I am very saddened to hear this news. Terry was a good friend to me when I first joined this site some ten years ago. He encouraged me to enjoy and appreciate my own style of playing (self taught) and singing. I hadn’t seen Terry on this site for some time but just attributed it to my own intermittent activities here (not on as much as I used to be). He was truly a good person. Rest In Peace Terry.
John, thank goodness you are back home and on the mend please take good care of yourself and rest well. Pneumonia is nothing to sneeze at!😊
Happy International Appalachian Dulcimer Day If We Never Meet Again This Side Of Heaven played on a 3 string baritone mountain dulcimer (youtube.com)
I am very much saddened by this news. Rest In Peace Rob.
Strumelia, this has been such a good discussion so I thought I'd throw in a wee bit of humor Gordon style: I don't understand your point regarding spinach and I quote:
"I see it as the difference between handing a young person a baby food jar of creamed spinach and saying "here, this is what spinach is"... and giving that young person some spinach seeds and showing them how to plant, grow, harvest, and cook it in various ways."
How disappointing it would be for a young person to go through the trouble of planting, growing, harvesting and cooking spinach only to find out it tastes as horrible as baby food creamed spinach, any way you cook it. As children, my siblings and I were forced to eat lots of spinach, one of the vegetables that grows well in northern Alberta, because "it was good for us" and the garden was full of it. My dear Mother even tried to hide it in lasagna. I firmly believe it was a preparation for us to be able to endure further ordeals as we grew up and left the nest.
I have really enjoyed this discussion even the spinach part.
We have a bird here (you probably have them too) called a Whisky Jack, aka Camp Robber, aka Canada Jay, aka Gray Jay. Whisky Jacks like to hang around where folks are camping and help themselves to whatever unguarded food scraps they can find. A really comical bird, fun to watch, can wile away lots of down time when relax camping. Not nearly as rare as hummingbirds in this neck of the woods. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada_jay
Thanks for this Robin! Family times are the best times!
To mark International Appalachian Dulcimer Day here is my version of The Leaving Shanty
Hello Hugs, here's my tab for "A Light At The River" it is a hymn written around 1911, DAA noter and drone. Hope this helps.
There’s a light at the river
There’s a deep, turbid river, Flowing on before, And its waters are deep and wide;
0 0 3 3 3 5 3 1 3 3 1 0 0 0 3 3 5 7 5 4
But faith sees a light, yes, a beacon bright, Just down by the river side.
7 3 3 3 5 3 3 1 3 0 6-6 5 5 3 4 4 3
There’s a light at the river, A light at the river; A light at the river I can see;
0 0 6 6 6 6 8 6 5 5 3 5 5 7 7 7 7 8 7 7 5 4
My Lord will stand and hold in His hand, A light at the river for me.
7 7 5 5 3 4-3 3 1 3 6 5 5 3 4 4 4 3
O’er the dark, foaming waters, From the unseen shore, Angel bands in their beauty
0 0 3 3 3 5 3 1 3 3 1 0 0 0 3 3 5 7 5
glide, And will bear us away to the realms of day, Into light on the other side. ch
4 7 7 3 3 3 5 3 3 1 3 0 6 6 5 5 3 4 4 3
Many dear ones we’ve loved Are from their homes removed, Dipped their wings in
0 0 3 3 3 5 3 1 3 3 1 0 0 0 3 3
the mystic tide; They have passed o’er the deep, Where they’ll ne’er more weep,
5 7 5 4 7 7 3 3 3 5 3 3 1 3 0
In the light on the other side. ch
6 6 5 5 3 4 4 3
To this deep, endless river We must one day come, And we’ll cross o’er its waters
0 0 3 3 3 5 3 1 3 3 1 0 0 0 3 3 5 7 5
wide; How happy we’ll be, if by faith we see The light on the other side.
4 7 3 3 3 5 3 3 1 3 0 6-6 5 5 3 4 4 3
There’s a light at the river, A light at the river; A light at the river I can see;
0 0 6 6 6 6 8 6 5 5 3 5 5 7 7 7 7 8 7 7 5 4
My Lord will stand and hold in His hand, A light at the river for me.
7 7 5 5 3 4-3 3 1 3 6 5 5 3 4 4 4 3
"What's the buzz in the bee yard?"
Good choice, Gordon. I wonder how you tuned your dulcimer to accompany with voice?
Thanks for starting this thread, John. A favorite Lenten Hymn of mine and one which can also be heard on FOTMD Video is "Lord Who Throughout These Forty Days". The words to this Hymn were written in 1873 by Claudia F Hernaman. The music used for this Hymn is St. Flavian and was published in 1563. I found it quite easy to tab this for simple finger-noter drone style for voice accompniament.
