Forum Activity for @patty-from-virginia

Ken, that is great news!!! Glad you are back!!!

Ken, that is great news!!!

Ken Longfield, it's good to see you posting here. I hope you are doing well.

Many may not know Ruth but I wanted to share that she went home to the Lord March 4th. She was very much a part of the Northern Virginia Dulcimer Group. I believe she was one of the founding members of that group. She knew Keith Young. She went to many workshops and some of you may have met her. She often gave dulcimer lessons at her home. She wrote a lot tab. We went to quite a few jam sessions together. I know she left a wonderful musical legacy to her sons. They sang at her memorial service. Ruth touched so many lives. She is already missed.

Jan, that's a great idea. Since my procedure I have been unable to lift the scroll saw. I'm still working on strength but not able to lift the scroll saw and the table it's attached to. Thought about selling it but my husband packed it away. Maybe some day. 

Hearing this made me cry. I would often chat with Mike on this website. I loved his knowledge of building dulcimers and his sense of humor. A few years ago he sent me a climbing bear toy. I treasure it. I've had fun with it. I guess I'm still a big kid at heart. I tend to be a crafty person and Mike encouraged me to buy a scroll saw as I wanted to make limberjacks. I wanted to make him one but I only managed to make a bow for my neighbor's ukelin instrument. Well, life took a few twists and due to some health issues I never got to make that limberjack. Mike will be missed. I will be lifting his family up in prayer. Here is a picture of Mike's climbing bear:

Isn't that the truth?, LOL 

He is a fun puppy! A lot of work too until he gets potty trained 

We've missed our Molly dog and now we have a new addition to the family, Lucas. Guess what? He is related to our Molly. He is 10 weeks old. 

 1805_BrittanyPuppy_031r.jpg - 121KB

Robin T., please don't ever delete your instructional videos. I still go back and watch them and Robin Clark's too.

Don, Thanks for posting the pictures! I was just going by a tab book of hymns that I have. Yes, those particular hymns do have accidentals. Checked them out in my Baptist Hymnal 2008. If you look at Robin's video he demonstrates how to get those in between notes. On dulcimers that don't have a 6 1/2 fret that is what you'll have to do. It's not hard. If I can do it you can too. You have a nice long space between the 6 and the 7th fret. In between is where the 6 1/2 fret would be but you really don't need it. Just touch the string with your noter in between the 6 and 7th fret then touch then end of the noter onto the fret board. As I said if you go to about 13:18 on Robin's video that I posted he demonstrates how to do that. It would be worth your time to look at the whole video. I'm assuming you want to play noter/drone style.

I found Robin's video. If you like noter drone this is definitely worth watching and watching over and over again to get the techniques. Watch at about the 13:18 mark for getting those in between notes.

There are some hymns that have accidentals. Blessed Assurance is one example. I play that in DAA on my Prichard replica. The second line first measure there is a sharp (accidental) on the third note...above the word divine...note above di. I take my noter between the frets and hit the fret board while touch the string. It's kind of like bending the strings. So, on some hymns there are accidentals but you can get that in between note with the noter by placing it between the frets and touching the string with the noter touching the fret board. Robin Clark demonstrated that on his noter techniques video. Not sure if it is still on this site. As Robin said, to have a book of hymn tab that requires a 6 1/2 may be unusual. It may be tab for DAd. I usually use a hymnal and pick out some favorite hymns to play. I try to do it by reading the notes but sometimes I cheat and tab them out, LOL. I've had to transpose some but Rob Lackey helped me out on ones I've had trouble with. 

Richard, I don't think you can go wrong with either Dan's or John's. You just might end up with both, lol 

Richard, I just linked to my Old Joe Clark video. I am playing one of Dan's traditional dulcimores.

Strumelia, I'll check with hubby. He may have cleared the cookies. He does like to do that. And now that you mention it, he has installed an update on our virus protection. The timing seems to coincide with that. Oh well, it's okay. I need to exercise this old brain, lol. I do appreciate your help!!! I will talk to my hubby 

It's okay. It probably helps my memory to keep typing in my password, lol. I do have to log out because I'm not the only one who uses this computer. Some of my family members will use it. I know they won't do anything weird on purpose but it's just best to log out. Thanks anyway!

Auto Fill is on. It was never turned off. Auto Sign in is on and it was never turned off. FOTMD is listed as one of my saved passwords. Everything looks fine on my end. I have another site that I have my sign in information saved. I clicked on it and it worked fine. It's listed right underneath FOTMD in my Saved Passwords Auto Sign-In list. I just noticed this problem about two or three weeks ago. I wonder if you got an update and it's not liking my password. Who knows? All I know is that function of remember my log in no longer works for me.

Also, I just checked the other site where login is saved. It works just fine. I don't understand why that one works and the one for FOTMD doesn't. You would think if one is not working the other would not work either. Go figure. They both are saved on my Google settings. 

I'm on a desktop and I use Google Chrome. I've not changed any settings except this morning to see if that made a difference and it didn't. I know on my settings it has my password saved for this site but when I come on this site my login is not saved here. Can not figure that out at all. It's okay I don't mind typing it but when it was working it sure was convenient.

I checked the box to remember my log in and password but it no longer works even though the box is checked. I now have to type in my id and password each time I log on to this site. Why is this happening?

