Ken Longfield

Location:

Location: Reedsville, PA
Country: US

My Latest Followers:

Emma McDaniel-Ellis LaraW Jack M Shopdad Rabbit90 WinstonD Robert Owens msok mjlipari188 Micki RobMachin seaswmr GreatLakes73 AppalachiaSky Moon Dancer MelSabol Mary_Adelee ChcknJ Chaplain Peter SJMawhee87 Kris Paul 1 dronehound Homer Ross mac bhodaich Kenneth Woolley III dreadnought28 Dulcimerlady JDH54 AndiBear Susan Ann MandaPanda NancyH Dulcianne Quigley John Desaulniers Jr Wendell G dchenaul syoung Big Bubba chiselerinwood Wally Venable KnobbyNotes Blackhawk13 Emjay Noah Cline hstulips haydee025 Ballad Gal Exukaden

Stats

vimeo videos: 1
images: 77
events: 6
Groups: 1
audio tracks: 1

I am retired and live in the Appalachian Mountains of Pennsylvania. I built my first mountain dulcimer in 1974.  I continue to build mountain dulcimers, hammered dulcimers and do repair work on them as well as guitars and banjos. I enjoy old time music, bluegrass, and folk music from before and after the folk scare of the 1950s and 1960s.

Latest Activity

  All
Ken Longfield
@ken-longfield • 4 hours ago • comments: 1
Posted a new Comment on @1ksgirl:
"Welcome to FOTMD, 1KSGirl. It's good to have you aboard. Tackling learning two instruments at once is quite a challenge. This is a wonderful group of..."
Ken Longfield
@ken-longfield • 4 hours ago • comments: 2
Liked a youtube item created by @carol-h: Snappin' Beans
Ken Longfield
@ken-longfield • yesterday • comments: 1
Liked a photos item created by @carol-h: dads cherry dulcimer and jingle belle 2
Ken Longfield
@ken-longfield • 2 days ago
Ken Longfield
@ken-longfield • 2 days ago • comments: 2
Posted a new Comment on @emma-mcdaniel-ellis:
"Welcome to FOTMD, Emma. It's good to have you aboard. There is a wonderful group of dulcimer enthusiasts here who are willing to share their knowledge of it..."
Ken Longfield
@ken-longfield • 3 days ago • comments: 30
Posted a new Comment on Has anyone made a Scheitholt?:
"Sounds like a good plan, Paul. Yes, I am familiar with Jack and his work. He's not happy with me for criticizing the use of the term scheitholt. His..."
Ken Longfield
@ken-longfield • 3 days ago • comments: 30
Posted a new Comment on Has anyone made a Scheitholt?:
"The illustration above from Praetorius' Syntagma Musicum contains a scale at the bottom of the page. This scale was used in the Braunsweig market place as a..."
Ken Longfield
@ken-longfield • 4 days ago • comments: 30
Posted a new Comment on Has anyone made a Scheitholt?:
"That's good advice, Strumelia, for someone designing their own instrument. If you are making a reproduction of an historical instrument you are locked in to..."
Ken Longfield
@ken-longfield • 4 days ago • comments: 2
Posted a new Comment on @fairpluckin:
"Welcome to FOTMD, Fairpluckin. It's good to have you aboard. Have fun exploring the site. We are here to help and encourage each other. Best wishes as you..."
Ken Longfield
@ken-longfield • 4 days ago • comments: 2
Posted a new Comment on @lunashaman:
"Welcome to FOTMD, Lunashaman. It's good to have you aboard. If learning about the mountain dulcimer is what you want to do you've come to the right place...."
Ken Longfield
@ken-longfield • 5 days ago • comments: 30
Posted a new Comment on Has anyone made a Scheitholt?:
"Hello, Paul. Here are answers to your questions, plus a comment or two. 1. Are 5 strings typical or a personal choice? I am finding several models with..."
Ken Longfield
@ken-longfield • 5 days ago • comments: 30
Posted a new Comment on Has anyone made a Scheitholt?:
"From Shopdad: "Good morning Ken. I'm back with some Q's about your Zitter build. I am looking at the pics you posted and I have a few design questions. It's..."
Ken Longfield
@ken-longfield • 5 days ago • comments: 30
Posted a new Comment on Has anyone made a Scheitholt?:
"From Shopdad: "Sure, that would be great. I may add a few ideas of my own to personalize the plans if that's ok too. Email sent to your private message.""
Ken Longfield
@ken-longfield • 5 days ago • comments: 30
Posted a new Comment on Has anyone made a Scheitholt?:
"Paul, I am happy to look over any plans you create for a scheitholt. If you are interested, I can share the dimensions of the one I made. It isn't difficult..."
Ken Longfield
@ken-longfield • 5 days ago • comments: 30
Posted a new Comment on Has anyone made a Scheitholt?:
"From Shopdad:  "I hope everyone had a good Memorial Day with friends and family. I thought I would have some string time but I was in charge of the smoker...."
Ken Longfield
@ken-longfield • 5 days ago • comments: 0
Posted a response to "The Stradivarius Effect":
"I like that idea Strumelia. Thanks for suggesting it.  Paul, I'm going to copy our discussion so far and paste it in that discussion "Has anyone made a..."
