Okay. Let's start with the wood.

We fuss a lot over the wood from which an instrument is constructed. It's very important, and we tap on the wood to hear its tone. We hum into the sound holes, and generally make sure the dulcimer will take all the use we have in store for it. Really though, we're fanatics when it comes to dulcimers, and many of our tests probably produce no tangible results.

Once again, it comes back to individual taste. A good hardwood usually is best because it gives a "brighter" tone than softwoods. Also, some woods have more eye-appealing figuring and coloration than others. A spruce top sometimes improves the quality of the sound.

But there is one definite thing to say about wood: the more you play it, the better it sounds. For this reason older instruments are often more valuable and sought-after than newer ones. When an instrument is played, the constant vibration within the sound chamber alters the physical structure of the wood's cells - some shrink and change shape, some elongate - and the sound of the instrument slowly becomes richer.

You want to get as well-constructed an instrument as you can. Pick the dulcimer up and check to see if there are any cracks in the wood or along the seams where the parts have been glued together. If there are cracks, push gently on one side and see if the wood depresses. If it does, it will mean a repair. If the crack does not depress, chances are that it cracked during construction and was repaired at that time. If the crack does not depress, chances are that it cracked during construction and was repaired at that time.

Tap on it. Shake it. Does anything rattle? Maybe a brace or gluing block is loose. Check the overall gluing job. Take a look down the fretboard's length, end to end. Does it have any curves or dips in it? Is it lop-sided? If it is not straight and flat, your strings will be at odd distances from the frets, and this can create problems in playing and sound quality.

Depress the strings individually and strum...no matter what the sound. Do any of the frets "buzz"? Check each string at each fret along the entire length of the fretboard. If there are buzzes, they can be eliminated either by raising the bridge, which means making a new one, or by carefully filing the offending frets down a trifle with a very fine surfaced flat mill file. If nothing works to solve your problems with the dulcimer in question, get rid of it, don't buy it, or be prepared for a major overhaul before you've even started.

Do the tuning pegs turn easily? If they are wooden "friction pegs" as on a violin or viola, look to see if they are tapered to fit the peg holes. If they are mechanical (untapered) pegs as on a guitar, twist them to see if there is enough play in the gearing for them to move smoothly - you'll be doing a great deal of this, so you might as well start now. Does the instrument have an adjustable bridge? Not always, but most often, you'll have problems with chording if it doesn't. For instance. Your bass string has a thicker diameter than the other strings, and the bass side of the bridge needs to be set at a slight angle toward the tail of the instrument. If the bridge is adjustable, you can fix this easily by moving it with your fingers. Are there a few inches of instrument behind the bridge? Or does the instrument end at the bridge itself? Having a few extra inches behind the bridge on which to rest your hand or forearm can be a help.

Are all the strings over the fretboard? This may sound strange, but some traditional instruments have a very narrow fretboard, with the drone strings (the middle and the bass) parallel to the fretboard but not over any of the frets. If you're going to have strings on the instrument, you might as well be able to make notes with them, so we'd recommend a fullsized fretboard, wide enough to accommodate all the strings.Your instrument's sound holes may be any shape. They should be large enough to let out the sound without unduly decreasing the vibration area of the top; that is, your instrument produces it's sounds from the resonant decreasing the vibration area of the top. The back and sides contain "color", and amplify the sound while pushing it out through the sound holes. If your sound holes are too small, you lose volume. If they are too large, you end up with a brash tone.

Are all the notes on the fretboard true? It's quite important that all the notes, even the ones way up the fretboard toward the bridge, be true and not sharp or flat due to incorrect fret placement. Equidistant between the "nut" and the bridge (see the illustration on nomenclature at the botom of the page) is one fret (usually the seventh) which when lightly touched will produce a harmonic tone. To make the harmonic, a clear, bell-like sound, touch the string with a finger of the left hand without depressing it to the fret. Quickly pluck the string with your right hand while simultaneously lifting your left finger off the string from over the fret.

Okay. Try this on the first string, or first two (unison) strings if you are dealing with a four-string dulcimer. It may take you a few times to get the bell-like note, but when you depress the string to the fret over which you found the bell-tone, the note you get off the fret should be exactly the same sound as the bell-tone harmonic. If the note you get upon depressing and plucking the string is not the same as the harmonic tone, carefully move the bridge a little forward or backward until the two notes match closely, if not exactly.

Experiment. Next try the harmonic on the eleventh fret from the nut. Do the same thing to find the bell-tone. And when you've gotten the bridge adjusted, depress the first string(s) onto the third fret from the nut and, moving up the fretboard, play the scale, do-re-me-fa-sol-la-ti-do. Do the notes now follow true?

Also, a strap-peg at both ends of the instrument is good for attaching a shoulder strap. If your instrument does not have strap pegs, you can put them in yourself. Both metal and wooden pegs usually can be purchased at a good music store. If you get in the instrument and glue them in. Metal strap pegs screw into the instrument. So do what you think is best.

When you are looking at dulcimers, you might want to drag along a friend who knows something about guitars. No doubt he can help you with any of these considerations. You should be able to find a good-quality, hand-crafted instrument for around 150 to 200 dollars. Or you can make one from a kit for about seventy-five dollars. As you increase in skill, you will want to get a better instrument. But for now, try to find a four-string dulcimer with a fretboard and string arrangement like the one illustrated. If you notice any differences between your dulcimer's fretboard and the one on the next page's illustration, you have either a variation of the standard dulcimer with an eight-note scale or a longer fretboard than the one shown. We consider many of the variations we have seen to be confusing and more trouble than they are worth because "extra" frets cloud the concept of the instrument and the "diatonic systems" known as modes.

But nevertheless, there are now thousands of dulcimers out there with "extra" frets creeping in. The most common places a "six and a half" fret just before the Mixolydian's octave. This gives the player the ability to add a "correct sounding" seventh note to the Mixolydian scale (which actually changes them into an Ionian scale)... but enough of this esoterica. It'll all be discussed later.

As a starter instrument, we have found that the four-string variety with its double "lead" string provides a little more sound than the three-string dulcimer. If you get one of these we think you'll find it to be a bit more pleasing.

So you've found a dulcimer, checked it over, and like its sound. And because you already know that the more it is played the better it will sound, we'd best get on with learning to do so.