What is a Hammered Dulcimer, Anyway?

The hammered dulcimer or hammer dulcimer is an ancient trapezoidal music instrument with several courses of strings. It is played by striking the strings with hammers. (More Anatomical Details)

Dulcimers originated in the Middle East, probably during the first millennium A.D. The instrument was brought to Europe from the Middle East during the Crusades, and similar instruments have spread around the world. Dulcimers have many names in many lands: dulcymore, tiompan, tsimbaly, santour, yang q'in, hackbrett and cymbalom. The name "dulcimer" is derived from Latin, meaning "sweet sound". Hammered dulcimers were popular in England during the reign of James I, when the Bible was translated into English as the King James Bible. The dulcimer was mentioned in the Book of Daniel 3:5 among other instruments "..the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, dulcimer, and all kinds of musick..."

The Appalachian Dulcimer, also known as the "mountain", "lap" or "fretted" dulcimer is a more modern instrument which was born in the Appalachian mountains with some ancestral ties to earlier German and Scandinavian instruments, and the French epinette de Vosges. The most likely explanation for the application of the name "dulcimer" to the Appalachian dulcimer is that the name for the Appalachian instrument was taken from the Biblical reference to the hammered dulcimer. In recent years, the Appalachian dulcimer has undergone a revolution in both construction and playing styles.

Appalachian, mountain or lap dulcimer

The Keyed Dulcimer

The dulcimer was involved in a revolution over 200 years ago, when the hammer dulcimer and the harpsichord became the immediate parents of the pianoforte. Harpsichords are not amenable to playing with dynamics. Pushing the keys harder or softer does not give you a stronger (forte) or softer (piano) sound, and pushing too strongly can damage the instrument. A dulcimer, on the other hand, is capable of playing with dynamics. Strike softly for soft sounds: strike hard for loud. Mechanizing the hammered dulcimer action and linking it to a harpsichord keyboard gives you a keyboard instrument that can play soft and loud, "piano " and "forte". A piano could be described as a mechanized hammer dulcimer operated by keys derived from a harpsichord. Thus the pianoforte is more aptly described as the "keyed dulcimer" than as an "improved harpsichord".

Toward the end of the 17th Century and beginning of the 18th, harpsichordists were complaining to instrument makers about the harpsichord's lack of dynamic responsiveness. The direct impetus for the "keyed dulcimer", from the dulcimer side was the German musician Pantaleon Heibenstreit. Pantaleon, a dulcimist, constructed a hammered dulcimer some 9 feet long with over 200 strings, and two soundboards. The instrument was also described as having two strings per course, one wire, one silk or gut. Pantaleon toured Europe in the late 1600's early 1700's; and his playing so impressed Louis XIV that the Sun King christened the instrument the "Pantaleon". The pantaleon had what the harpsichord didn't - dynamics, and Heibenstreit and the "Pantaleon" were the rage of the Continent.

Bartolemeo Cristofori was a leading Italian harpsichord maker with access to the Medici music instrument collection in Florence. It is not whether Pantaleon ever performed in Florence, though this might have happened, and there are some vague hints that Pantaleon Heibenstreit and Cristofori may have met. Cristofori was almost certainly aware of the potential market among harpsichordists, and of Pantaleon's instrument. In the early 1700's, Cristofori came up with an keyed instrument in which hammers responsive to keys would strike the strings, instantly rebound, and strike with varying force - producing varying volume at the will of the player. This was what many acknowledge as the first pianoforte, a "keyed dulcimer", with mechanized hammers linked to the keys, an escapement to move the hammers off the strings after striking so the strings could ring, and dampers to stop the sound when the fingers left the keys. He even used two strings per course, as did Pantaleon, and Cristofori's instrument even had a damper pedal. Voila, a keyed dulcimer.

Pantaleon eventually settled down in Germany, became Protestant court composer to Augustus the Strong, and gave up playing dulcimer (the "pantaleon") in 1733 due to failing eyesight. From '34 to his death in '50 or '51 (sources vary), he was a court choir director in Dresden. There are references to his having composed some ten orchestral suites which were lost in the Allied bombings WWII. Apparently the "pantaleon" dulcimer performances were improvisational and there seems to be no mention of them being written down.

Sic transit Heibenstreit, the dulcimist who inspired the piano.

Thought for the day - If you think of the hammer dulcimer and the harpsichord as the parents of the pianoforte, and think of a digital sampler as a child of the pianoforte, then what do you call a digital sampler playing a hammer dulcimer patch?

The Zither Family Classification System - After much scholarly discussion on the hammerd@mcs.com list, we decided to add a discussion of zithers.

Around the turn of the 20th Century, a German music scholar classified hammered dulcimers as members of what he called the "zither family". The German/Austrian/Swiss concert zither was popular at the time in German speaking countries. A century or so earlier, "zither" was an alternate German term for "cittern", an instrument with a fretted neck like guitars, lutes and mandolins.

German Concert Zither, in its case

The "zither family" classification ignores history (the hammered dulcimer is a much older instrument); construction (the zither has fretted melody strings and no central bridges); and playing technique (zithers are plucked and fretted, not struck). Both hammered dulcimers and concert zithers, like psalteries, harpsichords and pianofortes, do have free strings running parallel to the soundboard. (Harps, in contrast, have free strings perpendicular to the soundboard.) The "zither family" classification still crops up today, though it is by no means the only instrument classification nomenclature in use, nor is it particularly useful for understanding the history of the hammered dulcimer.

A short explanation of the working parts, and tuning of a typical hammered dulcimer.

A typical North American hammered dulcimer corresponds to the diagram below.