Ken Longfield
@ken-longfield • 5 days ago • comments: 0
Liked a forum discussions item created by @greatlakes73: String-changing adventure on scroll head
Ken Longfield
@ken-longfield • 5 days ago • comments: 0
Posted a response to "Dr woodson":
"I've never met anyone who has one of his dulcimers, so I can't comment on them. The other stuff is what I have in my files on dulcimer makers. I don't even..."
Ken Longfield
@ken-longfield • 6 days ago • comments: 0
Posted a response to "Dr woodson":
"Other than knowing that he was a Methodist pastor and made furniture and dulcimers as a hobby, I can't help with knowledge about his dulcimers. He lived..."
Ken Longfield
@ken-longfield • 6 days ago • comments: 0
Posted a response to "Article Published":
"Thank you Strumelia and canard. Ken "The dulcimer sings a sweet song.""
Ken Longfield
@ken-longfield • 6 days ago • comments: 3
Posted a new Comment on @a-g-wright:
"Welcome to FOTMD, A_g_wright. It's good to have you aboard. You've come to right the place to learn about mountain dulcimers. Have fun exploring this site...."
Ken Longfield
@ken-longfield • one week ago • comments: 0
Created a new forum topic "Article Published":
"I received my somewhat beat up issue of Dulcimer Players News today, May 26, 2026. It is Vol. 52, No.2, May 2026. It contains the article I wrote, with Ken..."
Ken Longfield
@ken-longfield • one week ago • comments: 0
Posted a response to "The Stradivarius Effect":
"Paul, I am happy to look over any plans you create for a scheitholt. If you are interested, I can share the dimensions of the one I made. It isn't difficult..."
Ken Longfield
@ken-longfield • one week ago • comments: 0
Posted a response to "The Stradivarius Effect":
"At one time I thought I would shape a piece of wood to fit over the fret, cut the tang off of small piece of fret wire, and superglue it to top of the wood..."
Ken Longfield
@ken-longfield • one week ago • comments: 0
Posted a response to "The Stradivarius Effect":
"Paul, here is a photo of the reverse capo I use. It is the cap from a BIC pen. I cut off the clip end so it goes under the bass string. Some folks also..."
Ken Longfield
@ken-longfield • one week ago • comments: 0
Posted a response to "The Stradivarius Effect":
"Paul, nice to meet you! Yes, the hook holds the second string down and only that string. It presents a unique harmony to any tune you play. Strumelia..."
Ken Longfield
@ken-longfield • one week ago • comments: 0
Posted a response to "The Stradivarius Effect":
"Wally, that's a good idea. I use a reverse capo (one that lifts rather than compresses) on the base string to raise it to E so I can play some tunes in EAA...."
Ken Longfield
@ken-longfield • one week ago • comments: 0
Posted a response to "The Stradivarius Effect":
"That's fine, Shopdad. It is interesting to note that the wire frets on the scheitholt go under all the strings. A notable feature of the scheitholt is that..."
Ken Longfield
@ken-longfield • one week ago • comments: 0
Posted a response to "The Stradivarius Effect":
"Shopdad, there is an interesting story regarding the scheitholt reproduction. I wrote an article for DPN, with some help from Ken Hulme, regarding the term..."
Ken Longfield
@ken-longfield • one week ago • comments: 0
Posted a response to "The Stradivarius Effect":
"Shopdad, here is a link for the scheitholt: Praetorius scheitholt . And here is a link to one reproduction zitter I made: zitter . Ken "The dulcimer sings..."
Ken Longfield
@ken-longfield • one week ago • comments: 0
Posted a response to "The Stradivarius Effect":
"I did a quick recount today. I'm happy to say that I only have 21 mountain dulcimers at the moment. In addition I do have four PA German zitters and a..."
Ken Longfield
@ken-longfield • 2 weeks ago • comments: 0
Posted a response to "The Stradivarius Effect":
"Good ones, Wally and Shopdad. John you have recognized the beginning of the problem, if indeed one considers it a problem. Has anyone found a cure or end to..."
Ken Longfield
@ken-longfield • 2 weeks ago • comments: 0
Posted a response to "The Swedish Hummel":
"Thanks, Shopped. I've seen that photo before. She does have it propped up on a foot stool, but still it is a very large instrument. Ken "The dulcimer sings a..."
Ken Longfield
@ken-longfield • 2 weeks ago • comments: 0
Created a new forum topic "The Swedish Hummel":
"Many folks who have been part of the mountain dulcimer for a while are aware of European instruments that share some characteristics of our mountain..."
Ken Longfield
@ken-longfield • 2 weeks ago • comments: 0
Posted a response to "The Stradivarius Effect":
"A couple of other interpretations of DAS and DAD are Dulcimer Acquisition Syndrome, Dulcimers Are Sweet; and Dulcimer Acquisition Disease and Dulcimers Are..."

