Well done Rick. Your explanation is spot on. Dave

thank you, this was a big help.

Good and helpful explanations! Seeing that instrument today first time. Want to order one this week! Greetings from Germany.

Great video. I wish I had found your video before buying my psaltery. I would of bought a baritone had i had the correct information

Thank you for sharing.

Sooo cool!

Thank you !

The confusing thing is calling them psalteries. Psalteries have been around since mediaeval times and before, but they were always plucked. Bowed psalteries are a modern instrument that was invented during the middle 20th century. The same problem occurs with dulcimers, which originally were hammered, and those are now usually referred to as "hammered dulcimers" to avoid confusion with modern versions of the Swedish hummel which have come to be known, especially in the USA, as Appalachian or Mountain Dulcimers, though they in reality are not dulcimers at all. You can pluck a bowed psaltery, like a normal psaltery, but bowing a traditional psaltery is almost impossible without their being built with a special type of wrest pin which allows the string to pass over the pins. (Otherwise the wrest pins would get in the way of the bow.).

Wonderful video! So helpful. Question, The tenor and alto psalteries appear to be the same size and have the same number of strings. Is the only difference the type of string, steel v wrapped?

I could HUG you! After an Assault, I chose to learn the Psaltery-due to no longer being able to hold a Violin. I have never learned Music, but want to do so. I bought 3 Psalter's, Alto/Soprano/Tenor. Charlie Barnett made the Alto, 32 string, and marked off Octaves every 3rd, 4th peg-why I am seriously confused. I need, am begging you for help on how to understand the layout of all Psalter's.

Thank you!