The Wikipedia section on the concert zither indicates that the bass and contra stringsare plucked by the third finger of the LEFT hand. Anyone doing this?

Anyone with a Wikipedia account want to make a correction?

Rudi

Corrected, 10:30am EST.
Tom in Connecticut

Thanks Tom. Lots of misconceptions out there.

Kurt and Ludwig have been doing Oktoberfest at the F.C.Bayern/Milwaukee Oktoberfest Wein Pavilion for the last three weekends; thank God, only one more weekend to go. Amazing the number of people who have never even seen a zither, heard it, or what it is about. They fielded about 6-8 serious inquiries per hour. Great exposure, but didn't get any new students; at least they know we're out here.

Rudi

I've played the ither for decades at folk festivals and clubs and the usual reaction I get is people telling me they have seen the instrument in second hand stores and antique shops but I was first person they had ever seen actually play one. Many people are put off by the number of strings or they watch my fingers and just can't conceive that they could do this. I always tell them it's like fingerpicking the guitar but backwards. People love the sound. They just don't have many visual images to relate it to.
I have had much better luck showing it to dulcimer players and doing workshops at dulcimer festivals. The mdoern Appalachian dulcimer and our beloved concert zither both have a common ancestor and so the dulcimer crowd is less scared off. I am heartened to see so many zither makers out there knowing that at least in Europe the instrument is still going strong.

Ken Bloom