The History of the Dulcimer Family

The dulcimers are struck or plucked chordophone instruments. They usually have multiple groups or courses of strings also called string choirs stretched across a trapezoidal shaped wooden box. The sound of the vibrating strings gets amplified by the instrument’s body. The struck types are played with sticks that are called beaters or hammers that are also made out of wood with other materials like leather, cotton or felt at their tips. The plucked versions are played with fingers or plectrum.

The word dulcimer most likely derived from combining the Latin word dulce (sweet) with the Greek word melos (song/tune). (wcu.edu, 2024). The earliest evidences about struck chordophone instruments are from the Babylonian, Mesopotamian and Assyrian Empires and date back to approximately 4000 years ago. One of the first artifacts depicting a stringed instrument hit with sticks was found in Nineveh in the ancient ruins of Ashurbanipal the Neo-Assyrian King’s Palace dating from 645 B.C.

The earliest evidences about struck chordophone instruments are from the Babylonian, Mesopotamian and Assyrian Empires and date back to approximately 4000 years ago. One of the first artifacts depicting a stringed instrument hit with sticks was found in Nineveh in the ancient ruins of Ashurbanipal the Neo-Assyrian King’s Palace dating from 645 B.C.

The predecessor of the Persian Santur was made out of wood and stone and they used animal guts and silk as strings. The Persian Santur (also sanṭūr, سنتور) today is played in the Middle East mainly in the countries of Iran (santour), Iraq (santour), Armenia (santir), Afghanistan (santur), Turkey (santur), Greece (Santouri, Σαντούρι).

UK hammered dulcimer player Tomos Brangwyn performs Chaharmezrab Nava by Iranian composer Faramarz Payvar (1933-2009).

The lightweight wooden mezrabs, or mallets have tips that may be wrapped with cotton or felt. The Santur has 2 sets of 9 bridges and is tuned diatonic with a range of 3 octaves. The choirs of strings that run across each bridge consist of 4 strings per group.

On the Iranian Santur both the left and the right side of the treble bridge and the left side of the bass bridge are played. The tuning includes certain semi-flat notes which are approximately a quarter note below the natural note.

Santur solo from the Isfahan Concert at the Isabel Bader Centre in Kingston.

A variation of the Iranian Santur is the Indian Santoor (संतूर, ਸੰਤੂਰ) also used in Pakistan and Bangladesh. Its beaters are also called mezrabs and are lightweight like their Iranian counterparts. The Indian Santoor also has 2 sets of bridges with usually 15 to 16 bridges left and right side on the top of the instrument. Only one note per bridge is played on the long side of the string choirs that consist of 3 strings each. Its tuning can be either diatonic or chromatic.

Ancient Indian texts also refer to a very similar zither-style instrument as Shata Tantri Veena ('hundred-stringed instrument') at a time when the word veena was a generic term for all string instruments. The santoor became a vital part of the folk music of the Kashmir region where it is the favourite melodic accompaniment for Sufiana Mausiqi (Islamic mystic) vocal music and it is possible that it was introduced here either by early Persian Sufis or traders. (2024 Darbar Arts Culture and Heritage Trust)

Recorded at Darbar Festival on 4 Apr 2010: Shivkumar Sharma (santoor), Anindo Chatterjee (tabla), Roopa Panesar (tanpura).

The Chinese Yangqin (扬琴) also most likely derived from the Iranian Santur and literally means acclaimed zither. In Tibet they refer to it as Rgyud-mang (རྒྱུད་མང , literally 'many strings') or Yangzi. It is also popular in other Eastern countries: Uzbekistan (Chang), Mongolia (Yochin, Ёчин), Bhutan (Yangchen), Korea (Yanggeum, 양금), Taiwan (Yangqin), Vietnam (Đàn tam thập lục).

Simona Linxiaoyou plays Quyền Ngự Thiên Hạ on the Đàn Tam Thập Lục (Hammered Dulcimer).

