dulcimer note

Subject: dulcimer note
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 10 Jul 04 - 10:28 AM

No doubt there are past on the history of the dulcimer, but I decided to pass on this bit.

I was reading a book called "The Story of English" by Robert McCrum, et al. The book was written in accompaniment with a BBC series on that topic.

It includes a chapter on the "Scots-Irish," a Protestant group which dwelt in Scotland, then moved (was moved?) to Ireland in the 1600's, then shoved on to New England and was encouraged to choose Pennsuylvania instead. By 1760, Benjamin Franklin estimated that Philadelphia was 1/3 Scots-Irish.

Meanwhile, Germanic peoples from the Rhine Valley, "the Pennsylvania Dutch" had settled in Pennsylvania. Here's where the dulcimer comes in.

"With their love of music and song, the Scots-Irish borrowed the dulcimer from their German neighbors and, for defence against a harsh climate, German-style log cabins."

(They don't say what type of dulcimer they mean, but then, these are TV people, and you can't expect too much from them.)

It would sure be nice to know what music was were being played on those dulcimers before they were taken to Appalachia.

Subject: RE: dulcimer note
From: Once Famous
Date: 10 Jul 04 - 11:12 AM

I would think rap.

Subject: RE: dulcimer note
From: GUEST,maryrrf
Date: 10 Jul 04 - 12:01 PM

The German instrument was called a Sheitholt. I read about it in Jean Richie's Dulcimer book and coincidentally I saw one last weekend.   I went to Staunton, Virginia and visited the Museum of Frontier Culture. They had reconstructed farmsteads from Germany, Ulster and England as being representive of places of origin of the various peoples who settled in the Valley of Virinia. I walked into the German exhibit and there it was! I immediately blurted out "Oh a sheitholt!" and the guide was really surprised (not many people who visit the museum know what it is). He played a tune on it for me! It does resemble a dulcimer but it has more strings. I took a picture of it and I'll try to put it on line later.

Subject: RE: dulcimer note
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 11 Jul 04 - 10:06 AM

How interesting, maryrrf! That's quite a coincidence. Did they say anything about the music played on the sheitholt?

I look forward to seeing the picture.

Subject: RE: dulcimer note
From: Maryrrf
Date: 11 Jul 04 - 02:28 PM

I don't think they are quite sure what type of music they played on the scheitholt. It being a folk instrument, there wasn't much written about it. I was thrilled to actually see one! Here's a link to some pictures

Subject: RE: dulcimer note
From: GUEST,NH Dave
Date: 12 Jul 04 - 12:04 AM

I'd expect heavy tunes in 3/4 or 4/4 time until the Scots/Irish folks got them, and then Celtic tunes.

Dave

Subject: RE: dulcimer note
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 12 Jul 04 - 01:26 PM

Thanks for the pix, Mary.

Last month I an old man in Budapest playing something similar, though it had more strings. He said it was called a tambura. Clearly the basic plan for the dulcimer, with various widths, numbers of strings, and tunings has been around for a long time.

Subject: RE: dulcimer note
From: Bev and Jerry
Date: 12 Jul 04 - 04:20 PM

A few years ago some friends of ours brought back an instrument from Hungary. It was probably the above mentioned tambura. It had about 14 strings but most of them were drones. It plays just like a dulcimer but with more drones. We had no trouble playing it.

Bev and Jerry

Subject: RE: dulcimer note
From: GUEST,Blackcatter
Date: 12 Jul 04 - 04:56 PM

Itr look as if that German example has 9 strings, is that right? Were some of them doubled like the current dulcimer & mandolin are?

Subject: RE: dulcimer note
From: GUEST,Art Thieme
Date: 12 Jul 04 - 06:26 PM

I just saw a sheitholdt this last Saturday--July 10---at the Dulcimer
Festival at Gephard Woods State Park in Morris, Illinois--on the Illinois-Michigan Canal. It was larger than the one in these photos of yours but pretty much the same. And I have a straight sided dulcimer hanging in our livingroom that looks much the same---but it is a dulcimer. Rich Olson made it in Chicago about 40 years ago---and I bought it for Carol.

Art Thieme

Subject: RE: dulcimer note
From: Maryrrf
Date: 12 Jul 04 - 08:08 PM

Yes, two of the strings were doubled, and there were nine in total. From what I've read of the scheitholt, however, I think the number of strings varied and there were many that had only three or four, like the dulcimer. I also ready that as nearly as could be determined(and I'm not sure on what authority) the Germans mostly played hymns and the Scotch Irish started using them for songs and fiddle tunes.

Subject: RE: dulcimer note
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 13 Jul 04 - 09:46 AM

Makes sense, all of it.

(How soon will it be before some post-1960's Celt objects to the old word "Scotch" above?)

Subject: RE: dulcimer note
From: Maryrrf
Date: 13 Jul 04 - 10:13 AM

Here in Virginia they usually referred to themselves as "Scotch Irish" so unthinkingly I typed that. Should be "Scots-Irish" I guess.