Forum Activity for @dusty

Nate, as Ken and Skip have explained, the notion of key on a modal instrument gets a little tricky.

I would just define a key as the tonal center of a piece of music, the tone that seems to represent rest or resolution with the other notes creating different degrees of tension.  

Your effort to determine key by examining the sharps and flats of a piece makes sense in western classical music, and you are correct that the key of D major has a C# and they key of G has a C natural.  That "key signature" defines the major scale, or the Ionian mode.  However, with traditional, modal music, any mode can be played in any key, so the key, or tonal center, does not necessarily determine the scale pattern. To use the most common examples, D Ionian uses the C sharp, but D Mixolydian uses the C natural. 

In fact, those examples explain why the 6+ fret was added.  On a true diatonic dulcimer tuned to D, tuning DAd would not give you a major scale (Ionian mode) precisely because the 6 fret is a C natural.  To play the major scale, one would tune DAA and start the scale at the 3rd fret.  Then you get the C# on the 9th fret.  To avoid having to retune, dulcimer players about a half century ago began adding the 6+ fret so that they could play in the two most common major-sounding modes, the Ionian and Mixolydian, without re-tuning.

Let's also remember that a lot of folk and pop music doesn't use all the notes of the scale or mode.  A lot of music is pentatonic, meaning only 5 notes are used.  And heck, the old song by the Chrystals, "Da Doo Ron Ron," only has three notes in it!

"So what?" you might ask.  Good question.  My point is that every song has a key, meaning the tonal center or "home base" even if it does not make use of the scale indicated by the key signature.

Having said all this, I would guess that 90 percent of the time when you are tuned DAA or DAd you are playing in the key of D (or Bm, the "relative minor").  If you fret across all the strings, then you can also play in G and perhaps (though it gets tricky) A.  I've recently been arranging several tunes that work in both D and G on the DAd dulcimer. That way you can modulate after a couple of verses and impress your friends and family.

I usually default to playing scales and arpeggios when I first pick up the dulcimer, especially if I haven't played in a while.  I try to end any playing session doing a couple of tunes that I know really well, so the final emotion I leave with is satisfaction and competence rather than the frustration that comes when you learn new stuff.

Glad to know Jessica is OK.  It's hard to keep up with the disasters these days.

No rush, Don.  Just enjoy yourself, but feel free to reach out if any questions pop up.

Thanks for the tip, @pmundy.  I saw the title to that book but haven't picked it up just yet.  The woman who gave me the hammered dulcimer included well over a dozen (mostly older) instructional books. I've been skimming through those and if I can't find exactly what I'm looking for I'll consider Ken's book.  I sure enjoy the music he makes with his son, who is perhaps my favorite clawhammer banjo player.

If anyone is bidding on that dulcimer, I have a question: "Can you lend me a few bucks?"

Contact me by personal message, Don, if you have more questions on this stuff. 

By the way, in explaining things to you, I've made a further change in the tab.  

In measure 2, instead of getting the F# on the 2nd fret of the melody string, I will now indicate it as the 5th fret of the middle string. So I would use my ring finger on the 2 at the end of the 1st measure and then slide that finger up to 4 for the second measure, leaving my middle finger ready for the 5 on the middle string.   That way the move up happens a little earlier, but it involves the same finger on the same string just sliding up two frets and then the hand is in perfect position for the next two measures.

Don, I'm not quite sure what you mean by "guideline."  A note on the melody string can be found 3 frets higher on the middle string, and a note on the middle string can be found 4 frets higher on the bass string.

If you're looking for guidelines about when you would want to move to another string rather than stay on the string you are on, I think you have to examine the specific notes you are playing and your hand position.  In my playing I try to follow a few golden rules: 1) minimize left-hand movement; 2) moving from one chord position to another, try to keep at least one finger on the same string; and 3) keep your left hand in a chord position as much as possible.

If you are not playing chords, some of that won't mean much to you, but you should still understand the principles.  Let me address the question of when to shift to another string by looking at the first two lines of a tune I just tabbed out last night for my dulcimer club meeting this weekend.

