n., pl., -ter·ies, also -tries.
An ancient stringed instrument played by plucking the strings with the fingers or a plectrum.
[Middle English psalterie, from Old French, from Latin psaltērium, from Greek psaltērion, from psallein, to play the harp.]
psaltery
Dictionary:
psal·ter·y (sôl'tə-rē) 
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also psal·try (sôl'trē)
n., pl., -ter·ies, also -tries.
An ancient stringed instrument played by plucking the strings with the fingers or a plectrum.
n., pl., -ter·ies, also -tries.
An ancient stringed instrument played by plucking the strings with the fingers or a plectrum.
| Music Encyclopedia: Psaltery |
An instrument of the zither family consisting of a wooden soundbox on which rows of strings are stretched between metal pins or wooden pegs. The word has its origins in the Latin psalterium which, historically, denoted any of the plucked instruments associated with David and the psalms. Psaltery and psalterium seem to have become synonymous around the 12th century when the Middle Eastern psaltery (or qānūn) entered Europe via Spain and influenced the shape of the psaltery, which was widely used throughout the Middle Ages. It could not cope with Renaissance chromaticism and from the late 15th century it was decreasingly used. It is the ancestor of the dulcimer (and thus, arguably, of the harpsichord and the pianoforte).
| Columbia Encyclopedia: psaltery |
psaltery (sôl'tərē, -trē), stringed musical instrument. It has a flat soundboard over which a variable number of strings are stretched. Its origin was in the Middle East, and it is referred to in the Bible. It appeared in Europe in the 12th cent. and flourished until the late Middle Ages. The term psaltery is sometimes used as a generic term for all plucked zithers having flat bodies. The instrument is similar to a hammered dulcimer but is plucked instead of hammered. See illustrations accompanying dulcimer and zither entries.
| Wikipedia: Psaltery |
A psaltery is a stringed musical instrument of the harp or the zither family. The psaltery of Ancient Greece (Epigonion) dates from at least 2800 BC, when it was a harp-like instrument. Etymologically the word derives from the Ancient Greek ψαλτήριον (psalterion)[1] “stringed instrument, psaltery, harp” and that from the verb ψάλλω (psallo)[2] “to touch sharply, to pluck, pull, twitch” and in the case of the strings of musical instruments, “to play a stringed instrument with the fingers, and not with the plectron”.
In the King James Version of the Bible, "psaltery", and its plural, "psalteries", is used to translate the Hebrew keliy (כלי) in Psalm 71:22 and I Chronicles 16:5; nevel (נבל) in I Samuel 10:5; 2 Samuel 6:5; I Kings 10:12; I Chronicles 13:8; 15:16, 20, 28; 25:1, 6; II Chronicles 5:12; 9:11; 20:28; 29:25; Nehemiah 12:27; Psalms 33:2; 57:6; 81:2; 92:3; 108:2; 144:9; and 150:3; and pesanterin (פסנתרין) in Daniel 3:5, 7, 10, and 15.
In the Christian era a psaltery consisting of a soundboard with several pre-tuned strings that are usually plucked came into use. It was also known by the name canon from the Greek word κανών, "kanon" which means rule, principle and also "mode". The modern Greek folk instrument is called by its diminutive, kanonaki.
The instrument is usually small enough to be portable; its shape and range vary. It is depicted in a number of artworks from the Medieval Period.
In the 19th century several forms came into use, notably the guitar zither and the Autoharp.
In the 20th century, the bowed psaltery has come into wide use. It is set up in a triangular format so that the end portion of each string can be bowed.
References
See also
External links
- Psaltery
- Discussion of psalteries, with image from the exhibition Making Musical Instruments: The making of musical instruments in Canada by the Canadian Museum of Civilisation
"Psaltery". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). 1911.
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 | Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. Read more |
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| Music Encyclopedia. The Concise Grove Dictionary of Music. Copyright © 1994 by Oxford University Press, Inc.. All rights reserved. Read more |
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