During the olden times, many musicians would make use of a beautiful string instrument that is known as the psaltery in order to entertain royal families. In those old times, psalteries were small square string instruments that one would play by strumming and plucking just like a guitar. Today, this instrument has evolved and has become very popular among those who like string instruments.

For those who do not know what this instrument looks like, it is a triangular shaped instrument that has some strings and some pins. It also comes with a bow wherein one will be able to make the strings sound with it. Now although people usually play it with a bow, it can also be played by strumming or plucking with hands like a guitar.

Now even though the original psaltery was created quite a very long time ago, the bowed version was only invented during the twentieth century. The earliest version was made sometime during the reign of king Nebuchadnezzar from the Bible wherein his servants would use it in order to entertain him. So as one can see, this instrument had a very rich history which began even during the Bible times.

Now aside from that, the psaltery was also mentioned during the Medieval times as an instrument that was played along with the zithers or harps. Now this version was different than the previously mentioned one as it was slightly bigger and had a sound hole that is located in the middle of the instrument. The purpose of this hole was to make the sound of the strings more apparent.

Now the modern world saw the popularity of this old instrument rise in the year nineteen twenty five. The modern version that many people are more familiar with was first created by German company Clemens Neuber Company who patented their creation. This was the modern version that was much bigger than the old one and could be played with bows similar to that of the violin bow.

In fact, after the invention of the bowed psaltery, there were many instruments similar to this one that came out. American instrument makers tried to make something similar called the Ukelin which was usually used during Hawaiian festivals and ceremonies. Of course the Hawaiians came up with their own version which differed from that of the American one.

Now the end of the Second World war saw the wide popularity of this thing known as the psaltery. It was first popularized by none other than the musical teacher Edgar Stahmer as he used it when conducting his music classes. German primary school teacher Walter Mittman followed in his footsteps and eventually made the instrument even more popular.

Nowadays, musicians and instrument makers have created a lot of ways to actually play this instrument. In fact, there are so many types of bows that were created like the bamboo bow, the wooden bow. Because of its evolution from the plucked psaltery, there have been many innovative ways that one can make music with this.