Thank you for the photos Evelyn, thats a big help.

I note that my fingers are sort of swooping onto the strings and gripping them, while Andy's position appears to be considerably flatter and his fingers look as if strumming/stroking the strings rather than gripping them.

Spot on. When I first started it never ocurred to me that I needed to grip the strings, so I got in the habit of strumming the accompaniment as if it were a guitar. Thats why I’ve been working on repositioning my right hand. Gripping really produces a much better sound. Combined with the height changes, I think I’m starting to see how this is going to work. Going to take some time to get back the control I had before the repositioning, but its not the first time I’ve had to make adjustments (re: the little finger).

- Andy

Hi Andy

I am pleased to read that you found my photos helpful, and I am sure that with your determination and dedication you will soon get to grips (pun intended) with the strings. Sitting higher, as well as keeping your wrists up, will help. And yes, I did notice that you now have full control of the little finger.

Evelyn

On being comfortable...

Don't forget about the note stand. My vision is pretty good at about 80 cm, without glasses, so that is the distance from my face to the notes. My wooden note holder is held in place by two dowels which fit into a series of holes drilled in the table top, aligned so that the plane of the sheet music is at 90° to my line of vision, again at about 80 cm. The angle can be adjusted a bit.

Rudi

On a slightly different tack, here's the adjustable music rack I made a few years ago.

http://forum.zither.us/viewtopic.php?f=6&p=2103#p2103

Tom M.

Rudy,

This actually worked out really well for the music stand. Given the new position of the zither on the table and the placement of my chair, there is more room for the music stand, and it feels more natural.

Side note: My Great Grandfather, who's Zither I inherited, was also a carpenter in his spare time. He made a lot of the furniture I grew up with. He also made the case for the zither, and his own music stand. I thought it was a pretty clever design.
- Andy

Back in the 70's Rudi Wacek gave me a stand that is exactly like this. I don't know where he got but it certainly is a clever and compact design!

Ken Bloom
http://www.boweddulcimer.org

Hi Andy - when you say "new position", do you mean the position shown in the Basket of Turf video?

Thanks.
Tom M.

Andy wrote: ↑Wed Apr 15, 2020 4:02 pm ... Given the new position of the zither on the table and the placement of my chair, there is more room for the music stand, and it feels more natural.

...

kenbloom wrote: ↑Thu Apr 16, 2020 9:00 am Back in the 70's Rudi Wacek gave me a stand that is exactly like this. I don't know where he got but it certainly is a clever and compact design!

Now thats cool. Walter Schumacher lived in Chicago for a while when he was younger. Wonder if he got the plans from someone there.

Tom, no, not the position in the video. I'm doing some more adjustments based on all the feedback here.

- Andy