I actually went to a concert of Aubrey and Elwood's a couple of weeks ago (very fortunate that they were playing only 30 minutes away!) and I bought yet another limberjack from her for my limberjack 'collection' of about a dozen.
They are such fun... especially when everyone at the jam is playing in a key that you don't want to touch with a ten foot pole!....lol! Just take out yer little dancing man and watch the fun begin. 
Ben, it's challenging to play in a large group with lots of different instruments, especially when there are singer-songwriter guitar players singing songs in different keys every time. Diane had some particularly useful advice I think.
I play more often in old-time fiddle jams with banjos and that makes a big difference- they stay in one key for a good half hour or an hour or sometimes even longer. That gives plenty of time to retune when a key change is announced. Even then, i like to bring two dulcimers- one for C and D, the other for G and A. They fit in a double dulcimer gigbag.
Occasionally we go to places where I know it's going to be really difficult for me to play along, for one reason or another. That's when I bring a limberjack and it's always fun to 'play' ...and just about everyone likes limberjacks.
Yes Dana, but you would also be in different modes by using a capo- you'd be in E minor with the capo on 1, and you'd be in A Dorian (another minor-sounding mode) if you capo on 4. So if the jam is playing in the 'normal' key of A (not in A minor for example), you can't just slap a capo on the 4th fret and play along in A- you'd sound too minor, your fret pattern would be laid out for Dorian mode there at the 4th fret. Same thing happens when you put the capo on fret 1 for key of E- it will be E aeolian, a minor sound. That may clash badly with (chromatic) guitar players capoed to E and playing in a major sound.
The capo solution works well for going to G by capoing DAd on the 3rd fret- only because you were likely playing in ionian from DAd anyway, by using the 6.5 fret for most tunes. Placing the capo on 3 again produces the ionian mode, for G. So there is no noticeable mode change in that instance.
David that is a great unicorn! I love the weathered white paint and the mop hair. 
Here is my horse limberjack, which was already constructed but unpainted wood. I just added a few painted details, to give him a saddle, white face and legs, and a face... and made him look like a palomino:
My palomino looks a bit chunkier and less graceful than your unicorn- maybe he's better built for cow-punching!
Limberjacks rule!
David, maybe you can get your wife interested in playing the bones as well- it's a natural for anyone who already plays tambourine. I have some bones and can play them in a simple way- they are incredible fun once you get the first simple 'triplet thing' going...not that hard really.
Tambourines were very common in the minstrel era, along with banjos and rhythm bones. I kinda play my banjo a little like a tambourine sometimes anyway, rappin' on the head... so fun .
Bob I love this little story. I wish you could take a photo of your old box full of harmonicas and show it to us!
I have a couple of my harmonicas from 20 years ago, but sadly I think i lost my original two harmonicas I had as a teenagers, which would have been over 40 yrs old now. I always liked fooling around with harmonicas, but never got very good at it.
But I agree, it's always good to keep a little harmonica in your pocket- like carrying around a microscopic church organ!
I keep a set of rhythm bones and a limberjack in my instrument case when I go to music gatherings- like a harmonica they are very portable, and sometimes it's just the thing!
Yay! Flint is stopping by! 
It's October. The days are growing shorter, leaves are falling, pumpkin's on the vine, and the chilly winds are kickin' up, so....
Of all the sad, lonesome, spooky, mournful, ominous, plaintive, or mysterious songs and tunes that get played on dulcimers....which is your favorite one, and why?
(Limiting answers to between 1-3 songs at most will keep it more interesting- I'm not really looking for people to post long lists of all the ones they like- just tell us your real favorites!)
Whit, glad to hear you enjoy those dulcimers and play them every day.
As for your equal-tempered friends- I like to tell my Brian this: "I'm really glad you're not perfect, 'cause if you were you'd make me look bad!"
Whit Whitfield said:
P.S.-Most ofmy friends don't notice we are not quite in tune, but one are two lately have mentioned it which led to to my question.
Whit, those two luthiers are experts in placing frets at the proper intervals. Both have built dulcimers using 'Just temerament' for placing the frets, as Ken said- which means they were designed to sound best when not played chord style, and when tuned in ionian mode, which for the key of D would be DAA, not DAd. Try playing retuning them to DAA, and then play them using a noter and fretting the melody string(s) only- then tell us if they sound out of tune that way.
If they sound nice that way, then that's official- they'd be 'just temperament'-fretted dulcimers. you could sell them as 'traditional' just-tempered dulcimers and buy a dulcimer that is better suited for you. There are folks out there who'd like buying a just-tempered traditional dulcimer, and I think it'd be a better solution than sending them to have all their frets pulled and a new fingerboard installed with equal-tempered fret placement. Dulcimers by those two makers are sought after so you'd get a fair price I'm sure- with which you could buy a real nice custom new dulcimer made just the way you'd like it! :)
I love it when I struggle for an hour or so with playing some tricky thing, and I just can't for the life of me seem to make it click or get my fingers to do something....and then I go to bed and the next day as if by magic i can play it right off the bat. I like to think I got sprinkled with fairy dust while I was sleeping.