The melody (pick-up note aside) is entirely played on the melody string in the first two measures, but in the 3rd measure I get the melody note of G on the 6th fret of the middle string. Why?  That same note is found on the third fret of the melody string.  But look at the subsequent melody notes; they are found on frets 5 and 7.  So rather than have to jump from 3 to 5 and then to 7, I just move my hand up, catching the 6th fret of the middle string with my middle finger, and then leaving that finger down, my ring finger falls onto the 5th fret of the melody string.  Those fingers stay down as I reach with my index finger (or thumb) to 7, then lift it up and hit the 5, where my ring finger can still be found.  And then, moving to the 4th measure, that position with my middle finger on the middle string and my ring finger on the melody string just slides down one fret from 0-6-5 to 0-5-4.

So by using the middle string for that one note, I am able to get almost two entire measures with my hand in the same position.

Notice that I said "almost two entire measures."  The last note of the first line is an F#, and I indicate it on the melody string at the 2nd fret even though it is the same note as the 5th fret of the middle string, where my finger already is.  Truth be told, I probably play that note on the middle string there most of the time when I play this tune. However, the 5th measure obliges us to move all the way down to the 3rd fret for the melody string and then everything that follows is down by the nut.  So to facilitate that move, I chose to tab this tune out using the 2nd fret of the melody string rather than the 5th fret of the middle string.

Obviously, there is no hard science to this stuff. You just try to figure out what will work best for you, meaning what will facilitate you finding the melody in the easiest way possible, with the least amount of movement.

Don, @Strumelia's correct. A lot of people cannot pick out simple melodies on the dulcimer. If you can do that you are ahead of the curve.  Just keep working at it.

If you want to challenge yourself, try to pick out melodies going across the strings as well as up and down a single string.  If you are tuned DAd, just add 3 to the fret on the melody string and you'll find that same note on the middle string.  

Here's a challenge for you:  Play "Three Blind Mice."  You will begin at the second fret of the melody string.  But when you get to "They all ran after the farmer's wife" you will have to move up to 7.  However, instead of continuing on down the melody string for the end of that phrase, try to move to the middle string.  You will finish the song on the 3rd fret of the middle string instead of the open melody string.  See how it works out.

Obviously, drone players will always stay on the melody string. But those of us who include chords in our playing try to minimize our hand movement.  Learning to find portions of the melody on the other strings will help you achieve that goal.

No need to be embarrassed.  That's how you learn an instrument.  I still have trouble playing from tab but generally get a tune in my head and then find it on the fretboard.  Sometimes if I have trouble with a spot or two, I'll turn to tablature to see how someone else plays the tune, but then I just go back to the instrument.

Congrats, @traildad!  I'm sure you two will make beautiful music together!

I recognized you right away, Strumelia! Even the low energy dance would be a workout, if only because of how long the dancing goes on with no breaks.

But COVID has certainly changed our perspectives.  Looking at all those people so close together, indoors, breathing heavy, all I can think of is how easy it would be to pass germs.

Lois, I don't know of a list such as what you're looking for. The Dulcimer Players News website maintains a list of dulcimer festivals, but nothing beyond that.  I did hear recently that the big Walnut Valley Festival is going online this year for two days of "hands-on workshops."  The link there is to the list of workshops, which cover guitar, banjo, mandolin, autoharp, ukulele, and more.

Maybe everyone is waiting for someone--perhaps someone with the skills of a resource librarian--to create the list you seek.

Strange days indeed. I attended a COVID wedding yesterday. My brother-in-law got married to his long-time girlfriend.  The wedding was originally planned for Labor Day weekend in Las Vegas, and he had rented a huge mansion there where the wedding party and their close family and friends were going to stay.  Needless to say, those plans were canceled.

Instead, there was a short, social distancing ceremony with about 20 people involved at a park, and then we we went back to their backyard for a party of sorts. Everyone sat in family pods, so my wife, daughter and I had our own table.  There was no buffet or anything like that.  They had the event catered, with individual bags of food for each attendee.  Even the drinks were individualized.  My wife indicated on the questionnaire that I liked whiskey, so on our table was a whole bottle of Jameson Irish Whiskey, just for me. (Don't worry, we took the bottle home after I barely made a dent in it.)   Also on each table was a bottle of hand sanitizer and a container of Lysol wipes.  I was expecting face masks displaying a picture of the newlyweds, but they didn't go that far.

