Calling all hammer dulcimer players . . .

. . . probably wouldn’t take that long.

As I travel the country on the Yanni tour I’m surprised that I haven’t met, or at least received email from more hammer dulcimer players. This may be because there just aren’t that many players out there. But I have to think that on any given concert night, with a crowd of six thousand people or so, there should be at least a couple hammer dulcimer players in the audience.

I know if I went to see a concert and a hammer dulcimer player appeared on the stage you’d have a hard time keeping me from shouting “DULCIMERS ROCK” or some such foolish thing.

I wonder sometimes if the hammer dulcimer playing community is suffering from some sort of identity crisis. The instrument has been tagged a ‘folk,’ as opposed to a ‘serious,’ instrument in the United States which doesn’t really make sense when you look at it historically. It is older than the guitar, violin, and piano put together. In other parts of the world, China or Hungary for instance, players of instruments closely resembling hammer dulcimers are often considered master musicians in their respective cultures. It would be a mistake to let western popular culture tag this instrument as an anachronism.

So, having hopped briefly on, and now back off, the soap box I’m simply asking fellow players to identify yourselves! Drop me an email, sign the guest book, talk about yourselves and any local clubs in which your involved. If you don’t have a local club then organize one.

There are probably more hammer dulcimer players out there that you think . . .. ¶ 6:10 PM