Post by Dick Glasgow on Jun 9, 2007 2:36:24 GMT 1
Here is a Short History of the Mountain Dulcimer
In the Middle Ages music was often played in Europe on an instrument called a Scheitholt, which was a 2 or 3 stringed rectangular musical instrument. However, the predecessors of the Scheitholts were found in the Turkish and Persian area.
The Scheitholt lay horizontally before the musician, either on the knees of the player or on a table. Sounding the first string on the frets takes place either with a bar or with the individual fingers of the left hand. The second to fourth strings are not seized, they function thus as a drone. With the right hand the strings are strummed across, either with the thumb, or more frequently still with the shaft of a feather as with a plectrum.
The first account of this instrument came in 1618, and it was described as a small monochord made of three or four boards, provided at one end with a peg box in which are inserted three or four pegs for tuning the brass strings of the instrument.
It was related to similar instruments in France, the Low Countries, Norway, Sweden and Iceland.
During the 1700s, the scheitholt was brought to Pennsylvania by German immigrants and down the Shennandoah Valley by their descendants. Their musical tradition died out during the 19th century, but it is said that they often played the instrument with a bow. They often played songs & hymns on their instruments, but when the Scots-Irish in Virginia got a hold of the scheitholt, they used it for dance music and that meant fiddle tunes.
It seems that the only instrumental music that makers and owners of scheitholts during the early days of settlement would hear, was fiddle music, and the fiddle, of course, was the preeminent instrument for the playing of dance music, and dance tunes constituted the major proportion of everything that fiddlers knew and played. It is believed that the Pennsylvania Germans played slowly, most often with a bow, while the Scots-Irish, who adapted the instrument to their music would rip through fiddle tunes with a turkey quill.
In the 1800s then, the dulcimer was a solo instrument used for playing simple melodies supported by a drone, or accompanying ballads or songs with a drone.
In America then, the music of the Dulcimer comes from Anglo-Celtic roots, but it has its own sound. In the 1960s they still played their Mt. Dulcimers by strumming with a pick in the right hand, and sounding the notes by sliding a wooden "noter" with the left hand up and down the fretboard. This created a constant melodious buzz in the background, like the drone of the bagpipes.
To learn more about the history of the Mt. Dulcimer, check out:
'The History of the Mountain Dulcimer' by Lucy M Long
Another interesting slant on the Appalachian Dulcimer can be found on the pages of:
'The Old Time Music'
Where they say:
But as the term 'plucked Zither' doesn't sound nearly so colourful or evocative as 'Appalachian Dulcimer, I'll think we'll stick with the latter.
And yet another interesting slant on the Appalachian Dulcimer here:
The Appalachian Dulcimer's History: On the Trail of the Mountains' Secrets.
If you would like to hear how Dulcimer playing has developed since the early years, listen hear to a master musician on the Mountain Dulcimer:
Butch Ross
In the Middle Ages music was often played in Europe on an instrument called a Scheitholt, which was a 2 or 3 stringed rectangular musical instrument. However, the predecessors of the Scheitholts were found in the Turkish and Persian area.
The Scheitholt lay horizontally before the musician, either on the knees of the player or on a table. Sounding the first string on the frets takes place either with a bar or with the individual fingers of the left hand. The second to fourth strings are not seized, they function thus as a drone. With the right hand the strings are strummed across, either with the thumb, or more frequently still with the shaft of a feather as with a plectrum.
The first account of this instrument came in 1618, and it was described as a small monochord made of three or four boards, provided at one end with a peg box in which are inserted three or four pegs for tuning the brass strings of the instrument.
It was related to similar instruments in France, the Low Countries, Norway, Sweden and Iceland.
During the 1700s, the scheitholt was brought to Pennsylvania by German immigrants and down the Shennandoah Valley by their descendants. Their musical tradition died out during the 19th century, but it is said that they often played the instrument with a bow. They often played songs & hymns on their instruments, but when the Scots-Irish in Virginia got a hold of the scheitholt, they used it for dance music and that meant fiddle tunes.
It seems that the only instrumental music that makers and owners of scheitholts during the early days of settlement would hear, was fiddle music, and the fiddle, of course, was the preeminent instrument for the playing of dance music, and dance tunes constituted the major proportion of everything that fiddlers knew and played. It is believed that the Pennsylvania Germans played slowly, most often with a bow, while the Scots-Irish, who adapted the instrument to their music would rip through fiddle tunes with a turkey quill.
In the 1800s then, the dulcimer was a solo instrument used for playing simple melodies supported by a drone, or accompanying ballads or songs with a drone.
In America then, the music of the Dulcimer comes from Anglo-Celtic roots, but it has its own sound. In the 1960s they still played their Mt. Dulcimers by strumming with a pick in the right hand, and sounding the notes by sliding a wooden "noter" with the left hand up and down the fretboard. This created a constant melodious buzz in the background, like the drone of the bagpipes.
To learn more about the history of the Mt. Dulcimer, check out:
'The History of the Mountain Dulcimer' by Lucy M LongAnother interesting slant on the Appalachian Dulcimer can be found on the pages of:
'The Old Time Music'Where they say:
"By far the oldest type of instrument played [in this genre] is the Appalachian dulcimer, though technically this 'mountain dulcimer' is misnamed: true dulcimers are struck with beaters (thus the term 'hammered dulcimer' is actually redundant).
A plucked zither, the Appalachian dulcimer's basic design is ancient: the legendary Pythagorean Monochord, from whence the rudiments of the diatonic major scale were supposedly derived some 2500 years ago, may have looked similar. The instrument's antiquity belies the fact that it was a relative latecomer to the American South. It didn't come over on the Mayflower or any other ship of British origin. Germans and other Northern Europeans apparently brought such instruments in the 19th century, when they were spread via the Pennsylvania side of the Appalachians into the American South. A newcomer as late as the 1890s, the Appalachian dulcimer's apparently medieval design and penchant for modal tunes disguised the fact that it was, among folk instruments in the South, a new kid on the block."
A plucked zither, the Appalachian dulcimer's basic design is ancient: the legendary Pythagorean Monochord, from whence the rudiments of the diatonic major scale were supposedly derived some 2500 years ago, may have looked similar. The instrument's antiquity belies the fact that it was a relative latecomer to the American South. It didn't come over on the Mayflower or any other ship of British origin. Germans and other Northern Europeans apparently brought such instruments in the 19th century, when they were spread via the Pennsylvania side of the Appalachians into the American South. A newcomer as late as the 1890s, the Appalachian dulcimer's apparently medieval design and penchant for modal tunes disguised the fact that it was, among folk instruments in the South, a new kid on the block."
But as the term 'plucked Zither' doesn't sound nearly so colourful or evocative as 'Appalachian Dulcimer, I'll think we'll stick with the latter.
And yet another interesting slant on the Appalachian Dulcimer here:
The Appalachian Dulcimer's History: On the Trail of the Mountains' Secrets."As to where the instrument came from, if you asked old–timers, you were likely to get one of two answers. One answer was, "Didn't come from nowhere—it was borned in these hills!" Another answer was, "My great-great grandaddy brought one of them things over from England, long ago."...."
If you would like to hear how Dulcimer playing has developed since the early years, listen hear to a master musician on the Mountain Dulcimer:
Butch Ross