Scheitholt

The scheitholt or scheitholz is a traditional German stringed instrument and an ancestor of the modern zither. It falls into the category of drone zithers.

History

The scheitholt may have derived from an ancient Greek instrument for theoretical education in music and physics, the so-called monochord (an oblong wooden box with only one string). Scheitholt originally referred to firewood cut into logs (Scheit = piece, chip; Holz or Low German Holt = wood). Since the 16th century, the instrument was called by that name, presumably because it had a similar shape or size. The best known description of this instrument is by Michael Praetorius in 1619. A number of regional names for the instrument exist. In northern Germany the instrument is often called hummel, meaning "bumble bee" (a reference to the humming sound of the drone strings—the same word was also used for the bagpipe). Other names include the Dutch noordse balk, French bûche or bûche de Meuse, Flemish vlier and Swiss German Hexenscheit.