Hi Gary, thanks for having a listen. I'm glad you enjoyed it. I'm not sure what advice I can give, other than to say start slow and don't get discouraged. :) As for the picking, one thing I can mention is that I like to hold my pick with three fingers - the thumb, and index and middle fingers. Many people have told me this is unusual (they just use thumb and index finger), but I think this way offers much more control. You might try it to see if it helps in any way. Good luck!

Jan, thank you very much for listening. :) Mandy - thanks again for your encouraging words. Much appreciated.

This is just absolutely lovely! Thanks for sharing!

Brian, I've watched videos (lesson and other) on youtube for years. I've taken so much from that experience that coming up with a dream lesson format is really easy. LOL. I know that lots of people would really LOVE to see a lesson vid from you (me included). I hope you will consider it, and of course it's your lesson, so do what you want in it. But please, pretty please don't leave out your head, sans bag that is. HAHAHAHAHA

Wow...Mandy, thanks for taking the time to write such a thorough post! I had been thinking more generally, and not in terms of any one particular tune, but perhaps that would be the easier way to start. Lots to think about...thanks again! :)

Hey Brian - I'll take a stab and tell you what I'd like to see as far as a lesson vid is concerned.

1. show your hands - check (you already do that)

2. show the tune in parts (if it's long, break it into manageable sections)

3. provide both a regular speed version (so we know what the tune should sound like), and a really slow one so we can learn it.

4. I'd also like the speaking parts to be showing more of you (including your head, no joke here). It's more personal that way. But that's just my preference, maybe others don't need to ever see your face. Then do the close shots like you usually do showing the hands and fretboard.

5. If possible take those really hard sections and actually say "on this section I'm doing a hammer, slide, pull-off on the 2nd to 4th frets and here's how that looks" things of that nature.

6. This may be a stretch, but in the perfect scenario I would also like shots of your hands from maybe above or the side. It is sometimes confusing that I have to watch your hands and they are going the opposite direction from mine.

Now, of course that's a LOT of stuff I'm asking for, but that IMO would be a perfect lesson. It doesn't really matter to me what the song choice would be because all songs are good to learn. But when I first picked it up I used several of your vids to learn from. Wildwood Flower, and House of the Rising Sun just to name 2. But I had to constantly pause, rewind, and replay over and over again to get it slow enough for me to see what was happening. I took some of your arrangements and made them simpler for me (who has lazy fingers and can't quite get some of those stretches yet). LOL I realize you weren't making those for lessons, but that's what I used them for anyway because I love your style and awesome arrangements.

I'm sure that anything you did would be great!

Thank you Geek! :)

To anyone who might be reading this who thinks an instructional video from me would be worth watching - what, specifically, would you want me to cover? If I were to end up doing something like this, I'd want it to be as helpful/useful as I could make it, which means I'd want to cover the things people were interested in. So...if you read this and have any ideas, please feel free to shoot me an e-mail, post here, tell me on chat, or whatever. I'd be very interested in what people have to say about this.

Thanks! :)

Karen, Rocky and John - thank you! John, I will have to go back and listen to your version now. You playing without a noter seems such a rate event. :)

Yep ! All wot 'as 'ow they 'av said before, loved it ! (just for once I can really appreciate what you did there Brian, because I have actually posted a 'non noter' version of Southwind here myself, smug b..... ain't I, lol)

John

Another great one. I love the way your fingers move so effortlessly. Great!

Patty, Folk - thank you very much! I appreciate you taking the time to comment, and of course, I'm glad you liked it. :)

Brian, very lovely

Nice, Brian, as usual. I really enjoy listening to you play. It delights the ear.

Robin, RN, Wayne - thanks for your very generous comments. The idea of doing "lesson" videos requires some thought. I just kind of "do what I do" and I'm not entirely sure I can articulate how I play any better than I've occasionally tried to do in posts here on FOTMD. I will definitely think about it, though. If people think it might help them enjoy their own dulcimer playing more, then perhaps it's worth a try. :) Thanks again!

Great as usual, Brian. It's one the more recent ones for me. Don't know how I missed the song before, but only heard it the 1st time about 2 years ago. It's become a favorite. VERY well played!

Fantastic Brian

You have such a beautiful touch! I love your right hand patterns; it is such a rich style of playing and really fills out the music. You should post a few lesson videos breaking down what you are doing with your right hand as I'm sure folks would be interesting in seeing and hearing about your approach to tunes.

Robin

Thank you all! Glad you enjoyed it. :)

Well done BG...smooth as glass!