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Background

The origin of the dulcimer is as elusive as its haunting sound. Two types of instrument stake claim to the name—both have different shapes, different methods of being played, and diverse origins. The fretted dulcimer resembles an elongated violin with a limited number of strings (usually three to five) that can be plucked or bowed. In the United States, the fretted dulcimer is better known as the Appalachian or Mountain dulcimer.

The hammered dulcimer is rectangular or trapezoidal in shape and has sets of multiple strings with a range of up to three octaves. The instrument is played with two light-weight beaters called hammers that are shaped like long-handled spoons and are used to strike the strings.

History

The history of both dulcimers is confused because they were developed to play folk music and sprang up independently in a number of locations in Europe and the Middle East. It is not known how or if varieties of dulcimers crossed cultural or topographic barriers.

The hammered dulcimer is considered a member of the zither family and may have origins in Iran as the citar or santir, an instrument used to produce the ancient classical music of Persia. The spice and silk trades that criscrossed the Middle East during the Middle Ages and the Renaissance may have been responsible for the instrument's presence in Spain by the twelfth century and its appearance in China. In China, it is called the yangqin, yang ch 'in, or foreign zither.

The French version of the hammered zither was called the tympanon, and it's strings were struck with leather-covered hammers. The instrument experienced great popularity from about 1697-1770 due to an inventor named Pantaleon Hebestreit, who constructed a version with 186 strings and named it a pantaleon. The instrument appeared to fade in popularity with the rise of the piano.

By unknown paths of immigration, hammered dulcimers arrived in the United States. The instrument was sufficiently popular to have been carried by both the Montgomery Ward and Sears Roebuck catalogues in the 1800s and early 1900s. The hammered dulcimer was also reportedly the favorite instrument of Henry Ford and enjoyed a mild revival thanks to his admirers. The harpsichord and pianoforte (or piano) are hammered dulcimers to which keyboards have been attached.

The Appalachian dulcimer or dulcimore is generally hourglass-shaped with three to five strings and frets (low ridges against which the strings are pressed). Its strings are plucked with the fingers, a pick, or a quill, and the player's left hand holds a stick or plectrum on the strings as a stop. Nordic settlers claim to have brought the dulcimer to the New World. The Swedes brought their version called a humle, Icelanders imported the langspil, and Norwegian immigrants brought the langleik. The Germans and Dutch had developed two instruments, the scheitholt and the hummel, which became the folk instrument of Pennsylvania where so many Germans settled. To this mix of variants, the French added their Epinette des Vosges, which is less box-like and more similar in shape to a violin.

Many of the Scotch-Irish who left Ireland in the early 1700s settled first in Pennsylvania before following the frontiersmen to the Appalachian mountains and along the Ohio River. While in Pennsylvania, they may well have heard the scheitholt or humle played by the Pennsylvania Dutch. The German instruments were elongated boxes with frets and a limited number of strings; these either merged with British versions or were developed by the Scotch-Irish settlers to form the hourglass-shaped instrument now known as the Appalachian dulcimer.

Design

As the history of the dulcimer suggests, almost anything goes in selecting the shape of an Appalachian dulcimer. The size and depth of the soundbox must be chosen for the desired sound of the instrument. The deeper and larger boxes produce both louder and lower tones. Perhaps the most eye-catching and apparently ornamental feature of the dulcimer is the sound holes. Some of these are both beautiful and elaborate. The actual shape of the hole does not affect the sound, but the length of slots or elongated holes is important. Like the f holes in a violin, they free longer pieces of the sound-board from the constraining effects of the rigid sides so that the soundboard vibrates more responsively to the strings.

Design of a dulcimer begins with making a pattern and selecting the size of the instrument. Size is determined from the outside in. Strings are available from manufacturers in standard lengths between 25-30 in (63.5-76.2 cm). The soundbar is as long as the strings, but because it is fixed to the sound-box with a nut several inches down from the top of the solid end of the box, the soundbox must be longer than the soundboard. The soundbox is usually 6-8 in (15.2-20.3 cm) wide and up to 2 in (5.08 cm) deep. The maximum measurements have proven to produce the best sound character, including loudness and timbre, or quality of sound.

