Frame zither

Jacqke/Frame zither
	Liberian zither with calabash resonator. Called a "harp" by its collector; however, on a harp the "plane of the strings lies perpendicular to the resonator's surface." The strings running parallel to the gourd resonator make this a frame zither under Hornbostel-Sachs.
String instrument
Other names	belly harp
Classification	String instrument Chordophone Plucked string instrument
Hornbostel–Sachs classification	316 316.1 Without resonator.; 316.2 With resonator.; (Instruments which are in essence simply a string or strings and a string bearer. The strings are stretched across an open frame);
Inventor(s)	folk instrument

Stylized drawing in a medieval manuscript shows a man playing an instrument with strings stretched across a frame. Text reveals it is a psaltery, which means it would have a board behind the strings and not be a frame zither.

Frame zither is a class of musical instrument (subset of zither) within the Hornbostel-Sachs classification system for a type of simple chordophone (stringed instrument), in which the body of the instrument is made from a frame.^[1]

Frame zithers are musical instruments in which strings are strung across an open frame.^[2] They could be similar to harps and psalteries which can also have strings stretched across frames. However, in harps the strings run from the frame to a resonating table embedded into the frame on the frame's other end. Psalteries may also have a frame, but behind the strings (parallel to them) is a board, the top of a box which acts as a resonator.

Musicians may add a resonator as is done with a bow harp; they can attach or put the instrument into a calabash gourd or a ceramic pot.^[3]

Under the Hornbostel-Sachs system of musical instrument classification, any frame with strings stretched across, and without a built in resonator, would count as a frame zither. In musical instrument encyclopedias, however, there are few or no examples of frame zithers except those found in Africa. Potential examples include medieval European illustrations; these however are not clear and could equally illustrate forms of harps or psalteries.^[1]

Africa

Triangular

African frame zithers are made with frames of three "arms" forming a triangle, or a round frame made of wood.^[3] Two of the arms are inserted into a calabash gourd base, with the base of the gourd cut away.^[4] The gourd acts as a resonator.^[4] The instrument is played by holding the opening in the resonator against the player's chest or stomach, with the instrument being within reach of their arms.^[4]^[5]^[6]

The main known example are instruments of the Kru people of Liberia. They may also be seen in Sierra Leone and Guinea.^[4]

Round

Another form of African frame zither uses a round frame or hoop, with the strings stretched across it.^[3] Women of the Nuba people of Sudan make round frame-zithers, by bending a stick into a hoop, spanned 3 or four times by a single string (forming individual lengths to play).^[3] The instrument is placed on top of a gourd for resonance.^[3]

Recordings

Belly Harp. Folk Music of Liberia, Folkways FE 4465 (Side ll, band 3)^[7]

A loma belly harp, played by the Crau, Crau, Krao, Krawi, Kru, Nana peoples of West Africa.

References

^ ^a ^b von Hornbostel, Erich M.; Sachs, Curt (March 1961). "Classification of Musical Instruments: Translated from the Original German by Anthony Baines and Klaus P. Wachsmann". The Galpin Society Journal. 14: 20–21. doi:10.2307/842168. JSTOR 842168. [Example:] Perhaps in medieval psalteries.
^ Sadie, Stanley, ed. (1984). "Frame zither". The New Grove Dictionary of Musical Instruments. p. 794. Volume 1.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Ulrich Wegner (1984). Afrikanische Saiteninstrumente. Veröffentlichungen des Museums für Völkerkunde Berlin. Neue Folge 41. Abteilung Musikethnologie V (translation: African string instruments. Publications of the Museum for Ethnology, Berlin. New series 41, Department of Ethnic Music V. Berlin: Staatliche Museen Preußischer Kulturbesitz. pp. 76–81.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Marcuse, Sybil (1975). A Survey of Musical Instruments. New York: Harper & Row. pp. 188–189.
^ Liberian Educational and Cultural Materials Research Project. 1973.
^ Sadie, Stanley, ed. (1984). "Belly Harp". The New Grove Dictionary of Musical Instruments. p. 219. Volume 1.
^ Development of Materials for a One Year Course in African Music for the General Undergraduate Student: (Project in African Music). Office of Education. 1970.

[system-1] von Hornbostel, Erich M.; Sachs, Curt (March 1961). "Classification of Musical Instruments: Translated from the Original German by Anthony Baines and Klaus P. Wachsmann". The Galpin Society Journal. 14: 20–21. doi:10.2307/842168. JSTOR 842168. [Example:] Perhaps in medieval psalteries.

[2] Sadie, Stanley, ed. (1984). "Frame zither". The New Grove Dictionary of Musical Instruments. p. 794. Volume 1.

[Wegner-3] Ulrich Wegner (1984). Afrikanische Saiteninstrumente. Veröffentlichungen des Museums für Völkerkunde Berlin. Neue Folge 41. Abteilung Musikethnologie V (translation: African string instruments. Publications of the Museum for Ethnology, Berlin. New series 41, Department of Ethnic Music V. Berlin: Staatliche Museen Preußischer Kulturbesitz. pp. 76–81.

[Marcuse-4] Marcuse, Sybil (1975). A Survey of Musical Instruments. New York: Harper & Row. pp. 188–189.

[5] Liberian Educational and Cultural Materials Research Project. 1973.

[6] Sadie, Stanley, ed. (1984). "Belly Harp". The New Grove Dictionary of Musical Instruments. p. 219. Volume 1.

[7] Development of Materials for a One Year Course in African Music for the General Undergraduate Student: (Project in African Music). Office of Education. 1970.

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