Forum Activity for @dusty

You're a good man, Rob N. Lackey.

Hey rwarren.

Over the years I've used several items from the Happy Traum and the folks at Homespun.  They are all really good.  I used a couple of bluegrass packages (including the 4-hour bluegrass workout, which I highly recommend) and one harmony singing course (by Robin and Linda Williams) as well.

I don't know the Lorrain Lee Hammond dulcimer course, but she was a pioneer in the modern dulcimer and if you are a beginner, that is probably a good product.

I have a copy of the David Schnaufer DVD and can say that it's very good, but he doesn't teach a general approach to the dulcimer as much as teach a series of songs.  I think the only general information he provides is some stuff on playing the major scale both up the fretboard and across the strings. But then he just goes into the songs.  So the Schnaufer DVD would be good only if you want to learn those songs, whereas the Hammond CD set is probably a more coherent introduction to the dulcimer.

Those are the only two dulcimer items I know of offered by Happy Traum.

I think Stephen made the important points, eli.  McSpaddens are consistently good instruments and hold their value well.

At some point in the past--perhaps Ken could tell us when--they stopped using plywood for the backs and started making all solid wood dulcimers.

They also sell kits, and I would not suggest buying one made from a kit unless you could hold it and play it first.  Just ask what the label inside the dulcimer says; it will indicate if it were made in the shop or was a kit that someone bought and made for themselves.

Lots of folks name their dulcimers.  I never named any of my guitars or mandolins, but most of my dulcimers have names. The first one I ever bought has rosebud soundholes and I named her Rosita.  Later I obtained a baritone teardrop with rose soundholes and named that one Tia Rosa.  I got my Blue Lion from FOTMD member Jeannie in Paradise and named it Queenie, partly in honor of Jeannie and partly because my daughter insisted that since female lions do the hunting they should be considered the queens of the jungle.  I have another named Lucinda and my daughter named her octave dulcimer with dolphin soundholes Splash.  But oddly, the the dulcimer I play most often is just my dulcimer.  No name.  

And I mean no offense, but dulcimers have such beautiful curves, they have to have female names.  I guess Lexie and I just don't agree on that.  Maybe a Tennessee music box could be called Fred or Barney, but an hourglass has to be female, especially if its voice is as alluring as the sirens' song.

Having those two options of how to join a forum is excellent. If you've been following it regularly, you would only want to see the most recent posts. Otherwise, you can join in the beginning and catch up. Some of these changes will be second nature to us all once we get used to the nuances of our new home.

It all makes sense. (But that doesn't mean that I'm not scared by the way Strumelia wields that red pen -- like an English teacher on a warpath!)

John, I am confused. Why would you want to make your screen narrower and narrower?  Instead of changing the shape of your screen, use CTRL - to decrease its size and CTRL + to increase it. That way the aspect ratio stays the same.

On my laptop, I can reduce the size of the screen as much as I want and it all stays visible and functional.  When I increase its size, it works until 150%, when it looks like Dan's screenshot above. But no matter how the site is laid out, if you increase more and more eventually you will run out of space. You can break the laws of man, but not the laws of physics.

I don't see any differences between IE, Firefox, and Chrome in terms of the size of the screen.

Dan, I'm sorry you're having trouble here, but your anger seems misplaced.  As testified to by others, the site is working on iPads, Kindles, Nooks, and both tablets and phones using Adroid. So your insistence that there is a coding problem with the site is suspect at best.  Not only that, but Strumelia, myself, and others have spent a fair amount of time trying to figure out how to help you.

I will say this as plainly as I can. The toolbar should not be there. Instead, on mobile devices, you get the mobile menu icon, which is that series of 6 white squares and rectangles. I can see it on your screenshot, so I know it's there. When you click that, you get a menu that has all the options of the toolbar. Please give it a try.

Dan, if you purposefully zoomed in, then the only issue is that the tool bar that would show up on a website viewed from a pc is now in the mobile menu icon, meaning those white squares and rectangles.  Click on that and a new toolbar will appear with all the options you would normally see. It did not exist on the old site because that site was not enabled for tablets and smartphones. This one is.  The mobile interface is not identical to the regular website view, but once you get used to it, it should function better.  (For the record, I still use my pc whenever I actually want to do anything other than listen to tunes.)

