dulcimer

dulcimer puhekieltä A stringed instrument, with strings stretched across a sounding board, usually trapezoidal. It is played on the lap or horizontally on a table. Some have their own legs. These musical instruments are played by plucking on the strings (traditionally with a quill) or by tapping on them (in the case of the hammer dulcimers).

The two classes of dulcimer are the "Mountain" or "Appalachian" dulcimer (plucked and played with a quill, usually a goose quill) and the hammer dulcimer (played by tapping on the strings with small "hammers"). See also: zither