Forum Activity for @strumelia

Just keep in mind that the more you do to change the original parts, finish, the original setup, or condition of that 'mint' Ledford, the less valuable it will become if you ever sell it.

If a total beginner is told to 'count your frets' then they'd likely be including both the 6 and the 6.5 fret when counting-  thus thinking that the repeat octave is the C#.  Most beginners don't yet know that they should count EITHER the 6 OR the 6.5 fret when 'counting frets'.. but not count both.  I think it really helps to look at a picture:

It looks and sounds like your frets are fine.

I think people are making this more complicated than what you are asking and confused about.

The problem here is that on your D string the "G flat" note as you call it is more correctly called "F sharp"(F#).  And what you are calling "D flat" is actually called "C sharp"(C#).  The note half a step lower than G is usually called Fsharp, not G flat..though an F# & Gflat are both the same sounding note.   Likewise, the note a half step lower than D is more commonly called Csharp, not Dflat... yet both are the same 'sounding' note.  A glass of water which has water in it to the halfway (half fret) mark- is it called "half empty" (a 'flat' note) or called "half full"? (a 'sharp' note)- both describe the same amount of water (or the very same sounding note in this case).

It's easy to get this confused.  Also think of a clock that's at 3:30.  Is it 30 minutes past 3, OR is it 30 minutes to 4 ?  One can think of the halfway point really in two different ways.  So that note between C and D ...is it a C#, or a Dflat ?  In the key of D it's called a C#, because the key of D is defined as having two sharps in it: a C# and an F#.... and no flats.   

So, your dulcimer string when tuned to D is in fact  correctly  fretted and is playing:  D(open string), E, F#, G, A, B, C, C#, and D.

Eileen, I think that is SOOOOO wonderful that you started your OWN group of women to learn frame drumming together.  What could possibly be nicer??  I know that the tradition of women frame drummers goes back to very ancient times.

I imagine that the spirits of women from many different times and cultures are looking down on your little group with smiles and full hearts.  

I wish you would take a photo of your group and post it here!

Here's what I wrote in my blog about the Tab vs. By Ear debate nine years ago:

https://dulcimer-noter-drone.blogspot.com/2009/04/tabis-it-bad-or-good.html

Geckostar, the way I get these kinds of wanted items is that I set up a 'saved search' on Ebay that will send me an email alert the moment something with my key words pops up for sale.  I've gotten very lucky using this method to get particular instruments I was hoping for, a couple of times!

BTW... welcome to FOTMD!  

That sounds like a good program, @Hugssandi !

@Dusty-Turtle I remember watching some Chinese cooking show on tv long ago, and one of the secret ingredients was... ketchup!  I followed the recipes from the show and the result was pretty awesome.  

NSThoreau, I have the same exact same old Dulcimer Shoppe kit.  It has a 28" scale length, and the tuners had a hard time holding the strings. I changed the tuners years ago, but my dulcimer still has a bit of a problem holding its strings at high tension. Not exactly sure why that was, but I wasn't about to spend another amount of $ on a third set of tuners, so I left it with my replacements, which are working ok.  The instrument is made from quite thin wood. 
If you continue with the problem, I might suggest you change to .010 strings for the melody strings rather than .012, since the thinner strings will be at a lesser tension.  You also might want to try tuning to the key of C rather than D, which helps as well to reduce the pull on the strings.  

Even the most basic beginner has wonderful things to teach a highly skilled professional. Over time, expert musicians can forget the bright joys of 'newness' one experiences when playing music for the first time. They can lose freshness and objectivity and not even really be aware of it.  A beginner can remind us of why we play music to begin with. A true gift!

I've always felt that the idea of distinct levels of beginner/intermediate/advanced are very subjective and hard to separate. Also we all tend to undervalue our own abilities.

@dulcinina , if the music you make brings joy to the lives of others, then I'd say that's the only proof you need that you are indeed a 'real' musician in the truest sense.   I wish we could just agree to add the joy factor into the criteria by which we 'judge' whether people are musicians or not.  To me, that's so much more important than whether someone can read music or play in various keys.  

Good for you Sandi!!  Maybe keep it small/do-able, so you don't wind up putting it off.

Terry, I neglected to mention the large portion of potatoe chips though.  heheh Yes I grew the cukes- their seeds are a bit large tho...will try a different variety next year.

Dusty, I like mozz (and balsamic) vinegar on tomatoes sometimes too!   mmmm!

Oooh... it's later than usual in the season due to our late Spring and then that drought too for a while, but...

