Forum Activity for @steve-c

Beautiful Robin! Just beautiful, your niece has mad cello skills!

I have emailed Fiona regarding the DPN article.

International also allows us to celebrate the Appalachian Dulcimer’s European roots.

The conversation started, I think, in January and we launched in March. I made a flyer I think for that year, you can see it on the Positive thread, I tried too post it here but they say the file is too big, funny it wasn’t four years ago.  I probably had to downsize it then too.  The date is on it for that year. 

Hard to believe we are turning five…if we are going to do a DPN article of the IADD history, we need to do it sooner than later. Our DPN editor has recently accepted my recent article for the November issue.  It would be nice if we can be a feature for the first issue of 2026.  If all of you who were involved in the initial conversations that brought about this grassroots celebration of the Dulcimer would write up a paragraph to share your take on how this all began, I will create an article with those paragraphs and send it on to Fiona. I will go ahead and contact her in the mean time to try and secure a place for the first issue of next year.

It has been the third year of International Appalachian Dulcimer Day.  A five year celebration could be a great idea. Might give us all enough time to share our ideas and put together something really nice. 

I think we should not rush to take credit, it might slow momentum.  A mystery is far more interesting and people are running with it.  I belong to a large dulcimer group here and the newsletter person asked me if I knew anything about it, I didn’t try to hide the fact of its origin, but I was informed that there has been a great deal of talk and enthusiasm for the Day.  There will be a time when we should share the history of it in a formal way, but I think that for the moment the “obscure origins” is working for the event and the event matters most.  I do think that Dusty you should document its history, especially since your post set us all on this journey.  It will be important later.  But, I always live by the code, that we can do a great deal of good in this world as long as we don’t care who gets the credit.  

I laughed out loud when I read this post from Buttermilk Junction, some of it is AI I think. At least it is being noticed. Though all of us are “of obscure origin.” The first paragraph is what tickled me, the rest is Wikipedia I think.

☞Buttermilk Junction wishes all of our Facebook fans a Happy National Appalachian Dulcimer Day!

☞Today, Saturday, March 29, 2025 is National Appalachian Dulcimer Day, a.k.a. International Mountain Dulcimer Day, an unofficial holiday of obscure origin that is celebrated annually on the last Saturday of the month of March in honor of the traditional stringed musical instrument that is variously known as the Appalachian Dulcimer, the Mountain Dulcimer, & the Lap Dulcimer. It is noteworthy that, despite the similarity in name, the Appalachian Dulcimer is unrelated to the ancient stringed instrument known as the “Hammered Dulcimer.”

☞According to Wikipedia: The Appalachian dulcimer (many variant names; see below) is a fretted string instrument of the zither family, typically with three or four strings, originally played in the Appalachian region of the United States. The body extends the length of the fingerboard, & its fretting is generally diatonic.

☞Although the Appalachian dulcimer first appeared in the early 19th Century amongst Scotch-Irish immigrant communities in the Appalachian Mountains, the instrument has no known precedent in Ireland, Scotland or Northern England. Because of this, & a dearth of written records, the history of the Appalachian dulcimer has been, until fairly recently, largely speculative. Since 1980, more extensive research has traced the instrument’s development through several distinct periods, & its likely origins in several similar European instruments: the Swedish Hummel, the Norwegian Langeleik, the German Scheitholt, & the French Épinette des Vosges. Folk historian Lucy M. Long said of the instrument’s history:

Because few historical records of the dulcimer exist, the origins of the instrument were open to speculation until recently when Ralph Lee Smith & L. Alan Smith reconstructed the instrument’s history by analyzing older dulcimers. The organological development of the dulcimer divides into three periods: transitional (1700 to mid-1800s), pre-revival or traditional (mid-1800s to 1940), & revival or contemporary (after 1940).

☞In the mid-20th Century, the dulcimer was brought out from relative obscurity by noted American Folk Music singer, songwriter, & Appalachian dulcimer player Jean Ritchie (1922-2015), “The Mother of Folk Music,” who was born at the village of Viper in Perry County in the Commonwealth of Kentucky. Jean Ritchie’s dulcimer playing led directly to the “Dulcimer Revival” of the 1950s & 1960s.

