I've Just Bought a BANJO !!!!
Adventures with 'other' instruments...
Just for the record, CD, this Robin is a guy. The 'other' Robin is a gal.
Forum Activity for @strumelia
Adventures with 'other' instruments...
Just for the record, CD, this Robin is a guy. The 'other' Robin is a gal.
I've Just Bought a BANJO !!!!
Adventures with 'other' instruments...
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.
I've Just Bought a BANJO !!!!
Adventures with 'other' instruments...
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!
I've Just Bought a BANJO !!!!
Adventures with 'other' instruments...
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. 
I've Just Bought a BANJO !!!!
Adventures with 'other' instruments...
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 !
I've Just Bought a BANJO !!!!
Adventures with 'other' instruments...
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. :)
I've Just Bought a BANJO !!!!
Adventures with 'other' instruments...
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!!
A Good Night of Jammin...
General mountain dulcimer or music discussions
Wow, that is so terrific !! I love it!
Snark tuner
General mountain dulcimer or music discussions
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.
Need Advice--Buying a New Dulcimer
Instruments- discuss specific features, luthiers, instrument problems & questions
Don't be afraid to be frank with him though- banjo players are used to being told to 'stuff a sock in it'.
LOL!
How can you tell if the stage is level at a bluegrass concert?
....the banjo player is drooling out of both sides of his mouth. 
Need Advice--Buying a New Dulcimer
Instruments- discuss specific features, luthiers, instrument problems & questions
You know, any banjo player worth their salt 'is' able to tone their volume down. just something you should know when 'negotiating' with them.
Need Advice--Buying a New Dulcimer
Instruments- discuss specific features, luthiers, instrument problems & questions
Speaking from my own personal experience... I honestly do not find my Galax dulcimer to be particularly louder than the non-Galax dulcimers I have played. It has a deep large box which makes it sound a bit deeper, so the tone is not 'brighter' either, which Melissa says she wants.
Melissa has no dulcimers right now, and she's looking for ONE that will do it all. Since she says she wants to do some chording as well, I'd recommend against a Galax dulcimer, unless she is going to string it in standard form with a heavy bass string....but why choose a Galax anyway if not stringing it in high octave?
Modern Mountain Dulcimers have the volume and the double back, and probably the brightness if you ask for it...but I doubt they'd fall under the $400 range.
McSpaddens would fit the bill- but Melissa didn't like the looks of the one she had.
Lots of things to consider!
Need Advice--Buying a New Dulcimer
Instruments- discuss specific features, luthiers, instrument problems & questions
Hi Melissa,
Though there are some good quality dulcimers made for $400 or less, that price will be a somewhat limiting factor, in terms of false-backs, custom wood choices, etc. Some McSpaddens will fall within that price range, but may go over w/case, shipping, etc. You might want to look in the beginner GROUP here at the several threads about choosing your first dulcimer- since you have a lot in common with them in terms of buying only one instrument to 'do it all' plus the modest price range. There is a long and excellent thread there discussing the good luthiers who produce modestly priced new dulcimers.
One more point- chording does not require a 26-27" VSL. Any VSL/scale from 26"-28" will be just great for doing anything.
What kinds of tunes do you most like to play on your mtn dulcimer?
General mountain dulcimer or music discussions
I'm not talking about what playing styles people use, but rather what kinds of tunes and songs you like to play most on your mountain dulcimer....?
What do you like to play most often?-
jazz, old English/Appalachian ballads, countrywestern, blues, traditional hymns, modern popular music, American folk songs from the 1940's-60's, original compositions, fiddle tunes, childrens songs, classical music, rock music, trad Irish/Celtic music, medieval, or some other kind of tunes....?
Tell us what kind of music you mostly like to play! I'd love to hear what people are most into on their dulcimers these days.
