CHAPTER 3: History to 1800 > Early Renaissance - 15th century

Illustrations - 12 of 15

Type 1 - one bridge

The final single-bridged example is remarkable in several ways: it suggests that dulcimers were known in Poland almost as early as in the rest of Europe; it is executed in stained glass; and one side forms an elegant gentle curve for the whole of its length (Buchner).

It is again placed on the lap.

It would be futile to attempt to measure the ratios into which these single bridges divide the strings, but all three are certainly off-centre, two to the right and one to the left; 2:3, as has been virtually standard since tunings were first recorded, is certainly possible, as is 3:4, occasionally used in America.