Egyptian Harps
The earliest stringed instruments were plucked. The first of this type was the harp. The varied lengths of strings form a curve which dictates the shape of the harp’s frame. The modern piano broadly follows the shape of a harp.
The monochord is simply a sound box with a single string stretched over a movable bridge, which is shifted to each marking to produce a different note. It also was a plucked instrument.
The hammer dulcimer is an ancient instrument dating to the time of Christ. It appears to have originated in Persia. The word dulcimer derives from the Latin dulcis (sweet) and the Greek melos (song).
Hammer Dulcimer
The psaltery was common in the 14th and 15th centuries. It is a shallow closed box where strings are stretched and sounded by plucking with the fingers or plectra.
The dulcimer and the psaltery may look alike, but they are played differently. Small wooden hammers are used on the strings of the dulcimer to set the strings vibrating, much as the hammers do on the piano’s strings. The strings of the psaltery are plucked with the fingers or with a feather quill, as are the strings on the harpsichord. The psaltery can be considered a forerunner of the harpsichord, since the strings are plucked, just as the dulcimer can be considered a forerunner of the piano, since its strings are struck.