Forum Activity for @dusty

Wow!  That playing is superb. He's really got the bounce in that dulcimer.  Film looks interesting too, but I could listen to that dulcimer all day.

No comment on the kid smoking a cig.

I regularly tune to C or C# when I fingerpick.  I don't use fingerpicks, but just my bare fingers, and I like the extra "give" in the strings. 

However, when I flatpick I want the strings very taught, as any extra give means the note is sounding slightly later than when you pluck it since the string bends before it makes any noise.  In other words, its harder to flatpick fast and accurately with looser strings.  So for flatpicking I tune to D and move my picking hand back towards the bridge or even tune up to D# or E.

I guess what I'm saying is that looser strings provide greater right-hand control when playing with fingertips but less control when playing with a pick.  So I adjust my tuning and my playing accordingly.

Garret, lot of individual instructors offer online lessons.  But as far as I know, those are the only two dulcimer schools online.  They share some basic similarities: both involve monthly subscriptions that give you access to a range of materials for different levels of play.  Dulcimer Crossing involves a greater variety of different instructors, for in addition to Steve Eulberg, there are lessons by Erin Mae Lewis, Nina Zanetti, Neal Hellman, Abrey Atwater, and others.  The Dulcimer School has Stephen Seifert and to a lesser extent Aaron O'Rourke.

In the interests of full disclosure, I should say that I know both Steve Eulberg and Stephen Seifert personally and am fond of them both.  Both are excellent teachers with decades of experience teaching dulcimer.  If you've been playing for a while and have a knowledge of basic music theory you may find some of the lessons "below" your needs, but that doesn't mean they are useless. I often just use the tab and the performance videos to learn tunes and skip the lessons that go measure by measure through a tune.

My advice would be to join both schools for a month and poke around a lot. You might decide one works better for you than the other.  Or you might decide that you would get more out of private lessons than you would from joining either one.  But you can always cancel your subscription anytime, so there are no long-term commitments. 

Oh, and happy birthday!

I'm sorry to hear Ken's description of the shoddy construction of the Seagull Merlin.  I have a Seagull 12-string guitar that is very nice (exceptional for the price) and made in Canada. The only Merlin I played (for a total of 3 minutes) had a slightly bigger and warmer sound than other strumsticks, but it oddly has only a 6+ and not a 6 fret. And it only has a total of 7 or 8 frets, so you only have one octave to work with.  The price is about that of a student model dulcimer, so I don't see it as having much of a purpose at all. If, as Ken states, many of them are not playable due to misplaced frets, it's a real shame.  No wonder you see so many on Ebay.

@Butch-Ross sometimes plays the dulcimer like a guitar.  He has a special dulcimer that only has half of an upper bout so that he can wrap his hand around the fretboard. Check out this video .  I think he had it custom-made, but I'm not sure.  He is a member here, so you might ask him.  If that design is something you're interested in, you might contact some of the luthiers here and see if they can make you a custom instrument.

I don't think putting heavier strings on a tin-sounding instrument like a strumstick will have more than a negligible effect. If you want a big, warm sound, you would generally need a pretty big box.

Let me add that I think your playing will be limited if you play by wrapping your hands around the fretboard. If nothing else, you eliminate the possibility of using your thumb.  Notice in the video of Butch Ross that although he plays standing up for that first tune, which mostly involves strumming chords to accompany his voice, in the next clip, which involves much more elaborate fingering, he is sitting down and playing a regular dulcimer. (You might also compare the 3rd and 4th tunes in the same video for the same contrast.)

Very moving episode, Patricia.  Thank you.

It's mostly the same tunes, but with updated lyrics.  Instead of "If you're happy and you know it clap your hands" you have to sing "If you're happy and you know retweet this meme." 

Seriously, my kid was in kindergarten about a decade ago, and the songs were basically the same as when I was a kid.  In fact, you're giving me a good idea for a "Call the Tune" for any songs for kids.  We could all share our ideas for good songs for kids.

What a cutie! I can't wait to see it when it grows up!

Sorry to hear this news. Condolences to Ruth's friends and family.

That looks like a mighty fine instrument, @Wmacky.  Really beautiful.

Congratulations, @Wmacky. I'm sure you'll make that dulcimer sing in no time.  Do you have any pictures to share?

