#CELTIC STRINGED INSTRUMENT PLUS#

The cittern lost popularity during the 18th and 19th centuries but survived into the 20th century as a folk instrument, especially in Celtic music and folk music from central and western Europe. Modern citterns have eight to ten strings tuned in octaves (like a twelve-string guitar), which give them both harp-like brilliance as well as power. The cittern usually had four strings that were held in place by a long, flat bridge and -unlike those of the lute- were plucked with a plectrum, or pick. The name and certain construction elements of the cittern probably derive from an ancient Greek instrument called a kithara. It was popular during the 16th and 17th centuries in Europe. The octave mandolin is a pear-shaped stringed instrument with a wooden body and belly and a nearly flat back.

In America the mandolin has had a history stemming from an Irish immigrant instrument, a classical music instrument, a lead instrument in Bluegrass music and while in America, it has evolved in shape and style. Actually, this renaissance is very similar to the one around the turn of this century. In the past five years there has been an increasing interest in the mandolin. It has a deep pear shaped body, an oval sound hole, and four pairs of strings tuned like a violin.

The mandolin is a stringed instrument that is a cousin of the lute dating back to Italy and the 1700s. The versatility of the guitar (it was supposedly described by Beethoven as “an orchestra in a box”) is what gives it such prominence in folk and Celtic music: in the hands of a good player, it can be a provide rhythm, chords, harmony, and melody (and sometimes all four at the same time!) The old wooden tuning pegs were replaced by a modern machine head. Guitar makers in the 19th century broadened the body, increased the curve of the waist, thinned the belly, and changed the internal bracing. In the mid-18th century the guitar attained its modern form, when the double courses were made single and a sixth string was added above the lower five. The guitar became popular in other European countries in the 16th and 17th centuries, and by the late 17th century a fifth course of strings had been added below the other four. The guitar probably originated in Spain, where by the 16th century it was the counterpart among the middle and lower classes of the aristocracy’s vihuela, an instrument of similar shape and ancestry that had six double courses.

#CELTIC STRINGED INSTRUMENT PLUS#

In its earliest form it had three double courses (pairs) of strings plus a single string (the highest). Guitar-like instruments have existed since ancient times, but the first written mention of the guitar proper is from the 14th century. Unfortunately, we'll never know for sure.The Guitar is almost universal in Celtic music, and is so common as to need little introduction. The talharpa (also known as the taglharpa or jouhikko) is a two- to four-stringed bowed lyre with no fingerboard. This is one of the best researched articles I've come across.Īlso, I've decided that the timpan is either like the crwth, as you noted, or possibly like the Scandinavian talharpa. I'm a historical fiction author, and I just had to torture myself by making one of my characters play the timpan. However, the area where Más a'Tiompán can be found is a short walk away from Smerwick Harbour, which was settled by viking raiders and has a Norse-derived name (from 'smoer' and 'wick' meaning 'butter harbour'). M.J Piazza, thanks for taking the time to comment, and what kind feedback it is! Yes, I did wonder, I had come across the talharpa, but decided not to include it as it had branched off by the time this instrument had developed from earlier forms - as I'm sure you're well aware, the Norse influence on Ireland came much later than the time these myths originated.

Celtic stringed instrument