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| Folk Notes Mountain Dulcimers Free Shipping on Orders $335 and up. * Home of the original Folk Notes BanjMo (BANJo-MOuntain dulcimer) Leave message in text box on order page for Cherry or Walnut. In Stock!
If you can hum a tune and clap your
hands to music, YOU CAN play
mountain dulcimer! Can't read music? No problem. All
mountain dulcimer music we sell uses a simple number
system called tablature.
The mountain dulcimer, also called appalachian dulcimer, or lap
dulcimer, is played
on the lap and has lighter gauge strings than a guitar, which are
easier
to push down. The frets(metal strips on the fingerboard) on
mountain
dulcimers have the notes arranged like the white
keys on a piano, so playing tunes on a mountain dulcimer is simple compared to
most other fretted instruments.
Here
are a couple of examples of mountain dulcimer tunes I play, in mp3
format. These are compressed so they will load quickly, even on
dial-up connections. Goin'
to Boston - Played
traditional style using 1 finger to fret melody
notes on the treble (melody) string only, while.
My Country Tis of Thee - Played in a chordal style, using simple chords, picked and strummed. TK O'Brien's Walnut Creek mountain dulcimers are built in Missouri using select native woods. These solid wood dulcimers have walnut bodies, a variety of soundboard woods and hummingbird soundhole designs, and hardwood bookmatched backs. They typically are warm and mellow sounding.
We have a number of
McSpadden mountain dulcimer models in stock. The hourglass shape of the standard model
comes from
an old traditional design. McSpadden dulcimers have been built since 1962, and have become a
standard. With more McSpaddens out there than any other mountain dulcimer brand, it's no wonder that there
have been more National
Mountain Dulcimer
Championship winners playing McSpadden dulcimers than any other
maker. We carry
McSpadden
Standard and Ginger hourglass mountain dulcimers based on McSpadden's
original design, with many refinements
through the years.
The most recent and very significant change, is that all McSpaddens now
have solid wood book-matched backs instead of the instrument grade
plywood McSpadden has been putting on their mountain dulcimer backs for
years.
The sound quality of McSpadden dulcimers is now better than ever, in
all their mountain dulcimer models. Since switching to solid wood
backs,
each model of McSpadden mountain
dulcimer now sings out with it's distinctive individual sound. Folkroots
Mountain Dulcimers Folkroots mountain dulcimers have
been built since 1968 and have large deep bodies, giving them
more presence, good
for playing for, or with groups
of people. Folkroots was bought by Folkcraft, moved to
Connecticut in 1989, and now in Indiana. Their deep, wide bodies were designed for a 29 1/4"
fret scale, but mountain dulcimer playing styles have changed over the years, with more
chords being used
now, so a 27" fret scale is
standard on Folkroots dulcimers we carry, making chording easier. These
legendary mountain dulcimers have been used in many recordings,
from the mountain dulcimer revival period of the 70's, up through the
present. We
stock them in several
different combinations of woods.
Folkroots mahogany body, spruce soundboard
mountain dulcimer with leafheart
soundholes, including brown lozenge shape padded gigbag. - $330.00 Pictured
below.
Folkcraft Mountain Dulcimers We
stock
mountain dulcimers by Folkcraft, formerly of Connecticut, and now moved to Indiana, who have been
building folk
instruments
since 1974, in several
different models.
The standard hourglass and teardrop dulcimers have a
traditional sound and shape, 27" fretscale, and geared tuners on
scrollheads. Folkcraft FSH-Ch cherry hourglass dulcimers(right), with scalloped fretboards(underneath), a very clear and balanced sound. ![]() New
Design! Celtic Shield
Soundhole!
