Forum Activity for @strumelia

Tuning question (Barley Break/The Magic Dulcimer)

General mountain dulcimer or music discussions

 

Just because a string calculator suggests a thin or heavy string doesn't mean it would be practical. The calculators are useful, but they have no actual brain or hands. A string calculator might theoretically suggest a .000001 string to reach some impossibly high note... even though such a string is not even for sale. Or it would suggest a wound string as heavy as a double bass might use to reach some crazy low note... and such a string would be too heavy to even install on a dulcimer, much less play.

I have found that melody strings any thinner than .009 tend to break very easily... so much so that i won't go thinner than .009 anymore.
And even with that, if my instrument's vsl scale is anything longer than 26.5", I personally will not put on a string thinner than .010 . That's not due to any scientific calculation son my part, but simply because i have broken several .009 melody strings that way, and it gets downright annoying.  

updated by @strumelia: 03/17/26 02:09:30PM

recognize the sound holes?

General mountain dulcimer or music discussions

No idea who made it, but they did a very skilled job in cutting those elegant soundholes. They are indeed F style holes (as one sees in a violin). However, I wouldn't call these 'classic' F holes myself- these are particularly delicate and graceful. Lovely. The (guitar?)frets seem a bit on the heavy side to me, or perhaps it's just that this is a slightly shorter scale dulcimer than the standard 26-28" vsl?

The instrument seems to have been very well cared for.
Like Dusty, the quality and uniqueness here does not really suggest to me a kit or anything put out by a 'low end' brand, despite being in a cheap case. 

Where in the world are Ken and Ben

General mountain dulcimer or music discussions

Ken, the thought occurred to me as well, but I've had a really awful flu this past week and so I would definitely not want to get you sick! 

Where in the world are Ken and Ben

General mountain dulcimer or music discussions

You two rascals!  What fun!  

RIP John Huron

General mountain dulcimer or music discussions

Sad news, thank you for letting us know Ken.
John Huron was quite a Renaissance man when it came to early folk instruments. He made traditional mountain and gourd banjos, limberjacks, dulcimers, rhythm bones, and other early American instruments. I have two mouth bows made by him. One of his mountain banjos resides in the Smithsonian Museum.
His talent, skill, and knowledge is a great loss, but he left behind a great many gifts in preserving our heritage!

https://tnartscommission.org/permanentcollection/john-huron/

Fretboard Cleaner & Conditioner

General mountain dulcimer or music discussions

I've used GHS Fast Fret to clean my fretboards and clean/wipe down the strings which get grimy too. It leaves things nice and feels easy to then to slide up and down the fretboard.
I also admit (confess?) I have used Lemon Pledge as well to clean/polish the fretboard (with strings in place) and it seems to work well for me too.
BUT... and this is important-  Never ever spray or drip any cleaner, liquid, or polish directly onto the fretboard unless it's a fretless one. Instead, just put a very small amount on a soft cloth and then apply the cloth to the fretboard. You don't want any liquid at all to seep into the fret slots!- it can cause them to swell and the frets to loosen. This applies to seams on the instrument as well. Always use a soft cloth, do not apply products directly to the instrument .

Movies With Mountain Dulcimer or Appalachian Folk Vibes?

General mountain dulcimer or music discussions

One movie I've always liked was the 1984 "The Dollmaker" starring Jane Fonda as the wife of a Kentucky coal miner during WWII, and their struggles. It's a heart rending story of how she fought through hardship and social restraints in order to help her family. No dulcimer, but there is some wonderful Appalachian music and song woven into the movie. It's a good one. Be sure to have some tissues handy. You can watch it in full for free on youtube, or maybe order it from your library.

updated by @strumelia: 02/27/26 10:10:50AM

Hanging some dulcimers as a wall display

General mountain dulcimer or music discussions

@razyn , it's wonderful that your article was published in Dulcimer Players News. I'm sure many many people will enjoy and benefit from the information you put into your article.

How Do I Attach Photos To A Post?

Site QUESTIONS ? How do I...?

Hi Mary, nice to see you.
You are successfully logged in and have made a couple of posts.
You are not 'blocked' in any way. What exactly are you trying to do- add a photo top your photo gallery? Remove a video? Attach a photo to a forum post? Post a comment on the Comment Wall of your profile page, or update the "bio area" of your profile page?
And are you trying to do whatever it is from your phone, or on a laptop or desktop?
Without more details all I can do is suggest you read these threads in the help section here.

Any banjo players out there?

Adventures with 'other' instruments...

