Forum Activity for @dusty

1 regular capo + 1 hacksaw = 1 shallow legged capo

That's all I got.

Paula, there is indeed a manual for TablEdit, which you can get in digital form (and print out if you wish -- it's about 150 pages or so), but it is not very user friendly.  Stephen Seifert used to have a tutorial available on his website which shows him navigating the software and talking over his computer screen.  It is very useful, but I think he has moved it from his website to the Dulcimer School.  If you subscribe to the School you can find it there.

I have sometimes learned how to do things in Tabledit just by using Google, but here at FOTMD, we use the Arranging For Mountain Dulcimers Group to pose questions about TablEdit.  Answers usually come pretty quickly.

You may already know that you can get a free trial of TablEdit which allows you to compose up to 24 measures, I think. Give it a try. As Robin says, it is not very intuitive and takes a while to get used to, but it is really powerful and once you learn it you can tab arrangements pretty darn quickly.

How could I not respond that you are referring to a song by whom?  The Turtles!  So Happy Together?

Annie, you are certainly correct, but I would suggest that songs with no range are nothing new.  Remember the song "Da Doo Ron Ron?" It was a top ten hit in the early 60s by the Crystals and again in 1977 by Shaun Cassidy. The melody (both A and B parts) only has 3 notes!  Do Re and Mi!  You can play the whole melody using only three frets on a single string on your dulcimer.  And the chorus doesn't even make any sense!

Congrats, Mark.  An honor long overdue.

And now presenting . . . for the first time anywhere (except when they made the recording) . . . Dusty and the Millennial Whoopers!

Oh my, Lisa. You know I have to post a video of that, don't you!

Well I don't find the repetitive whoop as annoying as the synthesized vocals.  There's no good reason to put a voice through a synthesizer unless a) you want to sound like a robot, or b) you are tying to hide the faults in the voice.

And we shouldn't pretend that the music we love is less repetitive than today's commercial pop. Every song in the 50s had that same I - vi - IV - V chord progression (Earth Angel, Blue Moon, Goodnight Sweetheart, Heart and Soul, Put Your Head on My Shoulder, etc.).

And 90 percent of the folk tunes that we love are so repetitive that Butch Ross teaches a workshop entitled "If You Like One Folk Song You'll Like the Other One" in which he teaches the patterns in music that appear in nearly every tune.

But none of that refutes the fact that the whoop is pretty darn annoying.

I have an 11-year-old.  When we drive in the car, the music we listen to follows this pattern:  

1) millenial whoop song

2) old cajun fiddle tune

3) millenial whoop song

4) clawhammer banjo tune

5) millenial whoop song

6) acoustic blues tune

7) millenial whoop song

8) appalachian fiddle tune

The upside? Maybe she'll remember the Balfa Brothers or Son House or Jean Ritchie.  The downside? I can (sometimes) recognize the differences between Ariana Grande, Katy Perry and Taylor Swift.

Cool!

Nina, you can trim the strings without cutting them by bending them back and forth and back and forth and back and forth until they break on their own, which will almost always be right at the point where they emerge from the hole in the post.  That way nothing will be sticking out.  I usually don't bother with that and just snip them with wire cutters, but then I use the side of the wire cutters to bend the sharp end in so that they don't stick out straight.

Another option, though it looks kind of funky, is not to trim the ends at all, but when you are dong to run them along the side of a pair of scissors. The string will curl up into a bouncy coil.  That is the same technique you've probably used with ribbon when wrapping presents.

In the future, I hope we all have those self-trimming tuners that Brian G mentions above.

Yes, Jennifer, a string winder makes changing strings a lot faster and easier.  I have a string winder that is also a wire cutter, like this one by Planet Waves .

Another tool to use is a capo.  I can't believe I never thought of this and had to get the idea from Butch Ross a few months ago, but it will make your life easier if you use a capo to hold the string in place while you thread it through the tuner post and begin your winding.  Once the string is taught enough you can remove the capo, but before then it will make your life much easier.

Nina, I think Bob is right. I usually use a .24 bronze wound string for my bass strings on my instruments in the 26.5-28" VSL range. But it is a matter of preference.  If you prefer lighter strings, go dow to a .22 or .20.

There is no difference between guitar strings and dulcimer strings other than the name on the package. But the good news is that single strings are pretty cheap. Why not buy 2 or 3 in the .20-.24 range and see which ones you prefer?

