's amazing the kind of things you can discover just messing around. The books are fine and I've learned a lot from them but mostly I do it more by ear. Good luck and keep at...

Hi Tom, Because the zither is tuned in fifths, the related chords are adjacent to the first you play. If you carefully watch other players, you will see that they hold their index and middle fingers in a solid position so that all they have to do to change chords is move both fingers forward or back...

Hi Tom, The most challenging thing for me to learn at the beginning was being able to strum two accompiment strings with one finger while only plucking one with the other. nce I was able to master that skill to play a major chord, the rest followed. For me it was remembering that the index finger ha...

Nothing beats daily practice to keep muscles limber and working. If I miss a day, I really feel it. Even if I can only do about ten minutes, that's better than not doing anything. I keep the instrument out and available to make it easier to do this. It also helps to be aware of other parts of the bo...

The older I get, the more important I find it is to warm up gradually and properly. Just like any athlete, the muscles have to stretch and get ready for more extreme activity. I have a warm up routine for the right hand which involves playing scales in all keyus on all the strings. I start very slow...

I used to use Bergfe Blue label but the tension was too high for my Perfekta zither. The Bergefe Green Label and fine. They sound good and last long. All my zithers are harfenzithers or Perfektas so the string length is long. YMMV.

Ken Bloom
http://www.boweddulcimer.org

I try to play with as little strain as possible. That means using the little fingers of both hands when it seems appropriate. If I do use my middle finger for the "further basses" I will often shift my whole hand to make it easier. I also use an alternating technique between my little and ...

Before you remove the finish, try going over the top with 0000 steel wool and then Meguir's Mirror Glaze #7 and see if that doesn't solve your problems first. Refinishing veneered surfaces can be tricky and it's very easy to go through the veneer or have some of it come up. It was most likely put do...