You can list your several favorite types, too. But if you say you like to play them ALL, ...then that's not really listing your 'favorites', is it?- so please, tell us your favorite types of music to play- maybe pick between 1-4 types maximum if possible.
updated by @strumelia: 08/03/23 03:26:40AM
Carol I'm very happy to hear that. Every time i have wooden pegs on an instrument and they refuse to work well for me, I have found that Peg Drops makes the pegs behave very nicely- just one drop does the trick every time for me!
If only more folks would try that rather than immediately changing the wooden pegs out for mechanical at the first sign of trouble.
Paul- all the old-time fiddlers I know have fine tuners on their fiddles...and I do know many fiddlers.
Lois, their seems to be a group for beginners over there, called Pstudents:
http://psalterystrings.ning.com/groups
Maybe that's the group for beginner psaltery players that Grace referred to.
...and here is a link to the online community just for bowed psaltery players!:
http://psalterystrings.ning.com/
updated by @strumelia: 02/16/16 09:10:39AM
Dancing!...(feet as instrument)
Adventures with 'other' instruments...
Just what I need Sam, a cheap high (hey those days are over for me!)...like I didn't get dizzy enough out there on the dance floor!
Dancing!...(feet as instrument)
Adventures with 'other' instruments...
Here is what I was doing all this past Saturday, at the Dance Flurry in Saratoga NY, 2011.
(I actually was amongst the dancers in both these two videos, but I'm not really visible.)
I had a heck of a good time, but as expected, I was sore for 3 days after arriving there at 10am and leaving after midnight, dancing most of that time. I must have danced for about 10-12 hours Saturday. I took classes in Norwegian, Swedish, and Italian village dances, but mostly did contra dancing in between, like the two contra dances shown here. The second clip shows a really cool two-person band with digiridoo, the first band is more typical.
talk about your major exercise ! 
My poor feet the next day...
Dancing!...(feet as instrument)
Adventures with 'other' instruments...
Well I guess dancing falls within percussion instruments in this 'other instruments' forum.
updated by @strumelia: 02/25/20 04:19:33PM
How to Write a Love Song (humor)
OFF TOPIC discussions
I thought this was really funny.
(Warning: lyrics contain the 'sh' word, but nothing worse.)
http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/5f0cf25368/how-to-write-a-love-songupdated by @strumelia: 01/13/19 05:09:18PM
MEET THE MODERATORS...
Site QUESTIONS ? How do I...?
Well I add that FOTMD needs almost nothing in terms of 'censorship'. FOTMD members (and dulcimer players in general) seem to be unusually kind and thoughtful.
I like a good spicy debate once in a while, and I am not particularly prudish either.
The moderators' job is really mostly to be there in case a spammer gets through the usual defenses that have been put in place. I might be sleeping late or off somewhere else for the day, and if a spammer gets in and starts posting their annoying posts here, any of the 3 mods who sees them has the ability to kick them off the site and delete all their content. This gives me great peace of mind!
We have had a very few spammers making trouble here in the past, and I've since further tightened up the joinup process to prevent them from joining in the first place. But it's inevitable that one may slip by at some point in time. The good news is that now there are seven of us who can notice them and kick them out. (And keep in mind that even if they do get on FOTMD and post junk, they would never have access to any members' account info or email address.)
updated by @strumelia: 07/07/17 08:22:01PM
MEET THE MODERATORS...
Site QUESTIONS ? How do I...?
Friends of the Mountain Dulcimer is a pretty friendly community. We don't see much bickering in general. But like everywhere else on the internet, you never know what might happen.
It's good to have a few extra pairs of eyes watching over FOTMD in case disaster strikes, a spammer gets by the barriers, or some member suddenly decides to go berserk.
In addition to the site creator (Strumelia), FOTMD has FIVE great moderators. They can eject spammers, watch for any flame battles, are around when I go off somewhere on short trips (or sleep late, as I am known to do on occasion), and generally help make sure things stay on course. I am very grateful for their level-headed presence and generosity!
Visit their pages and get to know who they are. Feel free to ask any of our moderators questions about how things are organized here on FOTMD- they are very friendly and helpful folk.
Meet your Friends of the Mountain Dulcimer Moderators!...
