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The Southern Appalachian Mountains are full of secrets, and the history of the Appalachian Dulcimer is one of them. The instrument arrived into the light of the 20th Century virtually without a written record. Its traditional dissemination was principally confined to the Appalachian mountain area of some four or five states. Unlike other stringed instruments that were and are popular in the mountains, you couldn’t buy a dulcimer from the Sears Roebuck catalog, or in stores. There was no printed music and there were no instruction manuals. Most makers of the instrument made only one, or a few. Prior to World War II, only two or three mountain craftspersons made dulcimers in sufficient quantity for anything like regular resale.

As to where the instrument came from, if you asked old–timers, you were likely to get one of two answers. One answer was, "Didn't come from nowhere—it was borned in these hills!" Another answer was, "My great-great grandaddy brought one of them things over from England, long ago." We’ll deal with the second answer first. To the surprise of many persons, and contrary to what one could reasonably expect, research has failed to turn up any specimen of an instrument in the British Isles that could be an ancestor of the Appalachian dulcimer. As for the "borned in the hills" hypothesis, one’s instinct suggests that as well–developed an instrument as the dulcimer is probably not the first one of its kind that has ever been seen in the world. But if not England, then where could it have come from? And how? To solve the puzzle, we will first look at one of the dulcimer’s most distinctive features, and then we will look at what has turned up in Appalachia. A Scale-Playing Instrument The 6 1/2 fret and other extra frets in the fretboards of modern dulcimers are rarely found in traditional dulcimers. The fret pattern of an old-time Appalachian dulcimer consists of a series of large intervals—whole tones—interspersed at various places with shorter intervals—half-tones. This is called diatonic fretting, as opposed to the chromatic fretting of instruments such as guitars and mandolins. Diatonically fretted instruments are designed to play pure scales without intervening "accidentals." The dulcimer is the only fretted instrument in widespread use in America today that is diatonically fretted. This feature will prove to be a key in the lock of the mountains’ secret.

Left: Kentucky pattern. Jethro Amburgey, Hindman, KY 1929. Right: West Virginia/North Carolina pattern. Charles N. Prichard, Huntington, WV, c. 1890

The Kentucky Style

Let’s take it just like it happened. In the beginning years of the 20th Century, a number of settlement schools and church-supported schools were established in the Cumberland Mountains of Kentucky to provide a good education for mountain children. Teachers at these schools tended to be well-educated persons, mostly women, from New York and New England. They quickly encountered the dulcimer, which was different from anything they had ever seen back home or in college. Traditional Cumberland Mountain dulcimers have an hourglass-shaped body, three strings, a hollow at the foot of the fret board to allow for the action of a playing switch, and, usually, heart-shaped soundholes—that is, the general appearance that the world has come to associate with the word "dulcimer." As to age, the style seems to have arisen in the Cumberlands shortly after the Civil War. J. Edward "Uncle Ed" Thomas (1850-1933), the grand old dulcimer maker of the Cumberlands, is reported to have made his first instrument about 1870. However, this lead, fascinating as it is, fades into the mists before we arrive at the beginning.

The West Virginia/North Carolina Style Travelers discovered that the Kentucky dulcimer has a kissing cousin in both West Virginia and western North Carolina—"the same, but different." Old-time dulcimers from these areas have larger bodies, and the shape of the body runs in a long, reverse curve from the head to the upper bout. The Glenn family of Beech Mountain, North Carolina, makers of dulcimers for over 100 years, have a reliable record that an instrument of this type entered the Beech Mountain area in 1886, perhaps from West Virginia. As with Cumberland dulcimers, this style fades out as we move back toward the Civil War—not far enough to give us ultimate answers. The Virginia Style The traditional dulcimer style of southwestern Virginia is notably different from either of these types. Old-time Virginia dulcimers have boat-shaped bodies, and a hollowed-out fret board into which several holes are drilled. Many have a decorative tailpiece in the shape of an open or closed D. There is no strum hollow at the foot of the fretboard; as a result, many Virginia dulcimers display significant damage from the action of the playing switch. Heart-shaped soundholes are never encountered in older specimens. Instead, the sound-holes are f-shaped, or consist of patterns of small round holes. Some of these instruments have three strings, some four. The earliest specimens predate the Civil War. One bears the date 1832. This is intriguing! The beginning couldn't be much farther back! The Virginia pattern dulcimer pictured here was owned by William H. Robinson (1841-1931), Grayson County, VA. Maker unknown. A lifelong resident of Grayson County, "Uncle Bill" Robinson was a Private in Grayson Cavalry Company C, 8th Regiment, Virginia Cavalry, from 1861 to1865 and saw a lot of action in the Civil War. He was all of 4 feet 11 inches tall, and was famous for his temper. I wouldn’t have wanted to be a Yankee when he was around!

Virginia pattern dulcimer. Owned by William H. Robinson (1841-1931), Grayson County, VA. Maker unknown.

The Shadowy Stranger

Now comes the real oddity. In addition to these three styles, a type of instrument can be found scattered throughout Appalachia that has straight sides, and no raised and centered fretboard of the type that is a defining feature of dulcimers. Instead, the series of frets is applied directly to the top, along the straight edge that faces the player. These instruments can have anywhere from two to nine strings. In many specimens, the strings are anchored by vertical iron tuning pins, often hand-forged. Most instruments of this style give every appearance of being notably old.

