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Hello and welcome hammered dulcimer beginners! We are so happy you’ve decided to learn how to play this beloved folk instrument.
To make getting started a little easier, we’ve compiled some helpful blog posts below. They can give you a wider perspective of the instrument, what it can do, and how to play it!
By Nicolette Foss Rhythm and timing are especially important for percussion instruments like the hammered dulcimer. Other musicians often tend to follow the rhythm that we are playing. But if you find that you are often playing too fast or too slow, you can lead the whole jam astray! That is why metronome practice is especially important for us hammered dulcimer players.. But you’re not alone. Even the most experienced player still benefits from using a metronome (like Ted Yoder)!... Read More →
By Nicolette Foss Oftentimes, when people hear the word “dulcimer”, they automatically think of the narrow-bodied zither whose fretted fingerboard is plucked or strummed. Well, this ain’t it! The hammered dulcimer is often confused with this more well-known zither, which is called the mountain (or Appalachian) dulcimer. And while they are both zithers played in the folk music world, that is where the similarities end. How’d they end up with the same name? Nobody knows, but in this article, we are... Read More →
By Nicolette Foss Are you struggling to learn new music? For those of us who don’t know music theory when learning to play the hammered dulcimer, it can be difficult to pick up on songs we want to learn. And if you don’t have a trained ear, it can be even harder to identify what key a song is in. While it isn’t necessary to know or understand what the key of a song is in, it can be extremely... Read More →
By Nicolette Foss Not knowing what you don’t know is the hardest part of being a newbie. So you grip your poor hammers for dear life as you hunch over the dulcimer for odd hours, trying to decode “How to play the hammered dulcimer” YouTube videos. They may as well be in another language! At this point are you even having fun anymore? You might just be reinforcing bad habits that will be harder to kick later on. That is... Read More →
By Nicolette Foss We are all affected by stress. But the effects of stress are not always as noticeable as that all-too-familiar eye twitch brought on by a grueling workday. Tension can build up from seemingly innocuous situations like the rush at the cash register to make way for the next customer in line. Or the extra 15 minutes added onto a rainy morning commute when you’re already late. These tiny worries can pile up and lead to health problems... Read More →
By Chris and Nicolette Foss As with anything you love, your hammered dulcimer will stand the test of time when it is well-maintained and handled with care. Knowing how to properly tune, adjust, clean, and maintain your instrument is essential to keep it sweet-sounding and by your side for years to come. In this article, we will give you some of our tried and true tips for troubleshooting issues you may have with tuning. For instance, did you know a... Read More →
By Nicolette Foss Are you a hammered dulcimer newbie? Have you noticed your dulcimer just doesn’t sound as good as it did when you first started playing? Do people grimace in pain as you play? These may be signs your hammered dulcimer may be out of tune. Just as any stringed instrument does, when the tension on the strings changes, it changes the pitch of the notes played. This will cause your hammered dulcimer to be what is called “out... Read More →