Zither Pain

I think there are those who wonder if I have fallen off the end of the Earth. I've been quiet, but only because I have so many distractions, not all musical. However, I just received the Gewandhaus' recording of famous Haydn quartets and I will have to write about that soon, because it is an inspiration. Indeed, I have collected a number of very fine recordings over the months. I have been looking for string chamber music, in particular, and this latest knocks my socks off.

However, the exciting music news is that my zither has arrived, along with its builder, Andreas Spohn.  Having a zither teacher staying with me is a tremendous opportunity. My 40 year-old memories of playing the zither are dim and my first teacher was not inspired. Andi, on the other hand, is an enthusiastic and insightful teacher. I wonder if it is even possible to teach one's self the zither without some guidance. There are nuances of the hand position that are not obvious. One could easily develop very bad habits that would result in frustration, bad sound, and worst of all, harm to the hands.

Let me stop writing for just a minute and emit one big OUCH! My fingers are killing me! Perhaps this is a good thing, or I would over-practice my new passion. I knew this was coming, and I have experienced similar pain whenever I start practicing guitar, lute, or ukulele with renewed fervor: you have to build and maintain those finger callouses. However, the zither has three sources of discomfort. The left hand has to stop metal strings, and the high a string, which is steel, seems to cut like a knife. The fingers of the right hand have become so sore on the tips, where the accompaniment strings are plucked, that I am currently hiding from my zither. I had hoped my years of playing the lute and ukulele would have prepared me, but the zither strings are much higher tension. Lastly, there is the zither ring worn on the thumb. This is the least of my problems, but to be secure the ring must be tight enough, and that is guaranteed to cause discomfort.

Experience has taught me that these pains will diminish. Then I can get down to really serious practice.