Dulcimer facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Dulcimer

Two types of dulcimer: An Appalachian dulcimer... ...and a hammered dulcimer.
String instrument
Classification	Plucked string instruments Struck string instruments
Developed	Antiquity
Musicians
List of Appalachian dulcimer players List of hammered dulcimer players

The word dulcimer describes two very different kinds of musical string instrument. Both instruments belong to the broader family of zithers, which are instruments with strings stretched across a flat sound box. However, they look different, sound different, and musicians play them in completely different ways.

The first main type is the hammered dulcimer. Musicians play it by tapping dozens of metal strings using small handheld mallets or wooden hammers. The second main type is the Appalachian dulcimer, which is also known as the mountain dulcimer. Musicians place this long, narrow instrument across their laps and pluck or strum its three to six strings with their fingers or a pick.

The word dulcimer has a fascinating origin. It comes from the Latin word dulce, which means sweet, and the Greek word melos, which means tune or melody. Put them together, and the name literally means "sweet sound." Whether struck with hammers or strummed by hand, dulcimers have delighted audiences across the world for centuries with their distinctive ringing tones.

What Is a Hammered Dulcimer?

A hammered dulcimer is a striking acoustic instrument shaped like a trapezoid. This means the wooden body is wider at the bottom and narrower at the top. The instrument features dozens of metal wire strings stretched tightly across its wooden soundboard.

Instead of plucking the strings, a player strikes them using tiny handheld mallets called hammers. These hammers are usually carved from lightweight wood such as cherry, maple, or walnut. Many players cover one side of each hammer head with soft leather or felt. Striking the strings with bare wood creates a bright, sharp sound. Striking them with the felt-covered side makes a soft, mellow tone.

The hammered dulcimer is famous because it is an ancestor of the modern piano. When you press a key on a piano today, an internal felt-covered hammer taps a metal string inside the case. Playing the hammered dulcimer is very similar, except the musician holds the hammers directly in their hands and taps the strings themselves.

How Hammered Dulcimers Work

The physics behind a hammered dulcimer involves tension, string length, and sound resonance. Each string must be tuned to a precise pitch using a metal tuning wrench on side tuning pins.

• Soundboard: The flat top of the wooden box acts as a resonator. It is usually crafted from spruce or mahogany. When a hammer strikes a string, the sound vibrations travel down through bridges into the soundboard.
• Sound Holes: The soundboard features decorative carved holes. These allow the vibrating air inside the hollow wooden body to escape, making the instrument louder.
• Bridges: Long strips of wood run vertically down the soundboard. The strings pass over these bridges, which divide the strings into specific playable lengths.
• Courses: Dulcimer strings are grouped into courses. A course usually consists of two, three, or four strings tuned to the exact same musical pitch. When tapped together, they produce a rich, ringing chime.

Because hammered dulcimers do not usually have damping pads like pianos do, the strings keep ringing for several seconds after being struck. This gives the instrument its signature magical, shimmering echo.

Global Cousins of the Hammered Dulcimer

Instruments built like the hammered dulcimer exist all around the globe. Many historians believe the instrument first developed in ancient Persia and the Middle East before spreading along international trade routes like the Silk Road into Europe and Asia.

The Santur and Santoor

In Iran and Iraq, the instrument is called the santur. It is an ancient instrument made of walnut wood with seventy-two strings. Persian classical musicians play it with delicate wooden mallets called mezrab.

In northern India and Pakistan, a close relative is known as the santoor. The Indian santoor is slightly deeper and holds around one hundred strings. Master musicians play classical ragas on it, using curved walnut hammers.

The European Cimbalom and Hackbrett

When the hammered dulcimer traveled into Europe during the Middle Ages, different countries gave it local names and designs.

• Cimbalom: Popular in Hungary, Romania (where it is called the țambal), and Ukraine (called the tsymbaly). In the 1870s, Hungarian inventor József Schunda designed a concert cimbalom. This massive concert version features legs, heavy steel frames, and a foot damper pedal just like a piano.
• Hackbrett: Found in southern Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. The name translates roughly to "chopping board" because the fast hammer motions look a bit like chopping vegetables. Musicians use it widely in traditional Alpine folk music.
• Santouri: A popular folk instrument in Greece. Greek musicians play it at festivals, weddings, and village dances.

East Asian Dulcimers

During the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, European traders and travelers brought hammered dulcimers to East Asia.

• Yangqin: In China, the instrument became known as the yangqin, which translates to "foreign zither." Chinese players use flexible bamboo beaters without handles to play fast, decorative melodies.
• Khim: In Cambodia, Laos, and Thailand, musicians play this bright, light brass-stringed instrument in traditional palace orchestras.
• Đàn tam thập lục: A Vietnamese version containing thirty-six strings, used in traditional chamber music.
• Yanggeum: In Korea, this metal-stringed zither is played using a single bamboo stick rather than two.

What Is an Appalachian Mountain Dulcimer?

The Appalachian dulcimer is an entirely different instrument from the hammered dulcimer, despite sharing the same name. It is a fretted string instrument that belongs to the plucked zither family.

The Appalachian dulcimer has a long, slender wooden body shaped like an hourglass, a teardrop, or an ellipse. It typically features three, four, or sometimes six steel strings. The player rests the instrument flat across their lap while seated on a chair. With their left hand, the player presses the strings against metal frets to change notes. With their right hand, they strum or pluck the strings.

