FOLK MUSIC INSTRUMENTS:

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THE DULCIMER

The dulcimer has been around for a couple of centuries in the southern Appalachian Mountains, and its popularity has spread until the instrument can be heard almost everywhere in the country today. In its traditional form, the dulcimer has three strings: one to play the melody on, and the other two to act as drones. That makes the old-time style of playing easy to learn and pleasant to hear. All you have to do to play a melody is to move your finger—or a wooden "noter"—up and down a single string on the fretboard. To achieve minor and other modal notes, you merely have to change tunings.

But that's only for the traditional dulcimer style. Today, you can find the instrument with almost any number of strings and being played with a variety of techniques. For example, melodies and chords are sometimes played on all the strings, rather than just one. Folks are performing all kinds of music on dulcimers these days, too . . . from folk and popular to classical and jazz.

One of the foremost drawbacks to the dulcimer is that it's a quiet instrument (though to many aficionados, this intimacy is an asset ). It's also difficult to play the dulcimer in just any old key, or to play complicated passages . . . because the instrument wasn't designed for that type of music. But people are working around these limitations, and are producing some beautiful, complex music in addition to traditional-style tunes.

THE HAMMERED DULCIMER

Over the last ten years or so, this ancient instrument has been enjoying a fervent nationwide revival. Most people fall in love with the hammered dulcimer the first time they hear it. There are increasing numbers of devotees who build and play the hammered dulcimer, and interest just seems to keep on growing.

This trapezoidal dulcimer is played by tapping on its strings with small wooden hammers. In its simplest form, the instrument has a single bridge that divides the multitude of strings running across its face. The arrangement gives a different note on each side of the bridge, the two being separated by a fifth interval. To give the instrument its characteristic full sound, two to four strings are grouped together and tuned to the same note. This grouping is called a course, with most hammered dulcimers having from 12 to 14 of them. Most modern instruments of this type also have a second, bass, bridge for an additional 14 (lower) notes.

That makes for a lot of strings to tune. But that's not impossible—especially with the help of today's electronic tuning devices—and the beautiful sound of a well tuned hammered dulcimer makes it worth the trouble several times over.

The hammered dulcimer is diatonic (that is, it includes a scale with five full tones and two semitones) in certain keys, usually A, D, G, and C. And since most folk tunes are played in exactly those four keys, the hammered dulcimer is perfect for traditional music. You can hear all types of melodies being tapped out on this instrument nowadays, including fiddle tunes, ragtime, classical, and even some pop and swing.

Despite all those strings, the hammered dulcimer is easier to play—in some ways-than other stringed instruments. For instance, since your wrists do most of the work, you don't have to spend years learning to use the intricate muscles of your fingers. The bad news is that you have to be precise. There's almost no way to cover up a mistake . . . it just rings on and on. It's also difficult to see where you are as you bounce your hammers rapidly across the strings, but this gets easier with practice.

The hammered dulcimer is primarily a lead instrument. While you can play chords by hitting two to four strings at a time, the instrument certainly isn't the best for accompanying others. And, since you can't "slide" into notes, you can't put much blues into tunes played on this musicmaker.

Another thing that you should be aware of is that other musicians sometimes come to, well, resent hammered dulcimer players. There are at least two reasons for this. The first is something akin to artistic jealousy. Your fellow players may have worked for years to develop their instrumental style, and hardly anyone notices. But let a hammered dulcimer player just give a ping, ping, ping on his or her strings, and a crowd will begin to gather. (Of course, this problem is simultaneously one of the assets of the hammered dulcimer.) In addition, it can be dominating . . . almost dictating the style the other musicians in the band must play. Obviously, though, both of these drawbacks can be minimized if you simply use diplomacy.

THE AUTOHARP

Here's an instrument that was invented with ease of playing in mind: All you need to do to get a chord is to push a button and strum the strings! With a minimum of practice, then, you can master a guitarlike strum and be ready to accompany singing. It's even easy on your fingers when you're learning to play. And if you play the harp while holding it upright, you then learn to keep the strum going with your thumb and to pick out simple melodies with your index and middle fingers.

The autoharp produces a sweet, full sound, and is best used to accompany singing or to play melodies with a moderate tempo. However, it usually offers only a given number of chords. Also, the technique of playing is somewhat restricted, so it's hard to run off fast passages of eighth or sixteenth notes. But for most people, it's the tuning of those 36 strings that's the real nemesis . . . and accurate tuning is critical to the quality of autoharp music. But again, you can call on a pitch pipe or an electronic tuning device to help you out.

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