autoharp

plural autoharps

1. A string instrument having a series of chord bars attached to dampers (muting bars) which mute all the strings other than those that form the desired chord.

   Mr. Droste is usually the more ethereal, with the sweeter voice and the gentler melodies; he was the one strumming an autoharp for “Lullabye,” while Mr. Bear tapped a glockenspiel, and Christopher Taylor played a flute.

   2007 March 9, Jon Pareles, “Three Bands on Trips That Lead to the ’60s”, in New York Times