Trough zither
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Trough zithers are a group of African stringed instruments or chordophones whose members resemble wooden bowls, pans, platters, or shallow gutters with strings stretched across the opening. A type of zither, the instruments may be quiet, depending upon the shape of the bowl or string-holder. Sound is often amplified with the addition of a gourd resonator. Instruments have been classed into five different types, based on shape.
Inanga player Torobeka Joseph from Burundi. Trough zither type A, using Wegner's classification.
Unidentified trough zither, Democratic Republic of Congo, late 19th century. 13 x 6 in. (33 x 15.2 cm). Type E.
Center: six-string bowl zither (ligombo) of type B from the Nyamwezi in Central Tanzania. Missing gourd resonator.
Enganga. Type A six-string zither tied to a calabash. Shi language group around Bukavu in eastern Congo. Royal Museum for Central Africa
Zither
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Zithers are a class of stringed instruments. Historically, it could be any instrument of the psaltery family. In modern terminology, it is more specifically an instrument consisting of many strings stretched across a thin, flat body, the topic of this article.
Different concert zithers
Plate. The Romance of the Western Chamber. In a scene from a popular play, the heroine is shown in contemplation, playing her zither. From China, Qing Dynasty, 18th century CE. National Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh
Chinese guqin with seven strings
Alpine Scheitholt