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Asika Thali

Dusty Turtle » Videos » Asika Thali

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This is a South African song of freedom which I learned at the Redwood Dulcimer Day in August 2012 from Neal Hellman, who is working on a book of songs from around the world arranged for the mountain dulcimer. Look for his new book and check out his other music and arrangements at Gourd Music: http://www.gourd.com/ . Notice that the arrangement plays the melody on the middle string with some harmonies on the bass string while the melody string is allowed to drone. I am playing a Blue Lion IC tuned C#G#c#.

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09/23/12 03:46:13PM @dusty:

Thanks, Patty. I enjoy playing the song, too.

09/22/12 10:09:57AM @patty-from-virginia:

That's a lively tune. Real nice

09/14/12 03:29:56PM @dusty:

Thanks, Mike. Glad you enjoyed it.

09/14/12 01:18:35PM @brian-g:
You are definitely welcome to borrow a dulcimer from me. :). Hope you can make it.

09/14/12 01:07:33PM @dusty:

Thanks for listening, Brian. I'm still trying to figure out if I can make it to the Music By the Bay. I have plenty of free flights accumulated on Southwest and an uncle in Philly I can stay with, so it wouldn't cost much. But I have to make sure I can get away from work and family obligations. I'll keep you posted. I might ask to borrow an instrument, though, if I do make it out there.

09/14/12 07:14:18AM @brian-g:

Very nice tune, Dusty, and great playing. Thanks for sharing it. On another topic, any more info on you possibly coming over for Music by the Bay?

09/13/12 10:29:28PM @dusty:

Thanks so much for your encouragement, Val, John, and folkfan.

09/13/12 10:18:54PM @folkfan:

Enjoyed this version. Thanks Dusty.

09/13/12 08:24:11PM @john-keane:

I like the giddyup on this one...great job!

09/12/12 11:20:13PM @dusty:

Thanks, Geekling, I'm glad you liked it. I am still hoping to make it to the Harvest Festival of Dulcimers, but I won't know for sure whether I can get away until next week. You are in for a treat with Aaron O'Rourke; he is really special.

09/12/12 06:24:09PM @dusty:

I really like Neal Hellman's books, too, RN. In particular, I like the way he puts chord voicings above the tab in case you just want to strum chords. It's a great way to learn different chord positions in the context of playing.

Thanks for listening, Sue. Yes, this song is indeed "something different" from the usual dulcimer repertoire of Irish fiddle tunes, as enjoyable as we all find that music to be.

09/12/12 05:31:58PM @john-henry:

Chuckle, yes, that fits, would'nt mind a pound for every Spinners performance I saw !!!

John

09/12/12 05:31:31PM @rob-n-lackey:

That's really good, Dusty. I haven't seen a bad book from N. Hellman, so I guess I'm anticipating that one too.

09/12/12 05:28:21PM @dusty:

John Henry, there are versions at different speeds. The Spinners did a version in English and Swahili back in the 70s that was much, much slower than this version: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OaW6aQ62LeY . But there are other versions even faster than mine, such as this by the Zulu Choir, which appears to be nothing but four friends with nice voices and lots of enthusiasm:

. The speed I play is basically the way I saw Neal Hellman play it last month.

09/12/12 05:24:18PM @dusty:

Thanks for your encouragement, Carrie, John, and Jim. If you search for this song on YouTube, you'll find a bunch of different versions, including one by a Thai children's choir. It really does cross borders very easily.

Cheryl, I agree the song sounds happy, but it is actually a protest song, albeit an upbeat protest song. One verse goes something like "If we must go to prison, for freedom we'll gladly go."

09/12/12 05:22:35PM @john-henry:
Nice one Dusty! Like johnp, for me its a tune from 'long ago', and my recollection has it a tad slower than the excellent rendition here ?thanks for postingJohn

09/12/12 05:14:13PM @jim-fawcett:

Thanks for sharing, Dusty. Very enjoyable.

09/12/12 03:52:26PM @john-p:

Thanks for that Dusty, a great dulcimer tune and one I still play occaisionally today.
It was well known round the clubs back in the day under the English title 'The Children of Africa'. This is probably the first time I've heard anyone else play it in 50 years.

john p

09/12/12 02:54:01PM @cheryl-johnson:

A longer version would be great....I've already listened three times just to get a little more. It sounds upbeat and happy.....guess I needed a little of that after a long day at work! :)

09/12/12 02:51:02PM @dusty:

Thanks, Wayne and Cheryl. It is indeed a fun tune. I would like to develop a longer version. There are some choral versions on YouTube, so maybe I'll get some ideas there. Another possibility would be to sing it. I guess I'll have to work on my Swahili.

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