Folkcraft
FSH-Ch cherry
hourglass dulcimer pictured on the left. With
Price -
$285.00nylon gigbag. ![]() ![]() We have Folkcraft Cherry and Walnut hourglass shaped mountain dulcimer kits with pre-installed frets, same size and shape as the FSH-Ch dulcimers. Leave message on order page for wood choice The Folkcraft CSH-BW pictured to the right, is one of Folkcraft's smaller bodied "custom" dulcimers. It has a walnut body, butternut soundboard, scalloped fretboard(underneath), purple heart overlay, and two piece book-matched back with inlay strip. We currently have this model available with Folkcraft's circle heart soundholes, instead of f-holes as pictured. Circle Heart Soundhole
design.Folkcraft CSH-BW walnut/butternut, maple fretboard, purple heart overlay, The Folkcraft CF series Custom dulcimers are larger bodied, with a well balanced sweet sound, and wonderful clarity from highest to lowest tones. They come in two models(below), Padauk with Spruce soundboard, and Curly Maple with Western Red Cedar soundboard. They include deluxe features listed above, with Maple fingerboard and contrasting overlay, position dots, lustrous hand-rubbed finish, & Stewart MacDonald planetary gears on traditional scroll head dulcimers, or sealed gear tuners on Custom flat peghead mountain dulcimers.
Folkcraft CF200
Custom MD, The Folkcraft NAMM (National Association of Music Merchants) Centennial ltd. edition mountain dulcimer(bottom dulcimer, above) has a body of select Pennsylvania Black Walnut with a book matched back and a Rosewood inlay down the center. The soundboard is Western Red Cedar. It has a flat peghead w/gold plated Grover mini tuners. Both headstock and fingerboard are overlaid with Maple, and then with Rosewood over that, for a striking accent. These NAMM Centennial ltd. edition mountain dulcimers are numbered (up to 100), and have the NAMM Centennial gold medallion on the peghead. Detail Photos Price - $515.00
Folkcraft
Teardrop dulcimer - walnut/butternut
teardropmountain dulcimer, pictured on right, weeping heart soundholes, and scalloped maple fretboard w/purple heart overlay. Great looking and solid mellow sound. Folkcraft TD walnut/butternut w/gigbag - $350.00Noteworthy Mountain Dulcimers
Jeff Gaynor, of Noteworthy
Woodworking in
Ohio, builds mountain
dulcimers(Pictured
on the left)
with the
volume to hold their
own in a
bluegrass jam, and also to be
heard well
while playing delicately.
These wide hourglass
dulcimers with a 27" fret
scale are available
in a Walnut body w/Spruce soundboard model, and one built using highly figured
Walnut. We sometimes have additional Noteworthy
mountain dulcimers with different features. If
you've never heard
a Noteworthy
mountain dulcimer, you'll find the volume and sound that Jeff builds into
them is nothing short of remarkable.
Walnut/Spruce
w/Dove soundholes, carry bag
(Dulcimer on left)-$290Highly Figured Walnut w/f-holes, and carry bag Not pictured - $300.00Black Rose Dulcimers Black Rose Appalachian built mountain dulcimers by Bill Todd, are individually made and designed with a variety of options available, such as scalloped fretboards, overlays, Galax backs, with a large number of woods and soundholes available. They deliver good volume and are at their best played traditional style, or strummed in a chord/melody style. Each dulcimer has a distinctive voice, ranging from bright mountainy highs to sweet mellow sounds, depending on the options and woods used. Black Rose
mountain dulcimer, Walnut/Western Red Cedar, Galax back, Ebony
fretboard overlay. (Dulcimer to the left side of picture is
the same model except for the fretboard overlay) Black
Rose Walnut/WRC Galax dulcimer
$300.00 w/gigbag
We have a large selection of mountain dulcimer books available online. We have complete descriptions of each book and list all the songs in the books. There are mountain dulcimer teaching books as well as dulcimer song books, arranged by categories or authors. Orders from $335 up, ship free in continental USA *Full size amplifiers, hammered dulcimer stands must be ordered separately from instruments.
Dennis DenHartog's Personal Mountain Dulcimer Page Please Call during normal business hours only. 1-260-484-9078 Fort Wayne, Indiana |