Reasons NOT To Get a Chromatic
Instruments- discuss specific features, luthiers, instrument problems & questions
I am going to put in a gratuitous plug for one of my favorite dulcimer authorities (I almost said “elders”, but she’s only a few years ahead of me!) - Joellen Lapidus. In her encyclopedic book “Lapidus on Dulcimer 2”, she says
The advantage of a chromatic dulcimer is you can play any note or chord in any tuning. The disadvantage is that it’s more difficult to play and you lose some of the melodic slipping and sliding between notes. The solution: have several dulcimers.
available at lapidusmusic.com
If you don’t know of Joellen, she was an early West Coast culture dulcimer maker, composer and performer. In the 60s and 70s, she introduced Joni Mitchell to the dulcimer. You can see and hear Joni playing Joellen’s instruments on her album Blue if you search YouTube. Joellen’s still an active maker and performer, and you should go out of your way to find her original music album Dulcimer Music for the Pelican Ballet on a streaming service - I found it through my Tidal subscription.Or you can buy it along with her book on her website.
updated by @brudar: 06/29/25 02:15:42PM