We're finally hitting out tomato season!!  This year is a first in that our garden tomato eating is actually overlapping our blueberry picking.  This is what we wait for all year long... the blueberries and the magnificent tomatoes.

Here was our lunch today on the new screen porch, also with cucumbers from the garden.  The yellow is a tomato called "Taxi".   Yeah I probably went a little overboard on the sour cream, but hey.  

 tomato-cucumber-lunch-July-2018.jpg - 756KB

Lisa G. brings up a very good point- a dulcimer with added 4.5 and 11.5 frets would be quite difficult to sell.  Most folks who use extra frets in addition to the common 6.5 fret would want either 1.5 and 8.5 or all the way to chromatic.

FWIW, I play only in noter style and 'usually' in DAA type tuning, but I have found it very useful in oldtime fiddle sessions to have the two extra pairs of frets;  6.5 & 13.5, and also 1.5 & 8.5.  But for relaxed playing at home I do also enjoy and can appreciate a total diatonic fretboard and retuning to different modes while playing older traditional music.

As long as there are still a few diatonic fret spacings I've not found it hard to keep my bearings visually.  Once you get to chromatic I'd recommend having a few inlaid fret markers (like guitars and fretted banjos tend to use).

I've seen that as an issue for both beginners and intermediate players.  Sometimes we get so focused on not stumbling or playing a single 'wrong' note that we forget about playing expressively and forget about the importance of the right hand as well.

This is a good and useful discussion!

In reading the Berkeley guidelines, I have to say that some of those criteria for being Intermediate seem more suited for Advanced however. I'd never meet those standards, especially the parts about " to play in and modulate to different keys with and without a capo or retuning; to flat-pick and fingerpick a tune"..... sigh... I guess I'll be an eternal beginner.     Also, is it not possible to be considered an advanced player without ever reading either Tablature or sheet music?- an intriguing question.

NSThoreau, I think you are right about the fact that there is often less info geared towards the huge segment of people who have just gone beyond the beginner stage. There must be good explanations for this but I can't think of any right now.

One would think that by the time one is an 'advanced' player they'd be at the point where they could be teaching  most of the workshops at festivals. Maybe there should only be one advanced workshop- called Teaching Advanced Playing Workshops... but then would they just be teaching each other how to teach the workshop?  hahaha
Sorry I don't mean to make light of this, but the problems and ironies of this classification system have always struck me. I've always found workshop festivals to be a mixed bag, partly because it's hard for me to know where I even fit in, and often by the time I figure that out, it's over.  

"River" by Bill Staines is truly a beautiful and emotional song Terry.  It's very easy to understand it producing tears.

Yeah this is a very tough question Terry!  

I almost picked Shady Grove. But then I had to choose a song I learned many years ago from the great Aubrey Atwater...

Wedding Dress, also sometimes called My Little Doney Gal.  I learned it at a workshop Aubrey gave, on dulcimer... but I think I actually play & sing it better on the banjo.
Anyway, I think that's the one I'd pick.  

Here's a challenging 'shipwrecked on an island' type of question for all you Friends...

If you were somehow only allowed to play ONE song or tune on your dulcimer forever more, and it could only be one that your currently have already in your list of songs you play... which piece would you choose as the dulcimer ONLY tune you could play?  

no cheating now, don't name multiple songs... just name your ONE choice.  

It was the supreme gift!

Wow, you have very wide-ranging music genre interests!  You seem to be a fairly experienced player. 
So, it seems that most of the accidentals you are running into are in the most modern types of music you play- modern film scores, which can be especially daunting since movie music tends to change moods mid-song, often not following the usual expected structure of a song. I would think a chromatic dulcimer might be your best bet in the long run if you intend to pursue playing a lot of that kind of music. And certainly the modern chording style of playing would be the way to go as well for that.

Now you've got a whole bunch of great ideas and options from the good folks here in terms of methods and tools to use to get those elusive notes when they pop up.     Go forth and create many happy accident(al)s !  lolol 

I just saw this post Terry.  GOOD STUFF!  

Hi Yep,

Folks who play mostly chord/melody style like yourself can often find the accidentals on another string- usually the middle string. Try that first.

There's also a way of slanting your noter so the tip touches the wood fingerboard in the place where your missing fret would be- giving you the half note accidental. Others could maybe point you to videos and discussions here on FOTMD that describe this technique.

Retuning into a different mode (but staying in the same key) can solve the missing accidental in most cases, but not all.

Some tunes can be altered just a bit in order to skip or avoid the accidental. Not everyone can figure out how to do that but if you can, then great!  It can make for a more 'personalized' tune version.

