When it needs to be distinguished from the unrelated hammered dulcimer, various adjectives are added (drawn from location, playing style, position, shape, etc.

[3][4] Because of this, and a dearth of written records, the history of the Appalachian dulcimer has been, until fairly recently, largely speculative.

The organological development of the dulcimer divides into three periods: transitional (1700 to mid-1800s), pre-revival or traditional (mid-1800s to 1940), and revival or contemporary (after 1940).

[6] Few true specimens of the mountain dulcimer exist from earlier than about 1880, when J. Edward Thomas of Knott County, Kentucky, began building and selling them.

But for the first half of the 20th century the mountain dulcimer was rare, with a handful of makers supplying players in scattered pockets of Appalachia.

The soprano Loraine Wyman, who sang Appalachian folk songs in concert venues around the time of the First World War, created a brief splash for the Appalachian dulcimer by demonstrating it in concerts, and was portrayed in Vogue magazine (right) holding her instrument, a Thomas.

[7] In the early 1960s, Ritchie and her husband George Pickow began distributing dulcimers made by her Kentucky relative Jethro Amburgey, then the woodworking instructor at the Hindman Settlement School.

In addition to Amburgey, by then winding down his production, influential builders of mid-1960s included Homer Ledford, Lynn McSpadden, A.W.

The body was made larger, and they installed metal friction or geared tuners, rather than traditional wooden pegs, to make tuning easier and more reliable.

More recently guitar aesthetics and construction ideals have been applied, with a tone wood such as spruce or cedar preferred for the top of the soundbox.

As the modern dulcimer arose in America, and the bulk of them are still made there, American hardwoods such as walnut, oak, cherry, and apple are also still frequently employed by makers.

[8] As with many folk instruments the Appalachian dulcimer has been made—and continues to be made—in many shapes, sizes, and variations in construction details; however, certain forms have proven more popular than others, and tended to predominate.

[5] The overall shape of the instrument has taken many forms, but the most popular are the hourglass (or figure 8), the ellipse, the teardrop, and a long narrow trapezoid or rectangle.

Between the end of the fingerboard and the bridge the neck is carved down creating a scalloped hollow that passes close to the top of the soundbox.

This area, called the strum hollow, is the space in which the plectrum, fingers, or beater is employed to sound the strings (see Playing).

Many possible string arrangements exist, but the following are typical:[10] Appalachian dulcimers are often made by individual craftsmen and small, family-run businesses located in the American South and particularly in Appalachia.

Cheap imports from Romania, Pakistan and China are slowly making inroads into the American market.

This trend eventually led to the availability of fully chromatic dulcimers, with twelve frets per octave, permitting playing in any key without re-tuning.

Chromatic fretting, however, remains somewhat controversial among dulcimer players, with traditionalists preferring what they feel is the greater authenticity of the diatonic fingerboard.

The traditional way to play the instrument is to lay it flat on the lap and pluck or strum the strings with the right hand, while fretting with the left.

In traditional play, fretting is achieved with a "noter"—typically a short length of dowel or bamboo (see photo at left)—on the melody course, while the middle and bass strings ring as unfretted drones.

By the early 1960s, many dulcimer makers had abandoned staples in favour of manufactured fret wire extending across the entire width of the fingerboard.

With a simple melody played against the drone, these idiosyncratic scales could add warmth and a distinctive flavour to the music, but the old non-standard fret patterns often produce a dissonance when chorded that some find unacceptable.

In their book In Search of the Wild dulcimer,[17] Robert Force and Al d'Ossché describe their preferred method as "guitar style": The dulcimer hangs from a strap around the neck, and the instrument is strummed like a guitar, although their fretting style is still overhand.

[19] Though the mountain dulcimer has long been associated with the older generation, it has gradually attracted a number of younger players who have discovered its charms.

[20][21] Brian Jones, of The Rolling Stones, played the electric Appalachian dulcimer on their 1966 album Aftermath, notably on "Lady Jane".

Cyndi Lauper is also a high-profile mountain dulcimer player, having studied with the late David Schnaufer.

Orlando-based musician Bing Futch performs using a special dual-fretboard mountain dulcimer as well as a custom resonator and is one of only two mountain dulcimer players to have competed in the International Blues Challenge, advancing to the semifinals in the 2015 edition of the competition;[23] during the 2016 edition, Futch made it to the finals and was awarded "Best Guitarist" in the solo-duo category, despite performing solely on the Appalachian mountain dulcimer.