Nila, Cindi is certainly correct. You might never play exactly like me, but why would you want to? I am sure if you keep practicing you will eventually be able to play this song or one like it in a way that would really please you and would probably be something I could never play!

And thanks for your compliments, Carrie.

Thanks, Foggers. This tune wasthe first I attempted with a fingerpicking technique. I have now added others, but this one was an original arrangement (not that it's too complex) based on an old guitar version by Norman Blakewhich has been rolling around my head since I was 5 or 6.

That I've continued to work on fingerpicking since posting this video is due at least in part to the encouragement I've received from everyone who's commented. Thanks so much!

Hey Dusty! I was just pootling through the videos and found this gem of yours! I learned that tune on the recorder at school when I was about 9 but I think it was a different name.

You are developing an expressive fingerstyle approach there; I read this whole thread and I think there are some very wise words here.

Dusty, that is very beautifully played- your touch is just right!

Since childhood, I've thought this tune was really lovely whenever I heard it by chance... but I never knew what it was before now. I love that you know your grandfather enjoyed it, that makes it all the more special.

Cindi, I just took a look at a couple of YouTube videos of Nina and Sue Carpenter. Right now I would have to say my playing is a hybrid of the two. I was probably trying to copy the soft style of Nina and Linda Brockinton, where the fingers kind of brush over the strings rather than pluck or pick them, but in between melody notes I tend to resort to guitar-style picking with a somewhat continuous rhythm.If you compare Nina Zanetti with Sue Carpenter (ignore the flatpicking at the beginning) you might see what I mean. If there was a discussion comparing the two styles in the Fingerpicking Group, I missed it. But Sue picks or plucks the strings in a manner somewhat similar to guitar players who keep the rythym going with a steady pattern, whereas Nina brushes gently over the strings. IfI do combine the two styles, it is entirely accidental. I'm just trying to get by at this point, to play a melody recognizable to others, tokeep the tempo constant, to add enough harmony or chording to make it a little bit interesting.

I don't think you should worry about developing your own style. That will just come with playing, I assume. You pick up a bit from one person and a bit from another, and you do neither one in the identical manner of the original player. Over time you develop your own manner of doing things. And my guess is that others will notice that style before you ever will. There are two main reasons I post recordings of my playing. One is just that watching and listening to myself, I feel OK, meaning I don't sound so bad after all. But also, even as early as a week after posting something I will listen to it and know I can already do it better. The stuff I posted a year ago seems at best mediocre to me now, meaning I know I have progressed. The recordings provide objective proof that I am improving. Even if you don't share recordings with anyone else, you might try the same thing.

Cindi, I am too new to fingerpicking to have developed my own style and also too new to taking fingerpicking seriously enough to have compared styles. I come to the dulcimer having played guitar and mandolin and much more comfortable with a flatpick in my hand. This Blue Lion dulcimer, though, sounds much better ina fingerpicking style, so over the last few weeks I've begun to work on that. I did a little fingerpicking on the guitar, so that is clearly an influence. I've attended a single dulcimer event: the one-day Redwood Dulcimer Day two years ago just after I had begun playing the dulcimer, and Linda Brockinton was the guest instructor. I watched her play a lot and was really impressed, but at the time I still thought my best bet on the dulcimer was with a flatpick. Later on I ordered Nina's first CD, and she pointed me to some of her free tablature. But even then, when I played her tab of "Annie Laurie," for example, I did so with a flatpick. Only in recent weeks have I decided to work on a fingerpicking style. I just orderedone of Nina's tablature books and her second CD (she may not even have received my letter yet), so perhaps in the future my style will resemble hers. Then again, I'm only beginning to take this fingerpicking stuff seriously, so I have to investigate Sue Carpenter as well. I've used her straps since day one (about two years ago for me) but will have to study her style a bit. I think she uses fingerpicks, doesn't she?

Right now there is no method to my fingerpicking. I use my thumb, index and middle fingers, but without any hard rules about which one is best at any given moment. Perhaps in a year or so I'll have developed a more precise technique. Right now I'm just figuring things out.

I've seen that baby Taylor, too. Unlike their other guitars, only the top is real wood, but it has an amazing sound. I've thought of getting one for my daughter when she gets a little bigger.

