citole
Sign in to saveThe citole was a string musical instrument, closely associated with the medieval fiddles (viol, vielle, gigue) and commonly used from 1200–1350. It was known by other names in various languages: cedra, cetera, cetola, cetula, cistola, citola, citula, citera, chytara, cistole, cithar, cuitole, cythera, cythol, cytiole, cytolys, gytolle, sitole, sytholle, sytole, and zitol.
Key facts
- Instrument.name
- Citole
- Instrument.image
- Citole-BritishMuseum-bgw.jpg
- Instrument.image_size
- 120px
- Instrument.image_capt
- Citole made c. 1300, exhibited at the British Museum
- Instrument.classification
- String instrument (plucked)
- Instrument.hornbostel_sachs
- 321.322-6 (box-necked lute)
- Instrument.hornbostel_sachs_desc
- Chordophone with permanently attached resonator and neck, sounded by a plectrum
- Instrument.developed
- 13th–14th centuries from the cithara (lyre), plucked fiddles and/or lutes
via Wikipedia infobox
Article
21 sectionsContents
- Characteristics
- Strings and tuning
- Single strings and courses
- String materials
- Bridge
- Frets
- Tuning
- Soundholes
- Performance
- Citole and vielle, working together
- Drone chords
- Origins
- Medieval origins
- More ancient and more speculative origins
- Winternitz's theory, a continuous chain
- Another theory, Laurence Wright and plucked fiddles
- Plucked fiddles from Asia
- Gallery
- Sources
- References
- External links
The citole was a string musical instrument, closely associated with the medieval fiddles (viol, vielle, gigue) and commonly used from 1200–1350. It was known by other names in various languages: cedra, cetera, cetola, cetula, cistola, citola, citula, citera, chytara, cistole, cithar, cuitole, cythera, cythol, cytiole, cytolys, gytolle, sitole, sytholle, sytole, and zitol.
Like the modern guitar, it was manipulated at the neck to get different notes, and picked or strummed with a plectrum (the citole's pick was long, thick, straight and likely made of ivory or wood). Although it was largely out of use by the late 14th century, the Italians "re-introduced it in modified form" in the 16th century as the cetra (cittern in English), and it may have influenced the development of the guitar as well. It was also a pioneering instrument in England, introducing the populace to necked, plucked instruments, giving people the concepts needed to quickly switch to the newly arriving lutes and gitterns. Two possible descendant instruments are the Portuguese guitar and the Corsican Cetera, both types of cittern.