Hmm . . . are you saying I'm dumb?  Them's fightin' words. 

You are correct, almost.  I do indeed see that same toolbar when I go do "Discussions."  When I go to my Home Page, however, I have a drop-down menu rather than a tool bar.  And in some areas (Music, Audio, Groups, etc.) there is neither a toolbar nor a dropdown menu.   The mobile menu icon is always there, so navigation is always possible, but it seems odd that there are different possibilities in different screens.

P.S. I was only kidding about fighting.  I would only punch you with my lips on your cheek  .

Strumelia, using my Android phone (a new Samsung Galaxy S6) I do indeed see the mobile menu icon when I go to the FOTMD main page. In that sense, I can navigate the site fine.

However, if I access the site directly from an email notification, not only does that icon appear on the upper left, but I also have another tool bar (which takes up two rows in portrait mode) that lists "discussions," "newest posts," "my posts," "settings," "categories," and "your settings." When I go directly to the FOTMD homepage, I do not see that toolbar.

And yes, Dan's screenshot looks like he is zoomed in too much.

Dan, you might need to reduce the size of the screen. Depending on how big your tablet is, that might make it hard to read the words, but it looks to me like you have it sized at least to 125% if not 150%, and you can't get the whole screen. You mention zooming in above, but I think you need to zoom out.

For the record, I just tried for the first time to access the site from my Kindle HD 7, and it works great. The site automatically resizes when I switch from landscape to portrait mode and I see the entire site with all the buttons.  The print is a little small, but I have glasses that make me see like a marksman. 

However, I did just try to view the site from my Android phone, and I find the tool bar is hidden in ways similar to Dan's screen even though the rest of the page fits fine. Maybe there is an Android problem.

I don't necessarily have an opinion about whether one should learn melody or chords first, but I can corroborate Travis's assumption that most guitar teachers start with chords.  I think the reason is simply that with a few chords one can quickly accompany one's singing. It is also the case that most single note work on the guitar is built out of left-hand chord positions (I am not joking that it took me 15-20 years of playing to figure that out, but I am almost entirely self-taught).

I certainly wish you the best, but I do agree that a guitar player who is not familiar with the dulcimer may not be the best teacher. You might consider Skype lessons from a dulcimer teacher.  Just the fact that you are asking about rare chords makes me think your teacher may not really "get" a diatonic fretboard.

Just a quick note on Janita Baker's use of the DAA#d tuning: you can't strum. She fingerpicks, and that A# string allows her to get all the chromatic notes, which is why she can play jazz and ragtime and stuff. But if you follow her tablature and try to strum across all the strings, it will sound terrible.  The tuning only works for her style of fingerpicking.

Try this one: https://www.oldtownschool.org/classes/adults/fiddle/tunes/ . I think those are all MP3 files.

Janet, I am no expert on Apple products, but my understanding is that older versions of Quick Time can play midi files.  Try to install QT 7 and see if that works.

Another (more time consuming) solution would be to use one of the many free online audio converters to convert the midi files to mp3 files.  If you put "Free online audio coverter) in the Google search bar, you'll find plenty of options.  Don't use any that ask you to register or demand payment.

Michael, if you can afford it, you might consider sending your instrument back to Folkcraft and asking them to install a pickup.  Find out how much that would run you.

If it's too much, Rob's suggestion of the Schatten Dualie is a good idea.  I've never used one myself but I've heard good things from several other folks.

 John, once you've logged in and your UserName appears to up on the top toolbar, hover your cursor over your name. A drop-down menu will appear, and one option is "Account Settings."  You can see all the variables that you can change on your account.  You will see two lines for "password" and "repeat password." Put the new password you want in both places.  After you save that page, a pop-up will tell you that you need to indicated your "existing" password to make that change. The "existing" password is the auto-generated one that you were sent by email. Once you enter that, your new password will be active.