After the basic dimensions are chosen, a pattern is made on paper or cardboard. One half of the dulcimer is outlined on the paper, which is folded on the axis and cut to produce the mirror image. A form will be made to shape the upper and lower curves of the dulcimer, so before the pattern is cut, a partial pattern is made of this shape so that top and bottom match.

Raw Matericals

Many types of fine wood can be used to make a dulcimer. The outer wood forms the finish and should be selected for its beauty and grain, while the inner wood (usually oak) does not have to be attractive, although the material must respond to steam used to soften and shape the sides. The outer or finish wood used for the soundboard may be walnut, spruce, pine, or yellow poplar and should produce a bright sound due to the presence of hard and soft streaks in the wood. Such striations will give the finished dulcimer visual as well as aural beauty. The body of the dulcimer is usually made of harder wood like cherry, black walnut, or mahogany. The tuning pegs are Brazilian rosewood, although old dulcimers have ebony, rosewood, metal, or crude wooden pegs.

Frets on old dulcimers were also made of a variety of materials including silver, steel, brass, staghorn, ivory, bone, and various woods. Today, commercially-made fretting material is manufactured by specialists in a tee-shaped cross section that is convenient to fit to an instrument. These frets are made of nickel silver or brass. Also made by specialty manufacturers, dulcimer strings are standard, using the same strings as are manufactured for 12-string guitars.

The Manufacturing
Process

Master jig assembly

• After the design is selected and the pattern is made, dies must be constructed to form the sides of the dulcimer. Only two shapes are involved—the curves of the upper and lower sections of the instrument called bouts and the center violin-like cutout called a waist, which may be any simple curve including a circle. Heavy blocks of wood are used to make the dies. The curves are cut with a band saw and sanded to match exactly.
• A master jig assembly is also an important preliminary. The jig is a piece of plywood that is used to mount and form the dulcimer. Typically, a piece of 0.75 in (1.9 cm) thick plywood that is about 10 in (25.4 cm) longer than the dulcimer and 4 or 5 in (10.2-13 cm) wider is selected. The pattern is mounted on the center of the board, and fourpenny finishing nails are driven into the board at 2 in (5.1 cm) spacings around the pattern's edge with extra room at the ends. The nails support the inside of the sides of the instrument while it is being shaped.

Sides and internal bracing

• To shape the sides, 0.125 in (0.32 cm) thick wood is cut in pieces that are as deep as the dulcimer and longer than the curves forming the soundbox. One piece of finish wood backed by a piece of oak is placed in a steam cooker for about 20 minutes to soften the wood. The wood is carefully removed, placed in between the halves of the die, and clamped together. The form with the wood pieces enclosed is then dried in an oven. All the sections are formed this way. Then the outer finish wood piece is glued to the oak backing with polyester or epoxy resin glue. The glued sections are returned to the forming dies and clamped until the glue hardens.
• When all the curved side sections are formed, the center curves are placed in the master jig assembly. They must be adjusted by eye to be symmetrical. Then, finish nails are driven along the outsides of the sections to hold them in place. The end sections should be fitted to the centerpieces, however all sections were cut long. After the ends are properly fitted, the center sections are removed, cut to their proper lengths, and rasped or sanded for smoothness. The end sections are then refitted. They will overlap the center sections and must be trimmed to mate with the ends of the center sections. Also, the inner oak pieces are trimmed back so they are not exposed on the finished surface. Visual symmetry and tightly fitting joints will produce the most beautiful instrument in sound and appearance.
• Internal braces are required to make the instrument structurally strong but also to provide the best resonance. Braces are fit to the junctions of the curved sections and also across the centers of the upper and lower curved sections. The braces fit against the back of the dulcimer and the front (sound-board), but they do not extend to the full depth of the instrument. The braces are seated on notches in the side sections. The back braces are glued and clamped into place first. Placement of the front braces offers the final chance to adjust the shape of the instrument.

