Alex,  I'll just address your first question here and also encourage you to join the Modern Chord Style Players Group here.

When he performs, Steven Seifert rarely uses his thumb.  Aaron O'Rourke uses his more often, but still not a lot compared to the rest of us.  But importantly, both of them teach chording using the thumb.  And most of use all our fingers.

The reason Seifert and O'Rourke don't use their thumbs that much is that they use their ring finger (Seifert) or their pinky (O'Rourke) to barre across all the strings, allowing the other fingers to fret strings above the barre.  So in DAd, whereas I play the 335 G chord with my middle, ring, and thumb, Aaron just forms a barre with his pinky at 3 and then uses his index finger on the 5.

One thing to keep in mind is that if you don't use your thumb, the dulcimer can sit straight across your lap, kind of perpendicular to your legs. But if you use your thumb, you will want to angle the head of the dulcimer out over your knee more.  This is easy to demonstrate and harder to describe, but the basic idea is that you want a relaxed angle for you fretting hand.  I often change how far out the dulcimer is angled depending on how much I use my thumb in a given song.

Personally, I think the best approach is to be flexible, making sure you are able to use all five fingers, and then choosing the fretting hand attack that best fits a given arrangement.

For the record, I played the guitar for decades before discovering the mountain dulcimer.  I think of the right hand as playing the guitar and the left hand as playing the piano.  Maybe that helps. Maybe not.

--
Dusty T., Northern California
Site Moderator

As a musician, you have to keep one foot back in the past and one foot forward into the future.
-- Dizzy Gillespie
updated by @dusty: 06/14/25 10:08:43PM

Thanks for your answers.  My answers to yours:

1) I knew about Stephen Seifert.  I wonder if he started on guitar, like me.

2) There's a whole literature about string instruments that says, contrary to what may seem like conventional wisdom, that the right hand does the harder work.  I'm very left handed, but was never given the option of playing lefty.  It's been limiting in some ways, but I can do some things with my left hand that righties would find challenging.  Check my stuff out on YouTube, Spotify, or Apple Music (or other streams) and see if you agree.

3) I'm passionate about alternate tunings, on 3 or 4 strings.  I think I've found about 70 and they open up worlds of possibilities.  But I have no interest in a chromatic dulcimer.  (I have a guitar for that.)

4) Staff notation is probably not very useful for learning other people's repertoire, unless it's for vocal melodies.  But I compose a lot and I've been reading staff notation forever, so I use it.

Thanks so much.  Such a great community.

Welcome Alex, glad to have you here. I enjoyed the song you posted.
 To answer your questions 
1:  There are some players I've seen that don't seem to use their thumb very much at all, unless it's to make a stretch while holding a chord shape. Stephen Siefert and Aaron O'rourke come to mind. It does look  more comfortable on the wrist.

2: I am right handed, and I've often felt like the left hand is doing harder work than the right on a dulcimer. It might be an advantage to play right handed if you're left handed.

3: I do. It can be a good source of inspiration. I usually stick to 1-5-8 tunings in various keys, but I've recently been playing more 4 string, which opens up a lot more opportunities. 

4: I learned dulcimer with tab, since there is such a huge number of tabs available. Staff notation is a bit intimidating for me, especially when I change keys or modes. I only use it when I have to, like if I'm playing with others and they are using it.

Hi, Alex!  Welcome to our happy little group of dulcimer fans.  Detroit weather now is overcast and pleasantly cool.  With occasional sprinkles. 

So, to answer your Question #2, I have been a leftie all my life (physically, not politically), and have always played dulcimer "right-handed", or the usual way folks play it.  I built a left-handed J. E. Thomas replica dulcimore for a guy, and found it to be an interesting experience.  He seemed happy with it-- I've heard no complaints as of yet. 

 As to Questions #1, #3 and #4, No, no and no.  Hope you have fun with our dulcimer gang!

Hi All,

I hope you're having a great weekend with better weather than here in MN.

I'm relatively new here.  I'm completely self-taught on dulcimer.  I've played for about ten years, after about fifty years of guitar and I'm a classically trained composer and music professor.  Dulcimer has become my main instrument.  My questions:

1) Because of my background in guitar, I mostly use all four left hand fingers and only occasionally my thumb.  Anyone else out there use this technique?

2) Anyone else left handed, but play right handed?  If so, do you think this affects your playing and if so how?  (I play fingerstyle, but I think my technique is unorthodox.)

3) Does anyone else spend a lot of time exploring alternate tunings?

4) Does anyone else use/like staff notation?

Thanks so much,