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The word dulcimer is
believed to be derived from the Greek "dulce" (meaning sweet) and the
Latin "melos"
(meaning song). The instrument itself is a partly or fully fretted
zither, derived from north-west European forms some time since the late 18th
century in the Appalachian Mountains.
The dulcimer came to our
mountains with German settlers in the Shenandoah Valley preceding and following
the American Revolution. As they migrated they brought with them a stringed
instrument called a scheitholt, which was a forerunner of the concert
zither. In time, Scots-Irish settlers in the Virginia highlands heard it and
adapted it to the ballads, fiddle tunes and folk hymns of their own musical
tradition.
The Appalachian, Mountain
or Lap Dulcimer (other variant names include "delcumer," "dulcymore,"
"harmonium," "hog fiddle," "music box," and "harmony box") is a home-made
instrument that evolved from earlier forms through modifications developed by
the people of Virginia, Kentucky and up-country Carolina. The dulcimer is
therefore an early example of cultural diversity and is basically a Scots-Irish
adaptation of a Pennsylvania German instrument.
Most dulcimers of the 18th
and 19th centuries were made completely of indigenous hardwoods (usually poplar
which was readily available and easy to work). Some were made of walnut, cherry
and maple. The one pictured above has a spruce top, walnut sides and back with a maple
fretboard and was made in 1979.
Traditional dulcimers have
three or four strings and can be played with a bow or can be plucked or strummed
as well.
After Kentucky born Jean
Ritchie (Viper, Ky.) introduced the dulcimer on the Greenwich Village folk music
scene in the late 1950's, it caught on and has since spread nationwide. We think
the
Mountain Dulcimer is one of the best things to come out of the folk music
revival of the 1960s and 70s. |
