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Bowed Psaltery
The player holds the psaltey on the left forearm and bows from side to side with the right.
Historians have suggested that the psaltery, like the lute, came to the courts of Europe with Crusaders returning from the Holy Land. A comparison between European Psalteries and Persian Santirs or Arabian Kanums reveals a likely connection. Although this explanation seems to be well founded and the most widely accepted, two other possibilities exist. The psaltery was well known in Classical Greece and could easily have been brought to Europe by the conquering Romans along with the many other items of Greek culture which they avidly acquired. Earlier still, the Phoenicians traded all over the Mediterranean and along the Atlantic and North Sea coastlines of Europe. It is not beyond the bounds of possibility that psalteries were amongst the items traded by the Phoenicians for Cornish tin.
Psalteries declined in popularity as court instruments in the later Middle Ages in favour of virginals and spinets. Like many other medieval instruments, however, the psaltery did not die out, but continued as a folk instrument passed down, in some versions completely unaltered to the present time.
In the main we know from medieval paintings and sculptures that psalteries were originally played by plucking, either with the fingers or a plectrum. This does not necessarily mean, however, that in medieval or Elizabethan times the psaltery was never played with a bow. The exact origins of the bowed psaltery are shrouded in the mists of time. As a folk instrument, the use of the bow could have gone unrecorded.
Tuning is best carried out with the help of a piano. The fourth longest string on the right-hand side of the psaltery, marked on some instruments with a black or brass spot, corresponds to the note C an octave above middle C on the piano. The longest string on the psaltery should be tuned to the G above middle C on the piano.
The notes on the right-hand side of the instrument correspond to the white notes on a piano and the notes on the left-hand side correspond to the black accidentals on the piano.
To tune a note, follow the string down to the appropriate wrest pin at the base of the psaltery then give the wrest pin a slight turn with the tuning key. Turn the key clockwise to raise the pitch and anti-clockwise to lower it, until the string of the psaltery matches the pitch of the piano note. The wrest pins of the short strings need only the slightest turn to alter pitch.
The bow should be treated more or less as a violin bow. Loosen the hairs of the bow when it is not in use to avoid putting pressure on the bow for prolonged periods of time, and use rosin on the hairs of the bow to produce an even sound and prevent it from slipping on the strings.
History
HistoryHistorians have suggested that the psaltery, like the lute, came to the courts of Europe with Crusaders returning from the Holy Land. A comparison between European Psalteries and Persian Santirs or Arabian Kanums reveals a likely connection. Although this explanation seems to be well founded and the most widely accepted, two other possibilities exist. The psaltery was well known in Classical Greece and could easily have been brought to Europe by the conquering Romans along with the many other items of Greek culture which they avidly acquired. Earlier still, the Phoenicians traded all over the Mediterranean and along the Atlantic and North Sea coastlines of Europe. It is not beyond the bounds of possibility that psalteries were amongst the items traded by the Phoenicians for Cornish tin.
Psalteries declined in popularity as court instruments in the later Middle Ages in favour of virginals and spinets. Like many other medieval instruments, however, the psaltery did not die out, but continued as a folk instrument passed down, in some versions completely unaltered to the present time.
In the main we know from medieval paintings and sculptures that psalteries were originally played by plucking, either with the fingers or a plectrum. This does not necessarily mean, however, that in medieval or Elizabethan times the psaltery was never played with a bow. The exact origins of the bowed psaltery are shrouded in the mists of time. As a folk instrument, the use of the bow could have gone unrecorded.
Tunings and Fingerings
TuningTuning is best carried out with the help of a piano. The fourth longest string on the right-hand side of the psaltery, marked on some instruments with a black or brass spot, corresponds to the note C an octave above middle C on the piano. The longest string on the psaltery should be tuned to the G above middle C on the piano.
The notes on the right-hand side of the instrument correspond to the white notes on a piano and the notes on the left-hand side correspond to the black accidentals on the piano.
To tune a note, follow the string down to the appropriate wrest pin at the base of the psaltery then give the wrest pin a slight turn with the tuning key. Turn the key clockwise to raise the pitch and anti-clockwise to lower it, until the string of the psaltery matches the pitch of the piano note. The wrest pins of the short strings need only the slightest turn to alter pitch.
The bow should be treated more or less as a violin bow. Loosen the hairs of the bow when it is not in use to avoid putting pressure on the bow for prolonged periods of time, and use rosin on the hairs of the bow to produce an even sound and prevent it from slipping on the strings.