The Hammer Dulcimer is a member of the Zither family of instruments, described as instruments having strings stretched over a box type frame but without a keyboard. Other members of the Zither family are Psaltery, Auto-harp, Qanun(North Africa) and Koto (Japan).
The sticks used to play the instrument are refered to as Hammers and can vary a great deal:- the amount of bounce they have, how long they are, whether they have felt or leather on the bottom, how heavy they are etc. These factors effect the ability to hit the correct note, at the right time, in the right order and without hitting others. Dulcimer-family players of different countries use extraordinarily different types of hammers. [FONT='Times New Roman', Times, Serif, serif] [/font]