(By the way, I think the name is Richard Beard , though I'm sure he eats bread every now and then. )

Don, others have asked this question, too, assuming that the small differences in distances between frets would pose problems.  But I've never found it to be a problem.  I do think it helps that I tend to look at the fretboard rather than tablature when I play, but I think you'll get used to whatever instruments you play.  I regularly play instruments whose VSLs range from 17" on an octave dulcimer to 28-1/2" on one I string as a baritone.

As @Robert-Schuler explains, it is easier to finger certain chords on smaller dulcimers, which is why my main dulcimer now has a 25" VSL.  But there is also a trade-off, as shorter strings in general have less sustain.

Don, the questions isn't as simple as you might think because VSL and string gauge both vary, so different VSLs might require different string gauges to get the same tones.

Standard size dulcimers can probably be thought of as having at least 25" VSLs.  Dulcimers smaller than that, say in the 22-24" range are usually tuned up a fourth or fifth to G or A, but not always.  A lot of people play the McSpadden Ginger model tuned DAd.

And Skip's suggestion of using a capo at the 7th fret demonstrates, you can also get DAd an octave above a standard dulcimer.  There are a few really well-made octave dulcimers out there, Ron Ewing is probably the best known builder.  

Apologies since Don and I hijacked this discussion momentarily.  It should not be about the specific scales that I play.  @Diane-R's original question is about how different people practice and how they keep up the songs they have learned.

Try the video again. I just edited the settings.

@Don-Grundy, here is a quick video I just made that demonstrates the main scales I am working on now and hints at the arpeggios as well.

Here is tab for the first scale , which goes up each string individually.

Here is tab for the second scale , which really works the pinky and goes across the strings in the first position.

I have not yet put together tab for the third scale I demonstrate that starts on the open bass string and then goes up two octaves to the seventh fret of the melody string.  Check back with me in a few days and I'll try to put something together.

In the video I mention a tune by @Mark-Gilston called "Time and Tide" which is a study of arpeggios.  It's actually a beautiful tune and calling it a study does not do it justice.  I also mention a book by @Aaron-ORourke called Faster Cleaner Better , which I have started working with for arpeggio exercises.  I should probably have started with Mike Casey's book Hands-On Dulcimer  which includes an enormous assortment of exercises for both right and left hands.

Regardless of how you start playing, I think it's important to end by playing something that you know pretty well.  To avoid the frustration that comes from trying to improve on any musical instrument, it is essential to maintain a feeling of satisfaction and confidence.  Don't put the dulcimer down when you're frustrated; rather, put it down with a feeling of joy and competence.  Make sure the last tune you play is something you know well and that gives you pleasure.

Unlike Ken, I do practice.  There are techniques or songs that I find challenging that I want to learn.  Of course, sometimes I just play and don't care about mistakes or improving. That's important, too. But when I want to focus and consciously improve my playing I always start with some scales and arpeggios to get my technique into shape.  Then I might play one song that I've learned recently, but pretty soon I start with whatever I'm working on at the moment. It might be a song or it might be a technique. Often it's a tiny section of a song, even a measure that's giving me problems, and I'll obsess on that measure, playing it over and over and over.  But as I said above, while that OCD behavior does indeed lead to improvement, it can also be frustrating, so I make sure I avoid or at least minimize that feeling of frustration by switching to a tune that I know well.

Occasionally, I review lists of songs to make sure I don't "lose" any.  Right now I have two different lists.  One is the tunes that I play with my local dulcimer group.  I don't really mind if I make mistakes with that stuff, since we play it all together, but I want to at least remember how each tune goes.  The second list is my list of tunes that I might play if someone asked me to play in front of people.  That list changes, as I add and drop tunes as my tastes and abilities evolve, but I try to make sure I can play those tunes with as few mistakes as possible.  I don't go over these lists of tunes every day, though.  Depending on how busy life gets I might only get to them once every couple of weeks.

There are some pretty fancy carbon-fiber guitars that are made specifically for outdoor extreme temperatures.  And I've played those ukuleles like the Waterman by Kala that can be used as an oar if you get stuck in a boat.  But I don't think dulcimers built along those lines would be so simple or inexpensive.

