A psaltery, also called a sawtry in old times, is a musical instrument without frets that looks like a box zither. It is the earliest model of zithers and dulcimers. Other plucked keyboard instruments, like the harpsichord, were influenced by the psaltery. The sound box of a psaltery is often shaped like a trapezoid, rectangle, or a "pig's head" and is usually decorated with intricate designs.

Etymology

The psaltery of Ancient Greece, also called the epigonion, was a stringed instrument similar to a harp. The word "psaltery" comes from the Ancient Greek word ψαλτήριον (psaltḗrion), which means "stringed instrument, psaltery, or harp." This word is linked to the verb ψάλλω (psállō), which means "to touch sharply, to pluck, or to pull." When used for musical instruments, this verb means "to play a stringed instrument with the fingers, not with a plectrum." The psaltery was originally made of wood and used natural sound to produce music.

In the King James Bible, the word "psaltery" and its plural form "psalteries" are used to translate several words from the Hebrew Bible. The meanings of these Hebrew words are now unknown.

Characteristics

Greek instruments included harps, while the term "psaltery" came to describe instruments with strings stretched across a wooden box that produces sound. Box-zither psalteries may have originated from Phoenicia. The strings of medieval psalteries were often made of metal, unlike the harp, which used catgut strings and was played by plucking with fingers or a pick. Harps have one string for each note, allowing them to be plucked from both sides, while psalteries may have multiple strings for each note, stretched over a soundboard. The psaltery is similar to the harpsichord and dulcimer, though some types of dulcimer are played by striking the strings with hammers instead of plucking them.

Medieval and Renaissance psalteries

From the 12th to the 15th centuries, psalteries were often shown in manuscripts, paintings, and sculptures across Europe. A reference book called the Groves New Encyclopedia of Musical Instruments includes examples from the 9th century Carolingian Empire Benedictine Psalter, from 13th-century Spain (in the Cantigas de Santa Maria), from Bohemia in the 14th century, from Italy in the 14th century, and from Germany in the 15th century.

Psalteries had many shapes, such as triangular (rotte), trapezoidal, half-trapezoidal, wing-shaped, or harp-shaped. A type of psalterium called the psalterion decacordum was square-shaped and had ten strings that ran vertically. In medieval artwork, strings were sometimes grouped together.

Modern psaltery

By the 19th century, psalteries were no longer common in Europe. However, the salterio continued to be used in Mexico throughout the 20th century and is still played in some local traditions today.

The hammered dulcimer and similar instruments, such as the santur, cimbalom, yangqin, and khim, look alike to psalteries. It can be difficult to know which instrument historical pictures show. These instruments are different because the player hits the strings with small hammers instead of plucking them. This causes the strings to be tighter and the frames to be stronger.

In the 19th century, several related zithers were introduced, especially the guitar zither and the autoharp. In the 20th century, the bowed psaltery became widely used. It is arranged in a triangle shape so that the end of each string can be played with a bow.

Gallery

• A psaltery shaped like a pig’s head, which was a common shape in manuscripts.
• Gorleston-on-Sea, England. A psaltery player from the Gorleston Psalter, around 1310–1326.
• (Kingdom of Bohemia, 14th century). An unusual type of psaltery found in Central Europe, labeled “Bohemian wing” psaltery in the Grove Dictionary of Musical Instruments.
• An 18th-century Spanish psaltery with a trapezoidal shape.
• Carolingian Empire. A page from the Benedictine Psalter (842–850) showing David playing a four-sided psaltery, also called psalterium quadratum or psalterium decochordum.
• Germany, 1020–1050. A musician with a psaltery from the Werdener Psalter.
• Spain. Three types of psalteries (bottom row) from the Cantigas de Santa Maria, Códice Rico.
• Germany, 15th century. An angel playing a pig’s head psaltery.
• France.
• France. 1145–1155. The Elder of the Apocalypse.
• France, Notre Dame Cathedral.
• Spain, Burgos Cathedral.
• Spain, 13th century. Cancioneiro da Ajuda, folio 59, showing musicians with a psaltery and clappers.
• Triangular psaltery, Palatine Chapel, around 1140 A.D.
• Woman playing a psaltery, circa 1570 A.D.
• Psaltery notes, Museum musicum theoreticalo practicum, page 72.
• 1280 A.D. Rotte. Cantigas de Santa Maria.
• 1280 A.D. Cantigas de Santa Maria.
• 1280 A.D. Cantigas de Santa Maria.
• 1280 A.D. Cantigas de Santa Maria.
• Circa 1408–1410, Italy. David playing a psaltery, painting by Lorenzo Monaco.