For future reference, you might consult the Strothers String Gauge Calcuator where you indicate the VSL and the note you want to tune to and the calculator will tell you what gauge to use. I've been told it errs on the light side, so feel free to go a little bit heavier than indicated.

Over the last month I've seen dulcimers for sale by Dwain Wilder, Joellen Lapidus, and Rick Probst.  If only my bank account were as voluminous as my DAD.

Wow!  That's tremendous!  I love the tone of that dulcimer and I love your playing. Thanks so much for sharing, Jan.  That's absolutely great!

Sandi, as others have pointed out, you are actually asking several different questions here.  The answer to all of them, though, is repetition.

If you want to be able to play without staring at the fretboard, you need to play the same dulcimer--or at least one with the same VSL--all the time so that you get used to equating the difference between tones with a distance on the fretboard.   I would also suggest sliding more than normal because your ear will cue you when you're approaching the right note.  Although I can play my guitar without looking at the fretboard a whole bunch, I find it much harder on the dulcimer, where we jump around on the fretboard so much.  HOwever, if you are really at a campfire, the fire will provide plenty of light to see the fretboard.

I have to admit that I am not sure how to tell you to "memorize" tunes.  For me personally, by the time I know a song, I know the song, meaning I can play it without tablature.  I can't really "play" according to tablature but only use it to learn tunes. I am sure if you went measure-by-measure or phrase-by phrase through a song you could memorize it. But I would suggest changing the way you learn songs so that you can memorize them all (until you get as old as I am and start forgetting songs you used to know).

As Ken says, you have to really "know" a piece of music in order to play it without tab. That means getting it into your head. I heard a story of Linda Brockinton driving from Arkansas to Florida listening to the same rendition of the same song over and over.  She had to get the song in her head before she was able to play it on the dulcimer. Once I know what a song sounds like, I think about it's structure. Is it AABB?  ABC? or whatever.  Then I look for other common patterns.  Maybe it is a song generally played AABB with the both parts taking 8 measures.  Is each of those 8-measure sequences a single melodic line or actually two (which is often the case).  Now I have a song with four distinct phrases, and usually the second part of the A and the second part of the B will be similar, sometimes even identical.

I do all that analysis (which only takes a minute or two once you have th esong in your head) before even playing. But I find it's important to understand the structure of a song so you can remember where you are when you are playing. Once I start learning the song, I will indeed take one phrase at a time or even one measure if it's really hard.  And as others have said, repetition is the key.  My wife and daughter hate it when I learn a new tune because I play it dozens of times every day for many days in a row.  I often play nothing other than a song I am learning until I really have it down and "know" it, by which I mean I can play it with no tablature.

Of course, I sometimes forget tunes later on, but usually all that is needed is for someone to play or hum the beginning and then my memory kicks in.  Ken says he writes down the tab for the beginning of each tune for the same reason, I'm sure.

I don't know if any of this is helpful, but I would suggest not playing songs that you can't hum or whistle or sing.  Get it into your head first, and watch your fingers on the fetboard while you play. Then your eyes, ears, and fingers are all making connections between the differences in tone between two notes and the distances on the fretboard.

Ken Hulme: Slate Creek, not Creek Slate  Dusty  

Indeed. I must be getting dyslexic in my old age.   Speaking of which, did you hear about the dyslexic who walked into a bra? 

Bobby is still a member here, though he's been much less active than he used to be.  He goes by Virginia Hogfiddler . You might still be able to find him if you Google Highnoon Hunter or Creek Slate Dulcimers.

Of course, you could try to friend him here and send a personal message.

By the way, any guitar strap will do, and they come in all price ranges and designs.

Folks, I think there are some misconceptions going on here.  Ukuleles are chromatic instruments and are not usually tuned to an open tuning. People sometimes refer to the standard C6 tuning, but that references the chord the open strings are tuned to; it does not refer to a key the instrument must play in.  That is to say, that whereas the dulcimer can be said to be tuned to a key, ukuleles are not.  The ukulele is capable of playing any song in any key.  

As Cynthia says, for a uke to accompany the dulcimer tuned to D, all that is necessary is that the uke player knows the chords of D, G, A and perhaps a few more for more complicated songs.  I simply suggest getting a ukulele chord chart like the one I attached here.

