Table of Contents
Our dulcimers range from about $700 to about $4,500. To view, download or print a price list, click the links below. Prices can also be found on our harp and hammered dulcimer model and accessory pages.
Is a dulcimer easy to play?
Dulcimers are the easiest stringed instrument for beginners to play, ideal for children and non-musicians who want to play tunes or accompany singing. Dulcimers are a relatively quiet instrument. Their sweet quiet sound is well-suited to personal relaxation or playing in a cozy environment.
Is dulcimer easier than guitar?
The Dulcimer Is Easy to Play The dulcimer has only three strings, so it is easier to play than a guitar, banjo, mandolin, or fiddle. It is also not as hard to push the strings down as it is on a guitar.
How much is a hammered dulcimer worth?
How much do hammered dulcimers cost? We make our dulcimers in a wide range of prices – from about $700 up to around $4,300. The main factors that affect the price are the materials (solid wood vs. laminated wood), the size/range, and the complexity of the design.
How do I buy a dulcimer?
Finding and buying a mountain dulcimer is a matter of looking and listening carefully: ask around, listen to various players. Look for a solid wood instrument; ask about its finish, request geared tuners, check its action, and sight down the top of the fingerboard to make sure its dead flat.
Is dulcimer similar to guitar?
A mountain dulcimer looks like an elongated, skinny guitar. It has frets like a guitar, but only three or four strings. The strings are strummed while the instrument lays flat on the lap. Both instruments are considered traditional American instruments.
Is the dulcimer an Irish instrument?
The mountain (or lap) dulcimer originated in the Appalachian mountains by the Scotch-Irish settlers and is considered to be a distinctly American instrument. The Irish dulcimer is distinctly different, almost lute-like, in tonal quality.
How is a dulcimer played?
The traditional way to play the instrument is to lay it flat on the lap and pluck or strum the strings with the right hand, while fretting with the left. Alternatively, the dulcimer may also be placed on a wooden table, using the table as an extended resonator to boost volume.
How do you make a simple dulcimer?
Step 1: Plywood Layout and Cutting Pieces for Body. Step 2: Glue Bottom Section of Body Together. Step 3: Cut Out Sound Holes and Finish Gluing Body. Step 4: Shape Fingerboard and Add Tuners, Nuts and Frets. Step 5: Attach Fingerboard to Body. Step 6: Strings and Finish Work.
What is the difference between a dulcimer and a hammered dulcimer?
The hammered dulcimer is a multi-stringed trapezoidal instrument that is struck to produce music. The strings of the psaltery are plucked with the fingers, while dulcimer strings are struck with small mallets or hammers. Technically, both instruments are from the same family of instruments called board-zithers.
How is a dulcimer tuned?
There are two common tunings for mountain dulcimer, DAA and DAD. In DAA, the bass string is tuned to D with the middle and paired melody strings tuned to A. In DAD, the bass string is tuned to D with the middle string tuned to A. That is, the unusual pattern of frets on a mountain dulcimer renders a seven-tone scale.
What makes a good dulcimer?
The fingerboard should be very hard since it takes a lot of wear and tear. Also it should be moisture-resistant if possible. So mahogany and rosewood are popular choices. But, again, if you see a walnut or cherry dulcimer and the fingerboard is also walnut or cherry, that doesn’t mean you should reject it out of hand.
What is the best wood for a dulcimer?
Western red cedar is the most widely used of the cedars for dulcimer soundboards. The wood is softer and lighter than spruce but is less affected by changes in humidity. The sound properties of western red cedar are notable for very clear highs, excellent balance throughout the tonal range and a warm tone.
Where is the dulcimer from?
The most elaborate of dulcimers is certainly the cimbalom, developed around the end of the 19th century in Hungary. This instrument is a mainstay in the music of the Hungarian gypsies and is used as a concert instrument.
What instruments can Dolly Parton play?
Though unable to read sheet music, Parton can play many instruments, including: the dulcimer, autoharp, banjo, guitar, electric guitar, fiddle, piano, recorder, and the saxophone.
How many frets does a dulcimer have?
All charts show the exact locations (to the thousandth of an inch) for the nut, bridge, and thirty-six frets (21 whole-number frets, plus the “half-number” frets). Each dulcimer fret position is identified three ways: 1) inches to previous fret; 2) inches to nut; 3) inches to bridge.
How hard is it to play an autoharp?
Shaped much like a washboard, the autoharp is a fretless stringed instrument that has buttons with little felt pads. These buttons, when depressed, mute the strings that are not part of the chord being played. The relative simplicity of it is what makes it such an easy instrument to learn to play.
Can a dulcimer be played with a bow?
The bowed dulcimer is a musical instrument. Designed in the style of the Appalachian dulcimer (a fretted string instrument of the zither family, typically with three or four strings), it is either a standard instrument played with a violin bow, or a purpose-built dulcimer designed around bow playing.