☞According to Wikipedia: The Appalachian dulcimer achieved a renaissance in the 1950s urban folk music revival in the United States through the work of Jean Ritchie, a Kentucky musician who introduced the instrument to New York City audiences.  In the early 1960s, Ritchie & her partner George Pickow began distributing dulcimers made by her Kentucky relative Jethro Amburgey, then the woodworking instructor at the Hindman Settlement School. They eventually began producing their own instruments in New York City. By 1965 the instrument was a familiar presence in Folk-Music circles.

☞The undated photograph depicts Jean Ritchie, “The Mother of Folk Music,” with her Appalachian dulcimer.

Sam Edelston on tv for International Appalachian Dulcimer Day! : https://www.wtnh.com/video/celebrating-international-appalachian-dulcimer-day/10580088/

Dusty,

That is hilarious.  But you're right, somehow IADD is becoming a thing.  I'm trying to promote on Mountain Dulcimer Lore.  Maybe, if we keep posting and talking about it the dulcimer world and maybe beyond will take notice...now let us lobby for a dulcimer postage stamp.

We started something bigger than we knew..we’re hysterical eh, I mean Historical.

Boy does AI exaggerate much? I search “mountain dulcimer first festival” and this came up. “The first recorded mountain dulcimer festival was the International Appalachian Dulcimer Day (IADD), which is always the last Saturday in March, and this year it falls on March 29, 2025.“

 IMG_0954.jpeg - 163KB

You have a piece of Dulcimer history for sure.

I would guess your instrument is from the 1960's the lack of an area code on the card might indicate that.

Paula, I am a member of the Mountain Dulcimer Society of Dayton so don't be surprised if they refer you to me.  I own Chet's Hogfiddle pictured in Jean Ritchies Dulcimer People book.  Ron will be the best resource for you though, as he worked on many instruments with Chet.  There is an article in an old Dulcimer Player News about Ron and he recounts those years with Chet.  

Chet also appeared on the Grand Ole Opry and gifted a dulcimer to Roy Acuff.  

Thanks Strumelia.  

I have photos but can’t seem to figure out how to post them here.

November 26, 1977 dulcimore maker and historian Chester “Chet Hines” (1921-1977) died of a heart attack while on vacation in Florida at age 56. Chet was born on March 21, 1921.

He was a retired physicist and engineer from Wright-Patterson Airforce Base.
Hines helped found what is believed to be the first dulcimer society/club in America, The Dulcimer Society of Dayton. He also founded the Mountain Dulcimer Society of America in 1965. In 1971 Hines represented Ohio at the Festival of American Folklife, held by the Smithsonian Institution.
Hines was first exposed to the dulcimore at age 8. In 1935 Hines learned to play and build

the dulcimore from his grandfather near Chillicothe, Ohio. He started building dulcimers to sell in 1948 and in 1973 published his book on How to Make and Play the Dulcimore.
Hines appeared on the Grand Ole Opry and one of his dulcimores was in the Roy Acuff collection in Opry Land.

I have a ton of information for you.  Chet Hines was born in Chillicothe, Ohio and built his first Dulcimore with his grandfather in 1935.  He wrote one of the early books on the history and building of the Dulcimore.  Published in 1973.  Ron Ewing was his assistant.  He also started the American Dulcimore Society in the 1960’s. It eventually became The Mountain Dulcimer Society of Dayton, Ohio the longest continuous and likely the oldest dulcimer society in the country.  

You might find help with this group as well  

https://www.dulcimer.org.uk/

This might be of interest to you:   https://www.dulcimer.org.uk/

Wow, beautifully made!  It’s worth doing what Ken has suggested and if intonation is good (which I am sure it is having been built by a good luthier), this should be a great investment.

If the word Dulcimer means sweet sounding instrument, then maybe the instrument is called a dulcimer for its sound and not the number of strings or how it is fretted.  There are a few cases of pre-revival chromatic instruments and many Virginia dulcimers had four equidistant strings.  There is also the case that, what we refer to as Scheitholts were called dulcimers as early as 1758 and in Ohio these fretted zithers were still being called dulcimers in the 19th century. And then of course we have the hammered dulcimer…now if you want to make a distinction between the Kentucky or Virginia or even the Pre-revival as opposed to post revival or even between traditional and modern dulcimers, then that is definitely legitimate.  But for me the dulcimer is a dulcimer because of its sweet sound.  I love the sound of the instrument and that’s why I play it.  I play guitar, banjo, Irish harp, a little mandolin and a few others, I play diatonic and semi-chromatic, but don’t enjoy fully chromatic dulcimers and that is because the limited scale forces me to be more creative and I love trying to get everything I can from a limited scale.  As was mentioned by Ken you can used the Virginia tuning and get to a lot of places on that scale..it’s just plain fun.  But it’s all dulcimer to me…just listen to that sound.

