How Do You Tune A Mountain Dulcimer?
The mountain dulcimer is an eclectic and worldly instrument that sounds unique and is great fun to play. However, new players may be intimidated by simply tuning the instrument, as there are many tunings to choose from, and many different songs to play that use specific and otherwise non-standard tunings. Start learning to play the mountain dulcimer by first learning how to tune the instrument for the style of playing that you aim for. Turn on your chromatic tuner and play a note to be sure that it is working properly. Pluck the bass string (or third string) of the dulcimer. Tune this string to the D below middle C by turning the tuning head to tighten or loosen the string accordingly. Be sure that the string is tuned exactly to D, and is not tuned off by any number of semitones. Pluck the second string of the dulcimer. Tune this string to the A just below middle C by turning the tuning head to tighten or loosen the string accordingly. Be sure that the string is tuned to the same note
