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Details |
Checkerboard Dulcimer "The Lady with a Checkered Past"
This is an example of a Pennsylvania and Ohio style of dulcimer that came into existance 50 or 60 years after the Bucks County Dulcimer below. The straight sides are typical of dulcimers in this region up to today, and harken back to the early German board zithers like the scheitholt. It has the standard four-string dulcimer layout (doubled melody strings), and has a beautiful, deep sound. E-mail or call for price and availability. |
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Head Detail |
The Bucks County Dulcimer
When German immigrants settled in Pennsylvania and Ohio, many of them brought the memory of their musical heritage with them. Other settlers, of Scandinavian descent, also came to the region. Instruments like the German scheitholt, Dutch and Swedish humles, French epinette des Vosges, and the Norwegian langelik were assimilated into the new American culture as a single instrument: the Mountain dulcimer. In the early 1800s, the first of the Pennsylvania/Ohio style of dulcimers came on the scene as a board zither similar in shape to the scheitholt but with a larger soundbox and a reverse "S" shaped head. Historical examples, many in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, Museums, have from 3 to 9 strings. My example is a nine-string instrument, with triple melody and drone strings, tuned DDD AAA DDD. E-mail or call for price and availability. |
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Head Detail |
Scheitholt
One of the earliest known dulcimer ancestors is the German Scheitholt. It was described and illustrated in the Syntagma Musicum by Michael Praetorius in the 1600s. The size of my instrument is based on dimensions given in the Praetorius writings, but with a design similar to a shorter one housed in the Boston Museum of Art. The head carving is of my own design. (I've yet to see an historical Scheitholt with a carved head.) An early "board zither," the frets are "stapled" into the soundboard. E-mail or call for price and availability. |
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Head Detail |
Epinette des Vosges #2
The Epinette des Vosges is the French ancestor to the Mountain dulcimer. It is from the Vosges Mountain region in eastern France and comes in several shapes, the narrow rectangular shape being the most common. Some examples have single lower bouts, similar to the Dutch Humle, but are basically the same size and have the same number of strings--usually five. The earliest know examples date from the 1700s and are themselves derived from the German Schietholt, which dates from the 1500s. The intricate head carving depicts the continuing human life cycle. I call it "Man, Woman, Birth, Death, Infinity." Sold at the Bellevue Arts Museum ArtsFair, 2007 |
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Head Detail |
Epinette des Vosges #1
The Epinette des Vosges is the French ancestor to the Mountain dulcimer. It is from the Vosges Mountain region in eastern France and comes in several shapes, the narrow rectangular shape being the most common. Some examples have single lower bouts, similar to the Dutch Humle, but are basically the same size and have the same number of strings--usually five. The earliest know examples go back to the 1700s and are themselves derived from the German Schietholt, which dates back to the 1500s. I salvaged the apple wood from a neighbor's yard. He had removed the apple tree when remodeling his house. I cut the trunk into pieces and let it cure for nearly two years before using it. Collection of Lynn K. Purple, Sedona, Arizona |
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