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Message:: [QUOTE="Ladybranch, post: 255769, member: 44"]As to this instrument, I believe all such instruments, without a fret, are members of the chorded zither family with an autoharp being one of them. The above pic shows a  dulcimer on it's side at the bottom. That website calls it a lap dulcimer. I guess one could call it that, but fretted dulcimer is what they are referred to at the musical venues in the Ozarks. There are some very good dulcimer events and workshops in AR (Ozark Folk Center at Mountain View, AR) and in Tennessee like in Memphis. I guess the proper name for them is an Appalachian dulcimer. I used to attend at least one workshop a year, but after arthritis set into my hands and fingers, I very rarely play one anymore. The other type of dulcimer is called a hammered dulcimer - a different animal. I use to enjoy playing a bari, baritone ukulele also. With not having to actually curl your fingers around the fret, a fretted dulcimer is easier on arthritic hands than a bari or a guitar. When young I found a "Plain Jane" zither without any buttons stashed away in my grandparents attic. I never learned the history of it, but felt it was my great grandmother's. When my grandparents home sold back in the early 1950s the zither was still in the attic. I was always sorry it hadn't been rescued. Today it would be at least 100 to possibly 150 years old. --- Susan[/QUOTE]