According to historical records, during the reign of Emperor Wanli (1573-1620) in the late Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), the yangqin first came into China via the Maritime Silk Road. It arrived in Guangdong Province (formerly Romanised as Canton or Kwangtung) and then spread to other inland regions including provinces of Guangxi, Sichuan, and Hunan. (China Today, 2021)

The most widely used modern Yangqin is the 402 which has 4 bridges and 2 smaller ones with courses of up to 5 strings (144 strings in total) running across them. Its range is 5 octaves with the top 4 being fully chromatic.

The hammers are crafted from flexible bamboo, with one end being partially covered by rubber. Their unique design allows for two distinct playing techniques: using the rubber-covered side for a softer sound and employing the bamboo side for a sharper, more percussive tone. This method, referred to as 反竹 (fǎnzhǔ), finds its optimal application in the higher registers of the yangqin. Additionally, the ends of the sticks can be utilized to pluck the strings, creating a sharp and precise sound. Glissandos can also be executed by running the mallet ends along the strings in an upward or downward motion.

China has the largest population of Yangqin players... “It is estimated that, in China’s mainland, there are 50,000 professional Yangqin performers and 400,000 people who are learning to play the musical instrument,” says Xu Xuedong, a Yangqin virtuoso and composer. (China Today, 2021)

The traditional folk instrument of Thailand, the Khim (ขิม) came to China during the Ming period (B.E.1911-2187) and was popular in the northeast of Kwang Tung territory. Thailand gained the Khim culture from China. The Khim came into Thailand at the end of the Ayudhaya period, arriving on a Chinese junk sailing to trade with Thailand. The Chinese played the Khim during various auspicious events in the Chinese colony.

The word 'Khim' comes from the Tae-Jew Chinese language. It was originally pronounced 'Iang-Khim,' but Thai people shortened it to the last syllable, 'Khim.' The word 'Khim' spread to neighboring countries that adopted the instrument, including Laos (ຂິມ), Cambodia (ឃឹម), and Myanmar (ဒိတ်).

The Khim has 2 sets of 7-note bridges with 42 strings running across them in 14 groups of 3 strings. The tuning is diatonic and covers a range of 2 octaves. Larger concert versions are available with 54 or 66 strings in total.

Tomayantee’s novel, Koo Kram, was adapted into a TV drama five times and produced for film three times between 1970 and 2004. During this period, the Khim gained popularity as the main character was a Khim artist in the story, and 'Nang Khruan' became its theme song, played below by Khim artist A Chayudee.

Now, in Thailand teaching and learning Khim is widespread; in every level of government educational institutes and private educational institutes in the country, in more than 200 registered private music schools across the country, in Khim interested groups, in Khim clubs, in The Khim Association, in The Khim Foundation which gathers all Khim studying in and out of the school system, including the groups that study Khim for pleasure. (Fine Arts International Journal Srinakharinwirot University Vol. 15 No. 2 July - December 2011)

The Salterio, also known as the Psaltery (from Greek psaltērion: 'harp'), is a musical instrument that entered Europe during the Migration Period (A.D 300–800). It arrived both by sea through Spanish, Portuguese, and Italian ports, and by land with migrating communities from the East.

The Salterio is a stringed instrument that can be played with a bow or plucked with fingers. It typically has a trapezoidal shape but can also be rectangular, triangular, or wing-shaped. Its soundboard is made of wood, and the strings, made of gut, horsehair, or metal, are stretched across it. Playing with a bow creates a sustained sound, while plucking produces a staccato effect. Techniques like tremolo and vibrato can also be used to create different effects, and the instrument can be played solo or in an ensemble.

The bow is used to create a sustained sound, while plucking produces a more staccato sound. The player can also use different techniques, such as tremolo and vibrato, to create different effects. The Salterio can be played solo or in an ensemble with other instruments.

It was used in biblical times to accompany the singing of psalms. During the Middle Ages, the Salterio was widely used in both religious and secular music. It was especially popular in the courts of European monarchs in Italy, Spain, Portugal and France (doulcemèr, tympanon) where it was played by minstrels and troubadours. It was also used in churches, where it accompanied Gregorian chants and other forms of religious music.

Franziska Fleischanderl performs Florido Ubaldi's 'Concerto/Sonata for Salterio.'

