The Appalachian dulcimer, which has many different names (as listed below), is a stringed instrument with frets that belongs to the zither family. It usually has three or four strings and was first played in the Appalachian Mountains of the United States.

The body of the instrument is the same length as the fingerboard, and the frets are arranged to allow playing notes in a specific musical scale.

Name

The Appalachian dulcimer has many different names. It is most commonly called a dulcimer, which can also be spelled as "dulcimore," "dulcymore," "delcimer," "delcimore," and other similar variations.

To tell it apart from the unrelated hammered dulcimer, people add descriptive words based on things like where it is from, how it is played, its shape, and other features.

Examples include mountain dulcimer, Kentucky dulcimer, plucked dulcimer, fretted dulcimer, lap dulcimer, teardrop dulcimer, box dulcimer, and others.

The instrument is also known by several nicknames, some of which are used for other instruments. These include "harmonium," "hog fiddle," "music box," "harmony box," and "mountain zither."

Origins and history

The Appalachian dulcimer first appeared in the early 1800s among Scotch-Irish immigrant communities in the Appalachian Mountains. However, there is no known evidence of the instrument in Ireland, Scotland, or Northern England. Because of this and a lack of written records, the history of the Appalachian dulcimer was uncertain until recent years. Since 1980, more research has shown the instrument’s development through several periods and its possible connections to similar European instruments: the Swedish hummel, the Norwegian langeleik, the German scheitholt, and the French épinette des Vosges. Folk historian Lucy M. Long noted:

Charles Maxson, an Appalachian luthier from Volga, West Virginia, suggested that early settlers could not make the more complex violin in the early days due to a lack of tools and time. This was one reason the dulcimer, which has simpler curves, was created. He also mentioned the langeleik, scheitholt, and épinette des Vosges as possible ancestor instruments.

Few true examples of the mountain dulcimer exist from before about 1880, when J. Edward Thomas of Knott County, Kentucky, began building and selling them. The instrument became popular as a parlor instrument because its quiet sound was well-suited for small home gatherings. However, during the first half of the 20th century, the mountain dulcimer was rare, with only a few makers supplying players in scattered areas of Appalachia. Very few audio recordings of the instrument exist from before the late 1930s.

The soprano Loraine Wyman, who performed Appalachian folk songs in concerts around the time of World War I, helped bring attention to the Appalachian dulcimer by demonstrating it in concerts. She was pictured in Vogue magazine holding her instrument, a Thomas. However, Wyman preferred singing with the support of a piano. The instrument gained widespread popularity in the 1950s during the urban folk music revival in the United States, thanks to Jean Ritchie, a Kentucky musician who performed with the dulcimer in New York City. In the early 1960s, Ritchie and her husband, George Pickow, began distributing dulcimers made by her relative, Jethro Amburgey, a woodworking instructor at the Hindman Settlement School in Kentucky. They later started producing their own instruments in New York City. At the same time, the American folk musician Richard Fariña (1937–1966) also helped spread awareness of the Appalachian dulcimer, and by 1965, the instrument was commonly used in folk music circles.

In addition to Amburgey, who was reducing his production, influential builders in the mid-1960s included Homer Ledford, Lynn McSpadden, A.W. Jeffreys, and Joellen Lapidus.

In 1969, Michael and Howard Rugg formed a company called Capritaurus. They were the first to mass-produce the instrument and made design changes to make it easier to produce and play. They increased the size of the body and replaced traditional wooden pegs with metal friction or geared tuners to improve tuning ease and reliability.

Construction and form

The Appalachian dulcimer is a plucked box-zither, a type of folk instrument. Traditionally, these instruments are made of wood. Early dulcimers were often made from a single type of wood found in the mountain regions where they were built. More recently, construction methods used in guitars have influenced dulcimer design. For example, softer woods like spruce or cedar are often used for the top of the soundbox, while harder woods such as mahogany or rosewood are used for the back, sides, and neck. Hardwoods like rosewood, maple, or ebony are typically used for the fingerboard. Because the modern dulcimer originated in America and is still mostly made there, American hardwoods such as walnut, oak, cherry, and apple are also commonly used.