Tuning head and pegs

• Dulcimers often have elaborately scrolled tuning heads at the tops of the instruments. The tuning head has to be large enough to allow 1 in (2.54 cm) spacings between the pegs. Care is also taken to arrange the pegs so the string from one does not ride on the peg for another. Corresponding peg holes on the head are cut and tapered to match.
• The head consists of three pieces of finish wood that will be sandwiched together. The overall dimension is about 7 in (18 cm) in length and 4 in (10.2 cm) in width. The pieces are clamped or lightly glued together and cut with a band saw to shape the scroll. The pieces are taken apart, a string slot is cut in the bottom of the center section, and the pieces are then permanently glued together. After the glue has hardened, the peg holes are drilled. The instrumentend of the tuning head must then be mortised to fit the instrument and the taper of the tuning head is shaped by careful wood-working and smooth sanding.
• Four tuning pegs are required. Pieces of 1 in (2.54 cm) square rosewood are cut to 4 in (10.2 cm) lengths. Two inches of the total length are turned to form a tapered peg, and the heads are flattened and shaped so they are easy to grip. The pegs must be individually fitted to the tuning head because the tapers will vary. A tapered reamer is used to ream the holes that were previously drilled through the tuning head. The tuning head can be fitted to the sides of the sound box by carefully matching and fitting the mortises. A fitted block is made to match the base of the tuning head and reinforce the upper end of the sound box. The joints are then glued and clamped securely. For the lower end of the sound box, a tail section is made with mortises to fit the sides of the soundbox. A similar reinforcing block is made for the tail section.

Soundboard and soundbar

• The soundboard works as a diaphragm that allows air (and sound) to resonate in the instrument. Grains in the wood should extend the full length of the soundbox. The soundboard is made in two sections with a gap of about 1 in (2.54 cm) between the two halves to allow for the hollow portion of the soundbar. The soundboard is also cut to extend about 0.125 in (0.32 cm) beyond the sides of the dulcimer. The two halves are fitted to the sides with the overhanging lip and glued and clamped in place.
• The soundbar is the length of the soundbox plus 0.5 in (1.3 cm), extending up into the tuning head. It is constructed of three pieces of wood to be semihollow. That is, two pieces of finish wood form the sides and the top piece forms the finger-board, leaving a three-sided center tunnel or tube down the middle of the soundboard. Finish pieces are cut to close the top and bottom ends of the soundbar, and the whole assembly is fitted and glued into place. Edges and ends are checked for squareness and are smoothed. The hole for the nut used to fix the soundbar to the soundbox is drilled several inches below the junction of the soundbar with the tuning head so the two are not acoustically connected. The nut is the only connection attaching the soundbar to the soundbox, again allowing for vibration and resonance.
• Frets are positioned on the fingerboard of the soundbar based on calculations related to the string length of the instrument. The fret positions are usually tempered by comparing tones with a tuned piano and repositioning the frets before they are permanently placed. Prefabricated metal fret material is hammered into saw cuts at the locations of the frets. The saw cuts are extremely thin and about 0.0625 in 0.16 cm) deep. Overcutting causes the frets to rattle. The edges of the finished frets are filed for smoothness and level. A bridge is also cut from hard maple. It is placed at the tail end of the dulcimer to support the strings and is allowed to float in place, rather than being glued, to permit fine adjustment of the strings and optimal sound.

