The Name

The name dulcimer is thought to have derived from the greek and latin words dulce and melos, which combine to mean ‘sweet tune’.

Musical Heritage

The hammered dulcimer is a relative of the psaltery, which is an instrument that looks like a harp. Strings are stretched across a wooden board which would have been plucked. The dulcimer is a much larger instrument than the psaltery, and has many more “notes” available to the player.

Construction

The hammered dulcimer is constructed by placing strings across two bridges – the treble on the left of the instrument and the bass bridge on the right. The bridges are cleverly placed so as to give the correct distance to produce a given note.  Some bass strings, which are by necessity quite long, will actually pass through holes or slots in the treble bridge. The strings are placed across the bridges before being wound onto a “tuning pin” which is used for fine-tuning. The strings are anchored at the opposite end of the dulcimer onto a “hitch pin”. Each note may be derived from a course of 2, 3 or 4 strings.

Because of the force exerted by the strings, there is a tendency for the dulcimer to be forced up at each end. This effect – which would normally make the instrument almost impossible to keep in tune – is avoided by the insertion of a metal plate in the bottom of the dulcimer.

  Playing

Each note is then played with hammers. Some hammers have felt or leather pads to generate a softer tone. Wooden hammers without any pads will generate a much louder and brighter tone. The dulcimer is capable of considerable dynamic nuance. A wide range of effects from loud to soft can be achieved, depending on the manner in which the player strikes the strings.

Although, it is a rare occurrence, there are a handful of players who do not use hammers, but who actually pluck the strings.

Cultural Origins

The ancient origins of the dulcimer are in the Near East, where instruments of this type have been played for nearly 5000 years. It was certainly a fully-fledged instrument a thousand years ago in Arabia and Byzantium. In fact carvings of similar instruments that were played using small wooden beaters, date back to 1500 BC.

By way of the old trading routes, the instrument travelled from the Near East to both the east and west, probably around 900 AD. Arabs took it to Spain where a dulcimer-like instrument is depicted on a cathedral relief from 1184 AD. Throughout the late Middle Ages and the Renaissance, the dulcimer remained a popular instrument in both eastern and western Europe.

The first sighting of this instrument in the USA is recorded as 1717 in Salem, Massachusetts. In later years the instrument was popular with the inhabitants of logging camps, where it was known as the “lumberjack’s piano”. The instrument’s journey to the Far East took a lot longer, only arriving at the beginning of the 19th century.

However, the dulcimer’s decline began at this point as competition grew from what many saw as its natural successor – the piano. One early form of piano even bears the name of a 17th century Prussian dulcimer, the “pantaleon”. In fact the greater range, as well of acceptance of the piano, almost saw the obliteration of the hammered dulcimer.

However, due to a dedicated group of players in the UK and elsewhere throughout the World, the dulcimer’s existence is assured. And one of the main reasons – apart from its ‘sweet sound’, is the fact that, unlike the piano, it’s portable, which is why you are listening to it today.