D i have had five students use this book and all love it. This particular instrument was a special project for a singersongwriter and mountain dulcimer player. Design of a dulcimer begins with making a pattern and selecting the size of the instrument. A comprehensive handbook for building the dulcimer. Spiced with humor, anne dodsons field guide to the mountain dulcimer, book 1 is a beautifully structured and organized guide, taking the beginning student stepbystep through a wellplanned sequence of lessons. The mountain dulcimer is a beautiful, sweetsounding stringed instrument that developed in the appalachian mountains in the 18th and 19th centuries. First the ends of the sides are trimmed so that they meet the scrollhead and tailpiece while lying along the outline drawn on the back. There is a string slot cut into the fretboard for anchoring the strings. Browse our selection of mountain dulcimer tablature and music books. Mailing address cedar creek dulcimers 408 river bluff dr. The model can be downloaded at additional information about the tools and comments from others. Unbranded 3 string mountain dulcimer, 4leaf clover soundholes nice vintage inst. There are two kinds of instruments commonly called dulcimer here in the u.
The teardrop shape has a flat peghead and the hourglass shape has a scroll. Building a dulcimer by preston woodruff brevard, nc click on any picture to see a larger version. This was when i saw and heard my first mountain dulcimer. Building a string instrument like a mountain dulcimer or guitar requires plans and supplies. Also contains instructions on building hammers, two kinds of stand, and templates for the pin blocks, bridges, soundhole and hammers. Ray told me, if i can spend an hour or two making music, its a good day. The mountain dulcimer remains a popular instrument in folk and dance music of the mountains. Hourglass mountain dulcimer kit assembly instructions. Hourglass mountain dulcimer kit assembly instructions musicmakers 14525 61st st ct n stillwater, mn 55082 wood parts a solid wood top b solid wood back c fretboard d 2 end blocks e 1 peghead f 2 sides g 2 braces for back 1 long, 1 short h 3 spacers hardware 4 geared tuners with screws set of 4 ball end dulcimer strings 1 wood screw, 2. This books lessons, exercises, and songs gradually add to the students skills. Provides easytofollow, stepbystep instructions on the construction of a 1514 floating soundboard hammered dulcimer. Constructing the mountain dulcimer by dean kimball, 1975, isbn 0679202854, library of congress catalog card number is 746536, published by crying creek publishers, po box 8, highway 32, cosby, tn, 37722.
Friendly and encouraging, book 1 covers tips on buying and maintaining the instrument, left and right hand techniques, chords, and accompaniment. Guide to building an appalachian dulcimer mountain dulcimer, mountain music. All you have to provide is glue, sandpaper, finish, a few simple tools, and 1520 hours of loving labor. Each tune can be played as written with hammerons, pulloffs, and slides, or simply ignore those techniques and pick it straight. All dan doty dulcimers are quality made with attention to every detail. In the meantime, here are some resources on the topic of building gathered from folks on the sweet music email list. Since 2010 lois has produced dulcimerville events at the beautiful blue ridge assembly in black mountain, nc. It explains scales, modes, tunings, playing techniques, 53 songs in tablature and musical notation and pretty much anything you can think of to include in a dulcimer book.
Building dulcimers is a great family project, parentchild project. A completely illustrated book of assembly instructions is included to guide you in your venture. Along with the design, it is also a dulcimer of good quality. The hammered dulcimer is familiar in the british isles as a dulcimer and in a different form in ireland as the tiompan. Mountain dulcimer accessories craggy mountain music. Book of 50 favorite hymns includes hymns from johns new old hymns book, some requiring a 1 12 fret or capo and all in dad.
If what you see here at the bear meadow website inspires you to build dulcimers of the. My favorite book on dulcimer building is entitled constructing the mountain dulcimer by dean kimball, and its available from. Building a teardrop shaped mountain dulcimer bob gerard. The book is filled with encouraging and practical advice on every facet of learning to play the dulcimer, starting with the very basics and building on the positive results you are certain to achieve very quickly. Right now im finishing two dulcimers that are an homage to m. This book, by mark biggs the three time winner of the national mountain dulcimer championship is probably the most comprehensive book on the mountain dulcimer available. See more ideas about mountain dulcimer, dulcimer music and mountain music. At modern mountain dulcimer, we understand that the mountain dulcimer is the center of the folk music universe and that all other folk instruments were created to enhance and accompany the mountain dulcimer. In the middle east and india its called a santoor or santouri. Mountain dulcimer instruction all products all downloads aaron orourke bing futch mandy tyner melanie johnston neal walters richard ash stephen seifert sort by best selling alphabetically, az alphabetically, za price, low to high price, high to low date, old to new date, new to old. This book is published under a creative commons license. The book begins with some exercises and tips on how to learn the tunes, pick correctly, and understand flatpicking. The sides, back and headstock is cherry, the top is thingrained mahogany, all solidwood.
