So very new

[rotcfancy]

Hello,
I have just got my first Zither. It's a corona concert Zither. I played one in Germany in elementary school while on post. Our music teacher brought it in and taught us " here comes the egg man" . I've wanted one since.
I have no memory exactly how to play. I took my Zither to a music store and the guitar guy tuned it as follows Fret board tuning

a/a/d/G/c (fret board)

Bass High to Low 1-13

Eb/Bb/F/C/G/D/A/E/B/F#/C# G#


Bass Strings 14-28

f/E/Eb/D/C#/C/B/Bb/A/G#/G/D/F#/ F / G#
He said he found this online and strung it so.
All the strings are silver

I would mostly like to play country music or start with simple star spangled banner bit have absolutely no music training. Any help is greatly appreciated.

[Graham]

Hello!

I'm a complete novice myself, but here are a couple of, hopefully useful, comments.

Your fretboard strings are correct. Your 1-13 strings are correct. But your bass strings should be Eb / Bb / F / C / G / D / A / E / B / F# / C# / G# / F / E / Eb.

This is called "Munich" Tuning. If you don't correct it, it will cause you big problems when you start to learn to play chords!

Is yours a new instrument, and are they new zither strings? Having proper zither strings rather than improvising with plain wire ones is important, as otherwise the tension can destroy the instrument.

Finally, there is a LOT of good advice and help available here, including zither manuals. Personally I like the Kabatek Zither Method the best. Try to find someone who can actually show you though. And you'll have to learn to read music too...

GOOD LUCK!

[kenbloom]

I play a lot of country muysic on my zither and always have. It's great for that. The above advice on tuning is gold. You definitely need to do that part and using proper zither strings is imperative. Most guitar people are unaware of what you need here. Once you get through the basics of playing, you will find that there are some great models out there to adapting the zither for country music, at least the older tunes of the 50's, 60's, and 70's. Jerry Lee Lewis and most steel players can give you great ideas that can be easily adapted to the zither. I'll be happy to elaborate if you want. Good luck on your new adventure!!

Ken Bloom
http://www.boweddulcimer.org

[Rudy Mueller]

Congratulations and welcome !

Where are you located? Are there other players nearby? It would be helpful if players listed their zip code, or at least the first few digits, on their member details.

Kabatek is a good choice to get you started, and it is available on this site.

Rudi

[rotcfancy]

I'm in Pennsylvania, North Central Williamsport area.

[rotcfancy]

I play a lot of country muysic on my zither and always have. It's great for that. The above advice on tuning is gold. You definitely need to do that part and using proper zither strings is imperative. Most guitar people are unaware of what you need here. Once you get through the basics of playing, you will find that there are some great models out there to adapting the zither for country music, at least the older tunes of the 50's, 60's, and 70's. Jerry Lee Lewis and most steel players can give you great ideas that can be easily adapted to the zither. I'll be happy to elaborate if you want. Good luck on your new adventure!!

Ken Bloom
http://www.boweddulcimer.org

I really think he just put silver colored guitar strings on it. The upper ones are thicker and the lower are thin metal. It sounds more like a piano when I strum it. Where can I find Zither strings?

[Rudy Mueller]

Strings are a bite.

Contact some (at least two) of the participants in this site that provide strings...at prices competitive to those in the EU (we check now and then...)

If there are issues, replace the strings IN SETS, as you need them. The five on the griffbrett (fretboard) are a good start. then the first 12 of the accompaniment, and so forth.

Check out the Keyes download available on this site....get the first few pages...practice, practice usw...

rudi

[Carmen]

Welcome!

great you found this forum, it's gold! And the people are very nice.
If you have trouble, please feel free to contact me. I am a Munich based (university trained) Zither teacher and am happy to help.

If you need help finding strings, or getting in contact with a company to ship to the US, I can help!

Otherwise, welcome and have a wonderful time getting your Zither skills up.

Cheers,
Carmen