dulce melos
Illustration — Diagram of a dulce melos from Henri-Arnault de Zwolle's 1440 manuscript. The dulce melos (or doucemelle) is an early keyboard instrument and possible ancestor of the piano. The instrument is described as a type of zither, similar to a hammered dulcimer, but with the strings struck by hammers on keys.
Also recorded as doucemelle
dulce melos
- Field
- hammered dulcimer
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Illustration — Diagram of a dulce melos from Henri-Arnault de Zwolle's 1440 manuscript. The dulce melos (or doucemelle) is an early keyboard instrument and possible ancestor of the piano. The instrument is described as a type of zither, similar to a hammered dulcimer, but with the strings struck by hammers on keys.
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wikidata · Q2450129 · wikipedia · Dulce melos
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The instrument had twelve pairs of strings, each divided into three sections in a 4:2:1 ratio, resulting in a full chromatic octave of 36 notes, as each note is divided into two higher octaves by the bridges. Among the instrument's first attestations was a 1440 work by Henri-Arnault de Zwolle. The instrument was researched in the 1844 publication Dissertation sur les instruments de musique au moyen-age by Bottée de Toulmon, which detailed a piano-like instrument detailed in a 15th-century Latin manuscript.
Dulce melos is a hammered dulcimer.
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- “Dulce melos”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
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- Wikidata, structured authority record Q2450129: dulce melos
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These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Igor Kipnis. Harpsichord and Clavichord: An Encyclopedia. Routledge. 158–. 15 April 2013. 978-1-135-94978-5.
- 2.Norton. Early Keyboard Instruments. 191–. 1989. 978-0-393-30515-9.
- 3.Curt Sachs. The History of Musical Instruments. Courier Corporation. 343–. 19 September 2012. 978-0-486-17151-7.
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1- hammered dulcimerTerminology
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The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 16 August 2026.
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