Johnson fi220 lap dulcimer is a very well designed dulcimer model from johnson as it has decorative heartshaped sound holes on the body. Considering it was my first attempt, im pretty happy with the results. Each dulcimer can be strung for either a left handed or a right handed player. Shapes, ornamentation, choice of woods the maker has a lot of flexibility with dulcimers. Woodworkers journal classic projects are scans of muchloved woodworking plans from our. Opinion on the best beginner books to start with forums. Kits for building mountain dulcimers are widely available. Crying creek publishers, po box 8, hwy 32, cosby, tn 37722 this book will be most useful to those with some woodworking experience, as the author recommends building some fairly elaborate forms and jigs to aid in.
Building a jig for constructing an hourglass mountain dulcimer. Coming back home i researched the instrument and got a hold of a book on how to build. Brett ridgeways flatpicked mountain dulcimer arrangements. The starsong mountain, or fretted dulcimers are in an era of evolution, with much experimentation in design and construction being the norm rather than the exception.
Mountain dulcimers accessories cedar creek dulcimers. A comprehensive handbook for building the dulcimer accessrestricteditem true addeddate 201003 15. There are quite a number of makers who will sell you a kit, with the sides already bent and the. Also the drawings were unreadable even with a magnifying glass. Black friday apple creek dulcimer music book for the beginner book from. Browse the amazon editors picks for the best books of 2019, featuring our. The workbook consists of 17 song arrangements and 15 arpeggio exercises which build the skills necessary to play beautiful slow and melodic music on the dulcimer. Capos which come in a variety of woods to compliment your dulcimer wood. This dulcimer model is bringing the appalachian mountain. I built my first dulcimers back in the 1980s and 90s.
Constructing the mountain dulcimer hardcover january 1, 1975 by dean kimball author. Constructing the mountain dulcimer internet archive. This book covers tools, materials, resources and suppliers. Beginners guide to hammered dulcimers dusty strings. Here are a series of photographs on the building of a mountain dulcimer. Start by marking the dulcimer book as want to read. My tiny reservoir of knowledge about my new mountain dulcimer is steadily growing, and the things that jean ritchie had to say in this book. Look here if you are after details of how i get a specific job done. The bookmatched walnut back and sides add even more depth and balance to the stereo sound of the cedar creek. The best beginner book that i like is welcome to the mountain dulcimer.
This is the best of three books that i purchased to learn the dulcimer. How dulcimer is made material, making, history, how to make, used. Hammered dulcimer anatomy a hammered dulcimer is usually set up on some sort of stand or leg, with the strings facing up and the. Building a mountain dulcimer bear meadow dulcimers. A variety of dulcimer cases in both soft style and hardshell to fit different sizes. Dulcimer accessoriess ron gibson mountain dulcimers. This is a kit version of our walnut classic mountain dulcimer. The book is suppose to give enough information to build a dulcimer. Kits archives dulcimer shoppe online store dulcimer ar. This is footage i captured while building my appalachian mountain dulcimer. Enough said, get a copy of this book if youre into appalachianmountain dulcimer constructionor just interested in musical instrument construction. Construction consists of two piece book matched top, back, and sides, as well as inlaid fretboards and headstocks.
I was captivated by the music and culture of appalachia after a summer volunteer experience in harlan, kentucky. Our dulcimers also feature a onehalf step fret located in the lower and upper octaves. The appalachian dulcimer or dulcimore is generally hourglassshaped with. The online dulcimer shop 401 lotis way louisville, ky, 40207 usa. This book contains 17 tunes, along with exercises to help you learn to flatpick the dulcimer. After thumbing through larkins dulcimer book and the magic dulcimer and you can teach yourself dulcimer, i selected the latter. Thank you for purchasing this woodworkers journal classic project plan. The book is more than a collection of songs it provides detailed written and audio instruction on how to play arpeggios on the mountain dulcimer. Dulcimer wall hangers in a variety of styles for both scroll head and guitar style head to display your dulcimer. The walnut classic shares the same dimensions as the cedar creek but features all solid wood construction.