The Harp Zither is usually played in a horizontal position and sounds
wonderful when played on a table.  Sometimes it is played upright, pressed
against the chest.  The thumb of the left hand, strums the chord strings at the
same time the melody strings are plucked, individually, with the right thumb
and fingers.  Occasionally, old instruction manuals can be found dating from
the middle 1800's for the Zither.