Newbie; The Journey Begins!

[ritaharris]

@ Jodelhole - Steve B

Duuuuude, I'M in WA tooooo!!!! Where are you? NE WA, like.... Newport? Spokane? Leavenworth? Cashmere? Where? I'm in Seattle.

Trying to find my tribe. (smiling)
Wanna email me for futher discussion? Remind me I tell you about Sebastien....

Smiles from this side of the hill, Rita Harris
SeattleAreaHomes4Sale "at" g mail "dot" com
https://www.facebook.com/rita.harris.31392

[Kennethpauls]

Great looking instrument. You can always contact Anne Prinz for strings and accessories.
As for a music book, let me recommend King Keyes' Scales and Arpeggios as a good guide to proper technique. It is downloadable
http://www.zither.us/files/keyes_scales_arpeggios.pdf
And if you're ever in Southern Calif., there are four of us playing this instrument- I'm sure any of us would be happy to help.
KP

[Jodelhole]

Wow! This is the tardiest I've ever been in replying to a message. Soooo sorry...I haven't been on the forum to see the post. I've yet to begin, but have received the learning program from Australia. It appears to be simple enough for a beginner to gain some basic skills. I'll be starting soon.

I'm near a town named Colville; 85 miles north of Spokane.

Finding a "tribe" is very accurate. This is such a rare and unique instrument; beautiful in every aspect; complex.

I would absolutely enjoy to have a regional zither associate. Skype could be a good starting place(?).

Thank you for reaching out. Hopefully, you remain interested in networking, my recent tardiness notwithstanding.

Steve

p.s. I don't have a facebook account, but my wife does: she'll reach out on my behalf. Thanks

[Jose]

Hi Jodelhole
Just received a few days ago the same zither as yours I bought on eBay from a German seller.
I am also new to the forum as I just registered today.
My zither was built in may 1965.
Found no missing strings and was able to tune all the strings using an electronic tuner.
Just started playing the C scale and found that the steel strings are causing lots of pain on the top of my left hand fingers.
Was thinking of replacing the steel strings by nylon strings to reduce the pain.
Unfortunately, I went to Optima website, looked for Bergfee brand and was unable to find the 5 five needed nylon strings.
I may continue with the steel strings as I notice less pain each day and I only started 3 days ago and hope that in a couple of weeks my top fingers sensitivity will be gone.
I'll be happy to know how you are playing your zither now and how long it took for you to play melody and chords together.
Best Regards
Jose from south west of France

Hello.

It's real now; I'm going to learn to play this wonderful instrument. Web-based resources will be the mainstay, given the fact that I live in north-eastern Washington State. There's a wealth of information on this site / forum. I'll try to find answers before making blanket requests.

Acquired a Framus zither (1966 build?); have attached a photo (attempted). The instrument has an unusual string configuration. Missing one string and tuning tool.

https://forum.zither.us/download/file.p ... iew&id=650

[Jodelhole]

Hello Jose!

Congratulations on your purchase. You have a fine instrument.

In answer to you question, I have not made very much progress on learning to play. I will, eventually. So, there isn't any advice to offer. My time is consumed with accordeon, bagpipes, tuned cowbells, and alpine jodel. Zither is a demanding instrument to learn, so there is some delay...

Thank you for contacting me. I hope you're musical journey is enjoyable!!

Best regards,

Steve

[Jose]

Thank you for your reply Steve
Have a good day
Jose