Very nice job Dusty. Bravo!!

Thanks, Dana and Strumelia. Fingerpicking is indeed a relatively new technique for me, something I began working on only because this Blue Lion dulcimer seems to sound best that way. I prefer the key of C notbecause the Carter Family originally did this song in that key but because the strings are looser and easier to brush and pluck. But for the same reason, Strumelia, I don't enjoy fingerpicking closer to the bridge in the strum hollow, although it is true that fingerpicking over the fretboard has its own difficulties. The strings are just tighter closer to the bridge than they are toward the middle of the fretboard. It's also true that I come to the dulcimer from the guitar, so the "untraditional" softer sound appeals to me more than the bright chimey soundsof traditional dulcimers made entirely of hardwoods.

Terrific playing, Dusty. You make it sound very natural and easy. I like the key of C for it.

Have you experimented with fingerpicking at various points on the fretboard like over the strum hollow? Perhaps the picking would be easy there to get a grasp of the strings. On banjo, I like different effects for different tunes, and I find the sound gets crisper as I pick closer to the bridge ...that might be something you like for fingerpicking. Anyhoo, I'm no fingerpicker, but it's always fun to experiment.

I really like this tune, and as has been said already, good to be able to see what your fingers are doing, thank you.

JohnH

Thanks for the encouragement, guys. I've begun fingerpicking in a serious way only since obtaining this particular dulcimer, and I feel like it is still new terrain for me.

Incidentally, I love this song. It just has such a sweet and simple melody. It was made famous in the 1920s by the Carter Family, but I first heard it on a Clarence White solo guitar album where he cross picks every which way. And I love the harmonies of the duet byRicky Skaggs and Tony Rice. But I would never have thought of it as a fingerpicking song until I heard Stephen Seifert's arrangement.

Dusty - really nice! I like the tune very much, and your playing and the instrument both sound great. Thanks for sharing.