Scheitholt

The scheitholt may have derived from an ancient Greek instrument for theoretical education in music and physics, the so-called monochord (an oblong wooden box with only one string).

Scheitholt originally referred to logs split into firewood or Scheitholz (Scheit = piece, chip; Holz or Low German Holt = wood).

In northern Germany the instrument is often called hummel, meaning "bumble bee" (a reference to the humming sound of the drone strings—the same word was also used for the bagpipe).

Besides brass, these strings were often also made of simple materials such as animal hairs, gut or waxed linen.

It was placed horizontally on a table or on the player's lap, the left hand pressed the strings with a wooden stick sometimes called a 'noter', while the thumb and index finger plucked the strings either directly, or with a horn or wooden plectrum, or with a goose quill.