The hammered dulcimer (also called the hammer dulcimer) is an instrument that makes sound by hitting strings. It has strings stretched over a board shaped like a trapezoid, which helps make the sound louder. The instrument is placed in front of the musician, who may sit cross-legged on the floor in traditional styles or sit or stand at a wooden stand with legs in modern styles. The player uses small, spoon-shaped mallets or hammers in each hand to strike the strings. The word "dulcimer" comes from Latin and Greek words meaning "sweet song." The dulcimer, which uses hammers to hit strings, was developed from the psaltery, an instrument where strings are plucked instead of hit.
Hammered dulcimers and similar instruments are traditionally played in Iraq, India, Iran, Southwest Asia, China, Korea, and parts of Southeast Asia, Central Europe (Hungary, Slovenia, Romania, Slovakia, Poland, Czech Republic, Switzerland [particularly Appenzell], Austria, and Bavaria), the Balkans, Eastern Europe (Ukraine and Belarus), and Scandinavia. The instrument is also played in the United Kingdom (Wales, East Anglia, and Northumbria) and the United States, where its use in folk music was revived in the late 20th century.
History
The santur, a type of hammered dulcimer, comes from the Middle East. The oldest records of the instrument are found in stone carvings from Assyrian and Babylonian cultures dating to 669 BC. These carvings show people playing the instrument by hanging it around their neck. Over time, the santur was traded and moved to many areas in the Middle East. Musicians changed the original design, which led to many different musical scales and tunings. The earliest santur was probably made from wood and stone and had strings made from goat intestines. The Babylonian version of the santur was the ancestor of the harp, yangqin, harpsichord, qanun, cimbalom, and other hammered dulcimers.
In Western Europe, the hammered dulcimer was first found in written records and pictures from the early 15th century. During the Middle Ages, the instrument was widely used in England, France, Italy, Germany, the Netherlands, and Spain.
Strings and tuning
A dulcimer typically has two bridges: a bass bridge near the right side and a treble bridge on the left. The bass bridge supports bass strings, which are played to the left of the bridge. The treble strings can be played on either side of the treble bridge. Usually, playing them on the left side produces a note that is a fifth higher than playing them on the right side.
Dulcimers come in different sizes, identified by the number of strings that cross each bridge. For example, a 15/14 dulcimer has 15 strings crossing the treble bridge and 14 crossing the bass bridge. This design allows the instrument to span three octaves. The strings of a hammered dulcimer are often grouped in pairs, with two strings for each note (some instruments have three or four strings per note). Each group of strings is called a course and is tuned to the same pitch. Using multiple strings per course makes the instrument louder, though the strings are rarely perfectly in unison, creating a chorus-like sound similar to a mandolin. The strings are wrapped around tuning pins with square heads, typically 5 mm "zither pins," which are smaller than piano tuning pins. Tuning requires a wrench, like those used for an autoharp, harp, or piano.
The strings of a hammered dulcimer are often tuned using a circle of fifths pattern. The lowest note (usually a G or D) is played near the lower right-hand side of the instrument, just to the left of the right-hand (bass) bridge. As a player strikes the courses above in sequence, the notes follow a repeating pattern of two whole steps and a half step. This tuning divides a diatonic scale into two tetrachords, or groups of four notes. For example, on a dulcimer with D as the lowest note, the D major scale is played starting at the lower-right corner and ascending the bass bridge: D – E – F♯ – G. This is the lower tetrachord of the D major scale. The player then shifts to the treble strings on the right side of the treble bridge to play the higher tetrachord: A – B – C♯ – D. Continuing up the scale on the right side of the treble bridge produces E – F♯ – G – A – B, but the next note would be C, not C♯, so the player must switch to the left side of the treble bridge to continue the D major scale.
The shift from the bass bridge to the treble bridge is necessary because the bass bridge’s fourth string, G, marks the start of the lower tetrachord of the G scale. The player can continue up a few notes (G – A – B), but the next note would be a flatted seventh (C natural), drawn from the G tetrachord. This creates a D major scale with a flatted seventh, known as the mixolydian mode in D.
The same pattern applies when moving up the treble bridge: after reaching B (La), the player must shift to the left side of the treble bridge. Moving from the left side of the bass bridge to the right side of the treble bridge is similar to moving from the right side of the treble bridge to the left side.
The entire pattern can be shifted up by three courses to create a G-major scale or other scales. This process changes one scale to another. Shifting down three courses changes the D-major scale to A-major, though the first note of the scale may no longer be playable on the instrument.
This tuning system provides most, but not all, notes of the chromatic scale. To fill gaps, many modern dulcimer builders add extra short bridges at the top and bottom of the soundboard, where additional strings are tuned to missing pitches. These instruments are often called "chromatic dulcimers," while traditional ones are called "diatonic dulcimers."
Tetrachord markers on the bridges of most hammered dulcimers in English-speaking countries were introduced by American player and maker Sam Rizzetta in the 1960s.
In the Alps, there are also chromatic dulcimers with crossed strings, where each row of strings is a whole tone apart. This instrument, called the Salzburger hackbrett, was developed in the mid-1930s by Tobi Reizer, his son, Franz Peyer, and Heinrich Bandzauner. It was later taught in state-sponsored music schools after World War II.
Hammered dulcimers from non-European traditions may use different tuning systems. Builders of European-style dulcimers sometimes experiment with alternate tuning patterns as well.
Hammers
The instrument is called "hammered" because players use small mallets (called hammers) to strike the strings. Hammers are often made of wood, such as maple, cherry, padauk, oak, walnut, or other hardwoods, but they can also be made from materials like metal or plastic. In the Western hemisphere, hammers are usually stiff, while in Asia, flexible hammers are often used. The head of a hammer may be left uncovered for a sharp, clear sound or covered with tape, leather, or fabric for a softer sound. Some hammers have two sides. The heads of these two-sided hammers are usually oval or round. One side is often left as bare wood, while the other side may be covered with leather or a softer material like piano felt.
Some traditional players used hammers that were very different from modern ones. Paul Van Arsdale (1920–2018), a musician from upstate New York, used flexible hammers made from hacksaw blades with wooden blocks covered in leather attached to the ends. These were inspired by the hammers used by his grandfather, Jesse Martin. The Irish musician John Rea (1915–1983) made his own hammers from thick steel wire, which he formed from old bicycle wheel spokes wrapped with wool. Billy Bennington (1900–1986), a musician from Norfolk, England, used hammers made of cane covered with wool.
Like the dulcimer, the piano uses a hammering action to strike its strings.
Variants and adaptations
Different types of hammered dulcimers exist worldwide. Each type has its own unique way of being built and played.