Appalachian Dulcimer - Introduction

This instrument evolved in hard-to-reach regions of Appalachia among the Scotch-Irish settlers and their offspring. It is especially suited toward the kind of modal ballads those folks brought with them and continued to keep singing right up until the invasion of the radio.

The Appalachian dulcimer became better known to the "outside world" during the American Folk Revival, especially through the efforts of Jean Ritchie, a Kentucky singer whose dulcimer playing caught the Folk world's attention.

At the right, Jean is shown in a cover photo to a book she wrote about dulcimers and people who played them. The dulcimers belong to her, her friends, and her friends' friends, just to show the variety that has been produced.

Since the Appalachian dulcimer was exposed to the "outside world," may fans of traditional and acoustic music have adopted it, though they have also pushed for updates that made them easier to tune, to play in other keys without using modal scales, and to play chords, something Jean never did to speak of.

For a more detailed history of the Appalachian dulcimer, click here.

The following diagram shows the basic parts of a traditional dulcimer.

Note: Many traditional Appalachian Dulcimers have only one melody string. If they have two melody strings, they are tuned to the same note.

The next diagram shows a more modern instrument. The primary differences are:

• The addition of fancy geared "planetery" tuners (most modern dulcimers use open-geared "guitar-styled tuners, so this is an upgrade), and

• The addition of frets between frets 6 and 7 and between frets 13 and 14. These give you C# notes, which allow you to play the dulcimer easily in D. If you join a dulcimer club, you'll probably need those frets, because the clubs around me tend to play everything in the key of D. Look for the cluster of four frets close together in the middle and another set closer to the "scoop."

The "zero fret" is just the way some builders make certain their intonation is sound. It's not, technically a feature.

Again, there is a very detailed explanation of why these changes occurred in our Appalachian Dulcimer - History article.

The following diagram shows another modern dulcimer. This one has a teardrop shape and guitar-style tuners. However it also shares the extra frets with the dulcimer shown just above.

Many other shapes have been tried, but these are the most popular.

Playing

Traditional Dulcimer playing
You probably don't have to know this part, but it wouldn't hurt to review it so you don't assume that the next person you see playing a dulcimer in the traditional manner is doing it "wrong."

When the Appalachian dulcimer first came to the public's attention (and, frankly, to mine, back in the 1960s):

• The dulcimer usually had three strings. If it had four strings, the two closest to your belly were tuned to the same note, to allow the melody to sound louder than the drone strings.

• Traditional players fretted only the string(s) that were closest to the belly, generally called the "melody string(s)." It was normal to use a small dowel, called a "noter" to push the string down. (In fact, some traditional dulcimers didn't even have frets under the other strings.)

• The other strings would be strummed only, providing a drone sound to accompany the melody that was being played. Frankly, it was the sound of the drone strings that attracted me to the instrument's sound in the first place. The middle string would typically be tuned a fourth or a fifth below the melody string(s). The string furthest from the player would typically be tuned an octave, or even an octave and a half below the melody string(s).

• Players would use the diatonic scale to play tunes in various folk "modes" (unusual scales) that are seldom used today. Retuning the instrument to support those modes was considered normal, even if you retuned between every song.

As an example, if the melody string is tuned to D, a traditional dulcimer gives you a major G scale. The scale goes down to D because so many traditional songs in G start on D. ("Amazing Grace," "'Tis the Gift," "Shennandoah," "Red River Valley," and hundreds of others.)

To play a song in G, you could tune the middle string to the G below the melody string and tune the other drone string to the D below that. (This is called DGD tuning). Of course, you could set your dulcimer up a note lower and play in CFC tuning. In that case the melody string(s) would play an F scale. Every dulcimer player from the "hills" had his or her own favorite tunings.

What if you wanted to play a song in a minor key? The G scale has two minor keys built in - E minor and A minor. The E minor scale begins on the second fret of the melody strings. You would leave the tuning of the melody string(s) alone. But you would typically drop the middle string to E or raise it to B and drop the other drone string to E.

Another minor key, sort of is A minor. If you tried to play an A minor scale on the melody string(s), you'd notice that at least one of the notes (F#) doesn't sound quite right. That's because you're playing in "Dorian" mode, using a scale that goes back to the Middle Ages. If you lived in Appalachia a century ago, chances are you knew or knew someone who knew songs in that mode. (Outsiders often say such modes contribute to a "haunting" melody.)

If you tuned your dulcimer to, say, DAD, and played in the key of D, you'd notice that you have a C where you'd expect a C#. No problem - you're in "Mixolydian" mode, using a scale that's still in common use today. (Folk songs like "Old Joe Clark" and "Shady Grove" were played in mixolydian mode up until about 1950. Some rock and pop songs still use that mode. One of my favorite Folk-era songs i Mixolydian mode is "If I were a Carpenter."

What's With All the Retuning? Modern dulcimer players tend to select one tuning and stick with it, even if they have to use devices called "capos" to play in other keys. But a century ago, nobody had access to digital tuners, and everyone who was serious about a musical instrument tuned by ear. Most guitar and banjo players of my generation can still do so. Watch an acoustic guitar player go to "drop D tuning" sometime.

A century ago, retuning your dulcimer to change keys or modes was as common as snapping a capo on or off a guitar, and folks could do it just as fast.

Modern Dulcimer playing
Appalachian dulcimers came to the notice of countless Folk Revival musicians in the 1960s. Intially the focus was on playing traditional tunes in the traditional manner described above.

But countless adopters were more interested in the instrument itself than they were in the traditional old modal tunes it was built to support. And the first accommodation was to reconfigure that fretboard.

Frankly, many early purchasers were confused that the scale that started at the lowest ot of the melody string(s) (usually a D Mixolodian scale) didn't sound right when you hit that C. After all, a D scale should have a C#, shouldn't it? Never mind that the instrument wasn't designed to play a D scale in that position.

So dulcimer builders started offering an extra fret as an option. It would be squeezed between the sixth fret and the seventh fret, so it is usually called the "six-and-a-half" fret. If you want a C# in the higher octave, you add a "thirteen-and-one-half" fret.

Within a few years, those extra frets became standard. Ironically, many dulcimer players born since, say 1970, consider traditional dulcimers (without the 6.5 fret) deficient, no matter how well they are build or how great they sound.

Other Resources

As we add articles and "vet" other resources that you may find helpful, we will be adding them here.

• Appalachian Dulcimer - History - Sorts out theories of the Appalachian Dulcimer's pre-20th-century evolution, and goes on to describe how the dulcimer and it's uses have changed since the Folk Revival helped bring it into public notice.

• Appalachian Dulcimer Buyer's Guide - describes features and materials you should consider looking for when shopping for a dulcimer.

  I have to warn you, though, we don't say much about where to get Appalachian dulcimers, as the best ones are all made in private shops that come and go. But there are tips about what to look for in your search.

More to Come

Stay tuned!

Whatever else you get out of our pages, I hope you come away with some great ideas for "sharing the joy."

And please stay in touch!

    - Paul Race

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