The Appalachian dulcimer comes in many shapes, sizes, and styles, but some designs are more popular than others. Most dulcimers have a long, narrow soundbox with the "neck" centered in the middle of the soundbox. Typical dulcimers are 70–100 cm (27 1/2–39 1/2 in.) long, 16–19 cm (6 1/2–7 1/2 in.) wide at the widest part, and about 5–6 cm (2–2.5 in.) deep. The top of the fingerboard is about 1.25 cm (1/2 in.) above the soundbox. The soundbox usually has two to four soundholes, with two in the upper and lower parts. These soundholes can be heart-shaped, f-shaped (like those on violins), or custom designs.

The overall shape of the dulcimer has varied, but the most common forms include an hourglass (or figure 8), ellipse, teardrop, and long, narrow trapezoid or rectangle.

At one end of the neck is the headstock, which holds the tuners. Headstocks are often shaped like a scroll (similar to violins) or like those on parlor guitars or banjos. The shape of the headstock may depend on the type of tuners used. Older dulcimers and some modern traditional designs use wooden friction pegs, while newer models often use metal tuning machines.

At the other end of the neck is the tailblock, which holds pins or brads to secure the strings. Strings are stretched between the tuners and the tailblock, passing over a bridge (near the tailblock) and a nut (near the headstock). The nut sets the length of the strings that vibrate. Between the nut and the bridge is the fingerboard, which has 12–16 metal frets spaced in a specific musical pattern. A zero fret may or may not be used. Between the fingerboard and the bridge, the neck is carved to create a hollow area called the strum hollow, where the player strikes the strings with a plectrum, fingers, or beater.

Both single-player and two-player dulcimers have been made, as well as multi-neck models. Most dulcimers are single-neck, single-player instruments with two to a dozen strings. Older models often had three strings, while modern ones typically have 3, 4, 5, or 6 strings arranged in courses (groups of strings). Common string arrangements include:

• 3-string: Three single-string courses.
• 4-string: Three courses (two single-strung, one double-strung), or four single-string courses.
• 5-string: Three courses (two double-strung, one single-strung), or four courses (one double-strung, three single-strung).
• 6-string: Three double-strung courses.

Appalachian dulcimers are often made by individual craftsmen and small family businesses in the American South, especially in Appalachia. Custom-built dulcimers are common and often less expensive than similar custom-made string instruments like guitars or mandolins.

In recent years, inexpensive dulcimers from countries like Romania, Pakistan, and China have started to appear in the American market. John Bailey’s book, Making an Appalachian Dulcimer, is one of several guides still in print that explain how to build a dulcimer.

Frets, strings, tuning and modes

The frets on an Appalachian dulcimer are usually arranged in a diatonic scale. This is different from instruments like the guitar or banjo, which use a chromatic scale. Starting in the mid-1950s, some makers added an extra fret, often called the "6½" or "6+" fret, which is a half step below the octave. This allows players to use the Ionian mode when the dulcimer is tuned to D3-A3-D4, a traditional tuning for the Mixolydian mode. This setup helps with playing melodies and chords together. By the late 1970s, it became common to add another fret, called the "13+" fret, one octave above the 6+ fret. These extra frets eventually became standard.

Some builders later added more frets at positions like "1+" or "8+", or "4+" and "11+". These additions allow players to use more scales and modes without changing the tuning. This trend led to fully chromatic dulcimers, which have twelve frets per octave. These instruments can play in any key without retuning. The Original Chromatic Mountain Dulcimer is a diatonic dulcimer that has five extra frets (0+, 1+, 3+, 4+, and 6+) added in each octave. This allows it to play in every key for more flexibility. Some players once considered chromatic fretting controversial, as traditionalists preferred the simpler diatonic fingerboard.

Appalachian dulcimers are usually strung with metal wire strings. Wound strings may be used for the lower-pitched courses. These strings are similar to those used on banjos and guitars. Before special "dulcimer sets" were made, banjo strings were often used instead. On a typical dulcimer, string gauges range from about 0.010 inches to 0.026 inches in diameter. Other gauges may be used for special tunings or playing styles.

There is no single standard tuning for the Appalachian dulcimer, but certain tunings have become more popular. Traditionally, the dulcimer was tuned (from left to right) to G3-G3-C3, C4-G3-C3, or C4-F3-C3. However, when the instrument is held upright (headstock at the top), the highest-pitched string is on the left. This is the opposite of most other string instruments, where the lowest string is on the left. Dulcimer players usually name their strings from lowest to highest, which means the order is reversed from how they appear on the instrument. For example, the tunings listed above are more commonly written as C3-G3-G3, C3-G3-C4, and C3-F3-C4. This naming convention will be used throughout the text.