Soundbox and strings

• Finally, the back of the soundbox is cut from the finish wood in a single piece and with a 0.125 in (0.32 cm) overlap around the edge. The back is glued to all the edges and braces on the backside of the instrument.
• The strings are fitted to the instrument before the wood is finished. Holes are drilled in the tailpiece and the tuning pegs. Fine, equally spaced notches are cut in the bridge and the nut to support the strings when they are tightened. Three steel strings that are each 0.012 in (0.03 cm) in diameter and one 0.022 in (0.56 cm) wound steel string are typically used on a four-string dulcimer. The strings are threaded individually through the tailpiece, over the bridge and nut, and through the holes in the tuning pegs. Each peg is turned until the string is tight. The clearance of the string at each position is checked and the strings are lowered at the nut by cutting deeper notches. The bridge is also adjusted to correct the string length.

Finishing

• The strings, bridge, and tuning pegs are removed before the instrument is finished. The finish that is selected is essentially a part of the design of the instrument because the type of wood, its grain, the desired sound effects, and the final appearance are all considerations. Some dulcimers are left completely unfinished. Rubbing fine wood with linseed oil or applying superb varnish finishes are options. Hand-rubbing and oiling or waxing can take hundreds of hours to fill the wood pores. Application of a sealer followed by wax will produce a similar appearance with less labor.

Quality Control

As with all handmade products, quality control is in the hands of the maker. The end result of the dulcimer maker's craftsmanship is considered from the conception of the instrument forward, and many careful hours are spent in achieving a final product that is as beautiful as intended. Quality control may also be in the ear of the beholder; the craftsman's care will be evident in the sound the instrument produces.

The Future

Renewed interest in folk music has awakened the interest of hobbyists and musicians in dulcimers. The instrument is easier to play than more sophisticated instruments that require long hours of training and practice. Dulcimer-making kits are available from a number of suppliers.

Where to Learn More

Books

Alvey, R. Gerald. Dulcimer Maker: The Craft of Homer Ledford. The University Press of Kentucky, 1984.

Hines, Chet. How to Make and Play the Dulcimore. Stackpole Books, 1973.

Murphy, Michael. The Appalachian Dulcimer Book. St. Clairsville, Ohio: Folksay Press, 1980.

Ritchie, Jean. The Dulcimer Book. New York: Oak Publications, 1974.

Other

Charlie Alm's Hammered Dulcimer Book. www.dcwi.com/dulcimer.

The Dulcimer Factory. www.Instar.com/mallldulcimer/dulcfac2.htm.

The Dulcimer Shop. www.databahn.net/dulcimer.

Frequently Asked Questions About the Hammered Dulcimer. www.dulcimer.com/faq.html.

Hammered Dulcimer Page. www.rtpnet.org/-hdweb/.

Handcrafted Cimbaloms. www.cimbalom.com.

Joe Zsigray's Mountain Dulcimer Page. www.wcnet.org/-jrz100/mountain-d/.

Mike's Hammered Dulcimer. www.halcyon.com/riston/home/dulcimer.htm.

[Article by: Gillian S. Holmes]

A string instrument of the box zither family, without keyboard. It often has a trapeziform box. Its strings, commonly two to six for each course, are unfretted; the courses are usually in intersecting horizontal planes. The player may hit the strings with hammers or pluck them with the fingers or a plectrum. The instrument has been used in Western popular, folk and art music; it is widespread in eastern Europe, North Africa, Central Asia, India, Korea and China and especially Iran.

The body is almost always a box, commonly c 1 m along the bottom side. Small instruments c 60 cmlong were made in Flanders in the 17th century and England in the 19th, and larger ones c 130 cmlong are known in England, the USA and Alpine areas. The concert cimbalom is even larger, c 160 cmlong. Bridges are of wood, usually with a wire rod in the top. Hammers may have hard or soft heads; steel piano wire is used for the strings.

The instrument was introduced to western Europe in the 15th century, possibly from Byzantium. The medieval psaltery is usually held flat against the body, the player looking out and away from the instrument. More detail is known about the Baroque dulcimer; surviving instruments have 18 to 25 courses. Dulcimers were played in Bohemia, England (Pepys mentioned it in 1662 as accompanying puppet shows) and Spain and became more widespread in Italy. Mersenne (1663-7) illustrated a double-course instrument with notes on only one side of a single bridge. In 1704 Pantaleon Hebenstreit brought a large version to Louis XIV, who is said to have decreed that it should be called ‘pantaleon’. 18th-century instruments could have as many as five bridges and seven or eight strings to a course. The repertory includes Scottish and Irish dances.

