The Mountain Dulcimer is a long, narrow, wooden instrument which is
played while lying across the lap.  It has four stings (or sometimes more
or less) that can be noted with a small wooden stick or bar over the first
two strings, while the right hand stums all four strings making the 3rd and
4th strings drone throughout the entire arrangement.  It can be also noted
with the left fingers instead of using the wooden stick.  According to the
Musicology Research Center in Orleans, France, this instrument probably
originated in Greece, having came to America and became popular in the
Appalachian Mountains and finally migrated to the Ozark Mountains of
Missouri and Arkansas.  The word dulcimer simply means
"sweet music."