There was no dancing or anything, but we played bingo and a few other contact-less games, including something where we each threw a balloon filled with paint at big canvas.  They are planning to put that paint-splattered, Jackson Pollock-like canvas in their living room.  Kind of a cool idea, though we left before seeing the final product.

In the end, it was nice but also strange. I'm sure we will remember the experience, which I guess is all you can ask of a wedding.

So you shaved your beard, Gregg, to help stop the spread of the virus.  That's dedication!  Perhaps if you still had it you'd know the name of the middle tune, too!

@susie, you must have been writing at the same time @gregg-schneeman was.  He identified the the tune at the beginning and at the end (I didn't even make it that far) but there is a third tune in the middle he doesn't know.   No surprise Gregg knew the answer.  You don't get a beard like that without acquiring a lot of knowledge and wisdom. 

It sounds a lot like Southwind, but I don't think it's the same song.  Both are in 3/4, the first few notes are the same, and the B part goes up to the octave, so there are striking similarities.  But there are also both melodic and harmonic differences.

I wish I could identify it, but I can't. I'm sure someone will.

I know a few luthiers who have started either using jumbo frets or offering them as an upgrade. I know Aaron O'Rourke loves them. According to him, the bigger frets enable you to get notes without pushing your fingers all the way down to the wood so you can play faster.  To be honest, I don't think the size of the fret is what slows me down!

My guess is that @ken-hulme didn't like them because he plays with a noter, and the jumbo frets probably just get in the way as you slide the noter up and down the fretboard.

@don-grundy, what do you mean when you say "forums I follow are restricted?"  Forums should be available to anyone logged in.  Group discussions are limited to those who have joined the Group.

First, make sure you are logged in.  You should see your Username in the upper right-hand corner, as in this screen shot.

If you are definitely logged in, all the Forum Discussions should be open to you, but you will only see the first comment (or maybe the latest comment) of discussions within the Groups. You have to join that individual Group to see the rest of the comments.

If you are sure you are logged in, and you are sure you are talking about Forums rather than Groups, then please explain what you mean by "restricted."  What happens when you click to see a Forum discussion?

Two things to keep in mind, @traildad.  First, when you are listening to audio or video on the internet, the quality of the original recording and the quality of the speakers or headphones you are listening on will make a huge difference.  So you can't really compare the audio files from the McSpadden site with Jessica's videos below.  Secondly, from what I can tell, Jessica is tuned down to C, whereas the standard tuning for a dulcimer is D.  Jessica's recordings may sound richer than those on the McSpadden site only because she is in a lower tonal range.

@jessica-comeau is a member here at FOTMD.  In addition to being a wonderfully expressive player, she is also really friendly. You might ask her what she likes about McSpadden dulcimers or how she achieves the sound she does.

Only 61 more to go!  I just put a new string on my hammered dulcimer.  I only have 61 more to go!

Actually my goal by the end of tomorrow is just to have all the phosphor bronze strings replaced.  I think there are 14 of them.  They seem to have weathered the years worse than the plain steel strings have.

Since you won't be able to play the "guitar" in the middle like a guitar since it has no frets or a dobro since the bridge is curved, I would suggest you just set the six "guitar" strings as low bass notes to add an occasional accent to your dulcimer playing.  If the two dulcimers are going to be tuned to D (DAA and DAd), I would use pretty heavy strings on the guitar to get low notes of D, E, F#, G, A, and B, which would correspond to the tonics of the three main chords in D and their relative minors: D, Em, F#m, G, A, and Bm.

That's just an idea. I really can't imagine what the original intent was of this instrument, though it looks super cool.

Sad news. Orthey was well respected luthier in both autoharp and dulcimer circles.

