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Permalink Reply by Wichita Sam on January 4, 2011 at 11:30am

strummers are commonly guitar like instruments fretted diatonic (do-ra-mi) scale (like a mountain dulcimer)... scale lenghts are all over the place from full guitar scale  to ultra short 14" or less....  The whole point is to make a very playable instrument... normally the "note string" that the melody is played on is the string closest to the ground (the thinnest string).

 

YOu can play chords (check out the search engine).  A good source for information on strummers is the McNally Strum Stick website..   .http://strumstick.com/

 

Hope this helps

Wichita Sam

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Permalink Reply by Diane in Chicago on January 4, 2011 at 12:01pm

And there is a whole group that talks about these types of instruments, and how to go about figuring out the fretting and whatnot.

 

http://www.cigarboxnation.com/group/dulciworld

 

It is like having only the white keys on the piano, and therefore much harder to play a "wrong" note.  Mountain dulcimers have this kind  of fretting, they are usually hourglass shaped and played in your lap.  Around here most folks make stick dulcimers/strummers/pickin sticks - same fretting but played guitar style.

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Permalink Reply by Paul Nelson on January 4, 2011 at 12:33pm

thanks folks! gonna build one for my dad!

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