It is also true that the dulcimer can easily play in G and A with a capo at the third or fourth fret and C when tuned down one step.  You will have to decide when you want to play in D and when it might be more appropriate to play in one of the other common keys.  Just keep in mind that it is much easier for uke to accompany the dulcimer than the other way around. 

Making a box is a great idea, Ken.  I'm surprised all possom boards aren't boxes.  

That's a good deal, Ken. And that amp sure is a beast. It's amazingly small, but you can plug in an instrument and a vocal mic and set the volume and other controls for them separately.  The volume is more than enough for a medium-sized room.

Basically, you got it, Dana.  I can't draw so be glad that I am not trying.

Here is a pic of me playing my Ron Ewing baritone dulcimette at the faculty concert of the Berkeley Dulcimer Gathering.  There are two mics in use, one by my left foot for vocals and one by my right foot pointed directly at my dulcimer. (And notice that it doesn't have to get that close.) I switched between two dulcimers that day, and you can see that I wouldn't have to make any adjustments to the mics (although the sound guy did have some work to do in terms of equalization, I'm sure).

That day the mics probably went directly into the PA system, but when I plug in by myself, they go into my little Fishman Amp.  I'm sure there are lots of mics out there, but the Shure SM 57 is the workhorse instrument mic that is ubiquitous in studios everywhere, and the Shure SM 58 is the same but for vocals.

Sandi, as you can see from this discussion, a board on the bottom of your dulcimer doesn't have to have the tight fit of a possom board. Check out Peter Tommerup who just uses a wooden shelf .

Folks, I am no technophile, and maybe that's the problem. I've spent time trying to find a good external pickup (long ago I gave up on finding great ones) and do have some ideas about how to attach them with no risk to your dulcimer's finish.  I've posted that in other discussions here and will edit my comments with a link if I can find them.

However, over time I've just come to accept that (as Paul and Robin have said) a good mic such as the Shure M57 is the best way to go.  It is also the simplest in the sense that you don't have to struggle with puddy or double-sided tape or anything.  And you can switch instruments with no adjustments.  A couple of months ago I played a short gig and was using two dulcimers. One has an internal pickup and one doesn't.  But rather than work with the internal pickup and then a mic, I just used the mic for both. The sound guy had me play both instruments, noted what his settings should be, and all I had to do was play.  No plugging in pickups, no transfering from one instrument to another. It couldn't have been simpler, and the sound was an accurate representation of the acoustic sound of my instruments.

For about $110 you can get a Sure M57, a mic stand, and an XLR cable. Check out Ebay or occasional sales at Guitar Center or Sweetwater or Musician's Friend or wherever.

I guess you see what you want to see. Some people want Jesus, and some want  . . . 

Lisa, I don't think the tenor of Rob's original post was to compel anyone to do anything. Rather, it was encouraging people to play a while (perhaps a year or more!) before deciding that a standard size dulcimer is too big for them. The muscles in your fingers take a while to develop, and he didn't want people giving up too early and never learning to appreciate the deeper tones and greater volume that larger instruments bring to the table.

I probably played the dulcimer for 18 months or more before I was able to play the 1-2-4 chord.  I went through the stages of not being able to play it at all, to playing it sloppily and in pain, to finally being able to play it cleanly and comfortably.  I did exactly what you say, playing other voicings of the chord such as 1-0-1, rather than giving up, and although I didn't really work on stretching, just the act of playing regularly helped develop the muscles I needed to play that one difficult chord. Perhaps because I had played the guitar for years and remembered not being able to play barre chords and thinking that  I never would, I did not give up and buy a little dulcimer, but was patient and kept working at it until I got to the point where a 27" or 28" dulcimer is perfectly comfortable to me (though a 29" is probably not).

Jennifer, I used to know some exercises on the guitar. It was a series of scales, and each one forced you to stretch a different finger.

The only resource I can think of off the top of my head is Mike Casey's Hands-On Dulcimer .  It is a technique book for both right and left hand.  It is definitely not the kind of book you work on beginning on page one and moving forward, but you find the exercises to help with whatever you want to work on and concentrate on those.  I would bet if you started on the beginner left hand exercises in that book you would already see some progress.  And then you could work your way up to the finger independence chapter.  It's kind of pricey new, but you might get lucky (I did!) and found someone selling a copy online either here or at Everything Dulcimer.

Any chance you are going to Redwood Dulcimer Day  next month?  It's down in between San Jose and Santa Cruz so it's not that far from you.

I think I agree with everyone. 