 

Though i don't play much music lately, Ryan's comment brought back a memory of when i first started learning clawhammer banjo 28 long years ago...

I was a brand new beginner, learning from some softcover booklets. Youtube did not even exist yet, no banjohangout yet... there was really no banjo instruction on the internet yet. The only thing online to 'talk banjo' was Banjo-L, an email listserve. (and thank God for at least that)  Horse and buggy days.

Anyway, I remember very clearly the day that I finally 'got' the clawhammer stroke motion, after struggling on my own to get the rhythm and motion from reading my booklets.
As my clawhammer stroke began to flow, I added a hammer-on E minor chord to it (which was pretty simple)... and alternated the open G chord with the e minor hammer-on. It was pure magic to my ears.
Experiencing this was a musical epiphany, touching my very being. It sounds silly now, but at the time I could not stop playing this simple stroke and hammer-on. It gave me such joy that I literally played it alone in the house ALL DAY, with only little breaks for food and bathroom. I remember distinctly that evening, getting ready for bed and thinking "I have played that for at least 9 hours today!".... yet I still hoped that I would not lose the rhythm and motion during the night and wake up having to start all over again. It was a memorable day.

Any banjo players out there?

Adventures with 'other' instruments...

I hear the struggle and can relate, Ryan!
Welcome to the site.

The Praetorius Scheitholt

General mountain dulcimer or music discussions

Ken, it's beautiful!  Thank you for sharing this.

fret markers.

General mountain dulcimer or music discussions

I thought i'd add one little tip here...
Wooden dulcimers and other instruments tend to darken over time when exposed to light. This can be a nice thing, for example a brand new light cherry wood dulcimer turns darker and reddish.
BUT, if you have any stickers on the fretboard and you leave your dulcimer out of its case (hanging on a wall or in a stand), the exposure to light over a year or more will mean that when you (or some future owner) eventually removes the stickers and cleans off the adhesive, there will likely be a noticeable light spot where the wood did not receive light. This could devalue the instrument. I'm not sure how visible this would be on an ebony fretboard, if one has that.

This effect takes way longer to happen if the instrument is stored in a closed case between playing. So that's just something to keep in mind. You may want to aim for removing the stickers after a few months if this is important to you.

Here's a guitar that had stickers on it for many years.. after sticker removal, the wood itself is now showing 'suntan marks':

updated by @strumelia: 01/21/26 10:25:31AM

Family History & Tales of Walt Martin & Sunhearth Dulcimers

General mountain dulcimer or music discussions

Lara, what a wonderful little story of the Sunhearth tradition around the 4th of July!  Thank you for starting this great thread.

The Positive Thread...

OFF TOPIC discussions

Here's to more peace, kindness, and compassion in this world of ours for 2026.
Wishing you all a joyful new year.  oxo

A Very Merry Christmas to all my New Friends

OFF TOPIC discussions

Hi Sandi, it's great to see you stop by!  

A Very Merry Christmas to all my New Friends

OFF TOPIC discussions

Happy holidays, Merry Christmas, gentle Winter Solstice, and a joyful new year to all -   may the friendships and good will we forge here grow and branch out to touch the lives of others in many meaningful ways. What a wonderful group of people!

Plucked psaltries

Adventures with 'other' instruments...

I have never tried playing Gaudete (16th century), but it's pretty syncopated, so you'll have to be nimble. Plus there are two parts, which are significantly different from each other. Most versions of Gaudete are sung, but here's an instrumental where the melody is fairly easy to hear:

If you need sheet music, maybe one of these images may be of help for the version you want to play.

It suggests to me like it has enough minor notes that it'd be best played in either Aeolian or Dorian mode on the dulcimer.

Hobgoblin and Song of the Wood are just two companies that make accessible plucked psalteries. You can find other nice ones on Etsy. You may have to decide whether you want a diatonic or a chromatic one. Also the shape is varied depending on the maker, including 'hog-nosed' shaped psalteries.

Hope this helps.

Retuning

Playing and jamming difficulties...HELP ME!

 

Debi, so far, nobody has asked you why you want to tune the melody string to F#.
One guess I have would be: because you want to play a tune that you were told is in the key of F#? If that's the case, then you would not be able to do that while leaving the other two strings in D and A.
Another guess I have would be: that you are thinking about the tuning D-F#-A, which some people have used in the past as an 'easy' 1-3-5 tuning to play in on the dulcimer, because it allows you to play bar chords a lot. But playing in D-F#-A is not the same as playing in D-A-F#.

