Forum Activity for @strumelia

You guys crack me up!  

Dusty that dancing guy always reminds me of the Young Frankenstein movie with Frankie dancing in a tuxedo... 

Our thanks to Teri West for her creative dulcimer smiley!

Lexi- give a big pat to Smiley for us... he's a special feller for sure!  

I admit I'm particularly fond of these smileys:

                  ... lolol!

Yeah I can see how DropC tuning would be good for singing and backup !

More ways to see it:

If you are tuning to DAd, it'd be from low to high :  D3, A3, d4.

https://dulcimer-noter-drone.blogspot.com/2010/12/what-notes-do-i-tune-my-strings-to.html

I think it was member @hugssandi

I'm reading a knitting pattern for knitting a pink hat.  Haven't picked up my needles in about 10 years(!) and I got inspired.  I'm really enjoying taking it up again for a few minutes of relaxation here and there.  Love the act of carefully making something with my hands again.  I'm finding it's like riding a bike- I need to review the instructions for certain things, but it's coming back to me very quickly.  
I'm realizing they now have a million online youtube videos for knitters.   The internet didn't even exist when i first learned to knit almost 30 yrs ago.  (!)  Yay!   

Hi D-  if you don't use the 1.5 fret, then you'd not likely use its 'mate' that's one octave higher (the 8.5 fret).

The reason we don't often see such extra frets mentioned in tab is this- the reason for adding them is to enable you to play in a different mode and key without re-tuning.  90% of tabs seem to be written for DAd or DAA tuning... both of which can be played without using the 1.5 or 8.5 frets.  Bluesy tunes might use them more often though.

I find the 1.5 and 8.5 frets are handy for me when playing in fiddle tune sessions. One example of where I find it useful is if fiddlers switch to a modal-y sounding tune in the same key and then switch back to a major-y sounding tune in the same key, without much of a pause.  Since I don't use capos either, those two extra frets give me more options in weird fiddle session situations.  But for folks who play typical pop and/or traditional folk tunes mostly from tab, they might rarely run into instances that call for a 1.5/8.5 fret.

I thought it would be interesting to hear about the songs we were taught when we were very little, in kindergarten through the first few years of grade school, like up to the age of around 10.  
Did certain songs 'stick' with you through your life in meaningful ways?  
What were YOUR early impressions and experience in learning songs as a small child in school?

Ok Glenda, the new group has been created- go ahead and join it.  Have fun!

Ok, Glenda, I'm back-  

We have about +/- 60 different Groups here on FOTMD.  We do have Groups for 'some' US states, but not for others. For some subjects or areas there may not be enough interest to maintain a separate space for their activity.  Every couple of years, I go through the site's Group section and delete any Groups that have been completely inactive for over a year and that have none (or almost none) discussions, few members, and few comments.  Doing this keeps the Groups area of the site fresh.  I'm afraid the Indiana Group had been very long completely inactive and was thus deleted.

However, if you are interested in being active in, or overseeing the activity of a new Indiana Group, then I will be happy to create a new group and although i can't make you an actual site moderator, I can adjust it so that only you can create special sticky 'pages' in that group for any Indiana subject you might feel is helpful to the group members.  You could keep an eye on that group, start topics of interest perhaps, and let me or another FOTMD moderators know if there's ever a problem in the group that needs attention.

Shall I go ahead and create a new Indiana Group for you to help 'shepherd', Glenda?

Hi Glenda!- @glenda-hubbard - I have to go out the door right now for some doctor visits for several hours, but I'll be sure to come back and respond to your Indiana group question when I return home! 

Bill- most oldtime fiddle tune banjo players I know, when playing for key of D, will either tune up to aDADE

which is referred to as 'double D tuning'. (the first lower case letter is the short fifth string)

OR, if they don't want to tune up that high they will tune to 'double C tuning' which is:  g, C, G, C, D

and then you can hook your fifth string up to 'a' and put a capo on the second fret for the other 4 strings.  That would bring you back up to double d tuning but with less cranking of the strings if starting from standard G tuning of gDGBD.

I usually just tune up to aDADE to play in D.

It was I think here in the For Sale forum:

http://fotmd.com/forums/forum/for-saleinstruments-music-items-cds-wanted-to-buy/7281/tips-on-shipping-dulcimers

Alan was not only a wonderful fiddler, but he helped to preserve and bring deserved attention to the rich tune repertoire of Henry Reed.  From watching him at a music camp, my impression was that Alan was not only a fine musician, but a real gentleman as well.

This is so cool...

and more info in this article:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/playing-music-brain-benefits-aging_us_58765d35e4b03c8a02d4713b?3ixvn1tn85lfk1emi

What's a leader?

There's this too... https://dulcimer-noter-drone.blogspot.com/2009/09/am-i-too-old.html   

I love this!:

Never too old

Hi Hoosier,

This is something I am in the process of changing around for Forums.  The site has just had a large software update and things are being changed a little and tweaked.

Please read my post of an hour ago where I talk about this forum post sequence, and follow that thread:

http://fotmd.com/forums/forum/site-questions-how-do-i/25868/software-updates-of-jan-2-report-bugs-here

How long is the scale from nut to bridge, and what have you been tuning it to?

Hi Stephen!  Yeah that's like fiddle cross tuning for key of A.