The closest ting to a Fakebook for dulcimers are the various Join the Jam books by Stephen Seifert.  And there are several of them, the original two volumes in both DAA and DAd, one on Gospel tunes, one that plays across the strings in the "low octave," and more recently a couple of video series where you can watch him play while you play along.

And there are lots of free resources online.  On the "Resources" page of my website (don't worry; I have nothing to sell, so I'm not trying to drum up business) I have a category entitled " Free Dulcimer Tab Online ."  Follow those links and explore!

But as Strumelia says, dulcimer players do not exist in a vacuum and many of us play with other musicians.  There are lots of bluegrass and old timey fake books that might also be of interest. She describes them well.  The online versions allow you to play either fiddle versions or midi files so you can hear the basic melody.  (I have links to some of them on my website, too.)  And because certain songs are often played in a standard key, I think it's good to learn  the songs in that key.  Soldier's Joy is indeed usually played in D ("hooray" says the dulcimer chorus), but Red-Haired Boy is usually in A, Temperance Reel is usually in G, and so forth.

Anne, people will certainly post lists of their favorite tunes, and there is indeed a value in that. But I would like to point out that the three songs you mentioned are all traditional fiddle tunes.  Maybe you just like fiddle tunes (and guess, what: I do, too)!  If that is the case, you are in luck because there are thousands of them out there.

You might peruse some of the online catalogues of fiddle tunes such as the Fiddle Tune Archive of the Old Towne School of Folk Music  or Hetzler's Fakebook .   I will sometimes look through lists of fiddle tunes and examine either those that I've heard mentioned in dulcimer conversations or just those with a funny name and give 'em a listen. If one sounds like it's not too hard and its fun, I'll try to learn it.  Hetzler's Fakebook separates tunes in different keys, so you can just concentrate on tunes that are traditionally played in D.

When I find a fiddle tune I want to learn I start out just googling its name followed by "dulcimer tab."  Sometimes you get lucky and find the tab.  And if not, you might be able to learn it by ear.  But you can always find standard music notation and work that route if you can. The next step is to find renditions of it on YouTube and listen long enough to get the basic melody in your head.  It's a lot easier to play a song on the dulcimer that you have already memorized in your head.

By the way, one tune that is common in dulcimer circles now but is perhaps not as well known is Elk River Blues.  It is not really a blues but a "crooked" fiddle tune by Ernie Carpenter.  If you search the videos and music here you will find a half-dozen versions or so, some noter drone and some with chords (like mine).  The song sounds more complicated than it is and just has this easy-going roll to it, like the flow of a river.  To me it is much easier to play than Turkey in the Straw, though I like that tune, too.

Congratulations to FOTMD member Randy Adams who is the featured video artist at Cigar Box nation's dulcimer week.

Check it out here .

Go, Randy, Go!  

Hey Everyone!

July is Americana Music Month at Cigar Box Nation, and this week is dulcimer week !

Pretty cool, huh?

That's exactly what you do, Mary!  That line may not work on a poster for a gig, but it certainly works when you explain it to someone.

My personal advice is not to buy an instrument from Ebay unless you both know what you're doing and can make minor adjustments to your instrument.  

There are lots of reputable luthiers out there who make wonderful instruments.  And a lot of this comes down to personal preference. I am tempted to go through my dulcimers and tell you what I like about each one, but that might take a while.

However, I would advise those who are new to the dulcimer to be patient. You don't know how your personal preferences may evolve.  It took me perhaps three years of playing the dulcimer to understand what I want in a dulcimer.  I like the big, round, bassy sound of modern dulcimers.  I also like a fretboard that is wider than most (like Blue Lions, not like McSpaddens). I prefer ebony or some similar type of very hard wood as a fretboard overlay.  Given the way I play I can comfortably work with dulicmers whose vibrating string length is 28.5" or less, but 29" becomes a stretch.  I would like the 6+ and 1+ frets added.  I now know that I want an internal pickup since that occasionally comes in handy. I could go on, of course.

My point is that before you know what dulcimers might be good choices for you, you have to play a while.  So be patient. Save your dulcimer money in a little stash somewhere, adding to it whenever you can.  Whenever you meet somone (or even see a video of someone) whose dulcimer you think sounds nice, ask them who made it and what they like about it. Ask if you can play it for a moment.  Over time you will develop a wish list of dulcimers you really like, but at the same time you will be developing your own preferences so you'll have a better idea of what you are looking for in a dulcimer.  Perhaps you already have discovered that you really like the low action of the Modern Mountain Dulcimers (I do, too), so you have already begun the process of developing your personal preferences.