Latest Group Discussions

  All
Ken Longfield

Die Schwedische Hummel


A while back a friend shared a pdf of this monograph. In 1952 Stig...
@Ken Longfield 2 months ago - Comments: 3
Ken Longfield

The Story of the Hummel


Wilfried Ulrich's book,  The Story of The Hummel , is available again...
@Ken Longfield 4 months ago - Comments: 0
Ken Longfield

The Story of the Hummel


Anyone interested in the history of the Appalachian (mountain) dulcimer...
@Ken Longfield 4 months ago - Comments: 0
Ken Longfield

The Praetorius Scheitholt


In 1619 Michael Praetorius published the second volume of Syntagma...
@Ken Longfield 5 months ago - Comments: 3
Ken Longfield

Anyone branching out?


About twenty years ago I decided to build a hammered dulcimer mainly to...
@Ken Longfield 6 months ago - Comments: 1
Ken Longfield

Another Tabledit question


Yesterday I updated my Tabledit for Mac to version 3.03 a4a. I can no...
@Ken Longfield 3 years ago - Comments: 10
Ken Longfield

T - 6


This is my sixth teardrop dulcimer. The shape comes from plans by Scott...
@Ken Longfield 5 years ago - Comments: 12
Ken Longfield

Latest project - Prichard


I started to build a C.N. Prichard reproduction, but made a mistake...
@Ken Longfield 6 years ago - Comments: 9
Ken Longfield

Making wood tuning pegs


For those of us who make wood tuning pegs, what finish do you put on...
@Ken Longfield 6 years ago - Comments: 3
Ken Longfield

Current build


Here are some photos as I near the completion of this project. The...
@Ken Longfield 6 years ago - Comments: 15
Ken Longfield

Tuning peg knobs


I have a customer who is having the tuning pegs replaced on two of his...
@Ken Longfield 7 years ago - Comments: 23
Ken Longfield

Wood Choice - Food For Thought


I came across this experiment for classical guitars and found it...
@Ken Longfield 10 years ago - Comments: 13
Ken Longfield

The Ugly Dulcimer - A Story


Somewhere and at sometime someone decided to build a mountain dulcimer...
@Ken Longfield 8 years ago - Comments: 8
Ken Longfield

Repairing a Diamond Dulcimer


While this is not a build, we do not have a specific area to show...
@Ken Longfield 12 years ago - Comments: 17
Ken Longfield

PA German Zitter


Here are some photos of PA German zitter reproduction I'm making. There...
@Ken Longfield 9 years ago - Comments: 17
Ken Longfield

Not a Mountain Dulcimer


A few folks here at FOTMD know that I was working on a hammered...
@Ken Longfield 13 years ago - Comments: 9
Ken Longfield

A New "Old" Project


Back maybe 20 to 25 years ago, my sister was wandering through a yard...
@Ken Longfield 9 years ago - Comments: 2
Ken Longfield

Stanley Hicks article


Although not dulcimer specific, Stanley Hicks played a significant...
@Ken Longfield 10 years ago - Comments: 8
Ken Longfield

The Story of the Dulcimer, Second Edition


This is just a notice that it is available for pre-ordering on Amazon.
@Ken Longfield 11 years ago - Comments: 14
Ken Longfield

PA German Zitter


As I understand it, Jean Ritchie saw a PA German Zitter in the...
@Ken Longfield 11 years ago - Comments: 0

