Mountain Dulcimer
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| Other names | dulcimer, mountain dulcimer, lap dulcimer, fretted dulcimer, dulcimore, et al. |
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| Typical modern: D3-D6 (diatonic) | |
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The Appalachian dulcimer (many variant names; see below) is a fretted string instrument of the zither family, typically with three or four strings, originally played in the Appalachian region of the United States. The body extends the length of the fingerboard, and its fretting is generally diatonic.
The Appalachian dulcimer has many variant names. Most often it is simply called a dulcimer (also rendered as "dulcimore", "dulcymore", "delcimer", "delcimore", et al.). When it needs to be distinguished from the unrelated Hammered dulcimer, various adjectives are added (drawn from location, playing style, position, shape, etc.), for example: mountain dulcimer; Kentucky dulcimer; plucked dulcimer; fretted dulcimer; lap dulcimer; teardrop dulcimer; box dulcimer; etc. The instrument has also acquired a number of nicknames (some shared by other instruments): "harmonium," "hog fiddle," "music box," "harmony box," and "mountain zither".
Although the Appalachian dulcimer first appeared in the early 19th century among Scots-Irish immigrant communities in the Appalachian Mountains, the instrument has no known precedent in Ireland or Scotland. Because of this, and a dearth of written records, the history of the Appalachian dulcimer has been, until fairly recently, largely speculative. Since 1980, more extensive research has traced the instrument's development through several distinct periods, and likely origins in several similar European instruments: the Swedish hummel, the Norwegian langeleik, the German Scheitholt, and the French épinette des vosges. Folk historian Lucy M. Long said of the instrument's history:
Because few historical records of the dulcimer exist, the origins of the instrument were open to speculation until recently when Ralph Lee Smith and L. Alan Smith reconstructed the instrument's history by analyzing older dulcimers. The organological development of the dulcimer divides into three periods: transitional (1700 to mid-1800s), pre-revival or traditional (mid-1800s to 1940), and revival or contemporary (after 1940).
Charles Maxson, an Appalachian luthier from Volga, West Virginia, speculated that early settlers were unable to make the more complex violin in the early days because of lack of tools and time. This was one of the factors which led to the building of the dulcimer, which has less dramatic curves. He too cited the langleik, scheitholt and épinette des Vosges as ancestor instruments.
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