In Latin America the Salterio first arrived into Brazil with Portuguese Spanish and Italian immigrants. Rogério Budasz has published a beautiful facsimile of Antonio Vieira dos Santos manuscript from about 1820 Cifras de música para saltério, together with a transcription, analysis and bibliography (ISBN 85-7335-078-4)

It later became popular in other countries including Mexico. The Mexican psaltery has a trapezoidal form, is manufactured with wood, and is double and triple stringed. On the top board, 5 bridges are placed in order to seat stretched metal strings across from side to side. The strings are plucked with a metal pick adjusted on the index finger of each hand. There are salterios of various sizes, up to one meter long, with tessitura of tenor, soprano and requinto. The salterio requinto has 90 strings in 3 courses, with a range from Si4 to Fa#9. The salterio tenor has more than 100 strings in 3-4-course order, with a range from Si3 to Fa#8.

On the Salterio the strings are open, none being stopped to produce different notes. It is a variety of the trapezoidal Arabic psaltery, or qānūn (derived from Greek kanōn, “rule”). It also gave rise to the harpsichord, which is a large psaltery with a keyboard mechanism for plucking the strings and is the predecessor of the pianoforte today known as piano. The keyboard of the pianoforte (and also a contemporary instrument the pantalon or pantaleon) operated hammers to strike the dulcimer strings instead of plucking them.

The present-day Qanun has a range of three octaves with three strings to each pitch, and a complex system of levers by which its many strings may be finely and quickly retuned to the various Arab scales. The medieval qānūn also diffused eastward across India to Indonesia and China. Still prominent in the music of Arabic-speaking countries, it is played with finger plectra and is normally triple strung.

Psalteries that are still played in European folk music include the Finnish kantele and its Baltic relatives, among them the Estonian kannel, which is bowed rather than plucked, and the Russian gusli.

Psalteries are members of the zither family, instruments having strings extended across an armless, neckless frame or holder; non-Western psalteries are thus sometimes referred to as zithers. The dulcimer is a psaltery having strings that are struck with hammers rather than plucked.

The Appalachian, or mountain, dulcimer of the United States is a narrow folk zither with three to five metal strings running over a fretted fingerboard, which is set centrally along the dulcimer’s entire length. The player’s right hand strums with a small stick or quill, and the left hand stops one or more strings to provide the melody.

Several different types of instruments are classified as zithers; they are used today in all continents. The long zithers of China, Japan, and Korea, which have a curved surface and a long, narrow shape, display a possible link to the idiochordic bamboo zithers of the Pacific, Southeast Asia, and southeastern Africa. The importance of bamboo to music in Asia is literally legendary; in Java, music is thought to have been first produced by the accidental admission of air into a bamboo tube. In China musical instruments are classified according to their constructional material; one of the eight substances in the system is bamboo, which the Chinese relate to the direction East, the season Spring, and the phenomenon Mountain. The Chinese zheng (or guzheng, 古筝), a zither, includes the radical meaning “bamboo” in its ideograph. The ideographs of the older zithers—the qin and the se—are more difficult to interpret, however. Zithers of this type are known to have existed in the Shang period (c. 1600–1046 BCE); the zheng was first documented during the Qin period (221–207 BCE). By the 8th century, this instrument had been introduced to Japan, where, as the 13-string koto, it flourishes today. The koto (琴), like the zheng, is played frequently by women, though the head of a koto guild is usually a man. (Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2024.

The Hackbrett ('chopping block') has been a part of German-speaking musical traditions since the fifteenth century. It reached its widest distribution during the eighteenth century and, despite periods of decline and criticism, has maintained its presence through periodic revivals. (Paul M. Gifford)

In the Baroque era, Hackbretts were similar to the Tympanon and the Salterio and were diatonically tuned. Today, there is a wide variety of Hackbrett types with tonal ranges of 3 to 5 octaves, strings grouped in sets of 2 to 5, and various tuning systems. Modern adaptations include the Chromatic Hackbrett (Chromatisches Hackbrett) and versions with damping mechanisms.

