Dulcimer

Dulcimer is the name given to two types of stringed musical instrument, which either struck or plucked:

• The Appalachian dulcimer, which is also referred to as a mountain dulcimer or just a dulcimer, and
• The Hammered Dulcimer

The instruments are quite different, yet they are both a member of the zither family of instruments.

The Appalachian Dulcimer

The Appalachian dulcimer is a fretted string instrument with three or four strings. The body extends the length of the fingerboard and traditionally has an hourglass shape. A traditional way to play the instrument is to lay it flat on the lap and pluck or strum the strings with one hand, while fretting with the other. In practice, a wide variety of playing styles are used.

When four strings are used, the first 2 strings are placed close together and tuned the same. This can be used to emphasize the melody, while the other two strings are used as drone strings.

The frets of the Appalachian dulcimer are arranged in a diatonic scale.

It is widely used in the American Bluegrass music tradition. This instrument first appeared in the early 1800s in the southern Appalacian Mountains[?], and is thus also called a mountain dulcimer.

The Hammered Dulcimer

The hammered dulcimer has strings stretched over a trapezoidal sounding board, typically struck with hammers. The instrument is typically set at an angle on a stand in front of the musician, who holds a hammer in either hand with which to strike the strings.

Versions of this instrument are recorded in Europe and the Middle East throughout recorded history. In Eastern Europe a larger descendant of the hammered dulcimer called the cimbalom is also played which has been used by a number of classical composers, including Zoltan Kodaly and Igor Stravinsky.

The instrument has seen somewhat of a revival in America in the Americal Folk music and Bluegrass traditions. It is also still played in Wales, Northumbria, and the Middle East.

External link

• The Hammered Dulcimer Page (http://www.rtpnet.org/~hdweb/)