The concert cimbalom was accorded orchestral status by Liszt, in the revised version of his Ungarischer Sturmmarsch (1876) and his Sixth Hungarian Rhapsody. The instrument's association with Hungarian gypsy music was exploited by Kodály (Háry János, 1926) and Bartók (Violin Rhapsody no.1, 1928). Stravinsky used it in Reynard (1915-16) and Ragtime (1918).

Tutor's tip: This was the final winning word in the 1949 National Spelling Bee.

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• Stringed Instruments - dulcimer: zither struck with mallets or sticks

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Appalachian dulcimer

Other names	Mountain dulcimer, lap dulcimer, fretted dulcimer,
Classification	Plucked string instrument
Related instruments
Epinette des Vosges (France) Langeleik (Norway) Scheitholt (Germany) Hummel (instrument) (Netherlands) Monochord Zither

The Appalachian dulcimer (or mountain dulcimer) is a fretted string instrument of the zither family, typically with three or four strings. It is native to the Appalachian region of the United States. The body extends the length of the fingerboard, and its fretting is generally diatonic.

Contents 1 Origins and history 2 Playing 3 Strings, frets and tuning 4 Contemporary use 5 Variants 5.1 Modern dulcimer variants 6 Production 7 See also 8 References 9 External links

Origins and history

Although the Appalachian dulcimer first appeared in the early 19th century among Scots-Irish immigrant communities in the southern Appalachian Mountains, the instrument has no known precedent in Ireland or Scotland.^{[citation needed]} However, several diatonic fretted zithers exist in Continental Europe that have a strong similarity to the dulcimer. Jean Ritchie and others^{[citation needed]} have speculated the Appalachian dulcimer is related to similar European instruments like the langeleik, scheitholt and épinette des Vosges.

Charles Maxson, an Appalachian luthier from Volga, WV, speculated that early settlers were unable to make the more complex violin in the early days due to lack of tools and time. This was one of the factors which led to the building of the dulcimer, which has less dramatic curves. He too cited the langeleik, scheitholt and épinette des Vosges as ancestor instruments.^{[citation needed]}

Few true specimens of the mountain dulcimer exist from earlier than about 1880, when J. Edward Thomas of Knott County, Ky began building and selling them. The instrument became used as something of a parlor instrument, as its modest sound volume is best-suited to small home gatherings. But for the first half of the 20th century the mountain dulcimer was rare, with a handful of makers supplying players in scattered pockets of Appalachia. Virtually no audio recordings of the instrument exist from earlier than the late 1930s.

The Appalachian dulcimer achieved a renaissance in the 1950s urban folk music revival in the United States through the work of Jean Ritchie, a Kentucky musician who introduced the instrument to New York City audiences. ^[1] In the early 1960s, Ritchie and her partner George Pickow began distributing dulcimers made by her Kentucky relative Jethro Amburgey, then the woodworking instructor at the Hindman Settlement School. They eventually began producing their own instruments in New York City. Meanwhile, the American folk musician Richard Fariña (1937–1966) was also bringing the Appalachian dulcimer to a much wider audience, and by 1965 the instrument was a familiar presence in folk music circles.

In addition to Amburgey, by then winding down his production, influential builders of mid-1960s included Homer Ledford, Lynn McSpadden, A. W. Jeffreys and Joellen Lapidus. In 1969 Michael and Howard Rugg formed a company called Capritaurus. As well as being the first to mass-produce the instrument, they made design changes to make it both easier produce and to play. The body was made larger, and they installed guitar tuners to make tuning easier for players. This became known as the "California style" dulcimer.

Playing

Closeup of Aubrey Atwater playing dulcimer.

