The mountain dulcimer is a fretted string instrument of the zither family.
It is native to the Appalachian region of the United States. It is a traditional American folk instrument with a soft, melodic sound, typically held on the player’s lap or a table while being played.
History and Origin
The mountain dulcimer is one of the few musical instruments considered to be truly American in origin, having been developed in the early 19th century by German and Scotch-Irish settlers in the Appalachian Mountains. Its design evolved from older European fretted zithers like the German Scheitholt and the Norwegian langeleik.
The instrument saw a decline in popularity with the rise of mass-produced, louder instruments like the guitar and banjo, but experienced a significant revival during the American folk music movement of the 1950s and 1960s.
Not to be confused with the Hammered Dulcimer
The mountain dulcimer is distinct from the hammered dulcimer, which is a larger, often trapezoidal instrument with many strings that are played by striking them with small wooden mallets.
The mountain dulcimer, in contrast, is a plucked or strummed zither.
Type: A box zither, meaning its strings are stretched across the entire length of its body, which usually has a narrow, elongated shape (most commonly hourglass or teardrop).
Strings: Most modern mountain dulcimers have three or four strings, which are arranged in courses (sometimes with doubled melody strings). The strings are made of metal wire.
Fretting: The fretboard is typically fretted diatonically, rather than chromatically like a guitar or banjo. This simplified fretting makes it a very accessible instrument for beginners to learn to play simple melodies.
Playing Style: The traditional method involves the player using a pick or a turkey feather to strum the strings with one hand, while using a small wooden stick called a “noter” or their fingers with the other hand to press the melody string(s) against the frets. The other strings typically act as “drones,” providing a constant harmonic background, similar to a bagpipe.
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