If you find that in your playing, if you frequently need a particular accidental or note that always seems to be on a particular 'missing' fret location, then in my opinion there's no reason not to have the new fret added there if it enables you to play more enjoyably. As to extra fret 'acceptance'-  you're not playing dulcimer in order to gain approval from others .  My mtn dulcimers have the 6.5 and the 1.5 frets added- and I've never regretted it.  I have an epinette with only the diatonic frets and I would never add extra frets to it- i love that it was built strictly traditionally, and playing it without extra frets is very enjoyable.  If you decide you want a chromatic dulcimer, you can save for it and then look for a used one to buy- you can always resell it later if you decide it's not for you.

You don't mention the KIND of music you typically play that has accidentals.  Certain genres of music have more accidentals than others.  Interestingly, I find that both Modern music and very early Renaissance/Medieval music seem to present the most accidentals to me- which is amusing since they are at complete opposite ends of the spectrum in terms of time periods.  Traditional and rural folk music from 1830-1940 or so presents me with the fewest accidentals... and (not coincidentally) the American mountain dulcimer was developed around playing that kind of music.

I enjoy several genres of simple music to play at home on a few different instruments.  The medieval type music seems to have enough accidentals in it to make it problematic for a non-professional musician to play on a non-chromatic fretted dulcimer or instrument.  I will be getting a langspil with chromatic fretting in order to have a traditional instrument that enables accidentals and mode changes easily, 'on the fly'.      

Some folks do find that adding one or two extra frets is confusing... but the confusion will fade if they stick with it. After all, most dulcimers have the 6.5 fret and nobody finds that extra fret terribly confusing.  ;)   Going from a 'normal' mtn dulcimer to a chromatic has its own learning curve as well.  My banjos are split between totally fretless banjos and chromatically fretted... if I play them all fairly regularly, the differences only take about 30 seconds to get used to when I switch from one to another.

I don't buy new instruments that often, but when I do there's usually a very specific function I'm looking for. 

Richard, what lovely instrument. I love the snowflakes and love your description.  Maybe one day we will get treated to a little demo from you playing it.   

It's a wonderful thing to own an instrument that is a joy when we strum it.  

Thanks for the great explanation, Dusty!

JP, I'm just curious- did you not look over the other threads in this Site Questions forum to see if the solution to your problem had already been asked about and answered?  I hope you now understand why you were not seeing the whole discussion.

Dusty mentions the main site links along the TOP navigation bar on every page of FOTMD (Home, Forums, Photos, Videos, etc). When one is very confused about how the site is laid out, it really does help to click those links to gain a better understanding of the areas of main function and content. Not everything is immediately accessible from the Main Page... or else it would have to be five miles long.   

I'm glad you were able to post a new thread here in the Site Questions forum in order to ask your new question, though!  I'm going to edit this thread's title to be more descriptive of the thread subject now- in order to help others in the future looking for answers to similar questions as yours.  :)

Hi Susie.  Sheba is a pretty average sized girl cat.  We got her from the local Humane Society... we get all our cats from there.  

Sally Ann has filled out very nicely. Looks like she grew a sleek new coat, too.  

and- my oh my, those are two beautiful dulcimers!

Our 3 cats seem to like it when Brian and I play tunes... as we begin to play they casually* saunter into the room (*so we won't know they actually approve of something we do) ...and they take up positions in various chairs. As though their appearance was all accidental.

However, our red cat Rufus detests my pennywhistle playing... at the very first note he races  out of the room. I can't really blame him.  

Sheba (aka Boo Boo) likes to lie on the backs of chairs and along the tops of open doors.

@dusty-turtle , is that a quart sized mason jar or a pint?

And... once you've made your jar and put it in the fridge, how long is it good for would you say?

Dusty you are making me want to try that stuff now. 

Brian usually drinks like 4 cups of regular brewed coffee per day, and me 2-3 cups. (I try to stop by 1 or 2pm, otherwise it keeps me from sleeping deeply.) We use the paper filter hand-pouring method. Coffee is one of our favorite indulgences!  Over the past two years there have been quite a few articles about coffee (in reasonable amounts) being GOOD for one's health.  Yay!!

Do you mean your grounds sit in thier cone filter immersed in the water for 48 hours?   And... is the water you pour in hot to begin with?  Hmm..I think I may need to turn to Youtube for some tutorials here.  

I don't want to ingest 'too' much caffeine however- I've found too much does make me feel icky, and definitely interferes with my getting deep sleep cycles.

