Folkcraft Instruments has been crafting handmade mountain dulcimers since 1968. We've been providing the best dulcimers, plus the dulcimer cases, tab books, dulcimer string sets, and everything else a mountain dulcimer player needs. We even provide dulcimer parts - machine heads and wood parts - for builders of all skill levels. We're happy to build a custom mountain dulcimer for you, make you a custom instrument case, or make you a custom string set. All of our dulcimers are handmade in the USA.
Featured products
Folkcraft customers speak out!
from 2565 reviewsI like the Herdim picks. I especially like playing with the blue pick.
This book is well made, nice spiral binding, lots of good ol' tunes, essay to read. A few standards I think are missing, but then one book cannot possibly cover all the good songs. The cd's are helpful, but are midis files, not an actual dulcimer, but they achieve their goal of getting the song into the readers head.
Great tunes arranged in a pleasing manner! I would definitely suggest this book to anyone who wants to play with other dulcimers. Thank you Lorinda Jones for a great book!
I received my 3 walnut noters, and am using them on my mountain dulcimers.
Thank you
Tom Ziech
This dulcimer is beautiful! Great sustain mellow sound with the Galax bottom and a lot easier to play with shorter 25” VSL. I’m finding my flat picking is better as well.
I haven't had a chance to use the parts I purchased to restore my "new-to-me" vintage dulcimer, but it was great to be able to find all the bits I needed in one place. Richard offered some valuable advice.
Thanks
The book contains easy to follow and play songs. I really like the way the tabs are written. They have the note values as part of the tab numbers which makes the songs easier to play for me. The songs are well laid out in the book. If there are 2 pages of the song, the songs are on facing pages so it makes them very easy to play as the page changes. I really like the spiral bound book. Very easy to lay out flat on a music stand. No fumbling with changing pages and trying to get the book to lay flat on the stand like many other books. I am somewhere between beginner and intermediate and I found the tabs easy to play at my level. The songs would be perfect for anyone beginner or more skilled. The book has increased my ability to more more smoothly on the fretboard and increased my confidence in myself. Highly recommend this book to anyone and everyone.
I have tried a number of picks on my dulcimer and these provide the best sound of any I own. Many of the ones I had produced a clicking and twanging sound. These do not for me. The thickness/firmness and flexibility is perfect. The size is perfect to me. The groves in the picks make them very easy to hand on to and they do not slip in my fingers like other picks.
Music Of The World For Mountain Dulcimer was the first dulcimer book I bought when I began playing six months ago. It is primarily music, not instruction. For example, the tablature incorporates hammer-ons and pull-offs marked "H" and "P" and assumes the player is already familiar with their meaning, so I experienced some initial confusion. Many of the pieces were above my level when I began, but the wide range of songs and accompanying CD gave me a sense of what is possible. As I've continued to play, more and more songs are doable, and now two or three of my absolute favorite songs to play come from this book. Back-up chords are noted and give the fret numbers for those who want to figure out an accompaniment to singing the melody. The arrangements are lovely and I will look for more music from these authors.
A thorough and enjoyable reference worth the investment. Whenever I have a question about playing dulcimer, I can usually find a clear and helpful explanation in this book. In addition to being packed with information, the hand drawn illustrations and author's sense of humor make this a warm and welcoming introduction to dulcimer playing.
I didn't get Book 1 because I'd already bought another beginner dulcimer book before learning about this series. I worried that I might feel lost without having read Book 1, or that I'd find Book 2 repetitive of the beginner book I'd bought. Neither one happened. If you already have a basic beginner dulcimer book, Field Guide To The Mountain Dulcimer Book 2 has so much information it will probably be a good complement and not very duplicative. I recommend getting it!
Excellent book for advanced novice/intermediate players. CD of all songs to play along with.
Excellent Capo. Easy to use. Highly recommended.
I love this strap. I ordered it because I needed to switch between the guitar and the dulcimer for a church performance. It was really easy to fasten and unfasten the strap. I highly recommend it!
The Folkcraft fretboards are always high quality and don't warp! Strings
stay in tune and last a long time!
Doug Thomson Rancho Cucamonga, California