Second Wind Bluegrass Duet

Chord Zither, Volkszither, Autoharp

Autoharps have been used in the United States as bluegrass and folk instruments, perhaps most famously by Maybelle Carter and Sara Carter of The Carter Family. They are relatively easy to learn to play as a rhythm instrument, but offer great rewards to the more committed player as a melody instrument.

Notable Professional Performers of Autoharp include Brian Jones of the Rolling Stones, John Sebastian of The Lovin’ Spoonful, Bryan Bowers, Mike Seeger, Pop Stoneman, Jeff Bridges (yes, the actor),  Mike Pinder of the Moody Blues, and John McEnroe (the tennis player).

The Autoharp is a musical string instrument having a series of chord bars attached to dampers which, when depressed, mute all the strings other than those that form the desired chord. Despite its name, the autoharp is not a harp at all, but a zither. The generic term for the instrument is chorded zither.

The autoharp was most likely invented in Germany by C. A. Gütter and was called a chord zither, or "Volkszither." The first American producer was C.F. Zimmermann in 1885.  A booklet from around 1889 states that "50,000 have been sold in the first three years following its introduction."  Around the mid to late 1920s, we arrive at Oscar Schmidt companies.

Modern Autoharps have 36 or 37 strings, although some examples with as many as 48 strings exist. They are strung in either diatonic (1, 2 or 3 key models) or chromatic scales. Although the Autoharp is often thought of as a rhythm instrument for playing chordal accompaniment, modern players can play melodies on the instrument. Diatonic players are able to play fiddle tunes by using open-chording techniques, "pumping" the damper buttons while picking individual strings. Skilled chromatic players can perform a range of melodies.

References:
  http://www.fretlesszithers.com/ahhistory.html
  http://www.autoharpquarterly.com/n_autohist.php
  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autoharp