The Appalachian dulcimer is one of America's major contributions to world music and folk art. Homemade and handmade, played by people with no formal knowledge of music, this beautiful instrument arrived in the light of the 20th century with virtually no written record. Appalachian Dulcimer Traditions is a first-hand report to enlarge our knowledge of the dulcimer's history by searching the hills and "hollers" of Appalachia, looking at old instruments, and listening to the tales of old folks. After reviewing the instrument's special musical features, the book describes some related...

This book describes the recovery of the Appalachian dulcimer's lost history, tracing the dulcimer's roots in a German instrument, the scheitholt; describing the early history of the scheitholt and the dulcimer in America, and outlining the development of distinctive dulcimer styles in Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, and Kentucky. This fully revised and expanded edition provides additional information about the instrument's history before the Civil War and discusses traditions and types that are still being discovered and documented.