Four Hammer Dulcimer

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The four hammer dulcimer, although a fresh innovation premiering in the early 1990's, is by no means a new instrument. The hammered dulcimer, not to be confused with the mountain dulcimer, has been around for millenia. The four hammer dulcimer is the same instrument played with special hammers and technique.

The first record of a four hammer dulcimer is Glenn McClure's variation of the Burton grip. McClure's hammers are wooden dowels with teardrop-shaped heads. One hammer is held between the pad of the thumb and the midsection of the forefinger. The handle of the second hammer is a 2.5cm square pad, which is gripped in the middle and ring fingers.

Another hammer design is two standard flat-handled hammers riveted together about 4cm from the base so they can pivot. As of yet, no technique has been developed for these hammers.

The most recent innovation in four hammer dulcimer playing is the clip-on hammer, designed by Hasso Pape (HAH-soh PAH-pee) in 2006. The clip on hammer is a wooden dowel with an elliptical spheroid head, similar to the McClure hammers. One hammer is stapped to the farthest section of each of the index and middle fingers by a 1.5cm strip of elastic adjustable by Velcro. Strings are struck in a finger motion similar to that of piano playing.^{[citation needed]}