At 12:26 AM +1000 8/31/07, Kenneth Kuhlmann wrote:
Thank you, John and Mark. Your comments have been very useful.
Interestingly, the article to which Mark refers in the online Jewish
Encyclopedia indicates that, at a certain time, some psalms were
sung by a chorus of Levites which included some singers who
accompanied
themselvers with stringed instruments, the kinor and nebel.
Now THAT I find extremely interesting. (My music history class is
dealing this week with music in the early church.) Did it place
those comments in a particular time frame, BCE or CE? Before or
after the destruction of the Temple c. AD 70?
Other material which I googled was not so supportive of an association
between string strumming and psalm singing; so it remains an open
question with me.
Let's keep in mind that "strumming" might give an incorrect picture.
While various types of harps might permit playing complete scales,
others would not because, like the lyra and kithara, they had a
limited number of strings, and no means of stopping those strings to
get the "in between" notes. You can "strum" an autoharp, because its
mechanism damps certain strings, but with a psaltery you have to have
very good aim to play a chord!
John
--
John R. Howell
Virginia Tech Department of Music
Blacksburg, Virginia, U.S.A 24061-0240
Vox (540) 231-8411 Fax (540) 231-5034
(mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED])
http://www.music.vt.edu/faculty/howell/howell.html
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