The strings are arranged in unison pairs or triplets, called "courses". The treble courses run from hitch pins in one pin block, over the treble bridge and under the bass bridge, to tuning pins on the other pin block.* The bass courses run over the bass bridge and under the treble bridge. The treble bridge is arranged so that each portion of a treble string course to the left of the treble bridge is a perfect fifth higher than the portion to the right, so the treble courses are playable on both sides of the treble bridge. Usually the bass strings are playable only on the left side of the bass bridge.
* (Some builders may put hitch pins and tuning pins on both sides; and some use another set of tuning pins as hitch pins, for tuning from either side.)

This string and bridge arrangement allows a considerable range in a compact space. It also leads to severe visual disorientation if one focuses on the strings instead of the bridges. The visual disorientation is even worse when bright lighting casts shadows of strings on the soundboard.

The treble strings are tuned in diatonic (do re mi) scales in groups of four courses. For example, from the lowest of the white position markers to the next marker, the treble courses on the right of the treble bridge would sound D, E, F#, G; and on the left (a fifth higher) A, B, C#, D'. From the second postion marker to the third, we would have G, A, B, C on the right and D, E, F#, G' on the left. And so on.

Common bass tunings are fifth bass and the older octave bass. In fifth bass tunings, the bass string course immediately below (and to the right) of a right hand treble course is tuned a fifth lower. For example, a G would be the bass string note next to the treble string D. In octave bass tunings, it is one octave lower. Extra strings, and even extra bridges are used to add notes missing from the diatonic scales. Extra octaves may also be added at the top or bottom. In current parlance, the size and range of a dulcimer is indicated by what looks like a fraction: "12/11" or "15/14". The first number in a pair refers to the number of treble courses; the second to the number of bass courses. The tuning description above with a D scale starting at the lowest position marker is typical for a 12/11. On a typical 15/14, the extra course is an A scale, below the D course.

The tuning arrangement is "left handed" compared to the dulcimer's daughter, the pianoforte. On the dulcimer, lower pitches are to the right; on the piano the higher pitches are to the right.

Appalachian Mountain Dulcimer

Its song is reminiscent of the Scottish bagpipe. There is no question, however, that the Appalachian Mountain Dulcimer is a true American original.

Also known as the Lap Fretted Dulcimer, this instrument takes its roots from the Greek dulce, meaning sweet, and menos, meaning song. Through history, the "sweet song" of this unique instrument has frequently changed, shaped by the hands of succeeding generations.

Today's Appalachian Mountain Dulcimer traces its recent origins to the Appalachian Mountains of West Virginia. Its lineage, however, goes back much further, to the cradle of Western civilization

Genealogy

The Appalachian Mountain Dulcimer falls within the broader category of musical instruments called zithers.

Zithers are stringed instruments characterized by the position and length of the strings. The strings lie parallel to the surface of the string bearer, or resonator, and they are the same length as the resonator.

There are two major subdivisions within the zither group. The long zither family traces its history and development exclusively to East Asia. The flat zither family, however, which originated on the African continent, enjoyed much broader exposure.

A handful of flat zither variations developed, differentiated in design by the materials used in the instrument's construction. Board zithers, constructed from hollow planks, and raft zithers, constructed of individual narrow canes lashed together, were native to the African interior and sub-continent. It was the box zither, however, indigenous to the Middle East, that found its way into the hands of medieval European crusaders and traders, who introduced this new instrument to the people of Europe.

The European Influence

In Austria and southeastern Germany, the box zither was embraced widely as a popular folk instrument. Luthiers began experimenting with new designs. A fretboard was placed beneath the first four or five stings, allowing the musician to vary the pitch of those strings, with the remaining strings remaining open.

Craftsmen continued tinkering with the design. One result was the "scheitholt," a German stringed instrument that was both bowed and plucked when played. Long and narrow with flat, box-like sides, this instrument resembled the original box zither, but with fewer strings and the addition of the fingerboard running the length of the center in the top of the resonator.



Brought to America by immigrants, the scheitholt became popular in Pennsylvania in the 1770's. Here, it found its way into the hands of settlers in the Appalachian Mountains. Once again, the instrument's design changed, shaped, literally, by the artistr y of these unique mountain people.

The Appalachian Influence

Though its roots go back a long way, the Mountain Dulcimer as we know it is relatively young. Most of the different shapes and woods were introduced in the middle 1800's and early 1900's. It is said to have developed primarily as a women's instrument, a s women were not allowed to play a stringed musical instrument standing up in front of the men folk. Designed to lay flat on a lap or table, the Mountain Dulcimer was the ideal instrument for women.



Three basic styles define the traditional design of the Mountain Dulcimer, each possessing a distinctive voice. The classic Appalachian hourglass shape, said to represent the figure of a women, produces a full, rich bass tone. The teardrop shape, with its gently flaring sides, sings with distinctive Kentucky cry, reminiscent of bluegrass style music. The third style, a flat, fish-like shape resembling the symbol for Christianity, has a sweetly soothing, quiet sound.

The Mountain Dulcimer Today

Originally, the Mountain Dulcimer had only three strings, Now, four, five, and even six strings are not uncommon, with 14 to 17 frets the most popular fingerboard design.



Dulcimers can be played by barring the two melody strings that are found close together and strumming the other two strings as harmony. In the early days, a piece of polished bone was used to bar with, and a quill was used to strum. Today's choices are a small wooden dowel and a pick. Dulcimers can also be chorded, like a guitar, or bowed, like a fiddle. This technique gives a distinct, interesting sound to the harmony strings, much like a mandolin or banjo.



Appalachian dulcimers were almost lost to the American public. Thanks to some noted researchers, however, they are again enjoying a resurgent popularity. With this renewed interest and support for one of the very few truly American musical instruments, the song of the Appalachian Mountain Dulcimer lives to captivate another generation!