When I first started playing dulcimer, I used the double melody string because ... well ... because that's how the dulcimer came and I thought it was normal.  I ignored advice from others to remove one of the melody strings.  I arrogantly thought that since I had been used to double strings on my mandolin and 12-string guitar I could handle it. But one day whil re-stringing I left off the extra string just to see what it was like, and I immediately fell in love with the increased clarity of sound from three single strings. I have since taken the extra melody string off all my dulcimers with the sole exception of a 6 string dulcimette made by Ron Ewing.

I can understand why noter players might want that extra zing you get with the double strings, but for nearly everyone else I don't see the benefit.  It is nearly impossible to bend double strings with any accuracy, and pull-offs and hammer-ons are also a lot easier and cleaner with single strings. Additionally, if you play across all the strings, it is really hard to keep a consistency of tone and volume when one string is doubled and the others aren't.

In the end, as others have said, this is a question of personal preference.  And you might have to play a spell (as in two years or so) to figure out what your preferences are.

Let me also comment on Rob's accurate obvservation that Stephen Seifert uses a double melody for chording. True enough.  But Stephen plays with a lot of drones, and he will tell you that he sometimes goes days on end without playing any chords.  If you compare him to another great flatpicker, Aaron O'Rourke, I think you will see the difference. Stephen plays melodies mainly on the melody string even though he is comfortable across all strings. Watch his left hand, and on most songs you will see him playing horizontally up and down the fretboard.  Compare that to Aaron O'Rourke. Aaron tends to place his left hand in one spot on the fret board and play vertically across all the strings before he moves to another spot on the fretboard.  Not surprisingly, Stephen plays with a double melody and Aaron plays with a single melody.

Tessie, just so you know it's normal, I was playing a bit today. I mostly play in DAd but snuck in a tune in DAA. When I was tuning back up to DAd afterwards, my melody string broke.  Boing!  

Once I had a new string ready and my string winder by my side, it took just over two minutes for me to put on the new string and tune it up.  Obviously, I've been doing this for years, so it will take you longer, but there is nothing to be afraid of. Si se puede!

Tessie, that's a great old clip of your grandmother.  How wonderful that you have that recording to keep your memory of her singing alive.

Leo Kretzner is a great player and a wonderful teacher.  I strongly advise working with him. And please tell him I said hello, too.  Leo not only plays the dulcimer but really understands music theory and how to teach.  You will be in good hands.

If you are playing the chorus beginning on the middle string at the fourth fret tuned DAd, you can also play it beginning on the melody string on the first fret (1-1-3-4-5-5-5-4-3-1). You are playing in Em.

Personally, since I play across all the strings and chord, I would play the song in that key either by tuning to DAd and putting a capo at the first fret or by tuning to GDg, where the melody would start on the first fret of the middle string.

Whether a song is major or minor is determined by the third note of the scale.  If the major third is used, the song is in the major key. If the minor third is use the song is in the minor key (unless we're talking the blues, for that is another beast.)  Let me explain this first in the key of C.  Picture a piano keyboard.  If C is the first note of the scale, D is the second, and E is the third.  Between the C and the D are two half steps (from C to C# and from C# tto D) or one whole step.  Then from D to E we see another two half steps (from D to D# and from D# to E) or one whole step. So a major third is made up of two whole steps.  But the minor third of C is Eb, which is made up of one whole step (from C to C# to D) and one half step (from D to Eb).

On the dulcimer fretboard, notice that you have fat and skinny frets.  A fat fret represents a whole step and a skinny fret represents a 1/2 step.  So on your D string, the second fret represents the major third (two whole steps), an F#.  If you want to get a minor third from an open D string, you need that 1-1/2 fret (one whole and one half step), an F.

But elsewhere on the fretboard we can find that pattern of a fat fret and then a skinny fret, which is why you can play the song beginning on the 4th fret of the middle string or the first fret of the melody string. However, the rest of the scale may not correspond to the minor scale. This is where a discussion of modes is necessary, something Ken or someone else is better equipped to handle.