Latest Audio

  All
Oh Lord, What A Morning

Oh Lord, What A Morning


@Ken Longfield
3 years ago - Comments: 7

Latest Videos

  All

Latest Photos

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Latest Forum Discussions

  All

Article Published

Posted: Friday May 29 2026, 1:25 PM
By: @Shopdad

The Swedish Hummel

Posted: Saturday May 23 2026, 8:44 AM
By: @Ken Longfield

Troublesome Creek on PBS

Posted: Thursday April 9 2026, 9:20 AM
By: @Ken Longfield

Where in the world are Ken and Ben

Posted: Sunday March 15 2026, 10:34 AM
By: @Robin Thompson

RIP John Huron

Posted: Thursday March 12 2026, 6:42 PM
By: @Jerry Posner

The Praetorius Scheitholt

Posted: Tuesday February 24 2026, 11:13 AM
By: @razyn

Let's Bury The Term "Scheitholt"

Posted: Saturday January 24 2026, 3:47 PM
By: @Ken Longfield

The Story of the Hummel

Posted: Friday January 23 2026, 11:03 PM
By: @Ken Longfield

For our new members - The Chat

Posted: Tuesday June 24 2025, 9:45 AM
By: @Strumelia

North Country Dulcimer

Posted: Saturday March 29 2025, 2:59 AM
By: @Nate

Appalachian Dulcimer Museum

Posted: Saturday November 30 2024, 8:16 AM
By: @Jerry Posner

Pete Seeger

Posted: Monday November 25 2024, 9:37 AM
By: @Robin Thompson

Something Old with a new surprise

Posted: Thursday July 18 2024, 8:42 AM
By: @Ken Longfield

Folklife in Ohio

Posted: Wednesday July 17 2024, 11:07 AM
By: @cairney

Dulcimer Players News demise

Posted: Saturday May 4 2024, 7:52 PM
By: @Ken Longfield

Something to watch

Posted: Wednesday April 24 2024, 9:42 AM
By: @Ken Longfield

Robert N. Lackey, rest in peace

Posted: Wednesday March 6 2024, 11:45 AM
By: @Dusty Turtle

Just For Fun - sayings regarding the...

Posted: Thursday February 22 2024, 3:55 AM
By: @shanonmilan

Everythingdulcimer.com

Posted: Sunday July 16 2023, 1:58 PM
By: @Strumelia

Gary Sager

Posted: Thursday March 23 2023, 9:43 AM
By: @Robin Thompson

John Crocker

Posted: Thursday March 9 2023, 5:02 PM
By: @Ken Longfield

Mike Clemmer

Posted: Friday December 17 2021, 9:41 AM
By: @Skip

Don Pedi honored

Posted: Thursday September 16 2021, 6:11 AM
By: @Susie

Joni Mitchell and Mountain Dulcimers

Posted: Thursday August 26 2021, 8:38 PM
By: @Dusty Turtle

Zoom group invitation

Posted: Sunday May 23 2021, 6:24 PM
By: @Ken Longfield

An Interesting News Story from West Virginia

Posted: Thursday April 15 2021, 8:15 PM
By: @Ken Longfield

Bonnie Carol

Posted: Saturday April 3 2021, 6:54 PM
By: @Ken Longfield

Newspaper Article

Posted: Saturday March 13 2021, 10:38 AM
By: @Robin Thompson

Jon Pickow's last performance

Posted: Saturday January 23 2021, 10:07 PM
By: @Ken Hulme

Sad News -- RIP Ralph Lee Smith

Posted: Thursday December 31 2020, 3:05 PM
By: @Robin Thompson

Comments

AnitaFranklin
05/05/26 06:00:05PM @anitafranklin:

Thank you, Ken! It is great feeling to be back among the FOTMD Tribe! 


Melmuse
04/30/26 08:18:21PM @melmuse:

Thank you Ken!
This forum looks like it has much information. I am so eager to learn.


Deb Nes
03/26/26 02:18:40PM @deb-nes:

Thank you for the welcome! I am really looking forward to making progress with the help of this community!

Deb


Ryan Cornett
02/09/26 10:27:47AM @ryan-cornett:

Thank you for welcoming me to the site, Ken. I've played guitar and clawhammer banjo for years, so the beginner-friendly aspects of mountain dulcimer have come easily; I'm here to make sure I learn the fundamentals correctly, progress to the intermediate skill level, and learn more of the culture.

Thanks again!

