My two Keith Young Dulcimers
General mountain dulcimer or music discussions
David, they are just lovely. I too have Keith's limberjacks- I absolutely adore them!
Forum Activity for @strumelia
General mountain dulcimer or music discussions
Try these sites for free tab
Dulcimer Resources:TABS/Books/websites/DVDs
Beginners should also be aware of the fact that mtn dulcimer tabs can be intended either for chord playing style (melody notes are fretted on all strings), or for noter/drone playing style (entire melody fretted on the melody string only). The two kinds of tab can be quite different, so keep that in mind.
Try these sites for free tab
Dulcimer Resources:TABS/Books/websites/DVDs
Phil, next time, just type in something like "free tab" into our FOTMD handy SEARCH BOX at the top right of any page here. It will pull up various threads showing links to free tab, and this thread is right on the second page of the search results. It's really easier to find stuff here by using the FOTMD search box! 
phil said:
it took me all night to find this page again I so glade it still here. A few weeks ago my old laptop with all my links up and died on me. I have been going nuts trying to find some of the links I had and here are most of them, Thanks Folkfan and Vivian.
Try these sites for free tab
Dulcimer Resources:TABS/Books/websites/DVDs
Vivian, I think anyone who looks in this DulcimerResources/Tab/Books forum will see the title of this thread and be able to see your post and links.
I keep two dulcimers- one for the keys of D & C, the other for the keys of A & G. That avoids 'most' of the wear and tear in going back and forth excessively. My A/G dulcimer has a slightly shorter scale length so I can tune up to e when playing in A.
My noter/drone blog has some detailed posts about how I use tunings to play mostly in D, G, and A.
Yeah Bobby, good stuff in that cabin! I love it when people play joyfully together without the ego competitions.
You know, the very first time I heard a mtn dulcimer in person and was totally blown away, was when a guy at an amateur folk jam I went to pulled one out and played "I've Been all around This World (Hang me)"- that very same song. I knew INSTANTLY that I just HAD TO play that instrument- I was truly possessed and overcome by the mtn dulcimer from that first moment he began to play it. I didn't even know what it was, but I had to get one and learn to play it.
Robin, I like that Tim/Riley video very much as well. Isn't it wonderful to see noter/dronal playing being brought to the fore again? I love it! Those two do it so well, what a fine duo combo.
As to the second video 'Rockbridge' with the fiddle young woman and guitar player- just my own take on it, but I really have to say I dislike what the guitar player is doing. I don't hear the 'celtic' thing you are hearing, I'm hearing a jazz/bluegrass thing (could be due to our different backgrounds). The fiddling is fine oldtime style and bowing rhythm. The guitar player is driving home his heavy-handed jazzy style timing. He likely doesn't realize that he is doing that- I imagine he thinks he is playing pure, powerful, and supportive OT guitar. But to me he is just turning it into some ego fusion thing. I kind of got the tip-off even before the fiddler started playing, from seeing him strutting his 'riffs' while she very patiently smiled and waited. 
I don't usually enjoy it much when we wind up playing in a session with a guitar player like this.
I sometimes learn a song from looking at tab, but even then I usually have the song in my mind a little first from hearing it. Other times I just pick the song out on my fretboard and learn it without tab at all. One thing I like tab for is when I used to know how to play a tune and have forgotten it over the years- i like being able to use the old tab to refresh my memory. I also like to have tabs arranged by mode so I can be better organized when I help other people learn to play.
In other words, I sometimes use tab to help me start to learn how to play something, but I really dislike reading tab as I am playing. If I'm going to learn a tune, I will put in the effort to learn to play it without having to look at the tab while I play. After I can play something without tab, I wind up adapting it here and there to my own way of playing it- that's really the most fun part anyway.
I take the same approach to tab in my banjo playing as well- I have lots of banjo tabs that help me get started sometimes, but my goal is to then learn the tunes without looking at any tab.
