The history of the Mountain Dulcimer.

1. The Mountain Dulcimer
Alice B. Hambright

2. Names of the Mountain Dulcimer
• Appalachian dulcimer
• Lap dulcimer
• Mountain dulcimer
• Kentucky dulcimer
• Delcumer
• Dulcymore
• Harmonium
• Hog fiddle
• Music box
• Harmony box
…a rose by any ot

3. Origins of the Mountain Dulcimer
Three periods of dulcimer development:
•transitional (1700 to mid-1800's),
•pre-revival or traditional (mid-1800's to 1940), and
•revival or contemporary (after 1940).
Ralph Lee Smith and L. Alan Smith recently reconstructed
the instrument's history by analyzing older dulcimers.

4. Transitional (1700 to mid-1800's)
• Dulcimer was originally developed mainly in the
Shenandoah River Valley in Pennsylvania and in
western Virginia and parts of the Carolinas
• Blending of British (mostly Ulster Scots and
lowland Scots) musical traditions and European
folk instruments (more about this later)
• Narrow fretboard attached to a larger soundbox
underneath but many design and construction
variations

5. Pre-revival or Traditional
(mid-1800's to 1940)
• J. Edward Thomas of Knott County,
Kentucky and C. P. Pritchard of
Huntington, West Virginia manufactured
and marketed hourglass dulcimers with
three strings.
• End of the 1800s - the settlement school
and crafts movements brought the
dulcimer to the attention of outsiders
• Folk music and dulcimer romanticized

6. Unidentified Dulcimer Player
This type of
dulcimer was
often called
a Tennessee
music box.

7. Revival or Contemporary (after 1940)
• Dulcimer entered the urban
northeast folk music revival
scene
• First major dulcimer instruction
and repertoire book (1963)
written and published by Jean
Ritchie
• Dulcimer introduced to national
and international audiences
Jean Ritchie

8. The Mountain Dulcimer Today
• Dulcimer more mainstream
• David Schnaufer (pictured at left)
taught mountain dulcimer classes
in Vanderbilt University’s Blair
School of Music
• Dulcimer clubs, festivals, clinics,
workshops, concerts, jams, CDs,
etc.
• Dulcimers and dulcimer training
materials readily available

9. Origins of the Mountain Dulcimer
• Classified as a “zither”
(diatonic = do, re, me, fa, so, la, ti, do)
• Germanic = “Scheitholt”
(probably originated in the Middle Ages)
• French = “Epinette des Vosges”
• Swedish = “Humle”
• Norwegian = “Langeleik”
• Icelandic = “Langspil”

10. German Scheitholts
and
French Epinette des Vosges

11. Swedish Humles
Otto Malmberg and his Swedish humles, 1917
-near Asheville, North Carolina

12. Norwegian Langeleik and
Icelandic Langspil
Norwegian Langeleik, made in the 18th century
-pictured above
Icelandic langspil player, 1890
-picture at right

13. “Mountain Dulcimer” Named After the
English Hammered Dulcimer
• Two main reasons
1. Both the hammered dulcimer and the mountain dulcimer sound “sweet”
• Dulcimer in Greek is “dulce” meaning “Sweet”
• Dulcimer in Latin is “melos” meaning “Song”
• Dulcimer = “Sweet Song”
2. England was the sole northern European country
without an instrument related to the dulcimer.
They thought the instrument sounded similar to
their hammered dulcimer, so that’s what they
called it.
Hammered Dulcimer
Mountain Dulcimer
Hammer Dulcimer

14. Mountain Dulcimer Construction
• The type of wood used will affect the
sound of the dulcimer
– Most original dulcimers (1700s & early
1800s) were made of poplar wood
• Most common wood used today
– Cherry (bright sound – louder)
– Walnut (mellow quieter sound)
– Spruce (neither too bright nor too soft)

15. Mountain Dulcimer Construction
• Friction tuning pegs
– Wooden - Traditional but will not
hold the tune as well as the
modern tuners
• Geared tuning pegs
– Metal – more common today –
better at holding the tune longer

16. Ways to Play
the Mountain Dulcimer
• Pluck the strings
– With your fingers (fingerpicking)
– With a pick (flatpicking)
– With a quill (or feather – traditional)
• Strum the strings
– With a pick
– With your fingers
• Bow the strings
– With a bow
NOTE:
A “Noter” (or stick)
was traditionally used
to press the melody
string when
strumming the
mountain dulcimer.

17. Mountain Dulcimer Music
• Traditionally played using three strings
– One melody string and two droning strings
– Fingerpicking and/or flatpicking all strings
becoming more common
• Sometimes four strings are used
– Most often two melody strings tuned the
same and played at the same time
(increases volume and fullness of the music)
– Rarely four equal-distance strings played

18. Mountain Dulcimer Music
• To change the key you have to
tune to a different key
– Dulcimers are diatonic NOT
chromatic
• Most common tunings
– Ionian (traditional – key of C)
– Mixolydian (most common today –
key of D)

19. Mountain Dulcimer Music
• Traditionally “Tablature” or “Tab” is used
instead of notes on a staff
The numbered line above is read and played.

20. Unidentified Dulcimer Player,
circa 1930
Notice he is
playing his
dulcimer with
a quill.

21. Mrs. Leah Smith, circa 1940
Notice she is
playing her
dulcimer with
a bow.

22. Will Singleton,
dulcimer maker,
Viper, Kentucky
circa 1929
Notice he is
playing his dulcimer
with a noter.

23. Children at play, circa 1930

24. John Jacob Niles, July 4, 1934
Photograph
taken in
Brasstown,
North Carolina
on
Old Timers Day

25. The Cadwells of Kentucky
circa 1930

26. Unidentified
Dulcimer Player,
with his wife
circa 1930

27. Traditional Dulcimer Music
• The Old Gray Goose
• Sweet Betsy From Pike
• Old Joe Clark
• You Are My Sunshine
• John Henry
• Amazing Grace
• Shenandoah
• Tom Dooley
• Down in the Valley
• Foggy Dew
…Folk Music and G

28. The Hourglass
Dulcimer
made by J.E. Thomas,
Bath, Kentucky, 1927

29. 2008 Hourglass
Dulcimers
Made by the
McSpadden
family,
Mountainview,
Arkansas

30. The Teardrop
Dulcimer
made by W. Ham,
North Carolina, mid 19th century

31. 2008 Teardrop
Dulcimers
Made by the
McSpadden
family,
Mountainview,
Arkansas
Made by
Folkcraft Mountain Dulcimers
Made by
Gila Mountain Dulcimers

32. The Cardboard
Dulcimer
widely used for training

33. Courtin’ Dulcimers
Then and Now

34. Courtin’ Dulcimer
This particular courtin’ dulcimer was built especially for
one right-handed and one left-handed player.
Players are
John Renwick
of Charlotte, NC
and
Sarah Elizabeth
of Nashville, TN.

35. Other Mountain Instruments
Bowed Psaltery
Limberjack

36. Questions?