Jan, I can see why the upright cart might take up less floor space, but it also limits the kind of items you can carry. Smaller items in the bottom would be a hassle to grab, I would think. My cart becomes a kind of catch-all, where I can toss a bottle of water, my keys, someone's business card, a string winder, a jacket or hat or whatever. The festivals I've attended apparently don't have the same space issues yous peak of. But I tend to find a little spot to make my own where I park my cart and then take whatever instrument and other supplies I need to any given workshop. At the Berkeley Dulcimer Gathering about a week ago, we emptied out a couple of classrooms to gather the chairs and music stands for larger groups. I just put my cart in one of the empty classrooms, and that became my little spot, not only to store my stuff but to get away for a quiet moment here and there. It was right next to the room I used for the workshop I taught so it was really convenient. But you are right; if I had to take the cart with me everywhere I went, it would be a hassle.

When I played at a small arts fair with a few other folks some time ago I had to bring two dulcimers and a guitar as well as some mics and cords and other stuff. When I arrived I heard the other musicians wondering if I needed help carrying all my stuff and wondering if they should try to call me to find out where I was. They got a kick out of my cart of instruments when they saw me. And I've also used it to play for my daughter's class in school, when I cart in a whole bunch of instruments: a ukulele, a mandolin, an autoharp, a six- and twelve-string guitar, a couple of limberjacks, and, of course, a dulcimer. I have to admit I get a kick out of walking around the school with my cart of instruments like a modern troubadour.

I used to use what I called every boy's dream red wagon. It was a Radio Flyer all-terrain wagon, with big nobby tires, wooden panels for the sides, and so forth. But I had to take it apart to get it to fit in my car, so I had to carry tools with me wherever I went.

Then my daughter started playing in the fancy soccer leagues where teams travel to weekend tournaments, and we saw all the seasoned soccer families with these collapsible wagons. We got one. It's great. I've taken it to my last two dulcimer festivals, hauling around two dulcimer cases, a file box of tablature, a thermos, a music stand, a chair, and more. It's light, it folds up easily, holds lot of odd-sized stuff, and it helps you create that "home base" wherever you are.

It's on sale now at Dick's Sporting Goods , but I don't get a percentage, so I don't care if you buy one there or not. I also just checked some of the consumer reviews. Lots of complaints about the smell. I don't remember it being that bad, but we keep ours in the garage, so it probably aired out before we ever had to use it.

Babs, remember that guitar straps have to hold up the weight of the guitar, but a dulcimer is going to be supported by your lap, even if you hold it in place with a strap. If the screws that come with the strap buttons seem too long, feel free to use smaller ones. I have done that on two of my dulcimers.

A couple of other pieces of advice: as Jan suggests, put some soap on the screw before you screw it into the pre-drilled hole. It will make it easier. And screw by hand; don't use an electric driver. Just take it slowly and you'll be fine.

Also remember that you might not need a strap button on the head of the dulcimer. You can just loop underneath the strings and around the head. That way you can avoid drilling into the body of your dulcimer. There are lots of inexpensive products you can buy to facilitate this. Chech out this Planet Waves quick release or this leather device by Martin . And some straps come with leather strips to attach to the headstock instead of a hole to attach to a strap button.

A national treasure indeed, marg. In many ways, anyone who plays the dulcimer today is one of Jean Ritchie's heirs.

Strumelia started a discussion in the Jean Ritchie Fan Club group devoted to remembering Jean.

I've had a few of the easy clip-ons and find them mostly all the same. I just bought one of the new Snark SN-8 (new black) models on Ebay and only paid $8 or $9, so look around and don't pay too much. I must like it since I have two of the SN-2 (red) models. The only complaints I've heard about the Snarks is that sometimes the head snaps off the base. But that's got to be user error, so if you take care of it, it will be fine. And I don't think you can beat the price.

There really aren't a whole lot of variables. How fast and accurate is the tuner? How easy it is to read? Other than that, some have a crappy metronome built in and most allow for calibration, so perhaps you can play along with a piano or autoharp or hammered dulicimer that is tuned to itself but a tad off. I personally never use those features.

Judy, most bluegrass tunes are the same tunes played in dulcimer circles or old timey groups, but they are simply played much faster in bluegrass groups. The most comprehensive collections of those tunes in dulcimer tab are Stephen Seifert's Join the Jam books. You might pick up the first of those books and then do an online search for common bluegrass tunes to see which ones are played in both circles.

