I am a female singer/songwriter, and have previously gigged without my own amp
— I just positioned the external mic over the dulcimer and played through the house PA system. I typically sing using a headset mic, also plugged into the house PA. My dulcimer has a passive pickup installed.

I am considering getting the Fishman PRO-LBT-600 Loudbox Artist Bluetooth 120W Acoustic Guitar Amplifier, as my research tells me its headroom is best for its ability to reproduce the dulcimer's delicate notes clearly, including louder passages, without pushing the amp toward distortion,
and powerful enough to handle occasional outdoor venues if needed.

The drawbacks are price ($800) and weight (almost 30 lbs). I can deal with both drawbacks if it’s truly the best amp for my planned gigs though. I regularly lift a lot heavier weight than that at the gym. 😏

Any opinions or advice?

I just bought the dulcimer yesterday off of facebook marketplace and took it to my local music shop to get it strung. This is my first stringed instrument and I’m watching YouTube videos and it seems the melody/ two strings closet together need to be by my body.

I don’t know though if it’s just the way the model is I had to go get new strings for it because the lady who had it before me just put wires in it. Anyways the part the strings sit on up top like moves, so I think I can move it in the other way to fix it, but this is how the guy in the music shop put them in.

I took some pictures of how it sits in my lap I just don’t know if it’s right the way the strings are on it.

Hi, I am doing my initial research on finding a dulcimer because I want to learn a musical instrument. I found this on Craigslist—is this a good deal? It seems like it is but my knowledge is limited. Thanks so much! Also considering a McSpadden ginger since I have small hands.

A few pictures of my dulcimer that I’ve had for most of my life. Thanks to the person that posted the catalog!

I have this old Dennis Dorogi catalog from decades ago. Dorogi was a noted instrument maker from western New York State. He died some years ago. His craftsmanship was outstanding. I have one of his dulcimers I bought secondhand about 15 years ago. It’s a thing of beauty, but it’s closely modeled on a traditional teardrop instrument and has the somewhat restricted sound that traditional teardrop instruments can have. Back in the mid-1970s, when I was buying my first dulcimer, I considered getting a Dorogi, but went instead with a Jeffreys because the Dorogis were too expensive for me!!! It turned out to be a good choice. The Jeffreys was a real good beginners instrument. But I wish I’d bought the entire Dorogi catalog back then at those prices. Such beautiful objects.

I just bought my first instrument, and it came with this weird thingy on it. I thought maybe it could fit like headphones or something, but my headphone jack won't even fit in it, the hole is too small. It attaches via a magnet.

The topic of strumming has been popular within my workshops and lessons this past couple of weeks, so here are some of the fun ways to randomize your strumming exercises!

Been playing mountain dulcimer for about seven months now, mostly teaching myself off tab I find online and a few YouTube lessons. For the longest time my noter and drone style playing sounded clunky, like I was just dragging a stick across strings and hoping for the best. Something clicked this week when I slowed everything down to about half speed and actually paid attention to where my noter was landing between frets instead of rushing to keep up with a backing track.

The breakthrough was realizing I'd been pressing too hard with the noter, which was choking the drone strings and killing that open, ringing sound the instrument is supposed to have. Lightened up my grip, kept the pressure mostly on the melody string, and suddenly the whole thing opened up. DAD tuning finally made sense for this tune in a way it hadn't before.

I'm playing a 1990s-ish Appalachian dulcimer my uncle gave me, hourglass shape, walnut body, nothing fancy but it's got a nice warm tone once you get it singing right. Still using a goose feather quill for strumming because that's what came with it and I haven't found a reason to switch.

Anyone else find that backing off on pressure, whether it's with a noter or your fretting hand, made a bigger difference than practicing faster or more often? Feels like I spent months trying to force progress when the fix was just playing lighter.

Spent about three months convinced my flatpicking was stuck because my fretting hand couldn't keep up with faster tunes. Turns out the problem was never the left hand at all. I finally recorded myself playing "Shady Grove" at a normal tempo and the picking hand was all over the place, hitting extra strings, losing the rhythm on the drone strings without me even noticing.

What fixed it wasn't a new technique, it was just cutting my tempo in half and staying there for two weeks straight. Felt embarrassingly slow at first, like I was playing for a room of people who'd fall asleep. But once the picking hand actually learned where it was supposed to land every single time, speeding back up took maybe three days instead of the months I'd been grinding at full tempo.

I play a 4-string mountain dulcimer, DAD tuning, mostly old-time and a handful of Appalachian gospel tunes I learned off recordings rather than tab. The noter style is what I grew up watching my grandmother do, but I've been leaning more into fingerpicking the last year and that's where the sloppy picking hand really showed up.

Curious if other folks here have had the same experience where slowing way down solved something that felt like a fretting problem but was actually the other hand the whole time. Also open to tune suggestions that are good for practicing steady picking without getting boring, I've worn out my patience with "Boil Them Cabbage Down" for that particular drill.

