Oh, I really should mention this- here is the biggest/best website dedicated to bones, run by Scott Miller... BonedryMusic.com
Scott is awesome, and very giving of his time and knowledge. He offers the absolute biggest selection and learning material on bones .. anywhere .
Here's a video of Scott's energetic and joyful bones playing style at a Civil War re-enactment 8yrs ago (too bad it's fuzzy and has wind noise):
Wout- maybe bones made from bamboo should be called "boos" heh heh
Sheryl, I'm a beekeeper. Send me a private message with your postal address and i'll mail you a little piece of pure beeswax.
I'm fielding multiple complaints from members who feel that some folks are denigrating other styles and types of players in their comments. I have to agree, such comments and remarks are unnecessarily derogatory and thus inappropriate.
I'd like to ask everyone here to please stick with the subject of the original post here, which is simply "What tunings I like to use, and why". The subject is not "What I don't like about other people's playing styles and dulcimers".
This goes for elsewhere on the site as well. To all: please resist continually remarking on things you disapprove of.
Wout, that's an interesting approach! I certainly do notice that if one clenches too much it produces less of the nice triplets etc...but what you say is true as well, I just never thought of it that way too.
hahaha.
I sold three pairs of bones that I didn't care for much, and ordered two pairs that I really want to try out (made of ox shin bones but slender sized). Wound up being about the same money, so that's always nice. can't wait to get the new ones.
I practiced with Brian this evening...with him playing fiddle tunes. I get nervous about that because he's pretty particular about accompaniment sound/noise, and it's so easy to sound too loud on bones. 
Well, I made tons of mistakes, flubbing up left and right, but got a few good phrases in too. So....he totally shocked me by saying that he LIKED our fiddle/bones "duet". !!! I asked him if he was just trying to be nice, and he said no, that he liked it and wanted to do more practice of fiddle & bones together, so I could improve more. Woo-HOOO!
Despite all the awkward attempts and missed beats, I love that feeling of when you occasionally 'nail it' with a good crisp rattle that is perfectly timed and snapped shut at the end just right. 
Don perhaps you mean Homer Ledford, not Roscoe Holcomb?
Jean Ritchie once wrote that when she was young she and her sisters had a bit of a hard time singing so high in C, but that they had little choice because the men of the family and in church sang everything in C since that's how it was in the hymn books and the men had no trouble singing low in that key. So the women had to go along with it but an octave higher, and their voices became trained to sing higher than they might normally have done if they had been able to choose the keys early on.
Jean's father was quite shy about playing the dulcimer in front of others, and he played exclusively in key of C, ionian mode. Many of the tunes he played were hymns and church songs, though he played some fun tunes as well. But Jean said if people focused on him too much while he played, that he would often just get up and put the dulcimer back on the wall.
Jean also wrote that shortly before her time, Cecil Sharpe came through the area on one of his later music collecting trips, and that he asked the children in school about the kinds of music and instruments they all had and played or sang at home. Jean's sister Edna remembered this happening, and when she was questioned, she did not even mention the dulicmer in their home or the playing of it, because as she told Jean, she did not get the impression that the dulcimer was considered a 'real' or serious instrument like the kind she thought Mr. Sharp might even be interested in for his survey. This reminds me of the passage written by Dame Campbell about how Sharp would occasionally follow leads through the mountains to locate a pocket of good singers he was told about, but that sometimes he'd arrive there after several days travel only to find the singers in question were black, and he'd turn around and go back, considering the lead and his trip to have been a total waste of time. Thus, many songs by black mountain dwellers of the same time and place were never recorded on paper or cylinders. Information on such songs and music would have been a true treasure to have now.
The dulcimer's ancestors were often used to play hymns and religious pieces, particularly as the violin was frowned upon as being associated with unGodliness and was more often used for dances and 'frolicking' because of that.