One thing to look out for, though, is that while dulcimer players play nearly every tune in D, in bluegrass circles, other keys such as C, G, and A are also common. Blackberry Blossom is always in G, Billy in the Lowground is always in C, Red-Haired Boy is always in A, St. Anne's Reel is always in D, and so forth. If you are going to play with bluegrass folks you will want to learn the keys for common songs.

When I was learning mandolin, I used a book/CD set called Steve Kaufman's Bluegrass Workout which has music for a whole bunch of common bluegrass tunes, with a CD that plays each tune once very slowly and then once at bluegrass speed. But each rendition has the full song once and then two versions with just the back-up instruments, and you are supposed to play the melody. It was really good practice. The book does not include dulcimer tab, though, but if you can learn by ear or get the basic melody off the standard music notation it could work pretty well.

For most of my life I jogged pretty regularly. It was a cheap way of getting really good exercise and could be done anywhere in the world. And sometimes I was able to enjoy really scenic runs, such as the hills above Berkeley overlooking San Francisco Bay, the SF skyline, and the Golden Gate Bridge, or a run I used to do in the rolling hills of Iowa where I would see no other people or cars for an entire 6-mile run. But recently some problems with my feet, ankles, and knees have made it kind of risky for me to run on the roads. Eventually I joined a gym and it took me about a full year of running on the treadmill regularly before I taught myself to do it. The meditative zen that I could achieve on the roads when I was lost in my own thoughts was really hard to find on a machine in a brightly lit room next to another machine with another person huffing and puffing and another machine next to that one and . . . . Eventually I learned to ignore my surroundings and get into a groove despite the fact that dozens of strangers were sweating only a few feet from me. I can't say that it's not boring but rather that eventually I learned how to do it despite the boredom.

Strumelia said:

No, the bicycling to the gym part is not boring, it's the 'stationary' treadmill at the gym that's boring. I'm never bored riding my bike.

A friend of mine seriously believes that all babies should be issued a ukulele by the government. She insists that the savings in terms of increased production due to greater happiness would far outweigh the costs of the instrument. She is a mental health professional. Maybe she got the idea from Good Ol' Charlie Brown:

Or maybe she got it from this song by Loudon Wainwright III , who insists that "Four strings made of nylon always put a smile on/Anybody's face who's feeling blue." Why?

Because a ukulele's like a little baby

You cradle it in your arms and you sing

A lulluby or ditty when you're feeling shi**y

It'll pick you up, you know it's just the thing.

Geekling said:

Hey, I have Kaiser! Do you think they might issue me a uke, like they did my cane (not the Hurrycane, mind you)?

Kaiser Permanente, an HMO based in Northern California (in fact, the first HMO ever, created back when the Kaiser shipyards made the ships in Oakland and Richmond, CA that won World War II) has been running a recent advertising campaign:

I don't have high blood pressure, but I would have to agree that music reduces stress and helps us deal emotionally with whatever life throws our way.

I looks like a cool instrument, and it sounds wonderful. But I am confused about the logic of such a complicated fretboard. Why not have chromatic frets under all the strings? You could simply choose not to fret the two bass strings and you could choose to only play diatonic music on the melody string. What is the advantage to the two drone strings being unfretted and the melody string limited to diatonic frets?

Congratulations, Ken, on placing third. That's an accomplishment unto itself. I would imagine at most of the competitions everyone knows each other, which is why at a lot of them the performances are supposed to be anonymous (not that you can't identify most players by their playing style).

Linda Brockinton told me she used to work for a whole year in preparation for a competition. She would arrange a tune with an introduction, a couple of verses, a few variations on the verses, and then some kind of ending. And she would practice all year to really have everything down. Even if you don't take your preparation to that level, the fact that you are already planning what you're going to play means you will likely be more prepared than you were this year.

My hat's off to you, Ken. I get nervous enough at a friendly open mic. I can't imagine a competition.

And Aaron's advice is best: "have fun and enjoy being there."

That's pretty cool, Susie. I want one of those!

