Like a zither, and played as pertly (8)
I believe the answer is:
psaltery
'like a zither' is the definition.
I can't judge whether this defines the answer.
'played as pertly' is the wordplay.
'played' is an anagram indicator.
'as'+'pertly'='aspertly'
'aspertly' anagrammed gives 'PSALTERY'.
'and' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for psaltery that I've seen before include "plucky thing" , "something demanding pluck" , "Ancient plucked instrument" , "Musical instrument" , "Obsolete stringed instrument" .)