(but then there are also times when I go to bed and then still can't play it the next day... D'OH !!!) 
Thanna, don't be discouraged. It looks like you perhaps just don't fit in with that group.
All it takes is to find ONE other player who likes the same kinds of tunes you do and is open to both of you exploring and learning while playing and having fun together. Could be another dulcimer player, a fiddler, a banjo player, guitar, mandolin, whatever. Just someone who wants to work together at a beginner level on some tunes in common, without being judgemental. Maybe your teacher can help further now in this new situation.
As for the club....you already have a dulcimer teacher, one who apparently has some confidence in your abilities. Don't give up how you like to play. Perhaps that club should clarify their purpose and goals.
Yes, I have seen that happen a few times- where a new jammer starts their own tune at a slow pace which is the only way they can play it, and some hotshot starts speeding it up until the beginner simply has to drop out. How rude is that?!
So yes one thing is to ask the newcomer if they have a tune they'd like to play, and to make a point of saying they should play it at their own comfortable pace.
It's always nice to ask the newcomer if they have any favorite tunes they'd like to play.
We often hear about jam etiquette in terms of what we should do if we are trying to join and fit in with a jam, but what about looking at it from the other side?
I thought I'd toss this out there for folks to share their own ideas...
When you're playing in a jam or session, and a new hesitant person approaches, what things do you do to make them feel comfortable and welcome?
What if they are a beginner player and are having a little trouble keeping up with everyone else- what things might you do to help them out in some way?
On the flip side- what kinds of things would tend to discourage a new person and make their initial jamming experiences unsuccessful?
You're all more fun than a barrel of monkeys! :)
Happy 2nd birthday to us all!!
Yes Robin the beater/straw does 'work the same way'- except that fiddles are designed to be either bowed or plucked (pizzicato) to make a strong sound- they have such small sound boxes and short string lengths. I don't think you can get enough volume and oomph by only beating straws on the fiddle without bowing as well. But with a dulcimer/zither/hammerdulcimer you can! Thus for fiddlesticks on a fiddle you really need two people.
BUT- some fiddle players can get a good effect with bouncing their bow in a percussive way as though it was a beater- but if you watch them they are actually drawing the bow a little while they are bouncing, so they can get the strings to sound. If they did it without a hair bow, with just a stick, I wonder how much effective tone and sound they could get. --I'm assuming we are talking about actually sounding the fretted notes and melodies, rather than just tapping a stick on the soundbox with no notes like a drum rhythm.
On a dulcimer, this is called beating straws or using a striker . Obviously on the fiddle it's called 'fiddlesticks' or beating straws. Can't really call it fiddlesticks on a dulcimer though. It's a very old and traditional technique for both fiddles and dulcimer/zithers. I have enjoyed watching Bruce Greene & Loy McWhirter doing it with fiddle in their concerts.
On fiddle, you need someone fretting notes and bowing , while someone else beats with either one or two straws. On a mtn dulcimer or other zither-like instrument, it's not bowed so you don't need a 2nd person- the person playing can fret with one hand and beat one or two straws or use the striker with the right hand instead of a pick. Some folks use broom straws or chopsticks, or either bamboo or steel thin knitting needles.
Here's my favorite example of using a striker on a 'zither/dulcimer-type instrument'- this one is being used on an epinette:
Here's a classic fiddlesticks example:
Uh oh, i guess i;m in trouble now. 
John Henry said:
Oh Strumelia, you fickle fing !!!
There's me thinking that you loved the mt'n dulcimer !
JohnH
Robin,
As you know, I've been working on that Eriksen banjo version of Sugar Baby (also see the other threads here on FOTMD re: Red Rocking Chair/Sugar babe). He uses an old tuning which is nice. Karen Dalton did a nice banjo version of Red Rocking Chair as well.
I'm glad you are exploring the wonderful uniqueness that is ...banjo. It's a lifelong love affair.
Your banjo playing is really sounding good Robin. Most people take several years to get to where you are now. You must be getting help from Rick!
Most old-time players consider Clarence Ashley's banjo/singing version to be 'the gold standard', but of course it's good to have your own version in the end.
That banjo you are playing has a really nice tone.
Robin, that dropthumb teaching video is very well done- I'm glad you found it, he gives great advice and it's very clear!
He's an excellent teacher.
Paul what you said about Pete Seeger is fascinating. I found the very same thing to be true for me- that learning/teaching dropthumb later on in one's playing is not ideal.
Robin- try watching/listening to Doc Boggs on banjo- it's pretty inspiring and yummy. I have a friend who learned nylon-strung fretless playing by listening to his playing and she sounds fabulous . Wish I could play like her!