Dusty do keep an eye on whether you might overindulge and then experience any caffeine-withdrawal headaches- which of course get 'cured' by.. another shot of caffeine!  'Hair of the dog' kind of thing, but you don't want headaches to begin with. 

I'm thinking that maybe cold-brewed coffee is powerful in the same 'visionary out-of-body experience' way as when Americans try Turkish coffee. There's a reason the Turkish drink their coffee in those tiny little cups. 

Some of us are old enough to remember pre-starbucks times in America when everyone just drank watery Bunn-o-matic Maxwell House diner counter type coffee that you could practically read a newspaper through. (what's a newspaper, some might now ask). American coffee used to be real watery from when I was a kid in the late 1950s all the way up to maybe the past 25 or 30 years it seems to me. Back then only weirdo beatniks drank espresso(aka 'foreign' coffee) in subversive coffee houses.

It's great to have a 'vice' that might actually improve one's health.     Thanks for your 'uplifting' post, Dusty!

@folkfan , Tigger has got a mischievous look in his eye!  

Sounds to me like at that particular note/moment, your voice starts out right on the note but then drifts a little high towards the end of the note (performance jitters maybe?)- and at the same moment Hazel's note on the violin is just a little too low.  Your dulcimer is and remains in tune because it was tuned and it has frets.  So things combined just at that moment in such a way (like Goldilocks' 3 chairs) that made a conflict discernible to you.

Keep in mind that even though both instruments may be correctly tuned, the violin has no frets and is much more difficult to play exactly in tune than a (fretted) dulcimer.  Especially with a child's smaller less strong hands.  Hazel does well, but like any learning violinist she does occasionally waver slightly off key since she is learning to fret- any tiny,  tiny finger movement changes the note, while the dulcimer can generally rely on the frets to make each note be in tune.  Playing violin/fiddle is a bear to wrestle with and most folks work at it for several years before they can play reliably 'in tune'.  You have to be both determined and brave to play the fiddle, IMHO.

The important thing here is that overall the hymn sounded lovely and your performance projected a sweetness and love that radiated out from you and your daughter together.  The audience must have really enjoyed the treat.  Well done!!  

Tell me which note you think was the worst (give me the 0:00 time on the vid) and I'll tell you who the guilty party was... if you promise not to pass it along to her-  in case it was Hazel...      

Yeah I was cracking up too when I realized your head was going to be covered with a veil for the ENTIRE video... LOLOL

Shoot the videographer!

Sandi, I enjoyed your hymn- you have a beautiful voice.  Was that Hazel on violin??  Oh my, I remember when you mentioned she was newly born, over on everythingdulcimer!  I must be really old now!     lolol

Your church is very lucky to have you playing for them Sandi!  And of course it goes both ways- you are lucky to have such and appreciative audience.  

Robin-  and maybe again decades later.   

Patty!  What an adorable smiley puppy face!  

I love Spring... it inspires me to cook more and to prepare healthier food, for one thing.

We have fresh ruby red leaf lettuce growing in the garden now, so making fresh salads is a frequent thing.

Today I'm tying the young tomato plants to their stakes.. they're now tall enough to get damaged in a heavy storm.

Can't wait for corn season.  :D

We are very happily enjoying our new large screen porch we put in last Fall.  So nice to eat outside in the evening by candlelight ... crickets chirping... with not a single thought or care about mosquitos!

I've managed to lose a few pounds during the past 6 months by eating a little more fruits and vegetables, and a little less junk.

Tomorrow morning will zip over to our local fairgrounds for 45 minutes and go for a brisk 2 mile walk before the morning gets too warm.  I'm trying to do this once or maybe twice a week now, just for good measure.  I've learned if I try to do 'too much' I end up avoiding it altogether.  So it's better to keep my goals do-able.  :)

Just a reminder to everyone that we have a Site Questions Forum where you can find answers to many of the most common questions about how FOTMD works:

https://fotmd.com/forums/forum/site-questions-how-do-i

Not sure how to start a forum thread?  How to add a video?  How to change your avatar picture?  How to send a private message? ... take a look there and you will likely find an existing thread explaining just how to do that!  If you don't find the existing answer, then add your own new thread in that forum asking how to do a particular thing on FOTMD.

Our site questions forum is the EZ place to get answers on how to use our FOTMD site!   

Those dolphins are so gracefully designed, Dusty.

One of my favorite sound hole shapes is the quatrefoil ("four leaf").  Not sure why, I just like it and it has an old feel to it.
I had it used for sound holes on both my jouhikko and my "Elizabethan Garden" epinette des Vosges.

Richard you said it all.