Ron Gibson Mountain Dulcimers

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The Baritone Appalachian Mountain Dulcimer

The baritone Mountain Dulcimer is becoming increasingly popular. In fact, these days nearly every dulcimer "factory" and small builder offers a version of the baritone dulcimer. With the large variety of sizes, shapes and interpretations of the term “baritone”, it is inevitable that much confusion has resulted regarding this popular American folk instrument.

What is a baritone dulcimer?

Since the term baritone is normally associated with the human voice, let’s use that analogy to describe and better understand the baritone dulcimer. The term baritone is historically used to describe the normal pitch of the human male voice, while tenor and bass are used to describe the extreme upper and lower ranges. It is interesting to think that a traditional mountain dulcimer is often portrayed as having a feminine voice – so you might think of the baritone dulcimer as being the male voice of this venerable line of instruments.

In its simplest form, a baritone dulcimer is just a dulcimer that is tuned down to AEA. But to give full voice and resonance to the lower frequencies produced by the AEA tuning, most baritone dulcimers are also made with larger, deeper bodies. Also, in order to tune down to AEA, the baritone dulcimer needs larger gauge strings. So a working definition of a baritone dulcimer might be “A baritone dulcimer is an Appalachian Mountain Dulcimer with a larger body and heavier gauge strings that is typically tuned to AEA.” I use the word typically because there is no reason that you can not tune the dulcimer to AEE, GDG or other lower tunings and still call it a baritone. The main point is that a baritone dulcimer is tuned lower than a “normal” dulcimer.

How is the baritone dulcimer played?

A baritone dulcimer tuned to AEA is played in exactly the same way as a dulcimer tuned to DAD. The only difference is that if the song was in the key of “D” on the dulcimer in standard tuning it will be in the key of “A” on the baritone dulcimer. However, the fingering and chord patterns remain the same. A baritone tuned AEE would be played exactly the same as one tuned DAA – but again the baritone would be in the key of “A”. The same logic holds true if tuned GDG or other tunings.

Why would I want a baritone dulcimer?

The short answer is variety and sound. Even those of us who love the sound of a traditional dulcimer can get a little bored at times with the dulcimer’s limitations. The baritone dulcimer opens up a whole new world of tonal possibilities and ideas. When combining the larger body, heavier stings and lower tuning – the sound is tremendous.

If the sound of the traditional dulcimer were described as a fair maiden dancing in a sunny field of daisies on a dewy morning, the baritone dulcimer would be described as a rusty freight train barreling down the tracks – with Casey Jones at the controls. It can be loud and intimidating and will certainly be heard above the crowd. But at the same time it can also be low and soothing – a perfect contrast to the higher pitched traditional dulcimer.

So if you’re running out of ideas or inspiration in your dulcimer playing or feel that you are at a dead end and stuck playing the same old songs over and over, you may want to consider adding a baritone dulcimer to your collection. It could open up a whole new world of tonal possibilities.