Can anyone educate me a bit about dulcimer?

I remember a friend had one back in the '70's at a pizza place we hung out at. She handed it to me and I had two Joni Mitchell songs down in no time. She (the friend, not Joni) was pretty impressed.

I used to tour as a sound person for a folk group centered around a hammered dulcimer. We played a lot of folk festivals and there were always a lot of the lap style ones around. Pretty easy for people to build and sell along with their other crafts.

 

Agree on the 6 1/2 fret. I've played one off and on for a number of years. Original inspiration was "The Pacific Rim Dulcimer Album" as well as some LP's by Michael Rugg and Neal Hellman, who played at my university one time. Here's a pretty popular song I used to play with some friends, goes beyond the drone but is not all that complicated.