Description
Book SynopsisThe Appalachian dulcimer is one of America's major contributions to world music and folk art. Homemade and handmade, played by people with no formal knowledge of music, this beautiful instrument entered the post-World-War-II Folk Revival with virtually no written record. Appalachian Dulcimer Traditions tells the fascinating story of the effort to recover the instrument's lost history through fieldwork in the Southern mountains, finding of old instruments, and listening to the tales of old folks. After reviewing the instrument's distinctive musical features, Ralph Lee Smith presents the dulcimer's story chronologically, tracing its roots in a Renaissance German instrument, the scheitholt; describing the early history of the scheitholt and the dulcimer in America; and outlining the development of distinctive dulcimer styles in Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, and Kentucky. The story continues into the 20th Century, through the final group of tradition-based Appalachian makers w
Trade ReviewA complete and thorough book that reveals little-known facts about the dulcimer's origins on the early Appalachian frontier and its design traditions. A good choice for libraries with strong music/ethnomusicology collections. * Library Journal *
Smith's research...has been extensive and generally well documented, and his book will be a useful resource for anyone interested in the dulcimer, Appalachian history, or folk music in general. * Ethnomusicology *