Ryan


Sylvia
01/15/26 07:15:48PM @sylvia:

Hi Ken, 

I appreciate the welcome. 

As a beginner I am going to use the D A dd tuning. 


Kirsten
01/04/26 09:06:52PM @kirsten:

Good eye!  Yes it's a Keith Young.  My father has the history of the collection and we're doing knowledge transfer now.  I can ask him tomorrow.

My parents were in an old time string band from the 80s through 2010. Started a band in Bowie, MD and became the Twin Hill String Band in WI. 

I'm really looking forward to getting her teaching materials out to the public but it's a long process.  Will totally be worth the effort!!


Kirsten
01/04/26 07:34:47PM @kirsten:

Hi, Ken!  Thank you for the welcome.

My mother was a dulcimer teacher and collected Keith Young instruments.  She had a couple of Bill Berg's as well. I'm in the process of digitizing her lesson books and getting back into playing.  My niece is interested as well.  😊

My goal is to play this one with my niece. original


LaraW
01/03/26 09:35:00PM @larawilder:

Hi Ken,

Thanks so much for the warm welcome! I love that you have one of my great uncles dulcimers! That is so wonderful to hear.
It’s true… I have so many memories of Sunhearth, especially the Fourth of July festival. Since my birthday is close to the Fourth of July, when I was young, very young,I always assumed that the festival, the fireworks, everything was for me!
But first a quick quiz… Does anyone know the myth of how the first Fourth of July Sunhearth Folk festival began?

Also, please let me know the best forum for me to place these memories. I would hate to clog up the wrong space on the site!

Lara


Fred
12/24/25 12:42:41PM @freddy-gene:

Thanks for the welcome, Ken.

Fred


Gary Roys
12/06/25 08:55:46PM @gary-roys:

Ken,

Yeah, I'm not going for even close to hi-gloss.  Besides just hanging on the wall for a long time now [Elaine passed away yr-n-a-half ago], I think the modest amount of polymerized tung oil I put on it in '88 soaked into the porous red elm in particular, so it was downright 'dull'.  Just want to further fill the pores in the wood and make it look like it has 'some' finish to it.

Gary


B3E
10/28/25 02:26:43PM @b3e:

Thanks Ken :) Having a look around – pleased to be here.


Ken Longfield
10/10/25 10:06:01AM @ken-longfield:

Todd, it depends on which model it is. If it is one of his student dulcimers, I think that is rather high since they originally sold for $125. For one of his regular instruments that would be a good price.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."


todd metcalf
10/10/25 12:20:03AM @todd-metcalf:

Hi Ken, I had to be away for some time. I appreciated your help here. I noted a David Lynch 4 stringer on Ebay today for around 250.00 . Is that a decent price ?

 Many warm thanks, Todd


ibsilver
10/06/25 09:47:52AM @ibsilver:

Thank you for the lovely welcome.  I am intinated by learning the dulcimer and proper terminology.  Tuning DAA & DAD is challenging on the old used dulcimer.


Carol H
09/11/25 01:33:21PM @carol-h:

Thank you for the welcome! I'm happy to be here nod


Whispering Tune
09/09/25 01:09:05PM @whispering-tune:

Thank you for the kind and warm welcome!  

I have a dulcimer with .5, 1.5, and 6.5 frets, and I'm looking to find some direction on how to get the songs I love onto my dulcimer!


jkamp09
09/04/25 12:47:23PM @jkamp09:

Hi Ken,

Thanks for the welcome to the forum and for the tip on the TTAD zoom group.  I joined up with that forum as well and may join into the zoom group at some point but have been pretty busy during the week.  I may follow along with the song recommendations each week though as some loose guidance on songs to work on.  

~John


greggep
08/23/25 09:31:25AM @greggep:

Thank you very much!


knitbygrace
08/22/25 10:51:05PM @knitbygrace:

Thank you, Ken!  I didn't expect an answer to my query, especially not as quickly as yours.  When I joined this group, I thought I was actually joining Jessica Comeau's webpage, where there was no sign of her arrangement of Lark.  I didn't know the existence of this page, and was surprised that I had unexpectedly joined it.  (And it took awhile to figure out how to respond to your comment).

I'm grateful for the tab, and have printed it off.  It appears that it even includes two parts!

Where did you obtain it?  Is there a free tab site somewhere?  This flute player I know wants to play together and likes Celtic music, and I'm at a loss as to how to make this happen, as I don't know that genre at all.  


eggore76
08/09/25 06:03:42AM @eggore76:

Thank you .