Jim Fawcett
(visit Jim's FOTMD Page, click here)
================================================================================
DUSTY TURTLE
(visit Dusty's FOTMD Page, click here)
Dusty as a wee babe....
==================================================================
Jan Potts
(visit Jan Pott's FOTMD page, click here)
================================================================================
Sam
(visit Sam's FOTMD page, click here)
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Bob Reinsel
(visit Bob's FOTMD page, click here)
updated by @strumelia: 07/31/23 09:32:47PM
About 12 years ago, I convinced my good friend Lauren to play music together for a casual party as a gig. Lauren had never played as a performer for an audience before, but she nervously agreed to.
We played simple sing-along stuff like My Darling Clementine, You are my Sunshine, etc. We made some mistakes but everyone had a great time and the audience loved it and sang along.
After it was over, as Lauren and I were walking back to our car carrying our instruments, I asked her "So how do you feel?"
She said "I'm so nervous and rattled I feel like I'm about to throw up."
After a moment she added "So when do we do it again?"
Staying warm mentally or physically
OFF TOPIC discussions
I have thin base layers of very soft merino wool which really keep me warm and cozy all winter, without the itching associated with wool from years ago.
Reading FOTMD also makes me feel warm. 
When glancing at this thread while passing by, I didn't realize that Kathy doesn't live in the US. We Americans are rather clueless about making such assumptions. My apologies!!
Blue Lion dulcimers have an excellent reputation here in the US. Whatever dulcimer you might get from them Kathy is sure to be very well made, will have a good sound and be smooth to play, and will retain its value for resale as well.
I'm not really sure what makes the jean Ritchie model different from Blue Lion's other models though.
Are you choosing the Jean R. model for a particular reason?- to fill a particular playing need, or just because you like the looks of it? (either are good reasons of course).
Is there anything unusual about your playing style or your situation that effects your playing choices? things like arthritis, tiny hands, wanting to play chords or not, whether you play with a noter, etc?
Do you know how long a scale (VSL) the Jean Ritchie model has? That could be an important thing, depending.
My biggest 'do-over' wish in learning music
General mountain dulcimer or music discussions
If I had it to do over again, as a girl i would have chosen to take violin in school instead of 'cello. Then i probably wouldn't have had to sell it when I moved so often- I could have taken a little violin with me easily and continued playing instead of selling my cello at age 22 and then not playing any music at all for years. Playing violin also would have enabled me to transition into old-time music as a fiddler pretty well. :) As it turned out, I sort of came into old-time music through the back door, the l-o-n-g way around instead, through mandolin, banjo, and dulcimer.
My biggest 'do-over' wish in learning music
General mountain dulcimer or music discussions
I often think about things I might have done differently over the years if I could start to learn to play music all over again from the beginning.
I don't mean the most obvious thing of "I wish i had started playing music earlier in my life"- that's too easy.
I mean something like "I wish I had gotten a guitar instead of that flute I started on", or "I wish I had joined that choir in school like I had wanted to", or "I wish I hadn't listened to that teacher", or "I should have bought that accordion!" (ok maybe not that one...lol!)
There are doubtless also some of us who would not wish to have done anything differently at all!
What would you do differently now if you could go back in time to when you started playing music?
updated by @strumelia: 08/03/23 05:31:41PM
Thanks. Are you able to play everything in CGC that you could play in DAD?
Yes. Just tune down to CGC and pretend you are still in DAd. (Just remember you are now playing in the key of C- in case you ever want to play with others this will make a difference.)
Sam says:
I too know more less.
Well Sam, you know what the definition of an expert is:
Someone who knows more and more about less and less until finally they know everything about nothing. 
HI Charles,
As per you being the village idiot, may I point out the old Japanese proverb:
We are fools whether we dance or not, so we might as well dance!
I always liked that one.
you are not the only person to find it difficult to sing in the key of D.