The traditional way to play the instrument is to lay it flat on the lap and pluck or strum the strings with the right hand, while fretting with the other. The dulcimer may also be placed in a similar position on a piece of furniture, such as a table or chest of drawers, to enhance the sound. There are two predominant methods of fretting. First, the strings may be depressed with the fingertips of the fretting hand. Using this technique, all the strings may be fretted, allowing the player to produce chords. Second, the melody string, the string closest to the player, may be depressed with a "noter," typically a short length of dowel or bamboo (see photo at left). Using this method, only the melody string is fretted and the other strings act as drone strings (the melody string may be doubled, so that the melody can be better heard over the drones). In this second style of playing, the combination of the drone strings and the buzz of the noter on the melody strings produces a unique sound.

In practice, a wide variety of playing styles have long been used. Jean Ritchie's The Dulcimer Book^[2] has an old photograph of Mrs. Leah Smith of Big Laurel, Kentucky, playing the dulcimer with a bow instead of a pick, with the tail of the dulcimer held in the player's lap, and the headstock resting on a table pointing away from her. In their book In Search of the Wild dulcimer,^[3] Robert Force and Al d'Ossché describe their preferred method as "guitar style": The dulcimer hangs from a strap around the neck, and the instrument is fretted and strummed like a guitar. They also describe playing "autoharp style" where "the dulcimer is held vertically with the headstock over the shoulder." Lynn McSpadden, in his book Four and Twenty Songs for the Mountain Dulcimer,^[4] states that some players "tilt the dulcimer up sideways on their laps and strum in a guitar style." Still other dulcimer players use a fingerstyle technique, fingering chord positions with the fretting hand and rhythmically plucking individual strings with the strumming hand, creating delicate arpeggios.

Contemporary players have also borrowed from chord theory and guitar analogues to create a variety of more complex ways to play the dulcimer. Some dulcimers are constructed with four equidistant strings to facilitate playing more complex chords, particularly for playing jazz. In another line of contemporary innovation, electric dulcimers have been used in rock music. The Appalachian dulcimer is both easy to learn to play, and capable of complexity, providing scope for a wide range of professionals and hobbyists.^{[citation needed]}

Strings, frets and tuning

The frets of the Appalachian dulcimer are typically arranged in a diatonic scale. Traditionally, the Appalachian dulcimer was usually tuned to DAA, or notes with this I V V relationship.^[5] That is, the key note is on the bass string and the middle and melody strings are at an interval of a perfect fifth above it. The melody string is tuned so that the key note is at the third (diatonic) fret. This facilitates playing melodies in the Ionian mode (the major scale). The melody is played on the top string (or string pair) only, with the unfretted drone strings providing a simple harmony, giving the instrument its distinctive traditional sound. To play in a different key, or in a different mode, a traditional player would have to retune the instrument. For example, to play a minor mode melody the instrument might be tuned to DAC. This facilitates playing the Aeolian mode (the natural minor scale), where the scale begins at the first fret.

A photo from the May 1, 1917, issue of Vogue, featuring an Appalachian dulcimer.

Modern instruments usually include an additional fret, a half step below the octave position, the so-called "six and a half" fret. This enables one to play in the Ionian mode when tuned to DAD, the traditional tuning for the Mixolydian mode, where the scale starts on the open fret. This arrangement is often found to be more conducive to chordal playing, as opposed to the more traditional dronal style. Among modern players, it is fair to say that the instrument is most commonly tuned to DAD.^{[citation needed]} So-called "chromatic dulcimers," with twelve frets per octave, are sometimes made, to permit playing in any key without re-tuning.

