At first, there was no memory. None. I intellectually understood what to do by studying the methods I had and watching the few YouTube videos, but this felt like an entirely new instrument. What were my prospects of making reasonable progress if I had to start from scratch?
It seems that nearly every instrument claims to be "the most difficult to master." Some that don't – take the recorder, for example – present the opportunity to play something rather quickly, but which are minefields of challenges for mastery. I'm not sure I'm willing to declare the zither the "most difficult," but it is an instrument that poses special challenges against playing something quickly. Patience and perseverance are necessary.
First of all, you have to think of it as two instruments: a horizontal guitar and harp. Each has its challenges. The guitar-like strings (Griffbrett-Saiten) are metal at high tension. They cut into your fingers and until you build some callous, practice is limited. The open strings, which are grouped into three categories of accompaniment (Begletungssaiten), bass (Baßsaiten), and contrabass (Kontra-Saiten) are very imposing at first, made all the worse because the first two categories are tuned in fifths. There are ready reference points, however: red strings marking the F's, A's, and C#'s.
Ultimately, it is the melody section of Griffbrett-Saiten that will pose the real challenge for making beautiful music: this is the singing voice of the instrument and it requires great nuance and artistry to be more than a hack. However, the accompaniment section presents the big initial challenge. The index, middle, and ring fingers pluck these. In fact, one finger will pluck two strings at once to yield a complete triad. I was fortunate to have a zither player in the house for a week to set me right on that path.
As I said, at first there was no memory. Then, bit by bit, the fingers remembered. I am sure I never achieved anything more than the most rudimentary mastery when I was young. I knew nothing of music theory and everything was done by rote. Now, I have a clear concept of how things work and what I want to achieve. My fingers are getting tougher and I suspect that I have at least equaled my original achievement. This is not to say that you would actually want to listen to me at this stage, but my old zither teacher would be pleased, and prospects for the future are promising.
Does this mean that any adult could make progress in a week? I guess that depends, but I think it is very difficult to learn new things – especially those that require muscle control – as we get older. I think my bet that I could count on some finger memory will pay off.