My Blue Lion is not a baritone but their IC model, meaning their basic I model with cherry back and sides. According to the Blue Lion website, they don't make that model in cherry anymore. And yes, I am tuned to CGcc. I've stated this elsewhere, but I bought the dulcimer from another FOTMD member who did not like the sound at all. When I first got it I adjusted the bridge a bit (Blue Lion bridges are moveable) and that improved the sound a bit. But I think the person from whom I got it mainly plays melody/drone, and the bass was too much for her. Ironically, it's that bass sound that I love so much. You know what they say about different strokes . . .

Cindi, I've had the same problem with playing guitar - can't stretch around the neck. There IS a new small size guitar (Taylor, I think) that a friend of mine has, with wonderful sound and reasonably priced, and I might try that some day. Meanwhile, will stick to dulcimer. Yes - Blue Lions , esp. their rosewood model, have mellow, rich tone and (I think) with plenty of presence. I'm not sure, but don't think that's a baritone (Dusty??). The tune seems to be in C, so I wonder if it's a standard tuned down to CGC. I mostly tune that way (for ease on fingers and better sustain), and people often ask me if I"m playing a baritone. Blue Lions also have great bass response, so that also contributes to bari-like sound.

Yes, indeed, when strumming, it's much harder (impossible?) to compensate for a melody string that's not loud enough. That's why in a perfect world I'd probably have one dulcimer with single melody, just for fingerpicking; and another with two melody strings, for strumming. Well maybe. I've got small fingers and even when strumming my LH is so much happier with just one string.

But, yes, distance between the two melody strings also makes a big difference. Janita is a sweet lady and I"m sure woudl be glad to talk with you about possibility of changing nut.

It certainly makes sense that fingerpicking allows more control over the dynamics of individual notes so that itwould be possible to compensate for a lighter string. But if you are strumming over all the strings while playing the melody it might be harder. I currently have all my regular-sized dulcimers strung 12-14-24, but I did experiment with even heavier gauges at one time. Certainly a 13-gauge string to replace two 12-gauge strings might be reasonable. I would trust Aaron O'Rourke on that.

Oddly (or maybe not), neither of the melody strings on my Blue Lion is perfectly equidistant with the other strings; one is slightly too close, the other slightly too far. But I also find that the two melody strings are too far from one another for my relatively small fingertips. I don't have that problem with other dulcimers, but it is one reason I initially tried to play this one with just three strings. Maybe I'll contact Janita at Blue Lion and see if they could install a different nut and bridge more to my liking. I have a friend who lives near there and might justify a trip if I could save on shipping to have the experts work on my dulcimer.

On my Blue Lion, I use gauges 12 - 14- 24; but the best gauge might differ with different instruments (and scale lengths). No question, you DO lose some volume by going to a single melody string. For me, that loss is well compensated by ease in playing - both the RH picking and LH slides, hammers and pulls , which are much easier with one string. Also harmonics. Also, in my own playing, I often put the melody in other strings anyway, and don't often play drone style, so don't need the melody string louder than the other two strings, at least not all the time. Also, with fingerpicking, I've learned to compensate by plucking harder, if need be, on the melody string than onthe other strings. Actually, i've reached a point where I can barely play with a doubled melody string, but I have friends who are not at all bothered by it, even for fingerpicking.

If you do try removing the "extra" string, try removing the one that is closest to the middle string; at least on my instruments that makes the spacing more equidistant among the three that remain. But, by all means stick with whatever works best for you.

Minstrel Boy is a grand tune, isn't it?

Thanks so much, Nina. I can't tell you how much your compliments mean to me. Yes indeed, I love the bass response on this instrument, and my other dulcimers just pale in comparison. I did indeed try removing one of the melody strings but the spacing seemed off to me when I did. I think I have just gotten used to playing with double strings. I'm sure a talented player would have greater control over the tone of a single string, especially for bending strings, but right now I'm more concerned with developing a better right hand technique for finger-style play. Maybe down the line I'll remove a string and try again.

Thanks again for your encouraging words.

Dusty, I just came across this ---- and it is GREAT ! You are definitely doing that Blue Lion justice ! Sweet playing, and the warm Blue Lion sound comes across just great (don't you love the bass range of these instruments?). A thought: IF you plan to use this instrument for mostly fingerpicking, you might try removing one of the melody strings. A single string makes it so much easier on both hands. But, personal choice. Again, lovely playing!

Sam, if I could only get my dulcimer to respect me as well, we'd get along swimmingly!

Seriously, though, thanks for the compliments.