From what I have read from actual McSpadden owners, the bridge compensation does not make a very noticeable audible difference. Most dulcimers do not have compensated bridges and they sound pretty good. I myself wouldn't worry too much about it.
Every McSpadden I have ever heard sounds awesome- and most of them probably have 'regular' bridges.
Bryan, not sure if you've already looked at my noter blog, but here are a few suggestions:
http://dulcimer-noter-drone.blogspot.com/2009/12/beginner-tips-on-using-noter.html
http://dulcimer-noter-drone.blogspot.com/2009/02/road-to-corn-dogs.html
http://dulcimer-noter-drone.blogspot.com/2009/02/corn-dog.html
A very wonderful Christmas gift...
General mountain dulcimer or music discussions
Val and Brian- wonderful sentiments and thoughts- they really hit home and are so true.
John Henry, I plan to get in a little epinette practice this afternoon- after I work on some machinery valve drawings for a few hours (um, gotta make a living too!). It's an exciting new challenge for me, since I think I need to develop a new method of 'attack' more in keeping with its epinette-ish charms. 
A very wonderful Christmas gift...
General mountain dulcimer or music discussions
Wayne Anderson said:
It is a lovely instrument, Lisa, and am sure that Sheba even gave it two paws up.
Wayne, Sheba wants nothing to do with it! lol!
I've been experimenting today, and it's obvious that this little charmer needs a lighter touch than my usual heavy handed Galax-ish power-strums, which might send it flying across the room... 
So I've decided to try to re-learn a bit of finger-picking again- which I have not done since about 15 years ago...!!
I'm very glad now that I took a one hour class in beginner fingerpicking a year and a half ago from Nina Zanetti who was teaching at a local dulcimer fest I went to. That one class, along with my old Sue Carpenter fingerpicking book, and FlintHill's Travis-picking videos here on fotmd, will surely help me re-learn this skill that I have forgotten long ago. I dug out my old fingerpicks that were stored away for years.
This will be FUN!! And challenging...so don't expect any immediate videos until I get at least a very simple beginner tune under my belt. It will take a little time...I have to relearn all the moves and it will take a couple weeks at least I'm sure. But I'm determined to do it, partly because I have seen how beautifully John Henry played this instrument.
But I just love love love this sweet little music box!
A very wonderful Christmas gift...
General mountain dulcimer or music discussions
Yes John Henry is indeed a very special man.
I did indeed wait until Christmas morning to open the package! It was a real surprise because the shipping tube looked like it might contain a mouth bow or a violin bow or something- there is NO WAY an epinette could have fit into a cardboard shipping tube that slender....and yet it did! Even now I would never imagine it could fit back into that tube. I was totally amazed.
Benjamin- yes, I do feel very blessed in so many ways...and very grateful too.
A very wonderful Christmas gift...
General mountain dulcimer or music discussions
Bobby, you are just plain naughty. Brian would have known, and of course I would have known! 
Bobby Ratliff said:
Congrats to you! John.......... that was mighty kind of ya!
But I have to say............ I wouldn't have waited! I woulda opened that package! I mean......... who woulda known?
A very wonderful Christmas gift...
General mountain dulcimer or music discussions
Well I just have to relate the extra special Christmas gift I received this morning...
About 10 days ago a Mystery Package arrived in the mail for me, a long thin sturdy mailing tube with no return address except for a rather cryptic customs stamp and the name "Musical Novelties Company". It also had a warning to not open til Dec 25th, so I just had to wait, wondering.
Finally Christmas morning arrived today!
The generosity and thoughtfulness that went into this gift is overwhelming. I'm still not quite sure it's really real! I hope I will be able to do it justice.
Fotmd member John Henry sent me an epinette des Vosges that he made. !!