Depending on the glue, you may be able to warm it up to soften it. Then you can re-glue the fretboard back on the cardboard without the gaps. Here is the link to Backyard Music. I've sent emails to them and they've been good about answering back. Sometimes you have to give them a couple of days in case they are busy. 

http://www.backyardmusic.com/Welcome.html

Hi Marg, I have a cardboard dulcimer that I put together myself. I'm not sure what you mean when you say the sides do not match up. Are you saying it's out of alignment? Not sure if the fret board could have been glued on properly if that's the case. If you can provide a picture that would help. I think if it sets in a warm environment the glue may soften but I would try to reposition the fretboard on the cardboard to keep it on the cardboard. I like my cardboard. It's unique. I acquired mine from Backyard Music. You can send them an email of your intentions and they can tell you what will work. 

Congratulations Rob! How does it feel to be famous?   

The outer string is usually the one most say to remove as the inner string is about the same distance to the middle as the bass is to the middle. I was told to do that by Rob. It worked for me although at first I had a tendency to hit the board. 

I was wondering about Brian. I had many delightful conversations with him on chat. I remember how excited he was to build his first dulcimer. I will miss him. I do remember him telling me about his breathing problems. I said some prayers for him that God will heal him. Well, being in the arms of the Savior is the ultimate healing. My prayers for his family and friends. He will be missed.

Congratulations John Henry!

I will also add something to this long ago conversation. I just finished Stephen Seifert's Dulcimer Intensive. It was a local event of which I am truly grateful. It was literally three days. We started about 9 in the morning and ended at 4:30 pm. I have to say that is the best dulcimer workshop I have ever attended. It is well worth the money. Some of the topics were more advanced but I did learn about them. From the beginners to the advanced players, everyone came away with something. And if you felt like you were going to forget what was covered, Stephen provided links to videos for a review. He has a very easy going teaching style. He showed us various different fingerings for chords. That alone for me was worth the price. He discussed chord shapes, fingering exercises, breaking down difficult sheet music into easy, strum patterns, flat picking, finger picking, easy chords, safe notes, etc. If you ever get a chance to take his work shops, do it. You won't regret it. Even if you feel like something is more advanced than your current playing level you will learn it and you will (if you put in the work) feel like it's attainable. He is very encouraging and a really nice guy. He's always willing to answer questions. Yes, he had us work on a line of music over and over again but we all finally got it. That's a taste of putting in the work and it's worth it. I would rate his work shop a 5 star on a scale of 1 to 5, 5 being the best. 

Dulcinina, a while back I asked my daughter to play the piano while I played my dulcimer. Unless you are amplified in some way the piano will overwhelm the dulcimer. I'm no expert but unless I was wired my acoustic dulcimer was no match for the piano, especially when my daughter hit those keys, LOL 

I agree with Dan. With wood pegs I would definitely prefer three strings. I also find it easier to play with the three string set up. If I had a custom made dulcimer I would have it set for three strings. I can see Rob's point with the four equidistant. I've not tried that yet but plan to just to see what that is like. Although, I do prefer to play noter drone. Some may say the double melody is better for noter drone. Well, I have two responses for that. The old traditional dulcimers didn't have double melody strings and when doing the semi tones, going in between so to speak, it's easier to press down a single string with the noter than double. It's easier for me. I think you will find that personal preference is the deciding factor on this topic. 

That was wonderful!!! Merry Christmas!!! I must say I am looking forward to the days getting longer (more daylight). 

Terry, I can believe it. I knew someone who got bad spinach a few years ago. She dropped a lot of weight. She did say it was a blessing in disguise as she said she needed to lose some weight. Well, she did, unexpectedly, but she did. She said she would have preferred to drop the weight another way but she was happy that she did. I hope you feel better soon. I'll say a prayer for you. :)

Kevin, I know. I did remind my cousin that if he finds one while doing any renovation work in the Huntington area to let us know. I also said not to toss it if it's in bad shape. I hope we find one soon for you. 

Ken, I agree. It is fun to see the different finishes. I imagine CN Prichard was quite a character (in the good sense) and probably loved variety.

Just saw this on FB and wanted to share with you all. It's a real CN Prichard Dulcimer. I understand it's been on display at Wildwood Music for 20 years. Here is a link to Wildwood Music in Coshocton Ohio (pictures),  http://www.wildwoodmusic.com/dulcimers.html?wppa-occur=1&lang=en&wppa-slide&wppa-album=1115&wppa-photo=14773

Sharon, I just want to let you know and I'm sure my fellow Wartz members will tell you the same that you are always welcome to our Wartz gatherings. We love you too!

John Henry, I agree with Rob. I understand how you feel. I lost my mom two years ago. A couple of things help me. One, I know she is in heaven and two, I play her favorite hymns on my dulcimer. I'm sure Mary has some favorite songs that you could play. You and your family are in my prayers.

I met Oliver through chat and in person at our Wartz gatherings. He and his wife Sharon are a lovely couple. At Spring Wartz Oliver gave me a copy of Ashokan Farewell. It's the first one page arrangement I've seen. He always wanted to share and play music. We got together in the lobby area to play our dulcimers. We even got to see an April snow! It was good to see Oliver and Sharon again just four weeks ago at our Fall Wartz gathering. He is a very kind man. I will miss him. I'm going to practice Black Mountain Rag as that was his favorite song. Sharon, please know that you are in our prayers. 

Great article. Thanks for posting this!