The Autoharp Site
The Autoharp
It all started 3000 years ago when King David decided to play the Psaltery. I doubt that we really know what his instrument looked like but the Psaltery or Zither (from the Latin Cithara), in more modern times, is a sound box with strings stretched across one face. David's Psaltery would have been plucked, and is maybe depicted here as larger and more complex than it actually was.
In more recent times the bowed psaltery was developed as shown in the picture. Again it is just a box with strings on one face but this one can be played diatonically on one side and the sharps and flats are on the other side. They can be reached just by rocking the bow to the other side.
At some point in all this, the Hammered Dulcimer emerged where the strings are sounded by striking with two small wooden hammers.
In the late 1800s a patent was filed in Germany for a Zither and at almost the same time, in 1883, a C.F. Zimmerman filed a patent in America for the "Autoharp". This was really a Zither with three chord bars and was intended as a chording instrument to accompany singing or other instrumental music.
Around 1910, more chord bars were added and this five chord Zimmerman is an important part of my collection.
Around 1920 a company called Sterling Action and Keys started to build Autoharps in Toronto which were sold through the Eatons Stores. These had ten chords and could be played in four keys but still with no minors or colour chords.
The Carter Family were influential in the development of the Autoharp in the early 1900s. Mother Maybelle is credited with the vertical holding of the instrument and the "claw" action to play it.
Her daughter, June, played an Autoharp similar to the one shown here. After she married Johnny Cash.she continued to play Autoharp with him in many of their great hits.
This is a classic 1980's Oscar Schmidt harp as played by groups such as the Loving Spoonful and even Led Zeppelin
This is a standard 2015 Oscar Schmidt 21 chord Autoharp with a sold spruce sound board and fine tuners.
