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The Appalachian dulcimer (or mountain dulcimer) is a fretted string instrument of the zither family, typically with three or four strings. It is native to the Appalachian region of the United States. The body extends the length of the fingerboard, and its fretting is generally diatonic.
Although the Appalachian dulcimer appeared in regions dominated by Irish and Scottish settlement, the instrument has no known precedent in Ireland or Scotland. However, several diatonic fretted zithers exist in Continental Europe, which bear a strong similarity to the dulcimer. Jean Ritchie and others have speculated that the Appalachian dulcimer is related to similar European instruments like the langeleik, scheitholt, and epinette des Vosges.
The hammered dulcimer is a stringed musical instrument with the strings stretched over a trapezoidal sounding board. Typically, the hammered dulcimer is set on a stand, at an angle, before the musician, who holds small mallet hammers in each hand to strike the strings. The word dulcimer is Graeco-Roman, meaning "sweet song"; it derives from the Latin dulcis (sweet) and the Greek melos (song). The dulcimer's origin is uncertain, but tradition holds it was invented in Iran (Persia) some 2000 years ago, where it is called a santur or santoor.
Various types of hammered dulcimers are traditionally played in Southwest Asia, China and parts of Southeast Asia, Central Europe ((Hungary, Romania, Slovakia, Poland, Czech Republic, Austria and Bavaria) ) and Eastern Europe (Ukraine and Belarus). The instrument is also played in Great Britain (Wales, East Anglia, Northumbria) and has been revived in the folk music traditions of the U.S.
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