If you tell us your goal and your reason for wanting to retune your melody string to F#, we can much better help you.

Retuning

Playing and jamming difficulties...HELP ME!

I'd also point out that if your dulcimer has a standard VSL (length from nut to bridge) of between 26-28", and you currently have fairly standard gauge strings on it, then if you tune UP from the note of D on EITHER your bass string (low D) or your melody string (high d) two whole steps to F#... then there is a very strong likelihood of you breaking that string with too high a tension.

You'd be better off tuning from d DOWN to the next lower F#. However, that's a lot lower than it currently would be, and many folks might find it feels too slack unless they change to a heavier string.

I agree that Dan and Skip's posts are a good thing to determine first. But i though t i'd mention about possibly tuning too high and breaking a string.

My dulcimer collection

General mountain dulcimer or music discussions

Gorgeous collection of dulcimers, Kendra. How cool that you love and play them all!  
I also am impressed at how precisely and carefully they are mounted on the wall. Good job!

Cyndi Lauper live

General mountain dulcimer or music discussions

Fantastic powerful voice and incredible energy. She was deservedly inducted into the R&R Hall of Fame this year (2025).

Cyndi Lauper live

General mountain dulcimer or music discussions

The dulcimer...  "everybody who played this is dead"...

The Positive Thread...

OFF TOPIC discussions

Happy Thanksgiving, yes!  To all friends here and their families.
Perhaps a good time for me to post a link to a dulcimer song and (free) tab on my blog, called The Welcome Table . 
If you like the simple tune and learn to play it, you can always have fun with it and invent some new verses that make it meaningful to you. You can tune to DAA and play the melody entirely on the melody string, in drone style.
I hope folks get to spend time with people they enjoy today!

The Positive Thread...

OFF TOPIC discussions

I love when those cool coincidental things happen, Robin.

Sound vibrations are funny. My husband sometimes sneezes so loudly that the two banjos on our living room wall actually resonate and 'play' their open string chord in response.  

History of Pinewoods folk dance camp

OFF TOPIC discussions

This is a long video, but as a contra dancer, I found it fascinating. It's about the history of folk dancing in America (English country dancing, contra dance, and Morris dancing)- specifically centering around the Pinewoods dance camp in Plymouth, MA.  Amazing that famed ballad collector Cecil Sharp taught and promoted traditional dance there, among many others over the years. It's cool to learn about how the dance traditions at the camp evolved greatly over the decades from when it was established in 1933 towards what it is today.

Listing A Dulcimer For Sale

Site QUESTIONS ? How do I...?

Done.   :)

Listing A Dulcimer For Sale

Site QUESTIONS ? How do I...?

Hi Old Dawg... what is it you want to edit?  I can probably help you out.  Or, you can always add a new post to your existing thread, such as "This item no longer for sale"... or "I'm reducing the price to ___".  That will bump the thread up to be newly visible again in any case.  Let me know if i can help!

Extended Range Dulcimer

Instruments- discuss specific features, luthiers, instrument problems & questions

Are you saying that you like the tone of the melody string when it plays the tonic D note on the open string?... as opposed to the melody string tuned to A and you playing the tonic d note on the 3rd fret?
I think the tone of fretted strings are inherently slightly more 'closed' sounding than open strings... is that what you mean?  That's one reason oldtime banjo players use various tunings... to take advantage of ringing open strings as much as possible.
But I'm sure others will have great input on this. 

P.S. what version source of Sal/Mud are you learning?

updated by @strumelia: 10/07/25 10:15:12PM

Extended Range Dulcimer

Instruments- discuss specific features, luthiers, instrument problems & questions

@barnjam ... just from my personal viewpoint-  when playing oldtime tunes up high in the second octave solely on the melody string,  -because i play with a noter  I do not have the problem of my fingertips sliding quickly between frets that are very close together.  Just putting that little bug in your ear!  

Extended Range Dulcimer

Instruments- discuss specific features, luthiers, instrument problems & questions

 

That's a great write up!

Extended Range Dulcimer

Instruments- discuss specific features, luthiers, instrument problems & questions

You may as well try to trademark the name "Black Cat".
(But I shouldn't have veered as far off Barnjam's topic as I did. Will try to behave now.) 

Extended Range Dulcimer

Instruments- discuss specific features, luthiers, instrument problems & questions

@barnjam ...remember you don't 'have to' play in the key of D, either. And having a chromatic means you don't have to worry about the usual diatonic 'gaps' in the fretboard when choosing your tunings and keys. 