My initial thought is similar to what @Greg-Gunner and @Ken-Hulme have suggested.  Get an octave dulcimer.  They are no more than 2 feet long and can easily be transported in a small padded case and left beside your desk while you work. Then you just sling it over your shoulder, grab your lunch pail, and have a musical lunch hour.  I work from home and still sometimes play one during lunchtime!  My wife sometimes takes a shoulder bag to work that could easily hold a purse, a lunch, and an octave dulcimer.  You could do the same.

looks beautiful!

Jeannnie, I'm so glad you are starting to build your collection of dulcimers again.    And your story is more evidence of what a kind, giving community dulcimer players are.  Perhaps I'll see you at some dulcimer event in northern Cal one of these days.

Ken is right.  It looks like the bridge has a groove for a double melody string, so you could make one in the nut and string the dulcimer as a three-course instrument with a double melody string.  Or you could just string it as a three string instrument with no double melody.  Lots of folks take off that extra string anyway.

You might consider putting on new strings if those on the instrument seem old. I try to change strings every few months.

By the way, this Forum on Site Questions is intended for questions about how the website works.  So I've moved this discussion to the Forum for questions on specific instruments and luthiers. It will be easier for others to find that way.

Favorites?  Depends on my mood.

I will say that I think the two most beautiful melodies ever written are Danny Boy (Londonderry Air) and Greensleeves.

DAC is in the key of D minor.  Your "home" or "tonic" is the first fret on the melody string, which is a D.

Jimmy, let me add that if you are playing in a drone style, the drones themselves tell you what the key is.  Drones can only be the 1st and 5th notes of the scale, so DAA is D ionian.  DAd is D mixolydian.  DAC is D aeolian.  And DAG is D Dorian.

Hey I just remembered that Butch Ross also has a book of Beatles tunes.  Since I know he has played "Blackbird" on the MD, I bet that tune is there.

JP, if you contacted someone privately, that would be OK.  But if we make those kinds of connections on the public discussions at FOTMD, even if the actual exchange happens elsewhere, the site is still legally implicated.

JP, performing and distribution are two different things.  You can perform a cover at a formal venue because in all likelihood that venue has paid an annual fee to ASCAP. And even if they didn't, the legal burden is on the venue and not the performer to ensure they are in compliance with copyright tunes.

You can play at home and for your friends and family any copryighted music you want.  That is legal.  It is also legal to tab out for your own purposes a copyrighted song.  And you can even share it with a friend.  That's all legal.

But you cannot distribute that material without paying for a license to do so.  And the Napster court case affirmed that online sharing constitutes illegal distribution.  Because FOTMD is free and open to the public, we cannot exchange copyrighted materials. 

Most of the stuff on those guitar tab sites is illegal. Plain and simple.  There are also tons of YouTube videos of people playing covers of copyrighted tunes.  That's all illegal, too.

Neal Hellman published a book of Beatles tunes arranged for the MD, but I don't think "Blackbird" is in there.  The only dulcimer player I can think of who has played the tune is Butch Ross.

The second way to incorporate a photo is to embed it as I did the screen shot in both of these responses to you.  In that case you choose the "embed local media" icon, which looks like a piece of film strip and is the second-to-last icon on the tool bar above the text box.

When you click the embed local media icon, a screen will appear asking you what size you want the photo to be and where the photo is located.

Jimmy, there are a couple of different ways to incorporate a photo into a post.  One is to use the "Attache File" button just below the text box on the right. As in this screen shot below.

When you "Attach File" it appears as a small icon below your text, with a download link to the right, as in the case below.

 Dusty the Jester.jpg - 20KB

You don't need a strum hollow. You can strum or pick anywhere you want.  I usually tell beginners to strum wherever their hand and arm feel most comfortable. Eventually, as you have discovered, you will learn to move toward the bridge to get a sharper tone and tighter strings and toward the middle of the dulcimer to get a warmer tone and looser strings.

Adding a strum hollow will not change the tone of your dulcimer.  The only exception would be if you use a flatpick and sometimes hit the fretboard, creating a clicking sound.  (I sometimes have that issue, unfortunately.) Good technique can avoid that problem, and strumming over the strum hollow does as well, obviously.

It sounds like you are off to a great start.  My advice would be to eventually begin strumming both in and out, alternating in a steady pattern, but don't worry about that right away. Take your time.

