View Full Version : Mandolins and hammered dulcimer
I was looking at some hammered dulcimer websites and noticed that they are also tuned in fifths like the mandolin. #Well, sort of and with the caveat that there are variations in hammered dulcimers. #Tuning diagram available here (http://members.aol.com/kitchiegal/hdtune.html).
Has anyone added the hammer dulcimer to their list of instruments? #If so, was it a hard transition?
Ken Sager
May-12-2004, 11:05am
I play in a band with a hammered dulcimer player and I get a headache when I try to play it.
Serious headache.
250sc
May-12-2004, 12:26pm
It's not a fretted instrument (mallets) so there is little simularity to mando. On the other hand music is music and if it is in your head, with time and practice, you can make your hands do whatever is neccessary to play.
The "simularity" is that at any point up or down the hammered dulcimer, if you strike the three playable areas (to the left of the bass bridge, to the right of the treble bridge and to the left of the treble bridge) you will get three notes that have the same relationship as playing three adjacent strings on a mandolin at the same fret. #Therefore you can visualize moving up or down the hammered dulcimer as the same as moving up and down the neck of a mandolin, especially if you have a tune that you only play on three or fewer strings.
Of course, the reason that I asked the question is to see if there is someone who plays both who can confirm that I'm reading the diagram correctly.
Bruce Evans
May-12-2004, 3:02pm
We have two hammered dulcimers in our house, and my wife is the player for both. You are correct about fifth tuning similarity, but that is almost a coincidence. Playing a HD is no more like playing a mandolin than rowing a boat is like driving a car. It's an interesting comparison, but when it gets down to making music, there are almost no skills that transfer over, other than a general knowledge of music.
Tocotodo - Thanks. #It probably was just how I look at the fretboard. #Maybe it would transfer but only for someone with my really warped way of looking at things. #http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif