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cithara

  (sĭth'ər-ə, kĭth'-) pronunciation also kithara (kĭth'-)
n. Music.

An ancient instrument resembling the lyre.

[Latin, from Greek kitharā.]


 
 

The most important string instrument of Greco-Roman antiquity, larger and heavier than the Lyre, which it resembles. It had two wooden arms rising vertically from the soundchest (also of wood), crossed by a yoke. Strings were stretched between yoke and the soundchest: three to five in early examples, seven or more from the 7th century bc. The soundbox could be rectangular or smaller and rounded (the ‘cradle kithara’). The left hand plucked, strummed or damped the strings from behind while the right plucked them with a plectrum.

The kithara probably originated in Asia Minor; in Greece it was indispensable in singing the praises of Hellenic heroes and in choral performances, while in Rome it appeared in virtually every area of musical life including the theatre, the convivium and cult music.

Harry Partch used the name ‘kithara’ for instruments he built resembling the Greek ones.



 

Large lyre of Classical antiquity, the principal stringed instrument of the Greeks and later of the Romans. It had a box-shaped resonating body from which extended two parallel arms connected by a crossbar to which 3 – 12 strings were attached. It was held vertically and plucked with a plectrum; the left hand was used to stop and damp the strings. It was played by singers of the Greek epics, as well as by later professional accompanists and soloists.

For more information on kithara, visit Britannica.com.

 
(kĭth'ərə) or cithara (sĭth') , musical instrument of the ancient Greeks. It was a plucked instrument, a larger and stronger form of the lyre, used by professional musicians both for solo playing and for the accompaniment of poetry and song. It consisted of a relatively square wooden box that extended at one end into heavy arms. Originally it had 5 strings, but later there were 7 and finally 11 strings. These were stretched from the sound box across a bridge and up to a crossbar fastened to the arms. Since the strings were of equal length, tuning was determined only by the thickness and tension of each string. Because of its size and weight, it rested against the body of the player and was held in position by a band. The player usually stood when performing.


 
Wikipedia: kithara
Apollo Citharoedus with kithara
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Apollo Citharoedus with kithara

The kithara was an ancient Greek musical instrument in the zither family. In Latin it is spelled cithara, and in modern Greek the word kithara has come to mean guitar.

The kithara was a professional version of the seven-stringed lyra (lyre). As opposed to the simpler lyra, which was a folk-instrument, the kithara was primarily used by professional musicians (see kitharode, citharoedus). (The barbitos was a bass version of the kithara popular in the eastern Aegean and ancient Asia Minor.)

The kithara had a deep, wooden sounding box composed of two resonating tables, either flat or slightly arched, connected by ribs or sides of equal width. At the top, its strings were knotted around the transverse tuning bar (zugon) or to rings threaded over the bar, or wound around pegs. The other end of the strings was secured to a tail-piece after passing over a flat bridge, or the tail-piece and bridge were combined. It was played with a rigid plectrum held in the right hand, with elbow outstretched and palm bent inwards, while the strings with undesired notes were damped with the straightened fingers of the left hand.

The kithara was played primarily to accompany dances and epic recitations, rhapsodies, odes, and lyric songs. It was also played solo at the receptions, banquets, national games, and trials of skill.

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This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.


 
 

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Copyrights:

Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2007. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.  Read more
Music Encyclopedia. The Concise Grove Dictionary of Music. Copyright © 1994 by Oxford University Press, Inc.. All rights reserved.  Read more
Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. © 2006 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. All rights reserved.  Read more
Columbia Encyclopedia. The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition Copyright © 2003, Columbia University Press. Licensed from Columbia University Press. All rights reserved. www.cc.columbia.edu/cu/cup/  Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Kithara" Read more

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