Alto bowed psaltery (2018)—12” x 2 ½” x 37”

anigre, maple, zither pins, screws, polyurethane, piano wire

The bowed psaltery is a 20th century folk revivalist re-interpretation of the psaltery, a zither-family stringed instrument. Bowed psalteries are chordophones, typically shaped either as a pentagon or a triangle, with zither pins running along the sides of the instrument. Bowed psaltery are traditionally sounded by bowing at the edge of the soundboard.

This psaltery is a larger, roughly proportionate version of the soprano psaltery. The soundboard and back are anigre, the sides and pinblock are maple, and the ribs are pine.