citole

169. “The citole … is a plucked instrument of guitar type and roughly of guitar dimensions. It is often formed in a characteristic 'holly-leaf' shape, has frets and metal strings, and is played with a quill plectrum.” Nigel Wilkins (1995) Music in the Age of Chaucer.

The citole was a string musical instrument, closely associated with the medieval fiddles (viol, vielle, gigue) and commonly used from 1200–1350.

Etymology. Probably a French diminutive form of Latin cithara, and not from Latin cista (“a box”).

The citoles origins though, are said to lie in the antiquity and that it was based on the Greek kithara. In the early beginnings, the citole had only four to five frets, clearly indicating an instrument primarily for simple rhythmic patterns and style elements in the play.

The historical tuning of the citole was c' d' g' c'' in 4 courses, and an unknown 3 course tuning, probably c' g' c''. Medieval polyphony is easily playable on an instrument tuned this way.

It is available with 4 single strings o 3 courses and a SL of 400 mm.

It was played by strumming the strings with a stiff plectrum made of dried leather, held in the right hand with elbow outstretched and palm bent inwards. The strings with undesired notes were damped with the straightened fingers of the left hand.

A popular instrument with court musicians, minstrels, and amateurs, the gittern is considered an ancestor of the modern guitar and other instruments like the mandore, bandurria and gallichon.

Zither | Traditional German Instrument, Stringed & Fretted | Britannica.

The cittern may have a range of only an octave between its lowest and highest strings and employs a re-entrant tuning – a tuning in which the string that is physically uppermost is not the lowest, as is also the case with the five-string banjo and most ukuleles for example.

Unequal Volume. When playing chords or intervals on your piano, you'll want the notes to sound similar in volume. If they sound off-balance and unevenly distributed, it's a sign that your piano is out of tune.

Scale length plays a HUGE part in your instrument's tone. Really. Huge. Where all of the overtones and harmonics sit on a string is determined by its scale length.