The Hackbrett is popular in several countries, including Switzerland, Austria, Germany, Slovenia (Oprekelj), the Netherlands (Hakkebord), Belgium (Hakkebord), Denmark (Hakkebræt), Norway (Hakkebrett), and Sweden (Hackbräde, Hammarharpa).

Regina's Hackbrett Czardas, composed by Walter Alder, performed on April 29, 2023, on Potzmusig (SRF1). Hackbrett: Christa Kölbener, Violin: Damian Neff, Bass: Martin Fässler (www.appenzellost.ch).

In the Alpine region, the Hackbrett exists in various forms, including the Styrian Hackbrett (diatonically tuned), the Slovenian Hackbrett (some with fourths bridges), the larger East Tyrolean Hackbrett with Leviton hinges, the Appenzeller Hackbrett (with fifths and sixths bridges), and the Wallis (Valais) Hackbrett (with fifths and bass bridges).

A special significance is attached to the development of the so-called Salzburger Hackbrett, which the Salzburg musician and composer Tobi Reiser Sr. completed around 1935 together with the instrument maker Heinrich Bandzauner. The arrangement of the tones is chromatic, which Tobi Reiser Sr. (1907 - 1974) justified by saying: 'This way, I can also play my beloved Mozart on the hammered dulcimer.'

The Hackbrett has also appeared in notable folk music performances, such as the 'Houseflies-Polka' at the 19th Alpine-Landish Folk Music Competition in Innsbruck in 2010.

There have probably been more dulcimer players and makers in East Anglia than in any other area of England. In East Anglia it was just called a dulcimer, not a hammered dulcimer as it is known in America in order to distinguish it from the hourglass shaped Appalachian dulcimer.

Interest in the dulcimer was at its peak in East Anglia from around 1850 to 1930. The demand for instruments provided work for both skilled instrument makers and jobbing carpenters and also encouraged home-made creations.

In East Anglia the old players used cane beaters, typically wound with wool. Most instruments from the region were highly decorated and had an integral hinged stand to enable them to be played on a table.

The other distinguishing feature of the East Anglian dulcimer is that the bridges are individual not continuous as in other traditions. These, often called ‘chessman’ bridges, allowed for a more chromatic tuning as some could be moved to the left or right.

For centuries a form of struck psaltery or dulcimer has been played in most parts of the world. In England the hot bed for dulcimer playing was London and Birmingham (where the instruments were often played with plectrums) and of course East Anglia. (www.eastangliandulcimers.org.uk)

Scotland and Ireland also have rich dulcimer traditions.

The Glasgow Dulcimer Group.

Another big centre of dulcimer playing and manufacturing is the United States, where they call the instrument hammered dulcimer.

The strings of the hammered dulcimer are often tuned according to a circle of fifths pattern. Typically, the lowest note (often a G or D) is struck at the lower right-hand of the instrument, just to the left of the right-hand (bass) bridge. As a player strikes the courses above in sequence, they ascend following a repeating sequence of two whole steps and a half step. With this tuning, a diatonic scale is broken into two tetrachords, or groups of four notes.

These American types of dulcimers also became popular in Canada, Australia and Japan.

In the US there are hammered dulcimers produced with extended ranges and pedal mechanisms.

Cimbalom, an elaborate stringed instrument of the dulcimer family used in small music ensembles by central European Roma (Gypsies). The instrument has a trapezoidal body that stands on four legs. It has a chromatic range of over four and a half octaves and, unlike other dulcimers, a pedal mechanism for damping the strings. The cimbalom (cymbalom) has about 125 metal strings, with 2 to 5 strings per note. Some of the strings have two or three bridges along their length. The musician, who plays in a seated position, strikes the strings with two small, spoon-shaped wooden hammers, one held in each hand. The hammers are covered with either hard or soft leather or cotton wool, depending on the tone quality desired.