Finally, let me make a comment about the common misconception that keys themselves correspond to a certain vocal range. That is just not the case.  Different melodies have different vocal ranges.  Some are called "authentic" because the melody falls between the 1st and 8th notes of the scale. But other melodies are called "plagal," and in such melodies the first note of the scale is in the middle of the melody's range (an obvious example is Happy "Birthday").  The point here is not the terminology--which I encourage you to ignore--but the idea that different songs have different ranges, and one song in D might actually be many tones higher than another song in D, depending on the specific tonal range of the melody.  So perhaps one song is too low for you to sing in D and feels more comfortable in G, but that will not be the case for every song.

I know this is a lot to take in, but there is a reason why people usually start on the dulcimer playing "Go Tell Aunt Rhody" or "Bile Dem Cabbage Down" rather than other songs.  Since I'll be taking my daughter to the pool later, let me use that metaphor.  Starting with those basic songs mentioned above is like taking those easy steps into the shallow end of the pool. Starting the dulcimer by asking whether you should tune to D or G, and by stating that you want a 1-1/2 fret, and that you want to play a specific song in a minor key, you are jumping into the deep end. It might seem overwhelming at first, but just try to tread water for now; you'll be doing the butterfly and the Australian crawl soon!

Yes, Ken, as Rob explains you would have an F in DAG. You would also have it in DAC. But the first thing we have to do here is establish what key the song is in. Tessie's comment that she has no F in DAd but in GDg she would demonstrates that confusion.

The song is actually in a minor key.  You can find the melody on the melody string very easily in DAC: 1-1-3-4-5--5--5-5-4-3-1.  There we have an F natural at the third fret. And yes, as has been stated you could also play in in DAG if you start on the fourth fret of the melody string.

If you want to play the song in DAd, you would do so in Bm, with the melody starting on the first fret of the middle string.  Then you don't need an F natural. You could play it the same way in GDg but you would be in Em.

Tessie, learning to string your instrument is a hurdle you will overcome.  You can do it now or you can do it later, but either way, once you learn how to do it, it will be easy and you'll wonder why you were so nervous about strings to begin with.  IF you do go to a music store for your instrument to be restrung, watch what they do and do it yourself next time.  Most musicians who play regularly change strings every few months.

Tessie, you are now asking a different kind of question.  You are correct that if you need an F, you will not get it in a DAd tuning without a 1-1/2 fret.  

But I think you need to understand keys before moving on. And I apologize if you do; that just hasn't come out in this conversation.  In DAd tuning, you will almost always play in the keys of D or Bm. You can play in G or A, but it is not nearly so easy.

When you tune to GDg, you will most likely be playing in the key of G.

But before going any further, figure out what key your grandmother's music is in.  I don't think you would need an F in the key of D.  Rather than try to play in C or F or whatever out of a DAd tuning, you should transpose the song to the key of D and you should be able to play it very easily.  (ALternatively, if the song is in C you could just tune down to CGc.)

How doy you tell what key the music is in?  Next to the treble clef sign and the time signature will be a number of sharp signs.  If there are none, the song is in the key of C. If there is one, the song is in the key of G.  If there are two, the song is in the key of D. If there are three, the song is in the key of A. And so forth.

My guess is that the music you are looking at is in the key of C, so there will be no sharps or flats in between the treble clef sign and the time signature.  If that is the case, then you merely play one note above the note that is indicated. So if you see a C, you play a D; if you see a D, you play an E; if you see an E, you play an F (technically an F#); if you see an F, you play a G, and so forth. There are no "accidentals" in this song so if you play in the key of D you will not need any extra frets other than the 6-1/2.  (And if you don't have a 6-1/2 fret, then tune DAA and you'll still be able to play it.)

I hope that makes sense. You will drive yourself crazy using standard music notation in one key and trying to play it on the dulcimer always tuned to D.

Thanks for posting this, Ken. I saw Stanley's obituary last night amidst all sorts of other news and was immediately saddened.  He was probably second only to Bill Monroe in creating the bluegrass sound that we all recognize, and more than Monroe, I think, he stressed a real mountain music feel to his music. He was still making music up towards the end.  May we all be so lucky.

Tessie, you've been pointed to very good resources: Ken's beginner article and the Strother's String Gauge Calculator.

Most dulcimers with short VSLs are not intended to be tuned to D. Rather than are tuned higher, and those in the 23" VSL range are generally intended to be tuned up a fourth to G.  Can you tune your dulcimer to G, too?  Of course! If you get too low, the string will be too loose to make a nice sound, and if you get too high the string will get really tight and eventually break.

