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Welcome to Friends of the Mountain Dulcimer!

Friends of the Mountain Dulcimer is the most extensive site for Appalachian Mountain Dulcimer players and builders on the internet. Welcome!
Join Groups and Forum discussions that interest you, make new music friends. Share photos, music clips, and videos, resources for buying instruments, music, and learning materials. Ask your beginner questions and learn to play! All are welcome here no matter what your playing style, skill level, or musical tastes. Become a member of Friends of the Mountain Dulcimer (FOTMD) community -it's friendly and totally FREE!
After joining, please read the Site Rules before posting. You'll find your very own Member Profile Page by clicking on your name link at the top of any page. Click on different links to get familiar with where things are. Questions about using the site?- ask them HERE . You've come to exactly the right place to receive or give free help and encouragement in playing music. Here on FOTMD we all learn from each other as friends. Join our block party! -Strumelia

Latest Activity

@wally-venable • 12 minutes ago • comments: 0
Posted a response to "Thrift Auction: Early Paul Pyle Dulcimer with Tail Damage":

"I agree with Ken that it is good to have posts which include information about historic dulcimers and builders. Along that line, perhaps the one you first..."

@ken-longfield • an hour ago • comments: 0
Posted a response to "Thrift Auction: Early Paul Pyle Dulcimer with Tail Damage":

"canard, please feel free to post your findings of interesting auction dulcimers. Not everyone checks auctions regularly and you may alert someone to..."

@canard • an hour ago • comments: 0
Posted a response to "Thrift Auction: Early Paul Pyle Dulcimer with Tail Damage":

"Hi Wally, I realize that the opening bid and the closing bid are often very different. This instrument is not exactly a resale dream. I just wanted to make..."

@nate • 3 hours ago • comments: 0
Posted a response to "Bad string?":

"It may be also helpful to see if the other strings increase in tension when the 3rd string detunes. When the string slips, some of the tension it had stored..."

@wally-venable • 3 hours ago • comments: 0
Posted a response to "Thrift Auction: Early Paul Pyle Dulcimer with Tail Damage":

"Early bids on ShopGoodwill are no indication of what the price will eventually be. We often see Mcspadden and Folkcraft instruments starting at something..."

@canard • 4 hours ago • comments: 22
Posted a new Comment on History of Women Players:

"This is an old thread but I thought I would chime in. Historically, “young ladies” in the Old World were encouraged to take up parlor instruments and singing..."

@canard • 5 hours ago • comments: 14
Liked a group discussions item created by @david-bennett: Today In Mountain Dulcimer History: May

@canard • 5 hours ago • comments: 0
Created a new forum topic "Thrift Auction: Early Paul Pyle Dulcimer with Tail Damage":

"Restore this old beauty or just appreciate it for its craft level and historic value. Partial image of the label is included in the listing photos...."

@ken-longfield • 7 hours ago • comments: 7
Posted a new Comment on Noter effect on strings?:

"You can use graphite from a lead pencil or I use https://www.lowes.com/pd/Minute-Key-3-Gram-Powdered-Graphite/5003252247 . This is probably a lifetime..."

@greatlakes73 • 9 hours ago • comments: 7
Posted a new Comment on Noter effect on strings?:

"Thanks everyone for your suggestions! My dulcimer was made by Ron Ewing not too long before he passed, so I’m confident he had suggested a good string gauge...."

@wally-venable • 9 hours ago • comments: 7
Posted a new Comment on Noter effect on strings?:

"String diameter will have some effect because larger strings need more tension to play the same note. Longer VSLs will also require more tension. I don't..."

@ken-longfield • 15 hours ago • comments: 7
Posted a new Comment on Noter effect on strings?:

"If a string breaks between the peg and the nut, I would suspect the nut slot as the culprit. The string binds in the nut. As you tune going up to the D does..."

@greatlakes73 • 17 hours ago • comments: 7
Posted a new Comment on Noter effect on strings?:

"Of course, I didn’t look hard at where the string broke because it freaked me out (every time!) but in my hazy recollection it broke pretty close to the peg-..."

@homer-ross • 23 hours ago • comments: 34
Liked a music item created by @dan-evans: Tumbling Skies

@ken-longfield • yesterday • comments: 7
Posted a new Comment on Noter effect on strings?:

"Robin, you might try lubricating the nut slot of that string with a little graphite. It will help the string slide better in the slot. There is also the..."

