History Of Dulcimers

Above - I restored this late 17th or early 18th century in about 2010.

The Hammer Dulcimer is a member of the Zither family of instruments, instruments having strings stretched over a box type frame but without a keyboard. Other members of the Zither family are Psaltery, Auto-harp, Qanun(North Africa) and Koto (Japan). Nomenclature The name Dulcimer comes from Greek and Latin dulce-melos meaning sweet sound but this name for the instrument is only used in English speaking countries. Interestingly, in Greece the word Santuri, (the instrument played by Zorba, in the book 'Zorba the Greek') is apparently related to the Ancient Greek word psallo (to pluck). In Iran the name of instrument is Santur >and in India, Santoor, (same name different spelling). Yang-chin meaning foreign string instrument) is used in China, in Central Europe, Hungary Etc., Cimbalom and derivatives of that name are used. In Germany the instrument is named Hackbrett which is also the name for a butchers chopping board, the look of someone playing a Hackbrett resembles someone, chopping at a chopping board. Dulcimer type instruments exist in many areas of the world and more often than not consist of a trapezoid box with strings stretched over, in courses (sets) of 2 to 6 and are usually divided by a bridge. The bridge splits the strings into two portions, on some instruments both sides of both bridges are playable, although more usually, the left (or treble) bridge is playable both sides. The Bass bridge is played to the left, and to the right side of this bridge are a set of unplayable notes, because they are often out of tune with the instrument.

The essential difference between Dulcimers of different countries is the way the instruments are made and tuned, this combination is what gives each member of the family a different voice. While this is true, it is also possible with minor amendments to technique and minimal adjustments to the instrument to create passable attempts at sounding culturally different. In this country, at this time, the interval between the left and right portions of the strings passing over the treble bridge is usually a fifth. In other countries they may be tuned anything between a semitone and an octave apart. The bass strings passing over the bass bridge are usually only played on the left side. On Music Magic Dulcimers, the bass bridge can be played both sides, the interval across the bridge being two octaves. The lower note on the left and the higher on the right. The advantage of this is that the sympathetic vibrations from the right side of the bridge are in harmony with the pitch of the fundamental note. This gives the bass notes more clarity than on traditional dulcimers, which can often sound quite 'coloured' from the inharmonicity of the notes to the right of the bass bridge being musically at best randomly related. Previously, these strings had sounded, high pitched, slightly random notes that were only useful for special effects! Now they can be used to fill out accompaniments or simply to extend the range of the instrument.