You are certainly right, @john-gribble, for lessons never hurt.  However, sometimes they are limited in their effectiveness. Right now I find what is holding me back on the hammered dulcimer (which I've only been playing about a week!) is technique.  I understand the basic layout of the strings and can find lots of melodies either from books or by ear, but my physical approach to the instrument is poor.  My left hand especially does not have the strength or confidence that my right-hand does.  Were I to pay for a private lesson, I would just ask for exercises and would then wait a month or two for another lesson while I worked on those exercises.  I was hoping to find those exercises on my own. So far I've been playing arpeggios, alternating hands.  And I've been working on scales either one hand at a time or alternating hands.

"Here among the fidlers I first saw a dulcimere played on with sticks knocking of the strings, and is very pretty."

Samuel Pepys, May 23, 1662

@don-grundy, there were a few small fires about 75 miles away, but they were easily put out.  Since I live in the Central Valley rather than the hills, the fires usually affect us less as a direct threat than by clouding our air with smoke.  I actually have a bunch of masks in the garage for when the air gets really bad.  Unfortunately, those are different masks than we need to halt the spread of viruses.  Perhaps I'll have to double up on the masks soon. Yikes!

@ken-longfield, the rolling blackouts have indeed affected a lot of people.  Luckily, our house is on the same little portion of the grid as a police station (and maybe a fire station, too), so we're exempt from those purposeful blackouts.

But folks along the coast, where it never gets above 80 are really suffering since their homes don't have adequate A/C.

I just read an article that questioned the rolling blackouts since although power usage was as high as expected, the state still had plenty of electricity in reserve.  The conclusion was that over the last several years since the last major heat wave, so many people have added solar panels to their homes that the drain on the grid is significantly less than it used to be. A sign of progress, I suppose.

Well in the middle of this pandemic here on the west coast we're also dealing with a massive heat wave. The worst in about 75 years, I just heard. It will be over 100 for most of the day, even staying in the 90s well into the evening. I'm so grateful that we installed a new HVAC unit in May; I feel bad for all those folks with no air conditioning. At least the county lifted the water rationing restrictions so I can water the lawn more often than twice a week. But I don't think I'll be doing much work outside the next several days. 

Thanks, @Pondoro and @Skip.  I am expecting to practice. My question, though is how to practice.  Since I have been playing fretted instruments my whole life, when I decided to work on my weak little pinky, I knew how to develop exercises for that. It still took 4 years to get my pinky up to the same strength as my other fingers, but at least I knew how to work on it.  I designed some exercise specifically for my pinky and kept at it.  I have no experience with the hammered dulcimer, and it just seems that my dominant hand is pretty good but my weak hand, well, is decidedly not.  I have been doing some scales and some arpeggios, so maybe I just need to keep at it and perhaps in 4 years I'll see some improvement.  But I wonder if certain exercises might speed things along.

Just got a hammered dulcimer a few days ago and am now in full frustration mode.  Boy, the instrument is unforgiving; you hit one wrong note today and it rings until next weekend!  I can see why people have dampers installed.

I have horrible technique right now and my left hand is especially lame.  Does anyone have suggestions for how to increase the coordination of a left hand for playing the hammered dulcimer. I wonder if some percussionists out there have recommendations.

Thanks in advance.

Hi @Susie, you have a good memory. I did indeed have a McSpadden baritone for a spell, but was obliged to sell it to raise money (I think I needed a new catalytic converter).  I no longer have the video I posted when I was selling that instrument.  If I remember correctly mine had a redwood top and ebony overlay on the fretboard.  I think the body was walnut.  Mine also had a 1-1/2 fret.

If you already have a McSpadden, you know how consistently playable they are. They also tend to keep their value pretty well in case you have to sell it down the proverbial road sometime.  I'm not sure what advice I can give you.

I have to be honest that I don't think my ear is capable of discerning the differences in tone from different wood types. I can hear the differences between luthiers, but I can't hear the difference between a cherry McSpadden and a walnut McSpadden, for example.  Having come from the guitar, I prefer softwoods (spruce, cedar, redwood) for the tops, but I choose wood for the body based on how it looks. 

