Back Dulcimer Catalan Dulcimer Danish دولسیمر چکشی Persian Hammered dulcimer French Dulcimer martellato Italian ダルシマー Japanese शततन्त्री NEW Hammered dulcimer Dutch Dulcimer NN Dulcimer NB
 A musician playing a diatonic hammered dulcimer | |
| String instrument | |
|---|---|
| Other names | Cimbalom Dulcimer Four-hammer dulcimer Hammer dulcimer de: Hackbrett it: Salterio es: Dulcémele uk: Tsymbaly ro: Țambal cs: Cimbál pl: Cymbały fa: Santoor, Santur fr: Tympanon zh: Yangqin ko: Yanggeum kh: ឃឹម Khim vi: Tam Thập Lục th: ขิม Khim tt: чимбал çimbal |
| Classification | Percussion instrument (chordophone), string instrument |
| Hornbostel–Sachs classification | 314.122-4 (Simple chordophone sounded by hammers) |
| Developed | Antiquity |
| Related instruments | |
| Alpine zither, Appalachian dulcimer, autoharp, board zither, concert zither, Psaltery, Tambourine de Bearn | |
| Sound sample | |
The hammered dulcimer (also called the hammer dulcimer) is a percussion-stringed instrument which consists of strings typically stretched over a trapezoidal resonant sound board. The hammered dulcimer is set before the musician, who in more traditional styles may sit cross-legged on the floor, or in a more modern style may stand or sit at a wooden support with legs. The player holds a small spoon-shaped mallet hammer in each hand to strike the strings. The Graeco-Roman word dulcimer ("sweet song") derives from the Latin dulcis (sweet) and the Greek melos (song). The dulcimer, in which the strings are beaten with small hammers, originated from the psaltery, in which the strings are plucked.[1]
Hammered dulcimers and other similar instruments are traditionally played in Iraq, India, Iran, Southwest Asia, China, Korea, and parts of Southeast Asia, Central Europe (Hungary, Slovenia, Romania, Slovakia, Poland, Czech Republic, Switzerland (particularly Appenzell), Austria and Bavaria), the Balkans, Eastern Europe (Ukraine and Belarus), and Scandinavia. The instrument is also played in the United Kingdom (Wales, East Anglia, Northumbria), and the United States, where its traditional use in folk music saw a revival in the late 20th century.[2]
- ^ "Definition of DULCIMER". Merriam-Webster, Incorporated. Retrieved 29 July 2012.
- ^ Groce, Nancy. The Hammered Dulcimer in America. Washington, DC: Smithsonian, 1983, pp. 72-73.