Mountain Dulcimer and Hammered Dulcimer Articles

Have you written an article that you think other mountain or hammered dulcimer players would find helpful or interesting? We're looking for how-to articles, testimonials, short stories, funnies, and even cartoons. Send submissions to dan+articles@dpnews.com. We can accept just about any format.

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Current Articles:

Have Dulcimer. Will Travel. - By Luke Day

Modes Made Easy - By Dave Murray (External Link)

Creative Dulcimers by Ron Kesler

Amplifying your Dulcimer - A Basic Course for the Player in Small Venues by Tim Smith

I Just Got A Dulcimer, Now What? -- A Beginner’s Guide -- By Ken Hulme

Mountain Dulcimer Stand by Edward Tutwileri

Faith's Review and Expectation - Story of Amazing Grace by Jerry Pacholski

The Sudden Mongolian Hammer Mission by Christina Dunigan

How I “Caught the Dulcimer Bug!” by John Knopf

My Dulcimer Journey by Sarah Morgan

Making Music the old Fashioned Way by Edward Tutwiler

A Sugar Plum for Christmas (Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairies tablature in 1-3-5 tuning) by Merv Rowley

Pentatonics for the Mountain Dulcimer by Dave Murray

Chordish Drones For The Mountain Dulcimer by Dave Murray

Dulcimers at Dixie Elementary by Johnny Ray

Are You Missing Something - A Closer Look at 1-3-5 Tunings By Merv Rowley

You can do it too! The story of how a complete beginner taught himself to play
the mountain dulcimer by Peter Robinson

Playing for Weddings: Getting Started by Donna Germano

Get Noter-ized by Ken Hulme

Standard Music Notation for Mountain Dulcimer Players by Warren D. Swan

Mountain Dulcimer Building - A pictorial Essay (35 step-by-step pictures) by Jim Bracegirdle

Strummin' with Kids in Memphis - Carla Maxwell

How To Determine Chords for Mountain Dulcimer Playing - ( How The Person Who Wrote the Chord Book Figured It Out) [Word format]- by Roger Huffmaster

Andrew Jackson Go Back Home - Article and Tablature for mountain dulcimer! by Mary Z. Cox

Turning Lemons Into Lemonade
How I Accidentally Invented the Heavy Metal Punk Rock Hammered Dulcimer by Richard "Rick" Hicks

Hammered Dulcimer Chord Explorations Made Simpler by Marcy Prochaska

How to Get More Music From Your Mountain Dulcimer (An Introduction to 1-3-5 Tunings) by Merv Rowley

Accompanying tablature, lyrics and sound file for When You Wore A Tulip

Mountain Dulcimer - A story by a kid - Nathan McAlister

The Tennessee Music Box Project - Dave Murray (Plans for an inexpensive dulcimer!)

Part II: Hammered Dulcimer Chord Patterns by Marcy Prochaska

Part I: Hammered Dulcimer Chords by Eye and Ear by Marcy Prochaska

Review of Tom and Missy Strother's March in Ohio - Bruce W. Ford

How to Play Chords on your Mountain Dulcimer tuned DAd (or Surviving in a Multi-Instrument Jam) - By Missy Strothers

Here are printable set of helpful tables from Missy's Article

RTF format - should be readable by any word processor on earth!

Word 2000 format

Simplified Self Accompaniment - By Dave Murray

Dulcified at Somerville Road Elementary by Betsy Anthony

Building a Kit Mountain Dulcimer by Larry Hicks

Learning the Mountain Dulcimer by Merv Rowley

An Approach to Learning Chord-Melody Style (Mountain Dulcimer) by Merv Rowley

Review: No Loose Threads by Marcy Prochaska (written by Bruce W. Ford)

Review: East Texas Jam by Margaret Wright and friends (written by Bruce W. Ford)

Hand Health for Mountain Dulcimer Players by Ken Hulme

The Saga of the Ebay Mountain Dulcimer by: Ron "Clix" Hanes

My OctoberFest Dulcimer Experience By Larry Hicks

A Basic Guide for Reading Mountain Dulcimer Tablature - Bruce W. Ford

Part IV of Ardie's Hammered Dulcimer Building Guide - Tuning a Hammered Dulcimer - MS Word Format

Part III of Ardie's Hammered Dulcimer Building Guide - Stringing a Hammered Dulcimer

Part II of Ardie's Hammered Dulcimer Building Guide - The Hammered Dulcimer Exploded

A Hammered Dulcimer Builder's Do-It-Yourself Guidebook - Part I - Introduction - By Randy "Ardie" Davis.
This article is Part One of a four part series on the intricacies of constructing a hammered dulcimer. Articles will be coming about once per week for the next month or so!

A VERY Handy Dulcimer Tuning Spreadsheet by Jak Stallings

Putting Notes to Chords by Steve Smith
This article is suitable as a beginner handout - Please print and distribute!

Chords with Fingering by Steve Smith
This article is suitable as a beginner handout - Please print and distribute!

An Introduction to your Dulcimer by Ken Hulme
This article is suitable as a beginner handout - Please print and distribute!

28th Annual "Dulcimer Days" at Roscoe Village By David Smith

"This Thing Has 4 Strings!" A Mountain Dulcimer Workshop on Four-String Playing by Steve Smith

"What If I Lose My Pick?" A Mountain Dulcimer Workshop on Playing In The Finger-Picking Style by Steve Smith

The Learning Curve: Hammered Dulcimer Style by Jennifer Ranger

Interview of Larry Barringer by Jerry Wright

How To Tune Your Mountain Dulcimer - Ken Hulme

Poem: Music From the Heart - Gail Knapp

Review: The Family Album by The Wright Family