During the 1950s and 1960s, players began to favor higher-pitched tunings. This trend is common in many stringed instruments, as higher tunings are often said to make the instrument sound "brighter." As a result, traditional tunings shifted up a whole step, becoming D3-A3-A3, D3-A3-D4, and D3-G3-D4. These are now the most common tunings for three-course Appalachian dulcimers.

The tuning D3-A3-A3 follows a I-V-V harmonic relationship. The tonic note of the diatonic major scale is on the bass string, and the middle and melody strings are a perfect fifth above it. This places the tonic (diatonic) fret on the melody string at the third fret. This setup makes it easier to play melodies in the Ionian mode (the major scale). The melody is played on the top string (or string pair), while the unfretted drone strings provide a simple harmony. This gives the dulcimer its unique sound.

To play in a different key or mode, a traditional player would need to retune the instrument. For example, tuning to D3-A3-C4 allows playing the Aeolian mode (the natural minor scale), where the scale begins at the first fret.

The most common modern tuning is D3-A3-D4. Some teachers prefer the older tuning D3-A3-A3 or the "Reverse Ionian" tuning, D3-G3-D4. In "Reverse" tunings, the key note is on the middle string, and the bass string is the fifth of the scale, but one octave below the middle string. Some teachers suggest this tuning is easier to use. From D3-G3-D4, a capo can be placed on the first fret to play in the Dorian mode, or the second string can be retuned to A3 to play in the Mixolydian mode. From Mixolydian, a capo on the first fret allows playing in the Aeolian mode.

Playing

The Appalachian dulcimer is a simple instrument with three or four strings and a basic fret pattern. It is often considered one of the easiest string instruments to learn. To play it traditionally, the instrument is placed flat on the player’s lap. The right hand plucks or strums the strings, while the left hand presses down on the frets. Alternatively, the dulcimer can be placed on a wooden table, using the table to help amplify the sound. The melody string (or pair of strings) is usually on the player’s side, and the bass string is on the outside.

In traditional playing, a small piece of wood or bamboo called a "noter" is used to press the melody string. The middle and bass strings are left unfretted and produce a continuous, droning sound. This method is now called "noter-drone" play. Some players use a feather without the barbs to strum the dulcimer. Early dulcimers had simple wire staples on the fretboard that only covered part of the fingerboard, allowing only the melody strings to be fretted. By the 1960s, many makers switched to full-width fret wires across the entire fingerboard. This change allowed players to press all strings, enabling chords and a wider range of notes. New playing styles, called "chord-melody" play, developed as a result. Full-width frets also required makers to use equal temperament, a system that ensures consistent tuning. Older instruments with half-width frets often had uneven tuning, which created unique sounds but could cause dissonance when chords were played.

Modern dulcimers with full-width frets allow players to use techniques from other instruments, increasing the dulcimer’s versatility. Many styles of playing have been used over time. Instead of using a pick, players might strum or pluck the strings with their fingers, or even tap them with a small stick. Jean Ritchie’s The Dulcimer Book includes a photo of Mrs. Leah Smith from Kentucky playing the dulcimer with a bow, holding the tail in her lap and the headstock on a table. In In Search of the Wild Dulcimer, Robert Force and Al d’Ossché describe a "guitar style" method where the dulcimer is worn on a strap and strummed like a guitar, though the fretting hand still presses from above. They also mention an "autoharp style" where the dulcimer is held vertically with the headstock over the shoulder. Lynn McSpadden’s Four and Twenty Songs for the Mountain Dulcimer notes that some players tilt the dulcimer sideways on their laps and strum it like a guitar. Others use a fingerstyle technique, pressing chords with the fretting hand and plucking individual strings with the other hand to create soft, flowing patterns.

Contemporary use

The Appalachian dulcimer is an important instrument in American old-time music. Today, people who play the dulcimer use it in many different ways, from traditional folk music to modern and creative styles. Some players use its sound, which is similar to instruments from the Middle East and Asia. More recently, musicians have helped make the electric version of the dulcimer popular. Dulcimer festivals happen often in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Ireland because the Appalachian dulcimer is enjoyed by people in many countries.

Although the mountain dulcimer was once mainly played by older people, younger players have started to take an interest in it. It is easy to learn, so many music teachers use it in classrooms. Because of this, schools sometimes make their own dulcimers. However, these homemade versions are often made from cardboard due to limited money, time, and skill.