Sheryl, you'll have a hard time using a hard dry cake of violin rosin. Gorilla snot is rosin in a soft paste base, and rubs off easily when you're done. I can't imagine the hard cake rosin would work well- it tends to be very brittle and crumbles, cracks, and powders off the cake if rubbed on something hard like the bones.
By the way, you are only supposed to applly a little sticky beeswax or GSnot to the EDGES of the bones- not on the big flat surfaces.
On our new site, to add a video, you don't use the youtube "Embed code"or "Share This" code to add videos.
When you click the "+" to add a video, (Youtube in this example) --it asks you for the video's "ID or URL" ....it means exactly that.
So for your YT vid in your post, you can either paste in your video's URL from your browser: (looks like:https:// www.youtube. com/watch?v= G_BSxXwUCLc)..(i added some spaces to break up the link here)
OR......
the video's Youtube ID , meaning simply: G_BSxXwUCLc
I believe it works the same way for Vimeo videos.
You can just buy a little beeswax candle- either a taper or a votive. But make sure you buy it from a real beekeeper, cause lots of commercial 'beeswax candles' are only part beeswax, with lots of parrafin mixed in to be cheaper. And parrafin doesn't have that 'sticking factor' that real beeswax has, that you are seeking for this purpose.
Sheryl....yay!
I read that if you rub a piece of beeswax up and down on the EDGES of the bones only, it keeps them from sliding out or down. I tried it and it works well. doesnt take much, but may need doing periodically.
Only if the deadline is Sept 14th, and video doesn't have to be more than 1 min long. And can be full of screwups.
AND, that we can just embed the vids in this thread instead of throwing them the main video section. lolol... how does all that sound?
Bob I'm now suspecting that you are a secret virtuoso spoons player, unbeknownst to everyone here. 
Once I can get through just maybe a minute or two of rattling without totally screwing it up and falling on my face, i will try to make a little sample, Bob! If only to help encourage others to be accepting of their beginner skills. 
But of course as we know, I could do just great for a few minutes, then turn on the camera and suddenly I can't do a single thing! -always a frustration... ;D
Ken, just copy and paste the ENTIRE url from your browser window (not from the Youtube 'share' or 'embed'' codes).
For example, one of mine would look like this:
https: //www.youtube.com/watch?v=okPnwFWvErE
(without the space after https: )
-that's the "URL" they are looking for. The clue here is the error message: "unable to extract youtube id from url"...so it's telling you the URL is not correct. You are trying to paste in a youtube share code, not an URL. It wants the URL (web address of the video)
OR, to directly give it the "youtube id"..... i think you could also paste in the actual YT vid ID#,
which in the above case would be: okPnwFWvErE
Tom, I see you over on MinstrelBanjo site. 
That's a lot to learn all at once!
Marg, I should clarify this... I don't have all strings just tuned an octave higher- they'd break! What I do is- I've removed my heavier Bass and Middle strings and exchanged them for what you might think of as all thin melody strings. Those strings are then tuned in generally the same octave as my melody string. In effect there is no more low octave bass string.
So, if I wanted to play in the key of D in ionian... YOU would tune DAA, and I would tune dAA. Then when I fretted the tonic note on my melody string it would sound like dAd...with the middle string A being the lowest note of those three sounding notes. OR, I might tune it ddA, so that when I fret the third fret tonic note, the 3 strings would be playing ddd. I explain a bit more about this here: http://dulcimer-noter-drone.blogspot.com/2009/06/why-i-dont-use-bass-and-middle-strings.html
It's all a matter of personal preference of course. Wonderful that we can all get so many different results and effects!
This keeps coming up every year or so. Ken's article is great, but his numeric naming of the octaves is incorrect, by today's generally accepted standards of where 'middle C' is. People keep pointing this out, and it really should be corrected.
If tuned DAd, the mountain dulcimer is tuned (low to high): D3, A3, d4 The high melody string D4 is the note right above Middle C on the piano. The Bass string D is the D note BELOW Middle C.
