Drone Zither

Drone zithers or droned zithers are stringed instruments of the zither family that have few melodic strings and a greater number of drone strings. The oldest known form of drone zither is the Scheitholt. The Scheitholt developed into many different variants of drone zithers, such as the Langspil, the Epinette des Vosges or the Hummel. The Appalachian dulcimer is a traditional American form.

Drone zithers or droned zithers are stringed instruments of the zither family that have few (sometimes only one) melodic strings and a greater number of drone strings.

Other types of zither also existed in Germany, mostly drone zithers like the scheitholt (which was mentioned by Praetorius) or hummel, but these generally have their own individual regional names and may have been in use before the introduction into the lexicon of 'cythara' and its German derivative cognate.