Extended Range Dulcimer

Instruments- discuss specific features, luthiers, instrument problems & questions

 

Yikes.  I once started using .009 strings to tune to dulcimer high D (D4) on a 28" scale. The strings tuned to the note ok, but they were so thin that they broke all too often often while playing. So I went back to using .010 for my melody strings to tune to high D.  But i can't even imagine doing that with a 35" scale length (!) and a .007 string. 
Does that "Stringjoy" Tension Calculator tell you when one of its suggestions would likely result in a string that breaks, or a string that is too slack?  I doubt it includes such useful info. I suspect that like any non-human, all it will inform you of is what numbers are correct for the calculation.  BUT... if anyone could actually do that experiment Nate, it would be YOU!    

Extended Range Dulcimer

Instruments- discuss specific features, luthiers, instrument problems & questions

Another factor when making the fretboard longer and longer is that, depending on what notes you want to tune the strings to, you will have to choose string gauges that will enable you to tune to those notes on that length of fretboard. The trick is that although you'll have a range of choices by choosing various gauges, the choices are not unlimited as to how heavy(low) and how thin(high) you can go for a particular length of fretboard and choice of open string note. You can't for example tune to a dulcimer high D on a fretboard that is 35" long... the required string would be so thin it would snap under tension long before being tuned to high d. The opposite is true as well (trying to tune to very low notes on a very short fretboard... the required string would be impossibly fat and slack).

Extended Range Dulcimer

Instruments- discuss specific features, luthiers, instrument problems & questions

I wrote a blog post on the angling of our fretting fingers that elaborates on that subject a little more- you might find something helpful in it:
https://dulcimer-noter-drone.blogspot.com/2012/07/lazy-fingers.html

 

You can't really have it both ways. If a string is tuned to D, you cannot play notes lower than that D (except if you start by playing in the higher octave, as you said).  Adding inches to the fretboard and some additional frets near the nut will not change anything, if you continue to tune your melody string to D .
Here is a very simple explanation of how an 'extended neck' Pete Seeger type long-necked (w/extra frets) banjo works- I find it helpful: https://www.deeringbanjos.com/pages/understanding-longneck-banjos?srsltid=AfmBOoo4bvXWt71VmGRjwkBHRjKQaD0g1EMhYPkE42R3hx7m9mR8bc1i  (banjos are most typically tuned to play in the key of G, and Pete frequently made use of capos to play/sing in various keys on his longneck banjo)

Truthfully, I might be misunderstanding your request or your concept here. The bottom line though is that on any string, you cannot play notes lower than that particular string is tuned to... no matter how long the neck is or how many additional frets you put on.

Extended Range Dulcimer

Instruments- discuss specific features, luthiers, instrument problems & questions

One added thing I'd like to just check on-
you say you have trouble with bumping into other strings when you fret and slide with your "large hands", yet your dulcimer has a larger than usual fretboard already.
Are you fretting with the bony TIPS of your fingers, with your hand arched up over the strings, or are you fretting with the fatty PADS of your fingers, with your hand held more horizontally as though you are typing on a laptop?  Fretting with te very tips of the fingers can make all the difference in the world when it comes to getting clean sound and not bumping into other strings or muffling your own notes while cutting off resonating notes.

updated by @strumelia: 10/06/25 08:48:43AM

Extended Range Dulcimer

Instruments- discuss specific features, luthiers, instrument problems & questions

I'm a little confused here and i have questions. You say you like to play the melody mostly all on your melody string while occasionally plucking the middle string, yet you also say you like to play melody on the lower string. 
Are you simply wanting a longer and wider fretboard, and will continue to tune to DAd and play in the key of D?...are you just seeking extra space for your large fingers?
OR... are you wanting to play notes that dip below the 'home' note of D on your melody string, as in tuning to DAA for example?
From your question, I'm not really sure of your goal.

Listing A Dulcimer For Sale

Site QUESTIONS ? How do I...?

BTW the whole problem was the size of the images- that was also causing the text to stretch in order to be the same width as the giant pictures. Once i downsized the pix, the text fixed itself.

Listing A Dulcimer For Sale

Site QUESTIONS ? How do I...?

I reduced the photo sizes and deleted the additional threads...  see if it's ok now:

https://fotmd.com/forums/forum/for-saleinstruments-music-items-cds-wanted-to-buy/48199/john-stockard-dulcimer-for-sale
(you may have to refresh your browser page to see the new version)

updated by @strumelia: 09/30/25 05:50:32PM