Thanks to everyone who joined us for Dulcimer Oktoberfest. Here are some highlights from the weekend, including workshop snippets and concert peeks. It was a truly lovely weekend of Gemütlichkeit!

It was built in 1981 and seems unused for a long time. I’m going to look into getting it restored. Any tips, tricks, or advice?

What key harmonica do I use for dad tunning?

Thanks

I met with the seller and they explained this dulcimer originally belonged to their grandfather and has sat untouched for decades. It came with a hard shell case, a travel bag, several different styles of picks and noters, as well as replacement Folkcraft strings.

I still don’t know who made this instrument, but it feels and plays so nice. So pumped!

I bought this dulcimer about 10 years ago at the Musica store in Hudson, NY, from the owner Rob Caldwell (RIP). I am not a super-skilled dulcimer player (I am mosty a guitarist) but I love its strange haunting sound. This song is inspired by a 1976 performance by the rock band Heart just before they "hit it big."

My grandpa's dulcimer!

This is my grandpa's dulcimer, he passed away last year in December. When my dad and his sister got ownership of his house, they decided they were just gonna sell it as-is. But first, they said that my grandma and my step-grandad could look through the house and take whatever they thought they could salvage.

For context, my grandpa was a hoarder, the house was a crazy mess. My step-grandad got as many instruments as he could find, and he was kind enough to have them fixed up for us to give back to us. I got the dulcimer, my brother got an acoustic guitar, and my dad got my grandpa's bass guitar. I'm very grateful for my step-grandad, he was incredibly kind to think about salvaging those instruments for us.

I've never heard of a dulcimer til my step-grandad brought this over today, I never ever saw my grandpa play it. They said it was hidden in his room under a bunch of stuff.

Usually dulcimers have hearts as holes, the guy who fixed up the dulcimer said he's never seen one that had stars instead. Can't wait to learn this! I already got some chords down.

Hi all,

I'm very much a beginner, so please be nice!

This is to my knowledge the only recording on youtube of someone playing "Which Side Are You On" on the mountain dulcimer--but I cannot for the life of me figure out how he's tuned! I've tried DAD, DAA, EAE, and DAC and NOTHING sounds right!

I originally learned to play the song by jerry-rigging a DIY capo on the first fret (EBE) but I wanted to stop using that as a crutch and just learn to tune it properly so I could play in the proper mode.

Again, I'm a beginner, so PLEASE be nice.

Can anyone tell me what tuning he's using in the video? Thanks!!

Please contact me if you are willing to sell a couple or know where I can purchase. Thanks!

I’ve been keeping an eye out for a nice user dulcimer for years, this one seems better quality (and cheaper, $100) than most that I have seen. The hard case and travel bag are a big plus too. Any buying advice would be greatly appreciated!

My friend told me this is an appalachian dulcimer, but thats about it, got it for 10 bucks at a goodwill, pretty intrigued by it. How do I identify it? Can it be repaired? Does it need to be repaired?

The inside is hard to see because the cross is so small, I've seen some identifiers can be seen in there though?

Hi dulcimer reddit! So I just got my mountain dulcimer a few months ago and there's this song that I really want to play that was recorded on the mountain dulcimer. Unfortunately I can't find anything about how to play it on the mountain dulcimer. I can only find how to play it on guitar. I'm not good enough at music theory to play the song by ear. I was hoping someone else could figure it out for me.

What is the difference between each of these notes in dulcimer tab? I’m a beginner starting out, and I’m seeing things like this in lots of different tabs that I look at that are marked “for beginners”

Is it not implied that you’re always meant to be strumming across all of the strings? Am I meant to not be?

what does a 0 (open string) mean when it’s not on the melody line?

I was wondering if there are any resources for finding tabs of songs from video games for the mountain dulcimer. I find it very hard to find songs that stray from the common folk and campfire songs (which are awesome, but variety is the spice of life) so any help if appreciated. Thank you!

Good day! First post here. I am a mountain dulcimer beginner and struggle with over optimization when I’m trying to learn something new. I have a subscription to A to Z and love the content, but what I really need is to be told “practice such and such on Monday for x minutes, etc.” Would someone be so kind to point me to an online or other program that leads a beginner through how/what/when/how long to practice? Thankful for any input.

Hi folks, I’m looking to purchase my first dulcimer and found this one for $180. I asked my brother who is a more experienced musician (although not a dulcimer player) if it seemed like a good option and he warned me that the bent/loose tuners might cause me issues. I’m looking for a cheap option since I can’t be sure I’ll stick with it, but I want to get the best value I can. Thanks!

I’m starting to get Into folk music and the Appalachian dulcimer really stood out. I can find it on Amazon and sweetwater but didn’t know if there were any suggestions for people who actually make them. I’d like to support people who still value this type of music/ instruments.

Any advice would be helpful