Why I love the Dulcimer

There are no hard or fast rules for playing this instrument.

Anyone can play a song after ten minutes of instruction. It’s that easy. It gets harder and more fun as you push the limits of what the instrument can do.

Strum it, hammer, pluck, slap out the rhythm on the box.
Tune every one of the strings any which way you want.
Change up the strings and the frets to see how that sounds.

I have gently plucked a romantic ballad and then slammed out chords for a rock song loud enough to wake up the neighborhood.

Dulcimers come in every shape and size and every imaginable way to play.
It is mind blowing to see all the different ways that the dulcimer has been reinvented and music that is created.

The mountain dulcimer that I play is uniquely an American invention.
The Scotch/Irish who came to America and settled in Appalachia created this dulcimer design.

Long before the guitar, mountain folk composed and played songs on the dulcimer that we now call Country and Folk.

Let yourself get drawn into the sound. You can hear the naked dulcimer especially on the “Owl Song” and “Lucy”. Check it out.