Well, the really important thing is that you are hearing the difference. I think that if we can hear when our playing is choppy and really want to make it smooth, we'll find ways to smooth it out. One place to really watch for choppiness is between a pickup note and the rest of the phrase. I'm on a "campaign" (smile) to get dulcimer players sensitized to this particular glitch, and I work very hard myself at avoiding it.
have fun!
Nina
Yes, the more fingers you put into use, the easier it is to have fingers available to smoothly transition between notes. So, using thumb on melody helps a lot. I also use my PINKY a LOT on the melody string. So, basically, I'm playing the melody much of the time with my pinky and thumb; that leaves three fingers (ring, middle, index) to negotiate all the other notes. Another strategy that adds a bit of sustain to notes is to use vibrato.
Nina
A follow up, because I do think that smooth playing can go a long way to making dulcimer playing sound beautiful:
a) Another great way to connect the notes is to slide from one to the next. Not on every note, but I remember once LInda Brockinton telling me that she "slides all the time", and that helped me think more about playing smoothly.
b) Another analogy that I use with my workshop classes is to think "glue fingers": keep each finger down until absolutely necessary to lift it up. And, by "down" I mean close to the wood. The result will be that you'll be making your dulcimer "sign", with the notes very connected, as in vocal music (or violin music).
c) Recording yourself, even tho' yes it makes us all nervous, is a wonderful way to hear where the "gaps" are.
d) One final suggestion: to see this technique of "glue fingers", you might try going to you tube and watching videos of folks who make it a priority to put this smooth ("legato") style in their playing. Plenty of good dulcimer players do, but Linda Brockinton and Janita Baker come to mind (and, oh OK, my own vids will show it, too). A guitarist who does this beautifully, and really makes his guitar "sing" is El McMeen.
Happy playing!
Nina
Hi, I just saw this post , and it seemed to me that maybe by "choppy" you meant that there were little gaps between the notes, as tho' the sound of each note was being stopped rather than sustained. If that's what you meant, then I think the problem is more a matter of left hand technique than strumming. That is, it could be how you are fretting the notes, or- more to the point- what you do with your LH once you have played a note. With the dulcimer, after you've played a note, the tone starts to die off. But, the tone will completely stop if you lift your LH finger off of the position on the string. In fact (and this is important), the tone will stop completely even if you keep your LH finger in contact with the string, but if you lighten the pressure so much that the string lifts up from the fret. I've seen people do this, and what's happening is that they are inadvertently "muting" the strong after they play the note. It's the technique that we might use intentionally to produce "chop chords", i.e. when we WANT the sound of a chord stop abruptly. But, in song-like, sustained tunes, we want to the notes to flow smoothly, one note connected to the next. Again, the important thing is this: if you lift up your LH finger enough so that the string no longer contacts the fret (I think of it as contacting the wood of the fretboard), then you will have created a gap in the tone, and there will be silence until the next note is plucked.
Any chance this is what you're experiencing? If so, you've taken the first step to correcting the problem, which is to be aware of it! If you can hear those "gaps", then you at least know where you need to connect or smooht out the notes. Next step is to figure out how. The trick: never lift a LH finger (that has just played a note) until it is absolutely necessary. So, you'd never want to the finger (LH) of the note that's just been played until you set down the finger (LH) of the next note. Janita Baker gives a wonderful analogy of dancing: one foot always has to touch the floor/ one finger always has to remain pushing down the string. This takes practice, but is a habit well worth developing, if you want to have your playing sound smooth and song-like. If you are playing chords or across the strings, it's really good practice to hold down any note as long as possible, sometimes holding down a note on one string while you move a different finger to a new place on a different string.
Hard to explain all this in writing, but hope this helps some. Feel free to ask more questions.
Nina
I think Susan Trump has a fretless banjo made by Stanley Hicks, and i believe she knew him personally. You coudl try to contact her via her website.
Nina
