View source for Dulcimer

{{More citations needed|date=June 2022}}
{{Infobox instrument
|image = {{Multiple image
|align = center
|direction = vertical
|width = 250
|header = Two types of dulcimer.
|image1 = Dulcimer (UP).jpg
|caption1 = An [[Appalachian dulcimer]]...
|image2 = Hammered dulcimer.JPG
|caption2 = ...and a [[hammered dulcimer]]
}}
|background = string
|classification = *[[Plucked string instrument]]s
*[[String instrument#Striking|Struck string instruments]]
|developed = Antiquity
|musicians = *[[List of Appalachian dulcimer players]]
*[[List of hammered dulcimer players]]
}}
The term '''dulcimer ''' refers to two families of musical [[string instrument]]s.

==Hammered dulcimers==
The word ''dulcimer'' originally referred to a trapezoidal [[zither]] similar to a [[psaltery]] whose many strings are struck by handheld "hammers".<ref name="Smithsonian">{{cite web |title=The Hammered Dulcimer |url=https://www.si.edu/spotlight/hammered-dulcimer |publisher=Smithsonian Institution |access-date=February 28, 2022}}</ref> Variants of this instrument are found in many cultures, including:
* [[Hammered dulcimer]] (England, Scotland, United States)
* [[Hackbrett]] (southern [[Germany]], [[Austria]], [[Switzerland]])
* [[Tsymbaly]] ([[Ukraine]]), [[tsimbl]] ([[Ashkenazi Jewish]]), [[țambal]] ([[Romania]]) and [[cimbalom]] ([[Hungary]]) may refer to either a relatively small folk instrument or a larger classical instrument ("[[:cs:Cimbál|cimbál]]" in the [[Czech Republic]]). The [[santouri]] ([[Greece]]) (called "santur" in the [[Ottoman Empire]]) is almost identical to the Jewish and Romanian folk instruments.
* [[Santur]] ([[Iran]] and [[Iraq]])
* [[Santoor]] (northern [[India]] and [[Pakistan]]) is constructed and tuned differently from the santur of Iran and Iraq
* [[Khim]] ([[Cambodia]], [[Laos]], [[Thailand]])
* [[Yangqin]] ([[China]]), [[Đàn tam thập lục]] ([[Vietnam]]), [[yanggeum]] ([[Korea]])

==Appalachian dulcimer and derivatives==
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In the [[Appalachia]]n region of the U.S. in the nineteenth century, hammered dulcimers were rare. There, the word ''dulcimer'', which was familiar from the [[King James Version]] of the [[Bible]], was used to refer to a three or four stringed fretted instrument, generally played on the lap by strumming. 

Variants include:
* The original [[Appalachian dulcimer]]
* Various twentieth century derivatives, including
** [[Banjo dulcimer]], with banjo-like resonating membrane
** [[Resonator dulcimer]], with inset conical resonator
** [[Bowed dulcimer]], teardrop-shaped and played upright with a bow
** [[Electric dulcimer]], various types of dulcimer which use a pickup to amplify the sound

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{Set index article}}

[[Category:Early musical instruments]]
[[Category:English musical instruments]]
[[Category:Box zithers]]