He remembered how I had talked of wanting to get an epinette a year or so back, and he knew I admired his skills in both making and playing his own epinettes. How incredibly kind and sweet of him to send such a wonderful gift. It's hard to express how delighted, amazed, and humbled I feel. But I know I will enjoy learning to play some simple folk tunes and hymns on it, and it is already cherished. I will definitely post a video of my humble attempts on it in a week or two once I get used to playing it...though I cannot hope to play it as skillfully as John Henry has in his videos! But I'll play it in my own way as best I can! 
It's so dainty , I've never played such a pretty little dulcimer-thing before!
Despite it's diminutive size, it has a very resonant bright voice- it really really makes me think of sleigh bells jingling through the cold sparkling crisp snow. So festive and cheerful! I feel like i'm in a Dickens story, receiving such a lovely gift. So unexpected.
John Henry, I just don't have adequate words to thank you for this precious instrument.
Here is our kitty Sheba and also myself getting to know our beautiful new epinette des Vosges this Christmas morning 2011!:
Here are some of John Henry's videos of him playing the epinettes he makes, he plays them so very beautifully, who could not succumb to their charms? :
http://mountaindulcimer.ning.com/video/a-french-waltz
http://mountaindulcimer.ning.com/video/good-king-wencelas-1-12-2011-wmv
http://mountaindulcimer.ning.com/video/mingulay-boat-song-1
http://mountaindulcimer.ning.com/video/the-gloucestershire-wassail
http://mountaindulcimer.ning.com/video/trial-run
http://mountaindulcimer.ning.com/video/bouree-caree-de-st-chartier
updated by @strumelia: 02/28/19 06:50:11PM
Requesting input on Nic Hambus dulcimers.
Instruments- discuss specific features, luthiers, instrument problems & questions
Vivian, that's very exciting- congratulations! Maybe you can get a jaw harp, limberjack, or harmonica to keep you busy and distracted during the wait. I highly recommend such diversions!
Sleep In Heavenly Peace Rod
OFF TOPIC discussions
Every Christmas day I envision Rod playing his dulcimers and sharing his knowledge and wonderful enthusiasm with others. 'Deputy Mo', we will always remember you so fondly!
Sleep In Heavenly Peace Rod
OFF TOPIC discussions
Dave, thank you so much for posting this wonderful tribute thread. What a beautiful tune you play for him.
Many of us have been thinking of Rod these past few days especially. He poured so much love into 'the family' here on fotmd. I feel like "Depity Mo" will be watching over our site of Friends tomorrow on Christmas day, with his silver bullet in his pocket... just in case.
Playing in a Jam....
Playing and jamming difficulties...HELP ME!
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.
Playing in a Jam....
Playing and jamming difficulties...HELP ME!
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.
Playing in a Jam....
Playing and jamming difficulties...HELP ME!
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.
Unicorn Limberjack
Adventures with 'other' instruments...
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!
making Shakuhachi
Adventures with 'other' instruments...
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.
making Shakuhachi
Adventures with 'other' instruments...
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 .
My 40 year old box of harmonicas
Adventures with 'other' instruments...
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!
What's your favorite mournful, spooky, or lonesome song to play?
General mountain dulcimer or music discussions
Yay! Flint is stopping by! 
What's your favorite mournful, spooky, or lonesome song to play?
General mountain dulcimer or music discussions
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!)
updated by @strumelia: 02/09/25 10:37:40PM
Autoharp Adventures...Life & Death of an Instrument
Adventures with 'other' instruments...
I think you should write a little note that tells of the joy she brought to you and fold it up and put it inside the autoharp. Not only would it honor the instrument, but someone might find it 50 years from now, who knows? and that would be really lovely. I once wrote a message inside the closet of an apartment I left, on the old wallpaper way in a corner, saying how some of the happiest times of my life were spent there in that apartment. I like to think someone will find it there one day and read it.
Autoharp Adventures...Life & Death of an Instrument
Adventures with 'other' instruments...
Beth I like that story. Often we gush about buying new instruments, but we seldom talk about the instruments that either 'died' or linger in our closets. Everything and everyone has a lifespan, and coming to terms with that can help us appreciate what we are doing today.