The dulcitar is a variant of the

Appalachian dulcimer The Appalachian dulcimer (many variant names; see below) is a fretted string instrument of the zither family, typically with three or four strings, originally played in the Appalachian region of the United States. The body extends the length of ...

, which retains the dulcimer's diatonic fret layout yet features a long neck that is intended to be played upright in the guitar style rather than flat across the lap. Luthier Homer Ledford coined the word dulcitar as a

portmanteau A portmanteau word, or portmanteau (, ) is a blend of wordsguitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strin ...

, building his first model of the instrument around 1971. One of Ledford's dulcitars was accepted into the permanent collection of the

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...

, as well as displayed in a traveling exhibit on American craftsmanship. The term "dulcitar" was trademarked by Ledford in 1976 (#73075051), and other luthiers have developed conceptually similar instruments under other names such as " strumstick" and "pickin' stick".

References

String instruments American musical instruments {{Zither-instrument-stub

See also

References