When you say you want a McSpadden because it is smaller than the Folkcraft, are you referring to the size of the body?  Both Blue Lion and Ron Gibson make baritones with smaller scale lengths.  Currently I have my Rick Probst dulcimer strung as a baritone, and that is big, in terms of body, VSL, and sound.  I can't imagine lugging that thing to festivals.

Leo, I don't think approvals are needed for photos.  I might be wrong, but I think photos normally appear immediately.  There was no delay on that first one you posted, was there?  My guess is there is some other tech snafu at play here.

Why not try re-posting one of the six that has disappeared? Let's see what happens.

Hi Leo,

Other than the first one, I don't see any evidence of photos you posted either. We'll have to wait for Strumelia to see if she has any more behind-the-scenes knowledge.

I won't go into details about why the 6-photo daily limit was instituted, but you can imagine what might have happened to justify that policy.  If you really want to upload dozens (or hundreds) of photos all at once, perhaps you could use Photobucket or some other cloud space and then link to them here.  Otherwise, I wouldn't mind seeing a slow trickle of your photos over a period of time rather than a monsoon all at once.

Sorry I can't be of any more help.

There are plenty of films about mountain miners as well.  Have you ever seen Matewan?

I'm glad you enjoyed the film.  The music is pretty special.

Thanks for this important reminder, Lois. Quarantune is so big it has overshadowed the many smaller, intimate, regional dulcimer festivals that have also gone online.  I took a couple of workshops at the Dutchland DulciZoom festival last month and had a great time. I'm also teaching a couple workshops at the Redwood Dulcimer Day in a couple of weeks, and I'm sure I'll attend the Harvest Festival of Dulcimers and the North Georgia Foothills festival as well.

Obviously we all wish we could gather in person, but one nice aspect of being forced online is our ability to meet dulcimer players from all over the country. Since I have a job and a family, I could never attend dulcimer festivals further than a few hours drive way, but these online gatherings have enabled me to share music with people from all over.

Thanks to Ashley at DPN for making that festival directory available!

Welcome back, @Wendell-G (artist formerly known as Geckostar).

Hey folks. Anyone interested in traditional fiddle tunes will love the movie The Mountain Minor (2019) written and directed by Dale Farmer.  It is available on Amazon Prime Video right now but will probably be around on PBS stations soon if it hasn't been already.

The film is the story of young Charlie, growing up on a farm in Kentucky and learning the fiddle from his grandfather.  But the Depression forces his family to move to new opportunities in Ohio.  He eventually retires to move back but also teaches his own grandson the old tunes.  So the film depicts the passing on of musical traditions over four generations.

As a film it is good, but not great.  The story is sometimes simplistic and predictable and the dialogue and acting a bit staid at times.  However, the MUSIC IS GREAT!  I'm sure the soundtrack will be out soon if it isn't already. According to my notes, here is a list of the tunes in the film:

Hickory Jack (which both begins and ends the film and is a kind of theme)

Young Emily

Fiddler a Dram

Crazy Kamlesh

Old Jimmy Sutton

Short Time Here, Long Time Gone

Darlin' Corey

Glory in the Meeting House

Sally in the Turnip Patch

Old Regular Melody

Shaking Down the Acorns

Cripple Creek

Ways of the World

Bushy Fork of John's Creek

Paddy on the Turnpike

The Day is Past and Gone

Across the Ohio

THe sherry would probably overwhelm flavors in a way the sake wouldn't.  But hey, my mother-in-law once substituted an apple for an onion in a soup thinking that since they were both round it would work.   Can't say she didn't use logic!

Here's a version of the song with the lyrics and English translation.  I didn't know this song either until @ariane and @john-gribble discussed it here.

Welcome back, @B-Ross-Ashley.  You might find that this time of quarantine is an opportunity to hunker down and play more music.  We have also found that the initial shortage of toilet paper and some basic food items is over and other than disinfectant wipes and sprays, nearly everything can be found in the markets again.  I guess I didn't need that 96-roll box of industrial toilet paper that I ordered when I panicked seeing the empty store shelves back in March and April!

weird. I have no advice for you. Sorry.