Ladies Triumph plays traditional music from around the world, original compositions, instrumentals and vocals.  They are available to play for private performances, weddings and personal events, and as background to your special occasion.  (Click here for a partial list of appearances         )

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As Ladies Triumph, Barb and Lucy have felt, from their first notes together in 2001, as if they have been musical partners for most of their lives.  Their musical paths have taken similar journeys – in the melodies they enjoy, the instruments they play, and even the beautiful blend and resonance of their particular instruments played together.     

 

Though their instruments share a common name (dulcimer), other than being of wood and strings they have little else in common. The hammered dulcimer had its source in ancient Persia while the fretted dulcimer derived from the southern mountains of the United States. The hammered dulcimer is the western version of one of the oldest and most basic of instruments. It is a trapezoidal wooden box with two long bridges, and 60-some strings spanning across them, played by little mallets, or “hammers”.  The Appalachian dulcimer, also called the lap and mountain dulcimer, is a fretted zither. It has 4 strings that run along the entire length of its body and it is fretted and strummed to easily produce a major (and modal) scale along its first string.

 

The combination of hammered and fretted dulcimers blend and resonate beautifully together and live up to their shared name – “dulcimer” from dulce, or “sweet” – creating a sweet, vibrant, and melodious sound.  It is a source of disagreement among dulcimer enthusiasts which instrument is the real “dulcimer”.  If you ask Ladies Triumph, it makes little difference, as they both make beautiful music – separately and together.