That's exactly what I was trying to convey! Break up the standard strumming structure and throw in syncopated pauses, dropthumbs, hammer/pulls, and slides...they are the tools to make your playing come alive and be really banjo . Every time you start feeling too comfortable with doing something the same way, break it up again with something new like drop thumbing on a different string or using a left hand pluck note in a syncopated rhythm place, etc. Keep shaking things up and you will start automatically incorporating the little tricks and tools in to your normal play without having to think about it much. It will make your playing much more interesting and alive. Keep up the good work!
If you choose crooked/funky tunes to do this practice with, it will force you to break out of the comfortable bump-a-ditty pattern, which will be even more helpful. I had to do this. Actually, what I did was lock away my fretted banjos after two years of playing and force myself to play fretless banjo only for about a year, and boy that was the biggest thing that broke me of my over-dependence on banjo chord strumming. 
I doubt you would ever need to take such drastic action as I had to. 
Robin you are very observant!
Dwight doesn't believe in teaching beginners to drop thumb much. In fact, he is the one who discouraged me from incorporating drop thumb as a beginner- which is exactly part of what caused me big problems a year later as my playing improved.
Because of that, I always teach my beginner students drop thumb right from the beginning, with good results.
Dwight is all about rhythm, and he's one of my favorite players to listen to. :)
In his classes and teaching, Dwight doesn't touch on drop thumbs much if at all. But if you watch Dwight playing banjo in a non-teaching setting, you'll find he drop thumbs regularly (you can hear them more than see them)- but it's always really hard to see anything about what his individual fingers are doing because his hands are like big HAMS! lol! His fingernails are like horse hooves !
Looks like a humdinger of a banjo, Robin. I love those 'put together' basic banjos- they often have that wonderful down home sound. Reminds me of the 1060's Kay banjos that were very affordable and simple back then, but are now much sought after by smart banjo players because they were well built despite their plainness and they just play and sound GOOD! Is it a spun-over metal pot or a wooden pot?
Yes a good approach is to keep testing things and not let yourself get cemented into habits that might hold you back later. I made that mistake by avoiding drop thumbs the first year and when i tried to incorporate them later I found it terribly difficult. I learned a lot from that mistake. I was fortunate to take a workshop with Brad Leftwich at the time and I got a 30 minute private sit down with him. I asked him why i couldn't manage the drop thumb well, and he watched me and nailed it - he showed me the specific details of what my problem was, he knew exactly, and after that I was able to 'get it'. Otherwise my rhythm would have continued to be slightly awkward forever I think.
i found the best books & teaching materials for me were from Dwight Diller, Brad Leftwich, and Miles Krasson's book- all their ways of playing are a little different, but they all 3 teach fingering and phrases that encourage natural fluidity and yummy syncopated rhythms. They broke me of my self imposed chord-based bump-ditty dependence- that was my personal problem in my first couple of years. Not saying you are going to be like that at all- I think you are a more experienced musician than I am for one thing- just saying what helped me tremendously with my own banjo struggle. :)
You are done for now...the long slippery banjo slope.
You'll find that dulcimer fingering and rhythm doesn't really translate well onto banjo.
You are a good musician, so I'm hearing in your clip that you are able to dive right in and find all the notes pretty quickly- a great accomplishment and head start!
But it will take a much longer time to get the 'feel' of the special rhythms the banjo offers. Right now you are playing rapid fire melody single notes on one string at a time, with an occasional decorative strum. That won't get you a real southern appalachian banjo sound- it's more Dave Macon/Pete Seeger. Start learning especially drop thumb , start using slides and hammer-ons/pulloffs instead of keeping each note separate. I'm just trying to be helpful when i say think more ice skating and skipping and less typewriter. Think of the air pauses- they are just as important as the notes.
My suggestion is to slow down and forget trying to play fast tunes with lots of notes. That will not get you to where I suspect you want to go. Take a lot of steps backwards and work slowly on the RHYTHM, not the notes, not speed. To get the special banjo rhythm you'll need to work hard on drop thumb, slides, pulloffs, and hammerons...but drop thumb more than anything. Those are the tools. And remember your friend is the open drone strings- but not just for brushing and strumming- rather they are an integral part of almost every little 'dance phrase' of notes. I hope some of this makes some sense- it's hard to put into words! 
The commonest problem I see with new banjo students?- waggling their thumb separately from the rest of their hand, and using it as an afterthought in a separate note. The thumb needs to BE THERE ALREADY on the thumb string and just lifted off to make the rhythm note sound- you can't bring it along and position it only when you are going to make that note, like you do with the other fingers and notes.
So tell us about your new banjo...and pictures!!
Wow, that is so terrific !! I love it!
I have two red Snarks. I like them very much! Plus they are inexpensive. Good grippers on the clamp.
I like that you can pluck a new note and the tuner picks up on it right away- you dont have to wait for the old note to fade out.
A friend bought one and his broke after a day, but he was carrying it in his pants pocket, so I dont know what might have happened.