I assume that traditionally dulcimers were tuned to whatever keynote sounded best. A luthier would "hoo in the hole," meaning sing into the soundhole and find the tone that resonated most saliently and then tune the instrument to that key.

Obviously if you are singing with the dulcimer, you will tune to the key that best fits your voice. And that might vary by song. I can sing some songs in D, but others I have to sing in C, C# or even G depending on the precise range of the melody.

For just playing, though I tend to switch between C and D depending on whether I am fingerpicking or flatpicking. I like the extra slack and the soft pull of the strings in C for fingerpicking, for that allows a more precise touch. But for flatpicking, especially playing fast, I want the strings tighter and with less give, so I tune to D. I also tend to flatpick back toward the bridge and fingerpick toward the 10th fret or so.

I think Ken is probably right about the timing of the switch from C to D. Whether it was specifically to play fiddle tunes or merely to play with other instruments in the keys of D, G and A, I am not sure.

But you are certainly correct, Babs, that the norm these days, regardless of what modal tuning one uses, is to tune to the key of D, at least on standard sized dulcimers.

Thanks, Martha. I don't know that one but it looks approachable enough from the tab. Thanks for the suggestion.

Martha E said:

One of my favorites is Keel Row:

http://threeriversdulcimersociety.net/Music/Keel%20Row.pdf

Thanks, James. I play all three of those with my regular dulcimer group, so they were among the first I put on the list.

James Phillips said:

Dusty, a couple I'd suggest are already on that list - Water Is Wide, Southwind, Morning Has Broken. Good luck with this!

I have to admit, John, that I didn't know that one. But I just gave it a listen and it sure is fun! I'll put some tab together, maybe even some lyrics and chords, and add that to the list. Thanks for the suggestion!

john p said:

You have to include 'I'll Tell Me Ma' as well.

Thanks, William. The Minstrel Boy was the first fingerpicking tune I ever tried, and I'll definitely add that to the list. I also learned Annie Laurie from some tab Nina Zanetti posted on her website, so I'll definitely add at least those two. the list of songs I have to learn, though, is getting pretty long, so I'm not sure how many of the others will make it to the list before the event itslef. Thanks for the suggestions.

William Craig Mann said:

Consider:

Scotland the Brave, The Minstrel Boy, The Green Hills of Tyroll (The Scottish Soldier), The Battle's O'er

and a little more complex:

Mo Guile Mear, Be Thou My Vision, McLeod's Reel, Annie Laurie, Endearing Young Charms

I think that history is accurate, Peter. And I just paid for another year of the website. As long as the website is up, the list will be, too, although it may evolve over time.

Peter W. said:

I read that Irish emigrants went to Liverpool first to escape from unemployment. From there the big ships to America departed, and many of them decided to give it a try.

Please keep your list online - I guess I'll like to try out some of them during the summer...

Scotland the Brave is a good suggestion, Babs. Thanks.

Babs Greene said:

That's one of the reasons I didn't mention tunes by title but gave the book information instead, Dusty, I know it has Scotland the Brave and other familiar tunes in it but they may only be familiar more so to people in the UK

I guess it's fair to say, Guy, that you are an uncommon musician in many ways. Peter mentioned Down by the Sally Gardens as well, so I'll be learning that one and adding it for sure. Thanks!

Guy Babusek said:

Looks like a great list to me. I tend to do a lot of so called "Celtic" music, but I don't think most of mine is very common LOL. Down By The Sally Gardens might be a nice addition to your list.

Babs, I have a couple of books of Celtic tunes but I don't really know which ones are the more common ones, so rather than just choosing tunes at random, I'm looking for those that a lot of players would either know or at least be interested in learning. I'll definitely check out the book you mention, though.

Babs Greene said:

The Complete Book of Celtic Music for Appalachian Dulcimer has a few that you might be interested in.

Linda, the list is obviously a personal one. I included what I thought to be common tunes as well as tunes that I happen to know. I'll check out Red is the Rose. And we might play Wild Mountain Thyme, but I won't put it on the list with tablature since it's still under copyright. Thanks for the suggestions!

Linda W. Collins said:

This is quite a varied list. How about adding:

Red Is the Rose

Will Ye Go, Lassie Go? (Wild Mountain Thyme)