@robin-thompson • yesterday • comments: 0
Posted a response to "Bad string?":

"I'm guessing a bad string could be possible. I'm guessing you've checked the winding at the tuner to see if the string could be slipping in the tuner (due..."

@wally-venable • yesterday • comments: 0
Posted a response to "Bad string?":

"There can be a bad string, but with modern wire it is unlikely that you will ever encounter one. It would almost certainly be because of a bad winding at the..."

@alex-lubet • yesterday • comments: 0
Created a new forum topic "Bad string?":

"Hi All, I hope you're doing well. Greetings from Minnesota. Is there such a thing as a bad string? I put on a new set last Saturday and my first string..."

@robin-thompson • yesterday • comments: 7
Liked a group discussions item created by @greatlakes73: Noter effect on strings?

@robin-thompson • yesterday • comments: 7
Posted a new Comment on Noter effect on strings?:

"Hi, greatlakes! I only play with a noter and it is rare I snap a string. When I do, it is usually when I am tuning down and the string breaks between the..."

@greatlakes73 • yesterday • comments: 7
Created a new Group discussion "Noter effect on strings?":

"Hello everyone, recently I was gently tuning my 3rd string from A back up to D, when it snapped. It’s a .012 steel string, which was what the original string..."
OLD STYLE Drone & Noter players

@robin-thompson • yesterday • comments: 6
Posted a new Comment on Mourning Doves:

"Thank you and thanks for listening, @dan. "

@ondrej • yesterday • comments: 0

Posted new YouTube video(s):
Japanese folk song for DAD Dulcimer

@canard • 2 days ago • comments: 0
Created a new forum topic "Affordable Sleeper Listing on ShopGoodwill":

"Magic Mountain build by J.C. Shellnutt. Looks like Alaska Yellow Cedar with a Persimmon fretboard. Quality workmanship. I’m listing this here in the hope..."

@canard • 2 days ago • comments: 25
Posted a new Comment on If you could buy your first dulcimer over again.....?:

"My first dulcimer - arrived today! It’s a bespoke 1970s California build. No label but the flares at the top and the A head suggest CapriTaurus. Teardrop,..."

@benjamin-w-barr-jr • 2 days ago • comments: 3
Posted a new Comment on @art-robinson:

"Hi Art, and welcome to the wonderful world of the Friends of the Mountain Dulcimer. It's a good place to come, spend some time, learn about the dulcimer,..."

@benjamin-w-barr-jr • 2 days ago • comments: 5
Posted a new Comment on @canard:

"Hi Canard, and welcome to the wonderful world of the Friends of the Mountain Dulcimer. It's a good place to come, spend some time, learn about the dulcimer,..."

@benjamin-w-barr-jr • 2 days ago • comments: 3
Posted a new Comment on @starbag:

"Hi Starbag, and welcome to the wonderful world of the Friends of the Mountain Dulcimer. It's a good place to come, spend some time, learn about the..."

@dan • 2 days ago • comments: 6
Posted a new Comment on Mourning Doves:

"Bravo!"

@robin-thompson • 2 days ago • comments: 6
Posted a new Comment on Mourning Doves:

"@dusty Thanks, friend. One thing I can do for comfort is strum a dulcimer. This region lives with the scars and spoilage from mining of both coal and..."

@davisjames • 2 days ago • comments: 3
Liked a music item created by @conrad-vispo: Schottis från Kalix

@dusty • 2 days ago • comments: 6
Posted a new Comment on Mourning Doves:

"I mourn with you, Robin, for the environmental loss so close by. The song does indeed catch a melancholy feel with your soft noter work."

@robin-thompson • 2 days ago • comments: 6
Posted a new Comment on Mourning Doves:

"@davisjames That's a neat thing to do-- I look forward to what you learn! We have Mourning Doves around, too. The "Mourning" part of the title refers to..."

@davisjames • 2 days ago • comments: 6
Posted a new Comment on Mourning Doves:

"There really is something in the tonality of this that suggests the cooing of the doves.There's usually a pair in my neighborhood.Next time I hear them I'm..."

@davisjames • 2 days ago • comments: 0
Liked a youtube item created by @dan-evans: South Wind with Cara Bo

@wally-venable • 2 days ago • comments: 6
Posted a new Comment on Varsoviana:

"It is a nice arrangement in waltz time, but it is a stretch to call it "a traditional Viennese waltz." ========================= Varsoviana /..."