Appalachian dulcimer: Difference between revisions

There is no one "standard tuning" for the Appalachian dulcimer, but as with the shape of the instrument, certain tuning arrangements have proven more popular than others. Traditionally, the Appalachian dulcimer was usually tuned (from left to right) to G3-G3-C3, C4-G3- C3, or C4-F3-C3. Note: Because the dulcimer is most often played on the lap or with the instrument lying on a table, when the instrument is held upright (headstock at the top), the ''highest'' pitched string will be on the left—this is the reverse of most other string instruments (e.g., guitar, bass, fiddle, etc.) where the lowest string is on the left. Dulcimer players, however, are accustomed to naming their strings from ''lowest to highest'' (as would a guitarist or violinist). which means that the strings are usually named ''reverse'' order from which they appear on the instrument, i.e., ''right'' to ''left''. Thus the tunings cited above would more commonly be given as: C3-G3-G3; C3-G3-C4; and C3-F3-C4. This convention will be followed for the rest of the article.

 

 

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