There's always one comedian in the crowd.

Barbara, my baritone dulcimette is about 28.5" long and 7" wide at its widest along the lower bout.  If your local music store is worth anything, they might be able to order a viola case from one of their suppliers. You could then bring in your Ginger and determine whether it would fit or not. If not, they should be able to return it no problem.  It's worth talking to them.

You will have to adjust the inside of the case to adapt it to the dulcimer, but you should be able to see how to do that when you see them both together.

Very cool photo, Charles. I was going to say something similar to Strumelia's comment (though I certainly couldn't identify the date of the photo by the clothing -- wow!.  Bluegrass was invented in the 1950s, so these guys were some kind of string band.  Think of Charlie Poole and the North Carolina Ramblers, although that trio used a banjo instead of a mandolin.

If you want to hear what they might have sounded like, Columbia Records put out a 2 CD compilation of stuff that was originally released on old 78s from the mid 20s to the mid 30s.  The CD is called White Country Blues.  I highly recommend it.

@Victorsings, I think I remember reading somewhere that Larry Barringer turned his luthier business over to Terry McCafferty, who is currently making excellent dulcimers out of Houston. You might consider contacting Terry.

Hi Barbara. I used a viola case for my baritone dulcimette by Ron Ewing. It is about the same length as a Ginger.  You can see a picture here .  I just cut away the part of the case that holds up the neck.  I didn't do a particularly good job, but the case works really well.  It's small enough to easily fit in the overhead compartment of airplanes and the hardshell case offers peace of mind.

I suggest taking your Ginger into a music store, not a Guitar Center but a store that deals with a variety of instruments such as those that serve school orchestras.  The will have lots of types of cases to check out.

There are also gun cases with customizable foam that could be form fitted around your dulcimer, but TSA would definitely notice those!

Don, you've gotten some good advice here.  As Robin has pointed out, the main keys for folk music are C, D, G, and A, and Skip has explained how to figure out the important I, IV, and V chords in those keys.  You can use any chord chart, such as those Stephen Seifert makes available , to learn how to play those chords.  You should also be aware of how versatile the barre chord is.  I assume you can count to 7 and you know the alphabet. If 000 is a D chord, then 111 is an E chord, 222 is an F (really F#) chord, 333 is a G chord, 444 is an A chord, 555 is a B chord, and 666 is a C chord.  Then we start over with D again at 777. Until you learn more chord voicings, those are safe places for you.

Personally, I prefer to approach this by using a capo, which enables me to play in D, G, and A out of a DAd tuning, and then tuning down a step to CGc to play in C.  Then I only have to learn the chord positions for one key but they will work in the others.  What I mean by that is that 002 is a D chord when tuned DAd, a G chord with the capo at 3, an A chord with the capo at 4, and a C chord when tuned CGc.  So I consider that a I chord rather than remembering four different chord names.  The same with the 013.  That's a G in DAd, but a C with the capo at 3, a D with the capo at 4, and an F when tuned CGc.  I could memorize all that or I could just think of it as a IV chord.  I could go on, but hopefully you see my point. 

I explain this approach in a document I've attached which was written for a different but related question, and also includes a transposition chart for the major keys.  And you can see me demonstrating how to use a capo to move to the keys of G and A this video here .

strumming in various keys out of DAd tuning.pdf - 22KB

If by "standard" you mean a guitar capo, yeah, that won't work.  Ron Ewing in Ohio makes great dulcimer capos for about $22 or $23.  He usually ships really fast, too. If you're pretty handy on the workbench you can make one of your own.  It's worth having one around even if you don't use it for this tune.

Congratulations, Jimmy. Now that you're so good at changing strings, I have an old autoharp . . . 

Hey, I do have one tip for you which I learned from Butch Ross and can't believe I never though of.  As you found out, it can be hard to keep the loop ends on until there is enough tension on the string.  But you can use a capo to do that for you, which frees up your hands.  So put the loop end on, pull the string taut, and put a capo on to hold it in place.  Then go ahead and wind the string around the tuner.  It's so simple I'm embarrassed that I was changing strings for years and never thought of it.

And don't worry; the 45 minutes will be reduced to 5 or 10 in no time.