My first recommendation is to simply tune your dulcimer down one whole step on every string, from DAd to CGC. That way you will be in the key of C instead of D. See if this solves those few highest singing notes for you. A lot of people play and tune their dulcimers in the key of C. It will not present any problem at all unless you are trying to play with others who are in the key of D.
If that's still too high for your voice, we can get you into the key of G instead and have you sing in the lower octave. This would be 3 whole steps lower than D. But try simply tuning down to the key of C for now- that might be all you need. It's easy to tune one step DOWN on every string to CGC from DAd!
Jouhikko/Tagelharpa
Adventures with 'other' instruments...
Today I had lots of fun buying a new bow for my two tagelharpas. Yes, I've decided to call them by their Swedish name, tagelharpa (which means tail-harp) rather than their Finnish name jouhikko, because I found that NOBODY could remember the name jouhikko. So now I'm calling them 'tagelharpas' which my friends seem much better able to pronounce and remember. I also like that it means 'tail harp', after the strings made from twisted horse hair.
Anyway, the two bows that came with my tagelharpas were becoming a little problematic for me- one was too small and lightweight ...skittered around and didn't give me a hearty tone. The other, which looked cool because it was made from a bent stick bark and all...gave a good tone but was a little too heavy- difficult to be agile with it when playing.
I went to my local music store and was able to try out about 7 bows for cellos and for violas- full sized ones and half sized ones, etc. None of them were very high quality or expensive, but that was fine- I was just looking for a good weight bow I could work with better than my current ones. I had also been borrowing an old cheap fiddle bow from Brian, but that was too light and a little too long again. that told me I should maybe look at the viola and cello bows.
After spending 45 minutes rosining and trying the bows back and forth in the music store, trying them on my tagelharpa (much to the amusement of the various teenage electric guitar customers coming and going).... I found the nicest feeling one with the best tone of the bunch was a full sized viola bow. There were two of them for sale- for $80 and $40, and oddly i liked the feel and tone of the $40 one better. It was made in China. I know it's not a very good bow, but it's a step up from what i've been using!
So I went home with a new bow to practice with, it was quite exciting for me!
I had been shamefully neglecting my tagelharpas over the past 2 months, but for the past two weeks I've plunged back into practicing them again. I found that changing my practice time from evening to morning really helped me, as too often in the evening I was simply too tired mentally to want to get practicing. It seems more inspiring and fresh somehow in the morning, so that change is helping me to better stick with it and progress.
I also ordered a book and CD of simple Finnish kantele tunes which are specifically for the 5 string kantele and will likely be perfectly suited to the tagelharpa which is based upon a 5 or 6 note note scale.
I am very slowly making progress. But more importantly, I am still really loving playing this instrument even though it's a great deal of work and a huge challenge for me.
Jouhikko/Tagelharpa
Adventures with 'other' instruments...
Thanks guys! Yes randy, I shouldn't apologize so much- after all it does sound not so bad for only playing a month. I'll try to stop groveling!
robin, this instrument is really designed to play a drone constantly. I'm not so sure bowed dulcimer is, so it's possible you may well have to work harder than me to get the same drone effect.
Randy Adams said:
....what's Brian think of it? Does he offer a few pointers?....or disappear with the cats?... : ).....
He disappears with the cats. 
Jouhikko/Tagelharpa
Adventures with 'other' instruments...
Ok, here is my very first (rather embarrassing) recording attempt on my Michael King jouhikko. It's quite rough, and the intonation leaves a LOT to be desired...but hey there isn't even a fretboard! lol! It's a start!
This is a tune Michael played for me but he doesn't know what it is, neither do I.
So listen: here I am scratching away on it and scaring off the cats.
Jouhikko/Tagelharpa
Adventures with 'other' instruments...
Robin, I am enjoying 'trying' to play just very old and very simple folk melodies. I have a few Finnish and Scandinavian type ones. They have to be really simple for me to even attempt them.
I plan to stick with mostly old European/Scandi folk tunes, and maybe find a friend with a (subtle) drum to get a medieval feel to it eventually once I can actually play the thing. :)