A lovely piece, you make it look so effortless! Really beautiful playing.

Very pretty

That's lovely Cheryl

You are an beautiful musician and have really made that instrument you own - I love the anticipation of seeing what you will post next

Hi Cheryl! Nicely done. Thanks for sharing this.

I also recorded a flatpicked version of this on my McSpadden, and I use string gauges similar to yours. Interesting to hear the difference in the two instruments (mine's a spruce top) and between the two approaches.

Thanks for all the great comments! John...I was very much trying to picture a grey, cold, dreary winter's day....the bone-cold kind. It's in the high 80's here now so it was a big stretch and required air conditioning. :)

Sam....awwww gosh....thanks! Very sweet of you.

Dusty, I think its interesting that the kids said that! The first time I heard Stephen play it my very first thought was that it sounded like big fat snowflakes drifting slowly to the ground! Do you have a recording of you playing it? I'd love to hear your version.

Wayne, thank you kindly....I really like the sound with the new strings....McSpadden really makes some nice instruments.

Nice playing, Cheryl, you really capture the mood of this piece. I learned this one myself a few months back from Stephen Seifert at the Dulcimer School. A couple of weeks ago I played a bunch of instruments for my daughter's 1st-grade class. I played this on the dulcimer and asked them to guess if it was about the summeror the winter. As soon as I started playing, one kid yelled out, "It's winter! I can hear the snow flakes falling."

Cheryl ... I know that one needs strings on their dulcimer ... but I think a HUGE part of the sound from your dulcimer is an extension of Cheryl. You make very beautiful music.

Hottest day we have had for a while here Cheryl, and I have just had to put a sweater on as a result of listening to your 'Bleak Winter', lol. Great sound, I agree.

thanks for sharing your latest postings (and thanks for the comment you made re my Virginia dulcimer)

John

Thanks everyone. Steve, I really am enjoying the new strings....the base string was very very nice too till I broke it today! Thanks for the thoughts on the harmonics...I got it from my electronic lesson with Stephen Seifert......enjoying his way of teaching for sure!

Very nice. Liked the use of harmonics. The arrangement we play in the ensemble doesn't have them