he banjo has a unique string setup with the short fifth string beginning on the fifth fret and providing a drone to the tonic of the key. (Conway 223-225)
             The fiddle, otherwise known as the western violin, has been the most prominent and popular Appalachia instrument since the pioneer era. Everyone had a relative or neighbor who played the fiddle, and many people could play a little. (Rosenberg 21) Early Appalachia Music was accompanied with only a fiddle, often because it was the only available instrument.
             The voice is the universal musical "instrument" in this culture. An early English scholar to the area commented that Appalachia was "a community in which singing was as common and almost as universal a practice as speaking." (Conway 148) Indeed the practice of singing is highly interwoven with everyday life, not relegated to a special few.
             The Appalachia dulcimer, or mountain dulcimer is the instrument most unique to the Appalachia region. For one, it actually is not a true dulcimer because it is strummed or plucked, not played with hammers. Believed to have evolved from the German "scheitholt," it made its way to Appalachia in the 18th century and gradually evolved to suit the needs of Appalachia players. (Huvard) The instrument is shaped in a double teardrop form with a flat back suited for the playing style. The Appalachia dulcimer is played while placed flat on your lap. There are three string sets, one a double course and two single strings. It is said to be fairly simple to learn and play. The mountain dulcimer does not produce enough volume to compete with the guitar or fiddle so it generally accompanies solo folk songs.
             The steel-string folk guitar, while very prominent in modern Appalachia, was not part of traditional Appalachia Music until the popularization of the instrument in the early 1900s by the Sears & Roebuck catalogs. Compared to the banjo, the guitar was both a latecomer and a folk i...