It's nice to hear from you, Janene. I was wondering if you were still active here or perhaps if you were on some big RV adventure.

Haven't been online in a while but so glad I got to see/hear this...absolutely LOVE it.  Keep up with the blues please...share and inspire!!

Hi there whocindylou. THat's a very musical name. We can sing " oh whocindylou" instead of the old Ricky Nelson tune "Helly Mary Lou."

I have never tabbed this tune out exactly, and in fact, I wouldn't know how to tab the bending of the middle string on the fourth fret, which is the key to the whole piece.  I have taught the tune as part of a workshop on playing the blues, but I don't think I have any formal tab for it. As I mention, I learned it from Leo Kretzner at a workshop at the Redwood Dulcimer Day.  The tune he taught had another name, which I can't remember. And I've been playing it long enough that I probably vary quite a bit from the way he taught it. But he must have some kind of tab that he uses to teach the song.

The key to this song is the bent middle string on the fourth fret.  The most important blue note is the lowered third note of the major scale.  To get that lowered third a lot of us use dulcimers with a 1-1/2 fret. But in the absence of that extra fret, you can get the lowered third by bending up to it from the 4th fret on the middle string.  The third fret on the middle string is D, or the first note of the scale.  So the fourth fret is the second note of the scale (E) and the fifth fret is the third note of the scale (F#).  The blue note we want is in between the E and the F# (it is close to F, but not exactly).  Bending the string at the fourth fret gets you up to that lowered third. If you want to learn this song, practice bending the middle string at the fourth fret, let the note resolve back to the third fret.  Notice that while I bend the string on the fourth fret, I have another finger on the third fret and always resolve to that.  That little 2-note lick can be used in all sorts of songs to add something a little different from the normal dulcimer fare. In fact, entire blues songs have been based on that little two-note lick. Check out the Howlin' Wolf tune "A Spoonful," for example.

Hi Dusty,

LOVE your rendition of this song--singing and playing are both fabulous!  Have you per chance tabbed this song for those of us less innately talented, but would love to learn?

Thanks, Peter. I don't know how I missed your comment until now.

And thanks for listening, Cynthia.

Love it, Dusty.

That's cool, how you bend those strings - and I like your singing to it!

Thanks, John and Rob. Leo definitely takes the dulcimer to some pretty cool places. The summer I learned this song from him he did a solo concert with a long James Brown funk tune in the middle.

Nothing to forgive on the vocals, Dusty. You've got a great sound there on a great tune. The only "instruction" I had on the dulcimer going to my 1st festival 2 1/2 years ago was a Sunday afternoon workshop with Leo at the House of Musical Traditions in Takoma Park, Maryland (the nation's 1st nuclear free zone.) I certainly enjoyed the tune

Played this a few times now, gets better to listen to every time !

thanks for posting Dusty !

John

Wow, thanks for listening everyone. I won't bother typing out all your names, but I appreciate the encouragement. This is a fun little riff that's not too hard to learn.

Niiiiice! :)

Great job, Dusty!

Thanks, Patty. Actually, the bending of the middle string on the fourth fret that I use in John Henry I first learned with this song. It's a neat trick that lets you get that lowered thirdon a dulcimer with no 1.5 fret.

Thanks for your comments.

Love that bluesy sound Dusty!!! You do sing well. I still think about your John Henry!!!