Mountain Dulcimer Origins?
Welcome to the ever evolving Mountain Dulcimer history battleground. As an amateur luthier and Appalachian dulcimer player, I’ve been asking questions about the instrument for a long time. Finding credible answers, which were often hidden in odd places, was not very easy.
“To study history means submitting yourself to chaos,
but nevertheless retaining your faith in order and meaning.”
Herman Hesse, German writer and poet (1877-1962)
So I put a question to John McCutcheon, at one of his concerts, about historical resources. In these days of internet and media overload, where could one find the resources he and others have created as they researched mountain dulcimers, the players, the old time music, and methods of playing. John gave us some great sources, such as Library of Congress Archive of American Folk Songs, and Smithsonian Folkways recordings. He pondered that Dulcimer Player News or the like might be a good repository someday.
Until that day arrives, we thought, why not just come up with an archive landing zone for all those trying to learn more about the history of this instrument. We’d build a fast track link library to shorten searches, and put a spotlight on the mountain dulcimer in particular. We were also quite surprised by the individuals and groups wanting to contribute to what may seem to many to be an obscure topic.
The Esens Hummel ca 1880 from Germany a likely distant relative of the modern mountain dulcimer (photo courtesy Wilfried Ulrich)
So thanks to likeminded people, this site will expand as needed, and we’ll do our best to take in as many credible viewpoints as come our way. Our goal will be to have some hard to find information in the Documents section, some fun facts and photos in the Gallery, some hard to get merch for the history needy, and mountain dulcimer related articles and opinions to help beginners and researchers.
We are proud contributors to the Dulcimer Player News and a number of North American dulcimer museums. We would also like to thank the luthiers, including Wilfried Ulrich and others, for their support. You’ll see links to all these groups in the handy ‘link resource’ section. We hope you find it informative!
