In some ways, dulcimers are exactly like every other musical instrument. It won't play itself. So the first step is to play it, or perhaps play with it. Getting started really is as easy as that! Hear how the notes progress up and down the instrument. Get a tune in your head and try to pick it out. But don't try to long if you can't get it. Just get a feel for playing it.

Remember as you embark on this musical journey...

PERSISTENCE is 90% of the struggle. If you stick with it, you'll achieve a great deal of satisfaction within a relatively short amount of time. Dulcimers (hammered and mountain varieties) are generally a quick study. Problem is that many folks DON'T stick with it.

There are two ways to overcome this:

First, get your hands on some tablature or music and start working out a song. THIS IS THE HARDEST PART! Just stick with it! This opens the door to improvement. Remember, your first song will teach you how to read the notation, so pick a song you know the tune to. If you catch yourself tossing the tab and working out the song by ear, GREAT! You are probably an "ear" player, or one who sound-matches what is heard with sounds your instrument makes. If you rely on the tab, GREAT! You can play anything you can get your hands on.

Whatever happens, drag yourself through playing THAT song. Forget playing anything else for awhile. Songs tend to build on each other, so once you've got one song playable, the hardest is OVER.

Secondly, find others that play and join them. Dulcimer clubs are HAPPY to have new members and most will give you pointers (some, even basic lessons) for absolutely nothing. If go regularly, you'll continue learning just by watching other and duplicating what you see. Your one song will turn into twenty songs within your first two months. If you commit to attending group meetings for a couple of months, your chances of quitting decrease exponentially. Click here for a national club listing.

What if there is not a dulcimer club in your area? You could:

- Start one. Put an ad in the paper requesting other dulcimer players contact you. Many papers would publish an ad of this type for free.

- Post a note in our discussion group "looking for dulcimer players in..." If that yeilds nothing,

- Become an active member of our online dulcimer club. Become active in the discussion groups and let us (the national dulcimer community) keep you motivated to learn more songs.

- Ask around for a teacher.

- Grow you own group. As you learn to play some songs, and your friends and family hear you, believe me, some will want to play! Dulcimers have an infectious sound! Use that to your advantage!

MD: Mountain dulcimers require two motions, a strumming motion and noting with the other hand. Neither is terribly complicated, but both require a bit of practice. There are some excellent basic online primers already in existence, so I won't attempt to re-invent the wheel. I plan to add some multimedia lessons for this site in time (with audio and perhaps video). I'm looking for contributors to help make that happen. Click here if you can help

Here are some links for some very good basic mountain dulcimer lessons.

In Search of the Wild Dulcimer - An online introduction to Mountain Dulcimer

Sweet Music Index - Some basics

HD: Hammered dulcimers require good hand-eye coordination. Notice I said "good", not "great." It looks like it would be confusing to play, but in reality it's the strings are logically arranged. You'll be hammering out a tune in no time! I plan to include and audio (perhaps even video) primers on this site soon. Please check back often. If you can help with this project, please click here and let us know.

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