Scheitholt

The scheitholt may have derived from an ancient Greek instrument for theoretical education in music and physics, the so-called monochord (an oblong wooden box with only one string). Scheitholt originally referred to logs split into firewood or Scheitholz (from German Scheit piece, chip and Holz wood; compare Low German Holt wood). Since the 16th century, the instrument was called by that name, presumably because it had a similar shape or size. The best known description of this instrument is by Michael Praetorius in 1619. A number of regional names for the instrument exist. In northern Germany the instrument is often called hummel, bumble bee (a reference to the humming sound of the drone strings—the same word was also used for the bagpipe). Other names include the Dutch noordse balk, French bûche or bûche de Meuse, Dutch vlier and Swiss German Hexenscheit. In the Bavarian-Austrian region, the scheitholt can be traced back to the 14th century. Similar instruments are found in other parts of Northern Europe; in America, the scheitholt was probably brought to Pennsylvania by German settlers and spread into the Appalachian mountain region, where it later evolved into the Appalachian dulcimer in the late 18th century. The Appalachian dulcimer (or mountain dulcimer, or lap dulcimer), is a scheitholt fingerboard mounted on a larger sound box.

The Scheitholt was played similarly to the modern zither. It was placed horizontally on a table or on the player's lap, the left hand pressed the strings with a wooden stick, sometimes called a "noter", while the thumb and index finger plucked the strings either directly, or with a horn or wooden plectrum, or with a goose quill. Some strings functioned as drones. The scheitholt or hummel was played well into the 19th century in the alpine regions, in Southern Germany, in Northern Germany, in the Ore Mountains of Saxony and in the Oberlausitz.