Dulcimer

Early Belgian Dulcimer (or Hackebrett) from the Hans Adler collection.

A dulcimer is a type of musical string instrument. It is a species of zither. Among its forms are:

• Hammered dulcimer, free-standing, most frequently but not always trapezoidal in shape, with many strings struck by handheld "hammers". This type of instrument is found in many cultures, especially in England, in the British isles and in the north of the european continent.. Most countries have their own name for the instrument, for instance in Thailand it is called a khim, and many have different tuning systems. Being a struck string instrument, it is considered to be among the ancestors of the piano.
• Fretted, three or four strings, generally played on the lap by strumming; including
  • Appalachian dulcimer, a folk instrument used in the Appalachian region of U.S.A.
  • Banjo dulcimer, with banjo-like resonating membrane
  • Resonator dulcimer, with inset conical resonator
• Other
  • Bowed dulcimer, teardrop-shaped and played upright with a bow
  • Electric dulcimer, various types of dulcimer which use a pickup to amplify the sound

The name, though perhaps not the design and sound, of the instrument is familiar to English-speaking readers from Samuel Taylor Coleridge's poem (published 1816) Kubla Khan:

"A damsel with a dulcimer

In a vision once I saw:
It was an Abyssinian maid,
And on her dulcimer she played,
Singing of Mount Abora."

References