The cimbalom (Also known as: cymbalon, czimbalom, zimbalon, zymbalum) is the Eastern European version of the dulcimer. It is very popular in Hungary (cimbalom), Romania (ţambal), Slovakia (cymbal), Czech Republic (cimbál), Germany (Zymbal), Moldova (cimbalom, ţambal), Ukraine (цимбали), Slovenia (cymbal), Croatia (cimbala), Serbia (цимбала), Bulgaria (цимбал), Russia (цимбалы), Belarus (цымбалы), Poland (cymbały), Lithuania (cimbolai) and Latvia (cimbole). In Israel they also call the dulcimer (דוּלצִימֵר, צימבלום) tsimbl, cymbal or hakbreydl.

From the point of view of history, it makes sense to group together all dulcimers called by cognates of the Latin term cymbalum. (Paul M Gifford: The Hammered Dulcimer) Related to the Middle Eastern sanṭūr and the German Hackbrett, the cimbalom was played in Hungary by the 16th century. Portable folk cimbalom of older origins are played in the rural areas of Hungary, with closely related forms found in Romania, Greece, Poland, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia. The portable version of the cimbalom is strapped across the player’s shoulders, and the performer stands while playing. (Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2024)

The modern (or concert) cimbalom was invented in the first half of the 1850s by Jozsef V Schunda. Later it was proclaimed the national instrument of Hungary, and by 1897 courses in cimbalom instruction were offered at the Budapest Academy of Music. Franz Liszt introduced the cimbalom as an orchestral instrument in his Ungarischer Sturmmarsch (1876), and it was later used by Igor Stravinsky in Le Renard (1916) and Ragtime (1918) and by Zoltán Kodály in Háry János (1926). (Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2024)

“I continued until then with tireless perseverance and without discouragement transforming and perfecting the czimbalom, until it had a nice and even tone, and maintained the tuning for a long time and had a tasteful appearance, so, it was perfect as a concert or private instrument. It was at the Vienna World’s Fair (1873) where I was surrounded by English people with increased interest and I confess their warning strengthened my idea that the sounds of the czimbalom are humming together and this should be stopped and another thought I had was that the czimbalom should be equipped with a damper pedal.” (Schunda V. József – A Czimbalom története, 1907)

Schunda was the first to equip the cimbalom with 4 legs and sophisticated pedal mechanism to dampen the strings in 1874. Besides the Schunda company, the Bohák dynasty had the most famous workshop in Hungary. Lajos Bohák was born in 1870. He established his workshop in District VIII. Of Budapest at 63 Baross Street in 1900. Many developments and innovations are attributed to Lajos Bohák, which were recognized even by the Schundas. As the cimbaloms began to be completely supplanted by the piano around the 1920s, Bohák wanted to stop this process by trying to bring the sound of the instrument closer to the sound world of the piano. He achieved this by making the resonating plate, which had been vibrating closed until then, freer, and by opening the resonating roof on both sides, so he was able to incorporate higher volume and better sound quality into the instrument. He also expanded the sound range, made the bass part fully chromatic, and further expanded the treble part, thus creating a large-orchestral concert dulcimer ranging from C-1 bass to A 3. He also renovated the pedal mechanism in 1910, instead of the lead-weight sound pickup system used until then, he invented the pedal spring solution, which made sound attenuation easier and more effective. Due to the free-vibrating resonance, the stiffening structure of the instrument also had to be reformed, the so-called Instead of H iron, he installed a more serious iron structure and perfected the static wooden structure of the instrument by 1928. The cimbaloms in use today are made based on a similar construction.

Today’s famous luthiers (craftsmen) are Ákos Nagy and Balázs Kovács.

In 2012 Ákos Nagy built the first light-weight (55 kg) modern concert cimbalom.

Famous compositions for concert stages include Bánk Bán by Ferenc Erkel, Háry János suite by Zoltán Kodály, La plus que lente by Claude Debussy, Ragtime by Igor Stravinsky, Rhapsody No. 1 by Béla Bartók and Réponse by Pierre Boulez just to name a few.

Famous film music featuring the cimbalom include Captain Blood (1935) Christmas in Connecticut (1945), The Ipcress File (1965) music by John Barry, The Black Stallion (1979) music by Carmine Coppola), Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984) music by James Horner, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002) music by Howard Shore, Sherlock Holmes (2009) music by Hans Zimmer and The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014) music by Alexandre Desplat.

Hungarians:

From other countries: