A Brief History of the Hammered Dulcimer and Me

The dulcimer was invented at the waning of the Middle Ages. It came from the discovery of a way to make inexpensive, strong metal strings, probably in the late 1300's somewhere in the Netherlands.  For much of its history it has been a folk instrument.

There are few early records of the instrument in this country. Likely, it was rarely heard in the 1700's. By the mid-19^th century it had become almost popular in some regions, such as Michigan, Upstate New York, and West Virginia. By the early 20^th  century the American dulcimer had again become scarce, and only recently, since the traditional music revival of the 1970's, has it rocketed to relative obscurity.

Sometime in the mid 19^th century, in the Appalachians, the fretted folk zither related to the German sheitholt was christened "dulcimer", perhaps because of a reference in the King James Bible. When ballad hunters of the 1920's brought the Appalachian dulcimer down from the hills, the name stuck. Logically, the names should be "Appalachian dulcimer" and "dulcimer", but today most h.d. players resign themselves to saying "hammered dulcimer".

I began playing and building in 1977, building full-time in 1981. The traditional hammered dulcimer had 12 treble and 11 bass courses, sometimes less.  This was  adequate for what a hammered dulcimer normally did; playing simple tunes in a few keys. An instrument could also weigh 35 lbs. or more.

When I started Trapezoid Instruments in 1983 with Sam Rizzetta and Paul Reisler, we set out to make wider-range, better-sounding instruments available to more people. Trapezoid Instruments was short-lived, but its mission has largely been accomplished. 

It can be truly said that the newest hammered dulcimers are the best.   Lightness, range, tone and ability to stay in tune have greatly improved.