# ID a musical instrument **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 5, 2003, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-a-musical-instrument/159168 "2003-03-05T03:44:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![xanadu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/c4cdca/32.png) [@xanadu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xanadu)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2003, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-a-musical-instrument/159168/1 "2003-03-05T03:44:47Z")
I was watching a television show the other day and one of the characters was playing a musical instrument at a concert. I’ve looked all over the internet to figure out what the instrument is called, but so far, I’ve come up with nothing. Here’s a quick description of it: it is about 2 feet long and shaped like a rectanglular box. It is played by plucking the strings, and it rests in your lap. And that’s about all I remember about it. If I see a picture, I’ll probably recognize it. But I’m curious to know what it’s called. Hope you guys can help! ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2003, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-a-musical-instrument/159168/2 "2003-03-05T03:49:57Z")
Is it an [autoharp](http://www.fmp.com/aq/)? ---
**Author:** ![ChalkPit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a88e4f/32.png) [@ChalkPit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChalkPit)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2003, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-a-musical-instrument/159168/3 "2003-03-05T03:55:40Z")
Does the musician use both hands to play, one to pluck and one to select notes guitar style ? What period of music was being played ? Elizabethan ? Baroque ? Mozart ? Modern stuff ? ---
**Author:** ![TJdude825](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dec6dc/32.png) [@TJdude825](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TJdude825)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2003, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-a-musical-instrument/159168/4 "2003-03-05T03:59:08Z")
Was it a Kleenex box with rubberbands stretched around it? Sorry, couldn’t resist… ---
**Author:** ![xanadu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/c4cdca/32.png) [@xanadu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xanadu)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2003, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-a-musical-instrument/159168/5 "2003-03-05T04:00:04Z")
No, it isn’t an autoharp. It was much longer than that. The musician used one hand to play and the other to hold down the appropriate strings. It was a modern song. ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2003, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-a-musical-instrument/159168/6 "2003-03-05T04:03:14Z")
This? [http://www.mountainmademusic.com/lap\_harp.htm](http://www.mountainmademusic.com/lap_harp.htm) ---
**Author:** ![Cillasi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/71e660/32.png) [@Cillasi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cillasi)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2003, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-a-musical-instrument/159168/7 "2003-03-05T04:05:01Z")
Sounds like a dulcimer. They have various shapes. See [http://www.apollosaxes.com/hamdulsec.html](http://www.apollosaxes.com/hamdulsec.html) and [http://americandulcimers.com/store.asp?action=grabcat&page=1&category=1](http://americandulcimers.com/store.asp?action=grabcat&page=1&category=1) ---
**Author:** ![Bren\_Cameron\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@Bren\_Cameron\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bren_Cameron_1)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2003, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-a-musical-instrument/159168/8 "2003-03-05T04:07:57Z")
A mountain dulcimer perhaps? Here’s a picture. [http://www.jcrmusic.com/](http://www.jcrmusic.com/) ---
**Author:** ![Scarlett67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlett67/32/7387_2.png) [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2003, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-a-musical-instrument/159168/9 "2003-03-05T04:08:10Z")
Yup, I’m gonna guess a mountain or Appalachian dulcimer. ---
**Author:** ![Bren\_Cameron\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@Bren\_Cameron\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bren_Cameron_1)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2003, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-a-musical-instrument/159168/10 "2003-03-05T04:09:33Z")
Wow! I should have hit refresh… ---
**Author:** ![xanadu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/c4cdca/32.png) [@xanadu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xanadu)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2003, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-a-musical-instrument/159168/11 "2003-03-05T04:13:56Z")
Yep. Its a dulcimer. You see, I knew that I could count on you guys. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Desmostylus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c57346/32.png) [@Desmostylus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Desmostylus)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2003, 7:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-a-musical-instrument/159168/12 "2003-03-05T07:07:41Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by xanadu \* > \*\*Yep. Its a dulcimer. You see, I knew that I could count on you guys. 😃 \*\* Aw, come on. No one picked up on the username **xanadu** , asking questions about dulcimers? > [@](#): > > A damsel with a dulcimer > In a vision once I saw: > It was an Absyssinian maid, > And on her dulcimer she played, > Singing of Mount Abora > Could I revive within me > Her symphony and song, > To such a deep delight 'twould win me, > That with music loud and long, > I would build that dome in air, > That sunny dome! Those caves of ice! > And all who heard should see them there, > And all should cry, Beware! Beware! > His flashing eyes, his floating hair! > Weave a circle round him thrice, > And close your eyes with holy dread, > For he on honey-dew hath fed, > And drunk the milk of Paradise. Sound familiar anyone? ---
**Author:** ![xanadu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/c4cdca/32.png) [@xanadu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xanadu)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2003, 7:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-a-musical-instrument/159168/13 "2003-03-05T07:22:56Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Desmostylus \* > \*\*Aw, come on. No one picked up on the username **xanadu** , asking questions about dulcimers? > Sound familiar anyone? \*\* Actually, when I picked my username, there was a magazine nearby opened to a review of the Olivia Newton-John movie “Xanadu”. I thought it sounded like fun, so I picked it. Not to mention that it is also a Mardi Gras Krewe name - (I’m from Louisiana, so Happy Mardi Gras, people!) so that made it even better. Personally, I think that Mr. Coleridge might have been on a little somethin’ when he wrote that poem… Honestly, I haven’t read it. I had no idea. ---
**Author:** ![Conrad\_Verloc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9de053/32.png) [@Conrad\_Verloc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Conrad_Verloc)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2003, 7:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-a-musical-instrument/159168/14 "2003-03-05T07:37:52Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Desmostylus \* > \*\*Aw, come on. No one picked up on the username **xanadu** , asking questions about dulcimers? > Sound familiar anyone? \*\* Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s “Kubla Khan” Opening lines: In Xanadu did Kubla Khan A stately pleasure-dome decree: Where Alph, the sacred river, ran Through caverns measureless to man Down to a sunless sea.