Hello! I have had a zither which I bought in Vienna many years ago. Now during lockdown and being retired I have made a start to fulfil a long-help ambition to understand and attempt to play. Inspired by seeing Anton Karas play the Harry Lime theme in his restaurant in Sievering when a child! Thank you so much for your invaluable instruction. My zither is tuned differently but I can still follow the principles.
Hello. I live in Korea and I am planning to start to learn the fretless zither. I was searching for a zither I'd like on ebay and found out that there are single stringed zithers and double stringed ones. As a complete beginner to this type of instrument, I have no bias on any of them. What difference does one have from another? Is one easier than the other? Which one is more suitable for modern music? I am sorry I might be spamming questions at you, but I really want to stART playing and its impossible to get any info on zithers in Korea....... Thank you
Did you start in the meantime??? I started a few weeks ago and it is joy to learn it slowly...step by step and much time to pracice it we need too, depends how and what you like to play...
Hi, Go to FAQ on my website zither.com.au for info about fretless zithers. Not much difference between single and double stringed instruments as the strings are tuned the same like on a mandolin. Watch my RU-vid video "Olde zithers", also watch webpage of Etienne in Melbourne playing the chord zither. Good luck!
A great song!!! I played that song with accordion with notes, but used the zither sounds too as inbuild midi sounds like it is possible with a keyboard...but now started also to learn to play the real zither. The Third Man is just phantastic to hear it how others play it...
@UCySO9xGiZ-JGapSt214wmIg Octave4Plus makes a Zither High E String to broaden the range at a 5 Gauge. The Fretted Zither is kinda a "Strung Accordion" cause it's a Stringed instrument that you can cover Accordion sheet music with.
@@zithergirl I also did a Covid19 parody of Grown-up Christmas list called "we will fight against covid19":ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-_L8k075VVKE.html
@@zithergirl You can also use Banjo picks on all 5 Fingers to strike the strings more cleanly & get a crisper sound/ So w/ those 3 notes I can play simple songs the 1st one being Mary Had A Little Lamb aka Merrily We Roll Along.
Hi, thank you so much for your video, it's really helped me. I am just starting the zither. I was wondering what company/what's the name of the rings picks you are using?
Thanks for watching my video.It was made 12 years ago in my sons garage on a shoestring budget, to help people who don't speak German and live in countries where there are no zither players/teachers, like here in Australia. I know I showed a guitar pick just to start people off, in case they obtained a zither with no accessories. The thumb pick will give you an idea, but I could not play a whole piece with it. The zither is an instrument played mostly in Germany/Austria/Switzerland, so accessories are mostly sold only over there. Ourdays people are more likely to google or buy online, but knowing the correct name of what you want saves time and confusion. Therefore the zither is not played with a guitar pick.The correct German name is Zither Ring. Other translations for you :Zither accessories = Zither Zubehoer; zither string is Zither Saite, Zither pins = Stimm wirbel . Griffbrett/fret board; Mensur = length of fret board; stimmen = tuning, Tuner = Stimmgeraet, Tuning Fork = Stimmgabel, Tuning Key =Stimmschluessel. Cheers - zithergirl🙃down under
Hello! I have purchased a beautiful concert zither. I play several string instruments already, but I would like to buy your book. I cannot find it online though. Where can I get it? Thank you!
After I tried little bit to learn few basics on Zither 6 years ago, but dit not continue since many years. But now wants to start again. And your lesson is exactly what I needed to begin with. Now I have 3 Zithers. A class mate from nearly 60 years ago brought me a Zither few days ago. His grandmother in Poland passed away and they wanted to throw away that instrument, so I came into his mind as musician and brought it to Germany. I hope in near future a few easy sounds may come out. I practiced a couple of different string instruments and that may help little bit for understanding the melody strings.
I am so glad to have found you. I just bought a concert zither from around 1886 and soon to order nylon strings. I will watch your videos and order your book. Cynthia
Hallo, wie unterscheidet sich dann der Klang bei der Zither? Wird bei Kunststoffseiten der Klang wärmer und klingt Gitarren artiger? Und gibt es auch Erfahrungen mit dem Mischen von Stahl und Kunststoffseiten auf dem Instrument?
Thank you for your comment Diana..I wish you luck learning this beautiful instrument.You probably have Vienna Tuning, where the melody strings are tuned differently. We are all inspired by Anton Karas, he makes it look so easy, but it's the most difficult thing to achieve. I hope you can find a teacher where you live. greetings from Sydney.Ilse
took me a year to make my left hand to play melody,,,the right hand for the bass and chords was easy (it is set up like the accordion basses. take care Ilse . from Philadelphia pa usa
Greetings from Germany. After seeing that instruction, i also started to learn the zither since few weeks ago and before i thought it seems to be impossible. I am also accordion player and it may help to understand it better with good instructions.