History of the Appalachian Dulcimer

The Appalachian dulcimer developed in the nineteenth century in the Appalachian Mountain region of the eastern United States. German, Scotch-Irish, and English immigrants settled throughout the rugged hills and valleys of states like Kentucky, Virginia, North Carolina, and West Virginia.

These settlers brought their musical traditions with them. German immigrants brought a traditional folk zither called the scheitholt, while Scandinavian settlers brought similar instruments like the hummel. Because materials were scarce in remote mountain communities, clever local craftspeople simplified these designs. They added a raised fingerboard onto a hollow wooden soundbox.

Settlers were familiar with the word dulcimer because the term appeared in the famous King James Bible translation. They chose this lovely ancient word to describe their new homemade American invention.

Anatomy and Mechanics of the Appalachian Dulcimer

The Appalachian dulcimer is famous for being simple to build and easy for beginners to learn.

• Scroll and Pegbox: At the top end, carved wooden or mechanical tuning pegs hold the strings in place. The headstock is often shaped into an elegant wooden scroll.
• Fretboard: Unlike a guitar, where the frets are placed along an open neck, the dulcimer fretboard is glued directly onto the top of the body.
• Diatonic Frets: Most modern guitars feature chromatic fretting, which includes all twelve notes of musical octaves. The Appalachian dulcimer uses a diatonic fret pattern, matching the white keys of a piano. This means almost any note you play sounds harmonious, making it almost impossible to hit a wrong note.
• Sound Holes: The body features sound holes cut into the top board. Traditional makers often carved these holes into classic shapes like hearts, diamonds, or weeping willows.
• Strum Hollow: Near the bottom bridge, the wooden fingerboard dips down. This dip gives the musician's strumming hand plenty of room to sweep across the strings without hitting the wood.

Traditional Playing Techniques

Musicians have developed several creative styles for playing the mountain dulcimer over the last two centuries.

The Noter and Feather Method

The oldest traditional playing style uses a smooth wooden stick called a "noter." The player holds the noter in their left hand and slides it up and down only the melody string (the string closest to their body).

Meanwhile, the other strings are left open to hum continuously on single background notes. These constant background notes are called drones. To strum the strings, traditional players often used the quill of a goose feather. This technique creates a buzzing, sweet, and ancient drone sound similar to Scottish bagpipes.

Fingerpicking and Chording

In the twentieth century, musicians began playing the mountain dulcimer using modern fingerpicking techniques. Instead of playing just one melody string with a stick, players use all their left-hand fingers to form complex musical chords across every string. Players can perform modern folk, blues, and classical songs using these advanced methods.

Twentieth Century Variations and Modern Inventions

During the American folk music revival of the 1950s and 1960s, musicians such as Jean Ritchie popularized the mountain dulcimer across big cities and television broadcasts. Ritchie was born in Viper, Kentucky, and grew up singing traditional mountain ballads. Her performances brought the quiet folk instrument onto international concert stages.

As more musicians fell in love with the dulcimer, creative builders began inventing new variations:

• Banjo dulcimer: This hybrid instrument replaces the wooden top of a mountain dulcimer with a stretched drumhead skin. It produces a loud, snappy, percussive tone similar to a five-string banjo.
• Resonator dulcimer: Inspired by resonator guitars, this design includes a spun aluminum cone built directly inside the wooden body. The metal cone amplifies the acoustic volume so the instrument can be heard over loud fiddles.
• Bowed dulcimer: A teardrop-shaped instrument equipped with an arched bridge. Players hold it upright between their knees like a small cello and draw a horsehair violin bow across the strings.
• Electric dulcimer: Modern luthiers (instrument makers) install magnetic pickups under the strings. Players can plug electric dulcimers into guitar amplifiers, sound systems, and electronic effect pedals to play modern rock, jazz, and ambient music.
• Courting Dulcimer: A special double-fretted dulcimer built with two soundboxes joined side by side. Two people sit facing each other with the instrument resting between their laps, playing musical duets together.

Comparison Between Dulcimer Types

To understand how different these two instruments are, it helps to compare their main characteristics side by side:

How to Care for a Dulcimer

Whether an instrument is hammered or strummed, wooden musical instruments require careful handling to sound their best and last for generations.

• Humidity and Climate: Dulcimers are crafted from thin sheets of fine tonewoods like spruce, walnut, maple, and cherry. Sudden shifts in temperature or humidity can cause the wood to expand, shrink, or crack. Musicians keep their instruments away from hot radiators, air conditioners, and direct sunlight.
• Tuning Maintenance: Because a hammered dulcimer has dozens of strings pulling with thousands of pounds of combined mechanical tension, it needs frequent tuning. Appalachian dulcimers have far fewer strings, making tuning faster and simpler.
• Cleaning Strings: Steel and brass strings gather moisture and oils from hands. Wiping down the strings with a soft, clean, lint-free cotton cloth after playing prevents rust and keeps the notes bright.
• Safe Storage: Always store string instruments in a padded gig bag or a sturdy hardshell case when not practicing. This protects the delicate soundboard and tuning pins from accidental bumps and dust.

Summary

The word dulcimer represents a rich tale of two instruments sharing a single name. The hammered dulcimer connects musicians to ancient traditions across Persia, Asia, and medieval Europe, setting the stage for the modern piano. Meanwhile, the Appalachian dulcimer represents American folk ingenuity, transforming immigrant traditions into a sweet, peaceful instrument that anyone can learn to play.

Related Pages

• Zither
• Psaltery
• Folk music
• String instrument
• Banjo