That is where the Strothers String Gauge Calculator, which Skip links to above, can help you. Put in the VSL and the note you want, and the calculator will tell you what string gauge will work. It errs on the light side, so feel free to go one or two strings heavier.

Just for some references, the McSpadden Ginger has a 23" VSL, and the set of strings they sell for that dulcimer tuned to G contains a .026 wound string for the bass, a .014" middle string, and a .010 for the melody.  I have a baritone dulcimette made by Ron Ewing, which has a 21" VSL, and I use a .020 on the bass,  a .014 on the middle, and a .010 on the melody.

My guess is that you could tune up to G if you want. Go slowly. Wear goggles. And know that breaking strings and learning to restring are among the hurdles you will overcome only to wonder why you found them so challenging to begin with.

Lisa, the point is not that everyone will be able to reach every single possible chord on an instrument with a 30" VSL, but that you don't know what you are capable of until you try.  And I don't mean try once, I mean try every day for a year or more.  My first dulcimer had a 28" scale length. When I first got it, I could neither stretch to the 1-2-4 chord or scrunch my fingers into the 6-5-7 chord.  The muscles in my fingers just wouldn't do it.  But instead of immediately trading my dulcimer for a shorter one (which would probably have a less rich tone, less volume, and less sustain), I kept playing.  I faked that 1-2-4 chord by playing a a 1-0-1 chord instead and I rarely ventured up the fretboard to those skinny frets.  But two years later, I was able to play both of those chords with ease.  The muscles in my fingers had to become both more flexible and stronger, and that happens when you play.

If you did exercises with your left hand, the pain you feel now from stretching to 8" would eventually subside, and you might indeed be able to stretch that way comfortably. And remember my point that other issues affect our reach as well. If you have very low action, stretching for a chord will be much easier than if you have high action and have to press down with lots of pressure.

I cannot do the splits.  But there is no doubt that if I started doing stretching exercises, eventually I would be able to. Along the way I would stretch enough that it would hurt, but eventually I would develop the flexibility and strength to do it.  The length between my feet when doing the splits might not be as long as other people who are taller than I am (which is most, for I'm only 5'6"), but until I spend the time stretching, I have no idea what my limit would be.

We all have our limits, and you are certainly correct that some people have longer fingers than others. But the point Rob made here is that people should not give up too early on longer instruments without giving their hands time to stretch and strengthen.

When I was a kid learning the guitar, I, too, thought that I could never do barre chords.  Even the barre across the B and E strings that's necessary for a simple F chord seemed impossible.  But one summer I decided to attack the problem. I would push my index finger down with my right hand to force it into position.  It hurt.  I forced myself to hold some of those (painful) positions as long as I could.  I did that many times every day.  Little by little the pain went away, and little by little the muscles in my finger strengthened, and by the end of the summer I was playing barre chords with ease.  What is necessary for barre chords is not a long finger, but sufficiently developed muscles in our finger.  Theoretically someone might have a finger that is too short to reach across the guitar fretboard--but toddlers and midgits aside--I don' t think there are many.

No one is born with a pinky strong enough to depress a heavy bass string and get a pure sound.  Some people try and decide that their pinky can't do it and they never use their pinky. Others work on it and eventually develop the strength to play.  The lesson that Rob is trying to impart is to not decide "I can't do something" without genuinely taking the time to work on it. 

There's a guy I see at local dulcimer events a few times a year.  He plays a McSpadden Ginger tuned to DAd because he says his hands are too small for a full-sized dulcimer.  But when we held our hands together, he realized that his hands were much longer than mine.  I tried to convince him to get a bigger dulcimer for tuning in D and tune his Ginger up to G or A where it belongs.  He decided that he's been playing too long (over ten years) to make the adjustment now.  Maybe he's right. Ten years is a long time to things one way. But I bet ten years ago had he stuck it out with a full-sized dulcimer, he would be able to play it perfectly well.

There are fancy hangers out there, but as the Kens and Dan have explained, you just need a chord and a picture hanger. I just use leather boot laces that I bought at the hardware store.  If I spent a moment or two to even out the lengths and hide the knots, it would all look nicer, but since I pull them off the wall to play all the time, I don't normally worry about it.  Here are four on one wall in my office.  

Oh, and in case you can't tell, that's a picture of Pete Seeger's banjo head.