Here are some more online tuning aids:
http://dulcimer-noter-drone.blogspot.com/2010/12/what-notes-do-i-tune-my-strings-to.html
I'm excited for you Sheryl! Did you get one pair or two?
I found it almost impossible to practice to varying music and tempos at first, but I seem to be a bit more able to at least try varying tempos now. I agree, it's great advice to just practice with all kinds of music, whether you're good at it or not doesn't matter...I'm sure it really helps build our skills. :)
I have a beautiful repro minstrel banjo made by the same builder, James Hartel, that made the one Rhiannon is showing there. Mine is a different model type though. Rhiannon has such a graceful way about her hands when she plays banjo and other instruments...it's a real individual thing.
Sheryl- I had to chuckle when you wrote repo banjo (as in repossessed) instead of repro (as in reproduction) ;) Jim Hartel told me he custom made her banjo for her, so we'll assume it was not repossessed. Mine however might have been, I can't be sure! 
I just found this nice video with some good bones history:
Here is a video I made demonstrating how I change back and forth between the four most common dulcimer modes (mixolydian, aeolian, ionian, and dorian) in the key of D, by changing the tuning on just the melody string. Sometimes seeing it done feels less complicaed than describing it.
Here's my blog post of it:
and the video itself (r.i.p my kitty Pearl):
Sometimes when I'm learning something new that involves a lot of information and variations, it begins to feel too overwhelming yet I naturally want to understand it all right away, so I can make decisions about what path I want to follow or explore. When I get that feeling of being overwhelmed by my lack of knowledge I tend to ask questions that get me answers I don't yet understand anyway. That's because I want to know about points 9, 10, and 11 without really understanding points 3, 4 and 5 yet. For myself, I do best when I then focus on the basics before diving into trying to understand lots of finer points all at once. I find that my knowledge tends to build on itself like a tower of blocks, and it sticks in my head better that way too. :)
Rob, as someone who usually prefers oldtime to jazzier or bluesier stuff, I really wondered whether I would like Dom's new trio, considering it had a 'real' drummer with a full drum set, and a bass fiddle player...sounded like a jazz trio to me. But they actually played a wide variety of stuff including lots of 1920s-50s depression era songs I liked. Even their modern stuff they did with lots home grown flair. It was good! Dom has tons of energy- the concert was 90 minutes with no break, and with much high energy dance, bones, harmonica, guitar, and some incredible raggy style plectrum banjo playing at warp speed by Dom that was amazing. He really gives his all, and his two partners add to the fun. They are all absolute sweethearts. Rob I know they would enjoy playing with you, you are the real deal. 
Their fiddle and bass player Brian found out I play limberjack and told me he always wanted to learn it but didnt know how to get one or get started. I gave him a simple limberjack i had that was kind of an 'extra' I had, and I showed him the basics...he was so excited! You can see him happily holding it in the photo I posted. I bet he would have loved a little dulcimer lesson from you as well. They are all three just like that- so open and excited about music and people.
Jan- that's a great link to some great music! I bet you do still have some hidden 'special powers' though...one day you'll swoop into action and we'll all be saved and amazed! 
I find that even if i practice the bones for 30 minutes a day or for an hour every other day... well there are some days when everything seems to be clicking pretty well (pun intended) and other days when nothing goes right and I stumble through it all badly. Ugh! I get much more consistent practice experiences when i practice other instruments. I suspect this is just because the learning curve is big for me on this, and am hoping to get more consistent practice experiences as I continue. I've never ever been one of those kids who tapped their pencils on their desks, so percussion is kind of a challenge. I did manage to get a pretty good foot tapping thing going after 6 months of determined practice...so i know I can get results with lots of practice. But percussion has never come naturally for me. It's real work!
I think the obvious name would be Ham-Bones. lolol 
Sheryl, love your new avatar!
