The mountain dulcimer, even in its simplicity, holds more than a few secrets. Those who pick it up for the first time are struck with its unique droning tones and find they can play simple melodies rather quickly, sometimes within a matter of minutes. What many beginning players don't realize though is that there is no such thing as "standard" tuning for the mountain dulcimer.

There are two common tunings for mountain dulcimer, DAA and DAD. In DAA, the bass string is tuned to D with the middle and paired melody strings tuned to A. In DAD, the bass string is tuned to D with the middle string tuned to A. In this tuning, however, the paired melody strings are tuned to D. At Music Folk, we commonly tune our instruments to DAD.

To introduce a bit of music theory to the discussion, these tunings can actually be referred to as modal tunings. Because a standard mountain dulcimer does not include a fully chromatic scale (12-tone), it is considered a modal instrument. That is, the unusual pattern of frets on a mountain dulcimer renders a seven-tone scale. These seven-tone scales are known as modes.

A mode is then a pre-determined relationship of notes, in this instance, defined by the open strings of the dulcimer. So in DAD tuning, the relationship between the open strings of the dulcimer in turn define the resultant 7-note tone. Modes can be major or minor depending upon that relationship.

Let's dive in a little deeper now… The ancient Greeks developed seven different modes. In modern dulcimer music, only four are commonly used. They are:

Mixolydian is a major key mode and is probably the most common of all modes for the mountain dulcimer. Of the mixolydian modes, the most common tuning is DAD. The notes of the mixolydian mode are:

Notice the half steps between the F# and G and again between the B and C. Keep in mind, it is the relationship between the notes of the open strings that define the mode, not the actual note. So, if the strings were tuned to EBE, it would still be a mixolydian tuning but in a different key. This is an important distinction.