Does the instrument play in tune?
How to hold and fret a dulcimer: First make sure you have no metal zippers or other clothing items that could scratch the instrument. Sit down with your knees separated and place the dulcimer flat on your lap with the head (tuner end) to your left, positioning the first (left-most) fret over your left leg, and the other half of the dulcimer centered over your right leg. Strum or pluck the strings near the strum hollow. To fret a dulcimer string to get different notes, press the string down to the wood of the fretboard, just to the left of a metal fret. Note: Some dulcimers have a zero fret that all strings rest on near the nut. You cannot fret at this position and should not count a zero fret as fret 1 when counting frets. Get in tune. Tune the dulcimer tuned to DAdd or have someone do this for you. I think it’s easier to check for intonation problems in DAdd. When tuned, the bass string fretted at the 4th fret should sound the same note as the middle string open, and the middle string