Brian Jones of The Rolling Stones played the electric Appalachian dulcimer on their 1966 album Aftermath, especially on the song "Lady Jane." He was seen playing the instrument during a performance on the Ed Sullivan Show. Jones began using the dulcimer after hearing music by Richard Fariña. Another famous player is singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell, who first used the dulcimer in recordings in the late 1960s and on her 1971 album Blue. She also played it in live concerts. Peter Buck of R.E.M. and Paul Westerberg of The Replacements both play the electric Appalachian dulcimer.

Cyndi Lauper is a well-known mountain dulcimer player who studied with David Schnaufer. She used the dulcimer on her ninth album, The Body Acoustic, and performed songs like "Time After Time" and "She Bop" on it during her tour. Some professional musicians who play the dulcimer as their main instrument include Stephen Seifert from Nashville and Irish blues guitarist Rory Gallagher, who used the dulcimer on his later albums. Orlando-based musician Bing Futch plays a special dual-fretboard mountain dulcimer and a custom resonator. He is one of only two mountain dulcimer players to compete in the International Blues Challenge, reaching the semifinals in 2015 and the finals in 2016, where he won "Best Guitarist" in the solo-duo category.

Dave Cousins used both acoustic and electric dulcimers on several albums with the Strawbs.

Variants

The Appalachian dulcimer is a folk instrument that comes in many different forms.

Body Shapes: Dulcimers can have many different body shapes, such as hourglass, teardrop, trapezoid, rectangular, elliptical ("Galax-style"), violin-shaped, fish-shaped, and lute-back. These shapes are described in a book called A Catalog of Pre-Revival Dulcimers.

Materials: Dulcimers are often made from plywood, laminates, or solid wood. Some builders use experimental materials like carbon fiber. Cardboard is also used to make dulcimers, especially for low-cost kits. These cardboard instruments are durable and produce clear sound, making them useful in schools and other educational settings.

Number of Strings: Dulcimers can have as few as two strings or as many as 12 strings (in up to six groups of strings called "courses"). Before the 1960s, most mountain dulcimers had three strings. Today, the most common type has four strings in three courses, with two melody strings.

Sizes and Range: Dulcimers come in different sizes to play a wide range of musical notes. Larger dulcimers, like baritone dulcimers, are tuned to lower pitches. Bass dulcimers are very rare and can be up to four feet long, tuned one octave lower than baritone dulcimers. Smaller dulcimers, like soprano or piccolo dulcimers, are tuned to higher pitches and are easier for children to play. Alto dulcimers are similar to soprano dulcimers but slightly larger and tuned to a lower pitch. Other sizes, such as contrabass dulcimers, have also been experimented with.

Courting Dulcimers: A special type of dulcimer is the "courting dulcimer," which has one body with two separate fingerboards. It is played by two people sitting opposite each other, with the instrument across their laps.

Double-Neck Dulcimers: These dulcimers have two fretboards (or "necks") that face the same direction. They allow players to use different tunings without switching instruments. This type was popularized by musician Bing Futch.

Solid-Body Electric Dulcimer: Some dulcimers are electrified with pickups, and others are made as solid-body electric instruments.

Aquavina: This dulcimer uses a metal resonator partially filled with water. The water is moved while playing, creating a unique, eerie sound.

Bowed Dulcimers: Some dulcimers can be played with a bow. Modern versions are designed specifically for bowed playing.

Guitar Dulcimer: This hybrid instrument has a body like a guitar but uses the string setup and pegs of a dulcimer. The strings are often arranged in reverse, with lower strings on the left and higher strings on the right. It was first created by Homer Ledford and called the "dulcitar."

Dulcitar (Also Called Stick Dulcimer or Strum-Stick): This long-necked instrument is similar to a guitar or mandolin but has a narrower body like an Appalachian dulcimer. It is often called the "McNally Strumstick" in commercial models.

Banjo Dulcimer: This instrument resembles a standard dulcimer but has a banjo-style head on the body. It was first made by Homer Ledford and called the "dulcijo." Similar instruments include the "Ban-Jammer," "Banjimer," and "Banj-Mo." The "Dulci-Jo" is a hybrid with a thumb string, three strings, and a diatonic fret pattern, shaped like a banjo and played upright.

Resonator Dulcimer: This dulcimer has an added resonator, like a resonator guitar. It was first made by Homer Ledford and called the "dulcibro."