This is Steve, for some reason I could not find a way to reply back from your Utube email. I am from Texas. I have checked Ebay Germany and saw a few used ones but I could not get the site to translate into english. Is the learning curve harder than guitar? I am guessing that the Zither is not a chromatic instrument. Their is a man that makes Zithers in St. Louis but they start at 4,500 us. Can classical music be played or is it just German type folk music? Thank You Steve
Sorry, I only saw your post today.The concert zither can play in any key (chromatic)The learning curve is probably similar to classical guitar. Zither virtuosi and the new young generation of players in Europe play classical,jazz and modern music. I prefer the alpine kind of music on the zither because I also play clarinet/bass cl. and chamber music in a group and that is mostly classical.. if you email me on ilseharris@optusnet.com.au I might give you some more advice on buying a zither. cheers Ilse
Try this German String Manufacturer, they do speak English.Maybe send a photo of your instrument with your enquiry .Link on my website or try lenzner-strings.de
@thergirl @UCySO9xGiZ-JGapSt214wmIg That very 1'st song was Merrily We Roll Along. The Melody Strings are played w/ a Guitar Thumb pick, but you can use finger picks on all fingers so you can feel the strings better.
@thergirl @UCySO9xGiZ-JGapSt214wmIg That very 1'st song was Merrily We Roll Along. The Melody Strings are played w/ a Guitar Thumb pick, but you can use finger picks on all fingers so you can feel the strings better.
@thergirl @UCySO9xGiZ-JGapSt214wmIg That very 1'st song was Merrily We Roll Along. The Melody Strings are played w/ a Guitar Thumb pick, but you can use finger picks on all fingers so you can feel the strings better.
Some books are written for the treble clef only while some music is written for the bass clef and the treble clef ( the notes for the second voice ). What is that called ? It seems there are two styles. I have books that are written for both methods. What does your book use ?
My book uses treble clef for melody, bass clef for accompaniment, same as piano, the modern standard notation and taught at all music schools. The zither has its origin in folk music. A lot of the old sheet music was written with the melody in treble clef and sometimes chord names above as letter( eg C,G,F) or the accompaniment written on a second stave below the melody but also in treble clef, which is NOT THE CORRECT PITCH . Broadly speaking, to make note reading easier, notes in the treble clef are for the higher melody notes, notes in the bass clef are for the lower register accompaniment notes.There is not enough space here to explain music theory, but look up google for a good definition Bass Clef/Treble Clef/Notation
Thank you for making this video. I study zither with an elderly musician In central Germany, when I am there, but since I live abroad, your videos are very helpful for refreshing
Glad it helps and that you can also get face to face lessons. There are more instruction videos on my RU-vid channel, time to learn Silent Night for Xmas maybe?
Diese Erklärungen waren sehr hilfreich. Nun sind einige Wochen vergangen und ich habe damit begonnen, das Zitherspiel zu erlernen. Hatte dazu noch einen DVD-Heimschul-Kurs bestellt und es geht gut voran. Kleine Melodien funktionieren schon auf der Melodiesaite und bin nun dabei mit Bass- und Akkordsaiten einen klaren Sound hinzubekommen. Fazit: Ein tolles Instrument, mit dem sich phantastische Musik machen lässt, wenn man es kann!!!
Good on you Dieter, keep on practicing. Will email you 2 pages from my "LET'S START" engl.language zither teaching book which goes with my RU-vid video 2.How to play chords on the open strings.Just a supplement to your German DVD. Open strings are not as easy as buttons on the accordion for accompaniment.
How long will it take to become a concert pianist? It depends on how much you can practice, what previous knowledge you have to build on (like playing another instrument and being used to discipline) and what standard you want to attain. With regular daily practice a year should be enough to play simple pieces and folksongs. I have been playing zither for over 40 years and will never reach the standard of some of the players I heard in Europe, but I enjoy my playing. I always try for the highest performance standard even for simple pieces. The zither is a hobby I love, but I teach clarinet and saxophone.
Mit der Zither begann ich vor einigen Wochen. Es gibt dazu sehr gut DVDs als Lern-Videos in Deutschland, die es wunderbar erklären bis hin zu Fortgeschrittenen-Musik. Diese Video hier auf English hat sehr geholfen die allerersten Einblicke in eine Zither zu bekommen. Dachte vorher als ich eine Zither sah: Unmöglich, dass ich das erlernen könnte im Alter...dann packte mich der Ehrgeiz...nun sind kleine Melodien auf der Melodiesaite schon möglich...der REst ist eine Sache der Geduld und des Übens!
Es gibt viele deutsche Zither Schulen und in Europa auch viele Zither Lehrer. Ich schrieb meine Schule speziell fuer Leute die nicht deutsch sprechen und wie ich in fernen Ländern leben und trotzdem Zither spielen möchten.
Lee Griffiths It is essentially a lap harp, there are many different types. This is a German one, although there are German zithers without fretboards. There are also other European types as well as Middle Eastern and Chinese.
Hi Steve, only just saw your post. Where do you live? In Germany you can buy secondhand zithers from about EU 300-500. Otherwise you have to look on ebay . If you live in Australia I might know of a seller. New zithers in Germany probably cost from EU 1000 - 3000 depending on size.Zither is also popular in USA. Check links on my website or sent me an email with more details. cheers ilse
