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History Of the Hammered Dulcimer | Welcome to the Hammered Dulcimer | Basic Strumming

I can recall the first time I heard a mountain dulcimer played. I was enchanted with its voice, but also enchanted with the spirited rhythms of the strumming.

The most traditional way of playing the mountain dulcimer is to strum across all the strings. The mountain dulcimer is most rhythmically powerful when strummed this way, and the sound is especially appropriate for dance tunes and fiddle tunes. It can produce the rhythm of a fiddle bow "shuffle" and similar harmonies to a fiddle being bowed with double stops. We'll review some basic strumming techniques and then use them in a favorite Appalachian fiddle tune, "Fly Around, My Pretty Little Miss." If you'd like the very basics of playing first, I would refer you to our Back Issues and Madeline MacNeil's article, "Welcome to the Mountain Dulcimer."

Try to keep your strumming very steady. Newer players can practice strumming (no notes necessary for your first practice, just strums) by listening and playing along with recorded mountain dulcimer music. (The arrangement below of "Fly Around, My Pretty Little Miss," from American Fiddle Tunes for Mountain Dulcimer can be heard on the book's companion recording, "Dulcimer Jubilee!" available from Lois Hornbostel.) Begin by strumming along in half time, muting your strings by softly resting your left hand across the strings near the first fret. The steady beat of a metronome is also a useful rhythm and tempo tool. After getting comfortable with your strumming, slowly try the music in the arrangement below, using the following strumming techniques. If you're an experienced player, have at it and try your own rhythmic touches.

Many varieties of picks can be used to strum the mountain dulcimer, from homemade slices of credit cards or Clorox bottles to high-quality manufactured picks. Most mountain dulcimer players choose a triangular lightweight or medium pick. While standard manufacturers' picks will do fine, a popular variety among mountain dulcimer players is the Herdim pick, first introduced to us in the 1970s. This is a very articulate pick with three points of somewhat varying thickness, and has less flapping sound than most picks. Herdims are manufactured in Germany, not found in most music stores, but many mountain dulcimer dealers sell them. They are more expensive than other picks, but last a long time. A popular lightweight pick, introduced to dulcimer players by traditional player Phyllis Gaskins, is the white nylon Jim Dunlop .46 mm pick.