The Most Important Tools For Playing a Hammered Dulcimer-- Hammers!

The hammered dulcimer is played by striking its strings with wooden hammers. I have three different pairs of hammers that I use with my instrument. Check out this week's video to get a quick tour of my collection! I'll give you some highlights of each and share the different sounds they can make!

[@maryl.7226]

The student hammers make the dulcimer sound like a harpsichord. I love that. I chose my hammers at Masterworks when I bought my Pioneer. They are wood on one side and suede on the other. I haven’t tried out any others, but like mine a lot.

[@aleedulcimer]

They do make the instrument sound like a harpsichord! A lot of people really like that bright, wood quality. I've always preferred my suede side but recently I've been using the wooden side of my hammers more often.

[@williamresseguie9036]

You should try some metal hammers at least for kicks. When I played in a band, that is what I used. With the other instruments like fiddles and uilleann pipes the dulcimer couldn’t be heard with wooden or felt hammers. I never used them practicing or performing solo. But they really make a bright unique sound on the instrument. Kind of metallic, duh. Anyway just found your channel today and enjoy the videos.

[@aleedulcimer]

I'd love to try metal hammers! That sounds so cool! Thanks for watching!

[@-jank-willson]

Is it possible to use 2 different hammers at the same time? Like, in your left hand you would have a metal surface hammer, and in your right hand you would have a moleskin surface hammer. Or would that sound weird, and is not commonly done?

[@aleedulcimer]

When it comes down to it, the answer is you can do whatever you want if you like the sound it makes. It's not a playing choice that's seen often, but I'm sure it's done. In tunes where the arrangement is written for split hands where one hand (usually the left) plays the melody and the other does the harmony, playing with different striking surfaces might sound pretty cool! There's one piece I play that I've experimented with this actually. I don't have a recording of it, but I do like how it sounds in that piece in particular.

[@-jank-willson]

@@aleedulcimer main reason I was wondering, was because I have seen people play the larger sizes of plucked psalteries/zithers with hammers, but because those instruments do not have a bridge like the hammered dulcimers do, you obviously then can't have the sharps and flats on either side of the trebel bridge. But you could substitute that with with a different striking surface in each hand, one striking surface would be the 'sharps', and the other hammer in your other hand with a different striking surface could be the 'flats'. maybe that would not work. I don't know that much about how music works lol.

[@JasminAlvarez1]

Very very interesting video! I love listening to the different sounds that the hammers make on the Dulcimer. It makes it sound so different and even more unique. Personally it’s hard for me to pick which sound I like best, I like both the bright sound with the wood striking surface as well as a softer sound. :-)

[@aleedulcimer]

Thank you! I've been told that I'm unusual for preferring the suede. Most people prefer the bright sound of the wood. It's all about personal preference. :)

[@JasminAlvarez1]

A. Lee Dulcimer I think they both sound very nice. I could probably see myself as a beginner with the brighter sound and then trying different hammers later on. :-)

[@aleedulcimer]

That's exactly what I did! The student hammers came with my instrument and I tend to be thrifty, so I didn't really consider buying another pair... until I got to try the suede hammers and fell in love. Then I added the moleskin and played around with that sound too. Someone recently recommended felt to me. I'm interested in checking out that option. I think it'll be an even warmer tone than the suede as it's softer.

[@JasminAlvarez1]

A. Lee Dulcimer Cool! I can imagine that it must be really fun to try different ones out. That’s great that it already comes with the student hammers so you don’t have to worry about that at the beginning. I have been learning a lot about the Dulcimer by watching your videos. :-) Just curious, how long have you been playing it? And has it been very challenging for you to learn? I know that it definitely requires a lot of practice, like with everything else. The only instrument so far that I know how to play is the piano. I started playing it when I was three years old, I took some basic lessons when I was little and I mostly play it by ear. I’ve always wanted to learn to play something new but it wasn’t until I heard the Hammered Dulcimer that I just fell in love and I definitely want to learn it. From what I’ve heard it looks like it is a bit challenging, but I’ve always been a pretty determined person, and when I like something I try to work as hard as I can to be able to do it. But this is something that’s very new to me so I’m trying to inform myself as much as I can before I move on in taking this step.

[@aleedulcimer]

Any hammered dulcimer you buy should come with some sort of basic wooden hammers. They're generally part of the package. I started playing in 2015, but I've probably been actively playing for just under four years. I've taken a few breaks from playing along the way. I'm trying to stay consistent now so that I can really focus on raising my skill level. I started off on my own, but I've been working with a teacher since March. I'm so glad you want to learn the hammered dulcimer! It's such a cool instrument. I would say that it's not too difficult to get the basics down, but it gets somewhat more challenging as you progress. I feel like I'm forever hitting wrong notes. Haha. But it's so rewarding when things go well! Let me know if you have other questions. It would be fun to do a Q&A video sometime. :D

[@theresonancenook]

Hi!!! I was wondering if you have any ideas I could use for substitutes for hammers 😅

[@aleedulcimer]

I've never actually tried using anything but hammered dulcimer hammers on my instruments. However, I once saw a video here on KZbin of someone trying all sorts of weird things to play the Irish Washerwoman. Some of the things they tried were pens and hammers made out of Legos. Haha. You might want to look and see if that video is still available.

[@theresonancenook]

@@aleedulcimer thanks so much!

[@aleedulcimer]

No problem!

[@jeffreymom2516]

There is a hammer program where you can rent several hammers and buy the ones you like. It's a great way to try out different types of hammers. It's offered by Sarah Hagg from Rhythm Wood Drive .com / hdhammers

[@aleedulcimer]

Oh wow! I didn't know about this! Thanks for sharing. I'm going to check it out right now!

[@jeffreymom2516]

@@aleedulcimer It's great! If I was wanting to buy more hammers I would definitely do it.