Don may have learned this from fiddler Bruce Green, they play together a lot as you know (aren't they both terrific?).  Here, Bruce is likely in that A cross tuning on his fiddle: https://youtu.be/aJL2DeQZutw 

Hey are you still playing your great TMB box dulcimer much?  I just watched your lesson video on it the other day, again .

Yes, in an ideal world all instruments would be priced to be accessible to all people.  However there are always those pesky variables like cost and choice of materials, hours and experience level of labor, construction or finishing methods, shipping costs, rent and location, etc.   Not all building options that increase the price of an instrument are mere cosmetic matters such as elaborate pearl inlays or gold plating.

It's always a bit problematic to compare established brands.  Things like appearance and tone are especially subjective.  One person might love the appearance and tone of a particular dulcimer, while another person might find the same instrument unattractive and not like the tone at all.  This happens to me all the time, yet I'm always surprised when I find I have completely different 'likes' than someone else.

I think June Apple brand tends to be overlooked too often by people looking to buy a new instrument.  I especially appreciate that they offer lesser known kinds of instruments that are harder to obtain, like hummels and scheitholts- at accessible prices.

I can certainly appreciate a post from a happy customer who is enthusiastic about a particular instrument and builder, and I understand that Greg is not being compensated.  But that said, I'm removing a couple of the specific pricing comparisons with other brands from the thread because I wouldn't want other makers feeling they had to post their own promotional comparisons to counter it.

Thanks!

P.S. Greg- how about a picture of you new dulcimer?  I'm sure we'd all love to see it!

Thanks so much Friends!  I feel I should add though that this video was recorded last December...Brian and I are busy working on a large job with little time for music recording at the moment- and the sentiments are the same this year!    ;)

Happy Solstice, Lovely Holidays, and Merry Christmas back to you all!  

I enjoyed this article about the resurgence of an old 'Mummers' tradition in Newfoundland...

http://www.cnn.com/2016/12/15/americas/cnnphotos-mummers-newfoundland/index.html

Keep safe and warm everyone, and play a favorite tune today if you can... 

Happy Winter Solstice  (December 21 2016) to all our wonderful and cherished FOTMD friends!!!  

Terry, much of that weight loss may be fluids and dehydration- so be sure to drink lots of water for a while now!

I was at a music party just last night and an older gentleman collapsed and was unresponsive for a couple minutes- quite a scare.  We all thought he had a heart attack but apparently he was just severely dehydrated and it was made worse when he had a glass of wine and his blood pressure suddenly dropped- thank goodness one of the guests was a nurse who monitored him til the ambulance got there.  At midnight his wife emailed us all to let us know he was ok and they were home from the hospital, and about dehydration being the cause.

So Terry, just saying that you surely must be partly still dehydrated after your ordeal-  so take that seriously and 'drink like a fish' for a few days...water, that is!

Terry!      Gee i am glad you are here to tell the tale!  That must have been very bad to put you in the hospital for two days .  Did anyone else get sick?  Did you need to report it to the health dept?-  I once did after getting sick on frozen turkey burgers...wanted to be sure others didn't have to suffer, especially seniors or children.

Poor Terry!  Big hug to you.  I sincerely hope you are all better by next week.

Thanks for sharing this fascinating adventure with us Sam!

The plot thickens!  

 That is just wonderful, Sam!  Good luck with your connection with the restaurant manager.  

That's lovely, Jim.  Thanks for sharing this, and hugs again to Sharon and to Oliver's friends and family.

I'm setting up a tropical fish aquarium today in my office...the first aquarium I've had in about 40 years.  
When I was in the aquarium section of the pet store yesterday, there was an older man happily chatting with the pretty sales clerk about his various aquariums...it was cute to see them avidly discussing their tanks, and her showing him pictures of her tanks at home, on her phone.  It all made me think fondly of Oliver and his turtles.  

Hi James,

You should read the site rules and guidelines for posting videos and also for posting items for sale. It's all covered here in the site rules:

http://fotmd.com/forums/forum/faq-site-rules-please-read/22/faq-member-guidelines-please-read

I'm assuming you are referring to marketing/selling dulcimers.  There are only two locations you can sell or market items here in FOTMD- either in the For Sale forum (while following its guidelines), or by purchasing a slideshow Ad in the Main Page sponsor showcase.  You cannot market a dulcimer for sale through posting a video here.  Selling and marketing is confined to the For Sale Forum and to the Ad Slideshow.  Hope this answers your question.

When i'm learning a difficult banjo tune from standard notation, I don't mark my instrument fretboard in any way, but I might take a pale pink highlighter pen and color the notes on the pages that are open string notes...any open string. For me, this seems to be just just enough help -without having to mark or number lots of notes or make mental translations.

Sometimes just a few visual cues are all you need to get through a daunting challenge.  

Lexie thank you for your warm tribute thread to Oliver.  I chatted with Oliver on the chat a couple of times- indeed he seemed so kind and generous towards others.  As an animal lover, I especially enjoyed some of his turtle tank photos- very impressive.  It was always good to see pix of him at the Wartz gatherings as well.

My sincere condolences to Oliver's wife Sharon.  Oliver was truly a well liked friend to many here on the site.  He'll be much missed.

Our love goes out to you John Henry. 

I hope you will continue to check in with your many friends here, as you are able.  You and your family are in my thoughts.

I think that in doing a show for seniors where they are encouraged to sing along or participate, it would be good to choose mostly familiar carols with widely known and easy to sing lyrics.