Hey Lois,
if you find you want to keep one dulcimer tuned to the key of G in order to sing with better, you could put a set of strings on that dulcimer that is just one step heavier ...as in maybe a .011 or a .012 string instead of a .010 for example. You would do this if the lower G tuning feels a bit slack. A slightly heavier string will feel a bit tighter tensioned than a thinner string tuned to the same note.
Sheryl that's so cool- be sure to keep us posted here as you progress. Brian still has a set of four walnut bones he carved when he was in college, several decades ago! He can play a little, but chooses not to (a true gentleman? lol). That set is bigger than average, and is too big for my hands, so I can't really play his nice vintage set. I now keep a round can, like a 'vase' of bones, on my desk.
I like to think this hamster is playing tiny bones:
Jan, I've never tried spoons, but thye seem to be a whole different dynamic than bones, in terms of playing technique. Though in the end, it's all a clacking/clicking rhythm result. 
Why are so many bones players shot while performing? Take a look at
It happens at 2:00 when the bones wakes up the automatic recording input gain. :D You silly! See the big drum on the right get going at 2:00.
Thanks for the cool responses guys!
Brian went out today for an hour, and because my bones practice is a bit irritating to hear, I did my practice while I was alone in the house. Rattling away all carefree-like.... I then heard a voice calling up to my window...saying YooooHoooooo!-I hear them Bones rattling!!!
I was rather mortified to realize that my nieghbor who brought us some maple syrup had not been able to get a response to his door knocking and so he walked round the house and was listening to my bones practice through my second story window... 
D'oh!!! lol
He said it sounded fine but I was kind of embarrassed, since I am definitely not sounding good yet. ;)
I'm practicing regularly now at home to get better at playing the rhythm bones. Been trying to learn off and on for several years, but kept running into a wall. Finally I had a great 2 hour lesson from Dom Flemons last month and am now making slow progress. Boy, it's way harder than I thought it would be! But hey, I'm working hard at it and each week I seem a tiny bit better.
If I can get better, it sure will be a good added skill to have at big campout gatherings and of course at 1800s music gatherings with Civil War era repertoire.
Anyone else here play the bones?
This simple 'fix' applies as well to this issue: http://fotmd.com/forums/forum/new-site-questions-how-do-i/14547/top-links-not-showing-well-on-mobile
-it's just a matter of flipping yiour device vertical or horizontal, or maybe resizing the content by 'pinching'/expanding.
Mobile devices can be a bit picky. 
Though this thread is "Pets and Dulcimers "....don't forget about our ever-popular "Show Us Your Pets!" thread: http://fotmd.com/forums/forum/off-topic-discussions/11944/show-us-your-pets 
Personally, I find I have more 'pick noise' (I see it as 'pick percussion') when my pick is longer and/or more flexible/thin.
I myself have found that a short stiff thicker rounded-cornered guitar pick tends to gives the least pick noise. But that also happens to be the hardest to hold onto if you are doing vigorous strumming and strong flatpicking. In those cases, try a dab of GorillaSnot product on your fingertips- it lasts through a jam but rubs off easily when you're done. Just like violin rosin, it's made from tree rosin but in a paste-like medium, in a little jar. Smells like xmas trees.
Linda, it won't let you change your password because all the answer boxes in your profile questions are blank. Answers are required, including checking male/female box. This helps me detect spammers and keep our site spam free. The answers don't even have to be correct, but please put in some info. I'm not sure how you joined to begin with without filling in profile answers at all- or maybe you removed the answers after joining?
In any case, please fill in answers for all those blank boxes, check female, put in your new passwork twice, and then hit SAVE at bottom. That will work. If you leave any box blank it will not let you change your password. This is for your own protection as well.
Yes that was the old URL for this site, Friends of the Mountain Dulcimer. We used to be hosted on ning, but now we are free of ning and own our site completely, and it's new URL is fotmd.com
Yes please do update your defunct bookmarks wherever possible, as the old site has been deleted. Thank you!
