Some form of dulcimer can be found in most parts of the world and early music scholars such

as Anthony Baines thought that the idea of a beaten psaltery or dulcimer, may have come from Persia.

(Musical Instruments Through the Ages' - Pelican 1961)

More recently researchers like Paul M. Gifford have argue that the dulcimer first appeared from western Europe during

the early fifteenth century, prior to the earliest Islamic evidence of a struck dulcimer and concluded that 'Therefore we must accept the evidence that the dulcimer arose in Western Europe independently.'

(The Hammered Dulcimer, A History - Scarecrow Press 2001)

In each country a struck dulcimer has its own name and below are some of them.

North America	a.	b.
	U.S.A - Hammer dulcimer	Mexico - Salterio
Scandinavia	c.	d.	e.
	Denmark - Hakkebaet	Norway - Hakkebrett	Sweden - Hackbrade
Western  Europe	f.	g.	h.
	Switzerland - Hackbrett	Germany - Hackbrett	Austria - Hackbrett
	England - Dulcimer	Ireland - Dulcimer	Scotland - Dulcimer
	Spain - Salterio	Portugal - Salterio	Italy - Salterio
Eastern              Europe	i.	j.	k.
	Latvia - Cimbole	Lithuania - Cimbolai	Belarus - Cymbaly
	Poland - Cymbaly	Russia (Klintsy) - Tsymbali	Ukraine (Ivano-Frankivsk) - Tsymbaly
	Slovakia - Cimbal	Hungary - Cimbalom or Citera	Slovenia - Cimbale or Oprekelj
	Croatia - Cimbal or Cimbul	Romania - Tambal	Ukraine (Crimea) - Santyr
	Bulgaria - Tsimbal	Greece - Santouri
Middle East	l.	m.	n.
	Turkey - Santur	Armenia - Santir	Israel - Tsimbl, Cymbal, Hakbreydl
	Iraq - Santour	Iran - Santour
East	o.	p.	q.
	Uzbekistan - Chang	India (Jammu) - Santoor	Mongolia - Yoochin
	China (Xinjiang Province) - Chang	China (Beijing) - Yangqin	Korea - Yanggeum
	Taiwan - Yangqin	Burma - Don-min	Thailand - Khim or butterfly harp
	Vietnam - đàn tam thập lục	Cambodia - Khum

 

Photos	a. American hammered dulcimer player	b. Mexican Salterio player
c. Swedish Hackbrade played by Ted Yoder	d. A highly decorated Hackbrett from the Tyrol	e. Swiss Hackbrett player Nicolas Senn
f. Dulcimer player Bill Fell of Birmingham, England	g. Scottish dulcimer player Jimmy Cooper	h. Dulcimer player John Rae from Northern Ireland
i. A Belarus Cymbaly player	j. Hungarian Cimbalom virtuoso Viktória Herencsár	k. A Greek Santouri player
l. Juan Manuel Rubio playing a Turkish Santur	m. A Santour player from Iraq	n. Sina Bathaie playing a Persian Santour
p. Ustaad Tibetbaqal, Indian Santoor player	p. A highly decorated Uzbekistan Chang	q. Chinese Yanqin player Zhou Gege

Click on the photo thumbnails to see larger images.

 Below is a map which indicates where dulcimers are found around the world.

Click on a red dulcimer shaped pin and a description of that county's dulcimer will appear, along with links to videos of the instrument being played. N.B. the orange triangular pins relate to the mountain dulcimer family.

This map is part of a Dulcimer Education Pack produced by the Nonsuch Dulcimer Club,

and the link to that is: www.dulcimer.org.uk/schools/index.html

We would like to thank Sally Whytehead for permission to use it here.