I noticed in the calendar that Ash Wednesday is February 17th, the beginning of Lent and so I have been looking at Lenten hymns. To mark the beginning of Lent I have chosen a Spiritual: "I Want Jesus To Walk With Me". This video will be posted on February 15th.
As I reflect on my experience with FOTMD and the folks who are associated with this site, I can say that I have felt encouragement and acceptance. I am allowed to lumber along at my own pace without denigration or derision. What a pleasure to be within a group where I am not expected to be an expert but can contribute according to my abilities. Thank you Strumelia.
Lovely playing and singing! Thank you!
World Wide Play Music On The Porch Day!! Here is my submission
Thank you Robin and Mark and your windowsill bird for sharing this lovely Spring composition with us. Happy Easter!
I've always liked to sing (not exceptionally well but I enjoy it) in choirs and congregations. When I started playing dulcimer, early on I realized I wasn't a prodigy, So I had my buddy build me a big loud dulcimer that matched my big loud voice and then with lots of practice I taught myself to sing to the accompaniment. I think because I'm self taught I may have discounted "music police" and critics too much especially when they are probably trying to help (anyone who tries to help must have a good heart) . I know absolutely nothing about music theory.
I've become somewhat long winded here, but my point is, if you want to sing to your dulcimer music, all it takes is some practice. Don't worry about the critics, if you're posting here or on face book , the critics aren't paying to listen to you anyway.
It is great right now in this time of "self isolation" to be able to talk, I hope you folks are staying safe and healthy!
Thanks Robin, good stuff!!
This sounds like a real good idea, thanks Ariane!!
Robin, I finally took the time to review this video, I don't know why it took me so long. Thank you, it's very inspirational!
Thanks for this Robin!!
Interesting, does for all eternity mean until I find the next favorite? My choice is "Who Will Watch The Home Place" written by West Virginia song writer Kate Long. This song really struck a chord with me (pun intended). It makes me think of the many folks who have had to leave the land either because of external forces or of their own volition. I find it both sweet to play and sweet to sing.
It's interesting to see that the two gents trade-off: the fiddler has the back-striped vest and shorter hair. The jawharp player has the all black vest and the long hair. You can see that when he is playing the jawharp on the Walking Dance in the middle of the video, the fiddler (who is now dancing) tries several times with hand motions to get him to speed up the tempo, but he doesn't- so as a dancer watching this I can feel that the Walking Dance is a little uncomfortably slow, but the two dancers make the best of it anyway. 
The other two dances (with the fiddling) feel like comfortable tempos for dancing.
I was never been able to play a jaw harp as fast as I could tap my foot, because I was concerned about injuring my teeth and lips if the harp got away on me, probably because I didn't know what I was doing. This little dance video prompted me to go and dig out my old harp and twang for a bit. Good memories.
Lisa, very interesting to see and hear the gent playing the Jew's harp or jaw harp or mouth harp. This is an "old fashioned" instrument that we seldom see anymore. Thank you.
I had the privilege of chatting with Oliver from time to time on the "chat" and I will miss him. This poem by John Donne speaks volumes to how we are connected as human beings. Thank you for introducing this tribute, Lexie. Rest in Peace Oliver.
'No Man is an Island' by John Donne
No man is an island entire of itself; every man
is a piece of the continent, a part of the main;
if a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe
is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as
well as any manner of thy friends or of thine
own were; any man's death diminishes me,
because I am involved in mankind.
And therefore never send to know for whom
the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.
Good on you Mark, this is well deserved!
'No Man is an Island' John Donne
No man is an island entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main;
if a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as
well as any manner of thy friends or of thine own were; any man's death diminishes me,
because I am involved in mankind. And therefore never send to know for whom
the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.
Erin, I record my videos with a little canon vixia camcorder and load them to my computer using the "Image Browser" software that I think came with the camera. Then I use a free app called "Any Video Converter" to edit out all the bad takes etc. and to convert from MP4 to MP3. MP4 is usually too big for this site. Then I load the MP3 on to Youtube and voila from Youtube I can share it here on FOTMD.
Cynthia, I very much appreciated your review of your new tenor guitar. Loved your playing and singing of Precious Lord. I'm pleased that you are so happy with this new addition to your collection.
I use the Schatten pickup that Rob's talking about and I am pleased with it. I have nothing to compare to as I haven't used any other pickup. I stuck the pickup onto the top of my dulcimer with the double sided tape that Schatten provided, but I actually screwed the jack receiver onto the tail piece of my instrument as I figured it was a sturdier application than glueing or taping.
