The Mountain Dulcimer was a “highway baby”. It was born somewhere in Virginia, along either the Great Wagon Road or the Wilderness Road, just prior to the Revolutionary War.

Back before the American Revolution, many European immigrants (Mostly Scots, Irish, German and Swedish) landed in Philadelphia in search of a new beginning. Since shipboard space was scarce and expensive, they brought with them only what they could carry. Some brought musical instruments: the Irish and Scots brought their fiddles, and the Germans brought their Scheitholts.

Everyone knows what a fiddle is, but few are familiar with a scheitholt. Here’s a photo; it’s basically strings stretched over a wooden box, with a few frets laid out directly on the soundboard to mark the note positions. Melodies were played on only one string, and the remaining two strings were left to vibrate freely (drone).

Scheitholts weren’t very loud and didn’t have a particularly pleasing tone. But, they did make music and were satisfactory for accompanying hymns and folksongs.

The Great Wagon Road ran south through eastern Pennsylvania and into the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. At the southernmost end of the Valley, at a town called Big Lick (now Roanoke, VA) the road split: the Wagon Road continued south into Georgia and the Wilderness Road went west into Kentucky.

Somewhere south of Pennsylvania and north of Georgia, the Scots-Irish adapted the scheitholt for their own use. The drone strings of the scheitholt were reminiscient of the drone of a bagpipe, so the sound fit right in with traditional Irish and Scottish music.

Over time, changes were made to the instrument; a raised fingerboard was added, the frets were extended all the way across the width of the fretboard and curved sides were adopted. In Virginia, the instruments tended to be teardrop-shaped; in Kentucky, the instruments tended to be hourglass shaped. The modified scheitholt became known alternately as the mountain dulcimer, lap dulcimer, and Appalachian dulcimer.

The traditional method of playing the dulcimer was to place it on one’s lap and strum across the strings with a finger, a small switch, or a feather spine. The player created the tune by depressing the nearest string witha finger or a small stick (a “noter”), and sliding it up and down the fretboard, while the other strings sounded as continuous drones.

Music performed by traditional players included old fiddle tunes, dance tunes, ballads and religious music of the English and Scottish traditions.

Primarily, dulcimers were for personal use rather than for dances or public gatherings. After the Civil War, dulcimers were replaced by banjos as the foremost folk instrument, and after WWI the guitar also became popular. Over time, interest in the dulcimer faded away.

During the Folk Music Revival of the1950’s and 60’s, interest in the mountain dulcimer was renewed. Among those responsible for reviving the dulcimer was Jean Ritchie, the youngest of twelve children from eastern Kentucky village of Viper. Jean went to New York as part of the Folk Revival, taking her mountain dulcimer with her.

Today, the mountain dulcimer attracts attention from folks from all ages and backgrounds. Dulcimer clubs, festivals and competitions can be can now be found all over the country.  Here’s a look at the mountain dulcimer being played by Stephen Seifert at the Knoxville TN dulcimer club…