Hammered Dulcimer Brought Sweet Music to the World

The hammered dulcimer came to American shores early in our history. JR AK/Shutterstock

In July 1933, American business icon Henry Ford hosted a celebration for his 70th birthday. During the party, the Ford Model T inventor joined the band on stage for a few songs. It wasn’t just any band he played with that night—it was his band, an old-timey style group he playfully called an “orchestra.” At this event, their sets focused on folk and dance music.

Guests enjoyed seeing the Ford Motor Company owner take a break from work and pick up his violin. However, the audience were particularly captivated by one of his band member’s instrument: the hammered dulcimer. This mesmerizing instrument originally came to America on some of the first ships that landed on Jamestown’s shores  in the early 1600s.

Sweet Melody

A Persian painting of a woman playing the santir from the Qajar Empire (1785–1925). (Persian Painters/CC BY-SA 4.0 DEED)

The hammered dulcimer’s origin can be traced back to around A.D. 900 in Syria. The Middle Eastern “santir,” which features many of the modern dulcimer’s structural elements, is considered to be the stringed instrument’s original form. Over the centuries, use of the instrument was documented in far-reaching territories, from North Africa and Spain to western Europe.

The first documentation of the instrument arriving to the New World appears in a ledger from a ship in 1609. The first instance of it being played publicly in Colonial America can be found in Judge Samuel Sewall’s writings. He mentioned seeing a musician play the instrument in 1717 while in Salem, Massachusetts.

The ancient instrument has experienced popularity in many countries throughout history, so it has different names and variations depending on the culture. In France and Ireland, it was referred to as the “tympanon.” In Germany, the dulcimer was called a “hackbrett.”

According to the Kansas Historical Society, its English name is derived from both Latin and Greek languages. The Latin word “dulce” was combined with the Greek word “melos” to form the word “dulcimer,” which loosely translates to “sweet melody.”

Ancient Ancestor

An angel playing a dulcimer, circa 1460–1480, from the Rhine Valley. Gilded and painted wood. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City. Public Domain

The hammered dulcimer was extremely popular during England’s Middle Ages and Renaissance period. Once it arrived in British America, its popularity continued. One main reason for its continued use was that it was easy to transport,  an important factor for colonists traveling overseas to start a new life.

The portable instrument’s body has a trapezoidal shape. Each grouping of strings attached horizontally across its body is called a “course.” Hammered dulcimers have on average about 60 strings. Each course of strings is tuned to a specific pitch.

This makes finding melodies to play relatively easy. Because of this, many hammered dulcimer players throughout history learned by ear, rather than by sheet music.

The “hammered” part of the dulcimer’s name comes from the fact that one plays the instrument with two mallets, instead of the modern Appalachian, or “mountain” dulcimer, which is plucked by hand.

The dulcimer is a unique instrument because it uses both strings and percussion for its sound. This is one of the reasons the Smithsonian considers it “an ancient ancestor of the piano.”

The Lumberjack’s Piano

Simplicity was another fashionable aspect of the instrument, and many early colonists made versions of hammered dulcimers at home. Eventually, those who couldn’t make homemade instruments were able to visit specialty shops that employed a small, dedicated staff able to produce hammered dulcimers.

The instrument remained a top choice among amateur musicians well into the 18th and 19th centuries in the United States. One reason it maintained prolonged prominence in the American musical landscape was the grassroots approach hammered dulcimer manufacturers used to sell the instrument.

When America’s economy began to take shape and grow in the early 1800s, factories produced more hammered dulcimers as demand grew. Dulcimer salesmen traveled to various parts of the country, including New York and several southern states, and sold  the instrument to buyers.

While makers of hammered dulcimers contributed to the instrument’s country-wide popularity, certain areas kept the traditional roots of the instrument alive even as America’s cultural landscape diversified and grew rapidly.

A 19th-century American hammered dulcimer, circa 1815, from Ohio. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City. Public Domain

The instrument remained popular among lumber camps in states like Michigan and Maine, leading to it garnering the nickname “the lumberjack’s piano” in honor of the trade closely associated with the playing of the hammered dulcimer.

Its migration into different regions ultimately led to different styles of play. In Kansas, rhythmic playing was the focus, with melodic solos acting as accent pieces. In New York, intricate melodies were favored over more straightforward stylings. Straightforward rhythms were often found in states like West Virginia due to the hammered dulcimer accompanying other instruments like the banjo.

In the late 1800s, American music culture went through several more significant changes. When newer versions of the piano became more portable and affordable, musicians chose the piano over the hammered dulcimer. Music education in schools also became widespread, and teachers opted for a classical music curriculum for their students, which meant they needed violins and pianos often found in orchestral compositions.

By the 1890s, it seemed as though the hammered dulcimer was all but lost to the colonial history of America’s now booming country.

However, cultural icons like Henry Ford brought it back into the limelight.

Henry Ford’s Early American Orchestra

A dancing couple in an outdoor musical party with a dulcimer musician on right, 18h century, by Joseph François Nollekens. Oil on copper. Private collection. Public Domain

The entrepreneur spent most of his time overseeing the manufacturing of America’s first motorized automobiles. However, whenever he had a few minutes to spare, he liked to play his violin.

In the 1920s, American music grew more modernized due to the availability of the entertainment industry’s first recording devices. But, Ford sought to keep the traditional music he loved alive as jazz and swing music were taking over the mainstream.

He felt the traditional folk music he grew up listening to, which left plenty of room for him to fiddle over, underscored the conservative morality he worked to instill in his company and in his personal life.

In 1924, he started his band, “Henry Ford’s Early American Orchestra.” He brought on fellow fiddle player Clayton Perry and acoustic bass player Maurice Castel. Charmed by the sounds of a dulcimer when he was a young boy, he also added a hammered dulcimer player, Edwin Baxter, to his band lineup. William Hallup, a cimbalom player, rounded out the sound. The cimbalom also belongs to the dulcimer family, but differs from the hammered dulcimer. Its sound is classified as a mix between the harp and the piano with a floor pedal that softens the sound of the strings.

His band spent the next several years providing musical entertainment for events the Ford Motor Company hosted.

As a cultural symbol, Ford’s love of the hammered dulcimer helped keep the instrument in the public eye, reigniting interest.

In 1964, at the historic Newport Folk Festival, a traditional hammered dulcimer player from Michigan, Elgia C. Hickok, took the stage for a set, yet again reintroducing the public to its mesmerizing, ancient sounds.

Two years later, in 1966, Michigan musician Chet Parker released an album of traditional folk music played on his hammered dulcimer.

Today, the legacy of the hammered dulcimer lives on in modern recordings, traditional folk festivals, and select independently owned shops that specialize in crafting artisan versions of the enchanting, historic instrument.

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