While the most common current tuning is DAD, it is often easier for the beginning player to tune to DAA or the so-called "Reverse Ionian" tuning, DGD. "Reverse" tunings are ones in which the key note is on the middle string and the bass string is the fifth of the scale, but in the octave below the middle string. This is sometimes^{[by whom?]} suggested as an easier tuning. From DGD one can put a capo on the first fret to play in the Dorian mode, or retune the second string (to A), to play in the Mixolydian mode, then from Mixolydian, capo the first fret to play in the Aeolian mode. DAA tuning should not be thought of as simply a "beginner's" tuning, however. Many accomplished, innovative players use this tuning.^{[citation needed]}

Contemporary use

The Appalachian dulcimer is now a core instrument found in the American old-time music tradition. But styles performed by modern dulcimer enthusiasts run the gamut from traditional folk music through popular and experimental forms, although most perform in more-or-less traditional styles. Some players exploit its similarity in tone to certain Middle Eastern and Asian instruments. Increasingly, modern musicians such as Lindsay Buckland, Bing Futch, Butch Ross, Cristian Huet in France and Quintin Stephens have contributed to the popularity of the solid-body electric dulcimer. Dulcimer festivals take place regularly in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Ireland, as the Appalachian dulcimer has achieved a following in a number of countries.^{[citation needed]}

Though the mountain dulcimer has long been associated with the elder generation, it has gradually attracted a number of younger players who have discovered its charms. Due to its ease of play, many music teachers consider it to be an especially good educational instrument.^{[citation needed]} Because of this, they are often used in educational settings, and some music classes make their own dulcimers. However, because of budget, time, and craftsmanship skill issues, these are usually made from cardboard.

One of the most famous players of the Appalachian dulcimer is, perhaps, folk singer Joni Mitchell, who has been playing it since the late 1960s on studio recordings (for instance on her famous album Blue (1971)) and also in live concerts.^[6] Cyndi Lauper is also a high-profile mountain dulcimer player, having studied with the late David Schnaufer. Lauper plays dulcimer on her ninth studio album The Body Acoustic, and the tour to support the record featured her performing songs like "Time After Time" and "She Bop" solo on the mountain dulcimer. Contemporary professional musicians who view the dulcimer as their primary instrument include Stephen Seifert of Nashville, TN and Aaron O'Rourke of Tallahassee, FL.

Variants

As a folk instrument, wide variation exists in Appalachian dulcimers.

• Number of strings: Dulcimers may have as few as two or as many as 12 strings (in six courses). Instruments with only one string would more properly be termed monochords. In the 1950s and 1960s most mountain dulcimers had three strings. The most popular variant today is four strings in three courses, with doubled melody strings.

A variety of dulcimer shapes.

• Fret patterns: Until the late 1970s, most Appalachian dulcimers were made with a purely diatonic fretboard. A few years later, an added 6½ fret (and where the instrument fretboard is long enough, the 13½ fret, an octave higher) had become standard. Most makers now offer 1½ and 8½ frets as options, and the fully chromatic dulcimer is rising in popularity.^[7]

• Body shapes: Dulcimers appear in a wide variety of body types, many of which are recorded in A Catalog of Pre-Revival Dulcimers.^[8] A representative array would include: hourglass, teardrop, trapezoid, rectangular, elliptical ("Galax-style"), violin-shaped, fish-shaped, and lute-back.

• Materials: In addition to plywood, laminates, and solid woods, some builders are using experimental materials such as carbon fiber. Dulcimers are also made of cardboard. Often sold as low-cost kits, cardboard dulcimers offer surprisingly good sound and volume. Their low cost and resistance to damage make them particularly suited to institutional settings, such as elementary school classrooms.

Courting dulcimer

• "Courting dulcimers": One unusual variant is the "courting dulcimer." This instrument consists of one large dulcimer body with two separate fingerboards. The instrument is laid across the laps of two facing individuals (the eponymous "courting" pair) and used to play duets.

• "Double-Neck Dulcimers": Somewhat the same as a "courting dulcimer", but with both fretboards (or "necks") facing the same direction. Popularized by performer Bing Futch, it allows for multiple tunings without changing instruments.

• "Bowed Dulcimers": Dulcimers that can be played with bows; in the modern era heavily modified variants have been made exclusively for bowed playing.