Thanks Robin!  It blessed me!

Maddie and NateBuilds Toys,

it’s taken years to find the strings that I like best and suits my playing, but when I did I shopped around and bought them five and ten sets at a time.  Strumelia, I also found trying to change the strings on a large number of instruments at once is overwhelming. So I do one or two instruments a week until they are all done.  Guitar strings wear way quicker than dulcimer strings due to the high tension.  For me that could take a year.  

Susie,

haha, yes, I have owned so many instruments in my lifetime but what fun it has been.  

My Keith Young is a great player too!  I also have five Ukuleles that are a lot of fun.  My banjos are a five string and a four string that I’ve strung up with nylgut strings.  I play it the most in Chicago tuning, just like a big ukulele.

I’ve always had too many dulcimers, it’s now a lifestyle! I’m living the dulcimer life.  Besides owning 35+ historical dulcimers, I own 3 Blue Lions, a McCafferty, John Stockard, Bella Dulcimer, 3 Folkcraft, Clemmer Banjammer, Keith Young, Ron Gibson, 2 Ron Ewings and a host of guitars, harps, grandpa’s Sax, psaltry, plus many more. It can’t be helped my father owned a music store when I was growing up.

Very nice Ken.

Thanks for sharing this Ken.  It brought back fond memories of Mr. Nicholas, as he was the first to introduce me to the dulcimer and spent a whole afternoon teaching me to play.

great thanks!  So maybe this was more like the 1933 patent.  

Here is a short bio on John:

1947 Born in Los Angeles, California
1950 Family moved to England
Instrument - making
1972 - 74 Training : Newark School of Violin Making. Pass with distinction
 
Music and Story-telling
1963 Met traditional music through Folk Clubs
1965 Started giving concerts, solo and in groups
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1976 Moved to Brittany

1978  LP  "Douce-Amère" : traditional songs and instrumentals
(mostly with Appalachian Dulcimers)
1978 - 82 Member of the JOHN RENBOURN GROUP (vocals, dulcimers, violin,
mandolin). Tours + 3 LPs with the group.
since 1978 Solo concert tours: U.S.A., Germany, Ireland, England,
Italy, Hungary and France.
1985 LP  "Spice of Life" : personal and traditional tunes and songs
(with Dan ar Bras, the Josquin des Prés Quartet etc.)
since 1996 Tours throughout France with the story-teller Alain Le Goff
for the story and music show ‘‘Baleines, baleines’’
2000 Creation of  " LEGENDARY AIRS " , a solo show of ‘Stories told by Music itself’ (for all, rec. min. age 7 yrs ).
         CD compilation of «Douce-Amère» + «Spice » (Kerig KCD185) : awarded "BRAVO"  label from Trad Magazine.
2002 Creation of  " WOLF ? " : a one man show, where the wolf is revealed through stories, with some music (for all, rec. min. 7 yrs ).

2018 Creation of  " DREAMCATCHER " :

Great video! Thanks.  I didn’t pick up on the range of that dulcichord, the basses are rich sounding.  But, so it still makes me wonder what the other fretboard is for? It’s such a short scale.  

Any earlier patents than 1880 out there?

All your comments make a lot of sense!  

I agree Robin, the sound is lute-like.  I have an album of his music.  What is interesting is that somebody made a comment that he built a replica of a patented dulcimer.  I thought it was the pedal dulcimer from 1933, but I think it might be this one from 1880 although the second neck looks unfinished.  
https://73decb.a2cdn1.secureserver.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Patent-1880-Double-neck-Dulcimer.pdf

https://youtu.be/sdAg3B5gAx4?si=4SW3rZFGlF9U-0a9

sounds good and interesting playing.

He told me last spring that he has quit building.