HISTORY OF THE DULCIMER   (credit Wikipedia)

The Appalachian dulcimer is a fretted string instrument of the zither family,

typically with three or four strings, originally played in the Appalachian region

of the United States.

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Although the Appalachian dulcimer first appeared in the early 19th century

among Scots-Irish immigrant communities in the Appalachian Mountains,

the instrument has no known precedent in Ireland or Scotland.

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Because few historical records of the dulcimer exist, the origins of the instrument were open to speculation until recently when Ralph Lee Smith and L. Alan Smith reconstructed the instrument's history by analyzing older dulcimers. The organological development of the dulcimer divides into three periods: transitional (1700 to mid-1800s), pre-revival or traditional (mid-1800s to 1940), and revival or contemporary (after 1940).

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Charles Maxson, an Appalachian luthier from Volga, West Virginia, speculated that early settlers were unable to make the more complex violin in the early days because of lack of tools and time. This was one of the factors which led to the building of the dulcimer, which has less dramatic curves. 

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Few true specimens of the mountain dulcimer exist from earlier than about 1880, when J. Edward Thomas of Knott County, Kentucky, began building and selling them. The instrument became used as something of a parlor instrument, as its modest sound volume is best-suited to small home gatherings. But for the first half of the 20th century the mountain dulcimer was rare, with a handful of makers supplying players in scattered pockets of Appalachia. Virtually no audio recordings of the instrument exist from earlier than the late 1930s.

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The instrument achieved its true renaissance in the 1950s urban folk music revival in the United States through the work of Jean Ritchie, a Kentucky musician who performed with the instrument before New York City audiences. 

 

Meanwhile, the American folk musician Richard Fariña (1937–1966) was also bringing the Appalachian dulcimer to a much wider audience, and by 1965 the instrument was a familiar presence in folk music circles.

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Brian Jones, of The Rolling Stones, played the Electric Appalachian Dulcimer on their 1966 album Aftermath, notably on "Lady Jane". He can be seen playing the instrument during their performance on the Ed Sullivan Show. He was influenced to use the instrument after hearing recordings of Richard Fariña.

 

One of the most famous players of the Appalachian dulcimer is, perhaps, singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell, who first played the instrument on studio recordings in the late 1960s and most famously on the album Blue (1971), as well as in live concerts. Cyndi Lauper is also a high-profile mountain dulcimer player.

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TECHNOLOGY

 

Dulcimers, like other instruments, have a "tab" (tabular) notation for learning songs. The bottom four lines represent the strings, and the numbers represent the fret that is played.

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Source: Free Dulcimer Tabs from revelsmusic.co.uk

 

  

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