Modern dulcimer variants

• guitar dulcimer: The instrument is a hybrid of guitar and dulcimer, with the body more closely resembling a guitar, but the string configuration and pegs of a dulcimer. This variant was first explored, and later patented, by Homer Ledford,^[9] and called the "dulcitar."

• banjo dulcimer: resembling a standard dulcimer, but with a banjo-head on the body. This variant was first explored, and later patented, by Homer Ledford,^[9] and called the "dulcijo." Similar instruments include the "Ban-Jammer" (Mike Clemmer), the "Banjimer" (Keith Young) and the "Banj-Mo" (Folk Notes).

• cardboard dulcimer: Cardboard dulcimers are produced primarily as student instruments or for teaching workshops. Though not as refined as higher-end dulcimers, they are considered serviceable and practical instruments. High-quality cardboard has good resonance and acoustic response.

• resonator dulcimer: a standard dulcimer, with a resonator added to the body, in imitation of the resonator guitar. This variant was first explored, and later patented, by Homer Ledford^[9] and called the "dulcibro."

• electric dulcimer: acoustic dulcimers may be electrified with pickups, and several builders produce solid-body electric dulcimers.

• aquavina: a dulcimer employing a metal resonator filled partially with water. The resonator is agitated while playing, producing an eerie oscillation of the harmonics.

• dulcitar or stick dulcimer: a long-necked fretted instrument, similar to a guitar or mandolin, with diatonic dulcimer fretting. These instruments are known by a wide variety of names, with the most common commercial model being the McNally Strumstick.

Production

Appalachian dulcimers are often made by individual craftsmen and small, family-run businesses located in the American South and particularly in Appalachia. Cheap imports from Romania, Pakistan and China are slowly making inroads into the American market.^[10] John Bailey's book, Making an Appalachian Dulcimer,^[11] is one of several still in print that provide instructions for constructing a dulcimer.

See also

• List of Appalachian dulcimer players
• Bowed dulcimer

References

1. ^ http://www.ket.org/mountainborn/jeanritchie.htm
2. ^ Ritchie, Jean. The Dulcimer Book. Music Sales America, 1992. ISBN 978-0-8256-0016-6
3. ^ Force, Robert and d'Ossché, Al. In Search of the Wild Dulcimer. Amsco Music Pub. Co., 1975. ISBN 978-0-8256-2634-0
4. ^ McSpadden, Lynn; French, Dorothy (Ed.). Four and Twenty Songs For The Mountain Dulcimer. Music Sales America, 1992. ISBN 0-8256-2635-8
5. ^ Ralph Lee Smith: Appalachan Dulcimer Traditions, 2 ed. 2010
6. ^ [1], "Joni Mitchell-California (BBC)", YouTube, accessed 2010-12-20.
7. ^ [2], "Stephen Seifert on dulcimer fret patterns", YouTube, accessed 2010-06-16.
8. ^ Smith, L. Allen. A Catalogue of Pre-Revival Appalachian Dulcimers. Harpercollins,1983. ISBN 978-0-8262-0376-2
9. ^ ^{a b c} Alvey, R. Gerald. Dulcimer Maker: The Craft of Homer Ledford. The University Press of Kentucky, 2003. ISBN 978-0-8131-9051-8
10. ^ Active mountain dulcimer builders at everythingdulcimer.com, retrieved October 30, 2011.
11. ^ Bailey, John. Making an Appalachian Dulcimer. English Folk Dance & Song Society, 1966. ISBN 978-0-85418-039-4

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Appalachian dulcimers

• In Search of the Wild Dulcimer - free online version of the book on the author's site.
• Dulcimer Players News, a magazine in publication since 1974, for hammered and fretted "dulcimer" enthusiasts.
• Everything Dulcimer - Online community featuring articles, listings and discussion forums.
• Dulcimerica Video Podcasts
• Friends of the Mountain Dulcimer - a supportive online learning community of mountain dulcimer players.

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