Unlike the dulcimer, their range of dissemination runs from Appalachia right up the Shenandoah Valley into Eastern Pennsylvania— the "Pennsylvania Dutch Country." Up there, it is called a "scheitholt." The scheitholt comes from Germany, where it and similar instruments of Northern Europe date back to late medieval or early Renaissance times. It was brought to Pennsylvania by early German settlers. Several known American specimens bear dates earlier than 1800.

And now, hold on to your hats. Scheitholts are diatonically fretted, and a majority of American scheitholts have fret patterns that are identical to that of most old-time dulcimers! With both instruments, if you start at the third fret on the melody string and run down the fret pattern tone by tone, you will produce the major scale. Alternatively, some old scheitholts and some old dulcimers are fretted in such a fashion as to produce the major scale from the open fret.

The following photo is of a scheitholt from Pennsylvania, maker unknown, from the first half of the 19th century. The fret pattern of this instrument is identical to that of the fretting pattern of most traditional dulcimers, as seen in the photos of the Kentucky, West Virginia/North Carolina and Virginia instruments illustrated at the beginning of this article.

The photo below is of a scheitholt from Kentucky, probably the second half of the 19th century. This instrument reflects dissemination of the scheitholt throughout Appalachia. Its fret pattern follows that of traditional dulcimers to the 8th fret, then becomes erratic. This is typical of many old scheitholts and dulcimers. The makers didn’t worry too much about the exactness of the high tones!

Historians no longer doubt that the German scheitholt is the ancestor of the Appalachian dulcimer. The scheitholt entered the early Applalchian frontier with early German settlers as a scheitholt, passed across cultures to the English and Scotch-Irish, and emerged as a dulcimer. Historians further strongly suspect that the earliest dulcimers greatly resembled the oldest Virginia-style instruments that we possess. Exactly who did what, and when, and where, are secrets that the mountains will surely keep.

Immense historical questions remain, and we are presently in a golden age of dulcimer history discovery. We will learn more and we are learning more. But we will never know it all.

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Ralph Lee Smith: Writer, Performer and Historian

Ralph Lee Smith is a leading authority on the history of the early Appalachian frontier, on traditional Appalachian music, and on the Appalachian dulcimer. His books include Songs and Tunes of the Wilderness Road, with Madeline MacNeil (published by Mel Bay in 1999) and Appalachian Dulcimer Traditions (2002). His recordings include Dulcimer: Old-Time and Traditional Music and Old-Time Dulcimer and Harmonica Tunes.

Ralph taught for many years on the faculty of the annual Dulcimer Playing Workshop at Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina, directed by Lois Hornbostel, and continues teaching dulcimer history on the faculty of Western Carolina University Mountain Dulcimer Week, a newer evolution of the other program. Ralph has made historical presentations at the Division of Musical Instruments of the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, and conferences of the American Musical Instrument Society at Vassar College and the Society for Ethnomusicology at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. He has performed at the White House, colleges and universities, folk clubs, and historic sites.

In his presentations, Ralph describes the history and music of the early Appalachian Frontier. His special interest is the Appalachian Dulcimer, which was developed anonymously in the folk culture of the old frontier about 200 years ago. He exhibits antique instruments from his collection, and performs on instruments made by old-time Appalachian craftspersons whose work reflects early traditions.

Ralph holds a B.A. in English and Fine Arts from Swarthmore College and an M.Ed. from the University of Virginia.

Ralph can be contacted at: 1662 Chimney House Road, Reston, VA 20190 rls2@erols.com

Mel Bay Book by Ralph Lee Smith (& Madeline MacNeil):

Songs and Tunes of the Wilderness Road, MB 96747

* This collection of traditional Appalachian music for the mountain dulcimer seeks to reunite this beautiful instrument with the people, the music, and the world from which it came. It tells the estory of the Wilderness Road, a trail through the Appalachian Mountains from Gate City, Virginia, to Fort Boonesboro, Kentucky, blazed by Daniel Boone, and links it to the history and heritage of the mountain dulcimer. Numerous photographs and maps help tell the story, and each tune in the book includes a historical anecdote describing its origin. This book is a must for anyone interested in the history of the Appalachian Mountain region and its music. The sixteen tunes in this book are written in notation and tablature for the standard three-course mountain dulcimer (without the 6 1/2 or 1 1/2 fret in the fretboard), with chord symbols and complete lyrics. A knowledge of simple chording techniques is all that is needed to play the tunes. The tunings used are Ionian (DAA), Aeolian (DAC), and Dorian (DAG). $14.95.

Upcoming Mel Bay Books by Ralph Lee Smith:

• Folk Songs of Old Kentucky: Two Song Catchers in the Kentucky Mountains, 1914 and 1916.
• When Everything Was New: Folk Songs of Greenwich Village in the 1950s and 1960s, with Arrangements for Appalachian Dulcimer, by Ralph Lee Smith and Madeline MacNeil.

A traditional song collected by Ralph Lee Smith:

"Finger Ring" is a simple and charming song from the upcoming book When Everything Was New... It appears arranged below in the two most popular Appalachian dulcimer tunings, DAA and DAD.

Finger Ring