Re: whither the zither

[Carol Freeman <tsipra...>]

Paul M. Gifford wrote:

> Joel Bresler <jbresler (at) ma(dot)ultranet(dot)com> wrote:
>
> > BTW,  a form of the zither, the kanun, was used fairly often in Sephardi 
> > 78s...
> >
> Although "zither" is used as a vague term for any instrument which
> has a lot of open strings, to my mind it should be defined as a
> fretted instrument played horizontally, most versions of which have
> open strings used for accompanying the melody, which is played on
> the fretted strings. Thus a kanun (or gusli, kankles, etc.) would not
> qualify as a zither.

Many people on the list may not know that a kanun is also substantially 
different
from a Western zither type instrument because it is constructed so one can play 
in
the various Turkish (or Arabic, on the larger, Arabic instruments) maqams or
microtonal scales.This makes it quite suitable for accompanying Sephardic songs 
from
Turkey and the South Balkans, many of which were traditionally sung in maqam.  
Carol



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