Who Is Dulcimer Players News For, and What Does It Publish?

Updated

Dulcimer Players News (dpnews.com) is a quarterly print magazine for mountain dulcimer and hammered dulcimer players and enthusiasts. It publishes sheet music, tablature, musician-written articles, and stories about the instrument's traditions. If you play either style of dulcimer, build or teach the instrument, or simply enjoy its music and history, you are its intended reader. It is not a general folk-music magazine, and it is not aimed at beginners who have not yet chosen an instrument.

What You Will Find in Each Issue

The magazine's own description lists four recurring kinds of content:

  • Sheet music and tablature — playable arrangements, useful whether you read standard notation or rely on dulcimer tab.
  • Articles for musicians by musicians — practical writing from players rather than staff reporters.
  • Tales and traditions — material connecting the instrument's past to its present practice.
  • Cover and feature content — for example, the July 2026 update shows a cover photo by Fiona Potts of a Songbird "Chickadee" hammered dulcimer, indicating that instruments and makers get visible space.

The mix suits readers who want something to play, something to read, and some context about the instrument's culture in the same package.

Who Gets the Most Out of It

Reader Fit
Mountain or hammered dulcimer player Strong — tablature and notation are core content
Builder, teacher, or festival organizer Good — musician-authored articles and tradition pieces
Curious listener with no playing experience Limited — the value is mostly in the music and technique content
Player wanting an online-only resource Partial — a digital edition is in development, not yet live

Print, Digital, and Archives

The print edition remains the main product. The site states plainly that the print magazine "is not going anywhere," while a digital version is being developed as more than a PDF replica. No launch date is given, so treat digital access as forthcoming rather than available.

For older material, back issues are not currently for sale. Instead, the DPN Archives are hosted on the Internet Archive at archive.org, with individual issues linked from dpnews.com/archives. That archive is free to access, which makes it the practical route for researching a specific past article or arrangement.

Practical Details Before You Subscribe

  • Frequency: quarterly.
  • New subscriptions begin with the latest issue while extra copies last.
  • Lapsed subscriptions restart with the latest issue if the lapse happened before the mailing list went to the printer.
  • Order processing: every 7–14 days between issues, with delivery usually within a week of mailing.
  • Mailing timeline: printers take about 7–10 days, then postal time varies from a few days to a couple of weeks.
  • Missing issue: contact Editorial Assistant Vicki at [email protected], who also handles order status and address changes.
  • Renewal timing: the July 2026 update notes that renewals by August 7 would ship with the August mailing.

Current subscription prices and payment options are not stated in the material reviewed here; check the Subscribe page and the Subscription Types and FAQ page for those specifics.

Bottom Line

Subscribe if you actively play mountain or hammered dulcimer and want a quarterly supply of arrangements, player-written articles, and tradition-focused reading in print. Use the free Internet Archive collection first if you only need one specific past piece. If you are waiting for a digital edition, it is in progress but not yet released.