Forum Activity for @dusty

Hi Kimberly.  

I started a group here in Northern California about 3 years ago. At first I only had 4 email addresses, but now I have a list of about 40 and we range from 6 to 18 on any given month.  It took some time, but we have slowly developed a decent structure for our gatherings that works for newbies and advanced players both.

We meet for about 3 hours. The first hour is a free beginner lesson.  I tailor that to whoever is the "beginningest," if you know what I mean.  I want to be able to welcome people who have never played before. Lots of people call themselves beginners thinking they are not very good, but they are more advanced than they let on.

The second hour is devoted to group play of a growing repertoire.  Dulcimer standards are included, like Southwind, Morning Has Broken, Skye Boat, etc.. There is some teaching that goes on here, too, as people ask how to play certain sections, and we try to play each song many times so that people can slowly learn the tunes.  Several months ago some people complained that they didn't know chords very well, so when I would refer to a G chord they didn't know what to do even though they could easily play 3-1-0 in DAd off of tablature.  So I started adding some sing-a-long tunes where we just strum chords and sing Hank Williams tunes or Beatles tunes or whatever. When we do this it is in between the beginner lessons and the group play.  We also have a few ensemble pieces that require three or more separate dulcimer parts, and it is in group play that we work on that stuff.

The third hour--which is sometimes just 30 minutes or so--is a song circle when people play a song solo, request a song for group play, or just sit and listen. It was requested by some beginners who wanted to hear what the more advanced players played when they were not trying to teach the beginners.  This section of our gathering has been inspiring for the beginners and also very helpful for the more advanced players since it provides motivation to get a song ready for public performance.

And we always end with some finger food and friendly banter.

Although our group sometimes devolves into me teaching songs to others, I think it is important that everyone feel the group belongs to them.  I encourage people to request songs by bringing in tablature or just asking if we could figure out how to play a song they like.  And sometimes we break this routine. A few months' back some people expressed interest in playing blues, so we spent the time after the beginner lesson on an intermediate lesson on the blues. But on the whole, this three-part structure keeps the group together while bringing in beginners and also allowing an outlet for more advanced players.

When I first started this effort, I was actively seeking members by perusing the pages here and at ED looking for local players and trying to convince them to join us. But I then started a website , making sure to put on the homepage all the terms that people might use in a Google search, and I usually get one or two people contact me every month.  The website also includes tab to the songs we work on as a group, so people are not reliant on handouts at the meetings but can work on their own.  We also moved from a private home to a local music store, and that has gotten us some exposure as well. It is also handy when someone shows up with a decades-old dulcimer with strings as stiff as nails.  A few people have joined us after seeing us in the store and asking what in the world was that instrument on our laps!

That's the most fun part of this, watching people discover a new instrument and learn pretty quickly that they can play it.

Neil, I also have a MMD and a Blue Lion as well.  The MMD is made entirely of lacewood and has a false or galax back.  It is my favorite dulcimer for flatpicking. The action is so low that my fingers barely have to touch the strings, so it's really conducive to playing fast.  But I don't like it for fingerpicking. The action is too low for my picking fingers to get ahold of the strings unless I pick right in the strum hollow.  The strings are also close together, which facilitates fast play with a flatpick, but my fat picking fingers have trouble.  The Blue Lion, however, sings when it is played with fingers (no surprise, since Janita Baker mainly fingerpicks).  I realized a long time ago that that instrument sounded good with a flatpick but great with bare fingers.  And the strings are further apart, which caused me trouble when I was trying to flatpick on it but works well with my chubby little digits.

Both of those dulcimers produce big, round, bassy sounds.  Most of the time that's wonderful for the style of music I play. But I do have a couple of songs that require more balance.  That's what my Rick Probst dulcimer is for! It is also loud and round but the middle and melody strings hold their own better against the bass string.

I used to think that someday I would find the single instrument that would be my favorite for everything I do. But to the detriment of my checking account, I now see that different styles of music lead me to different instrument designs.  

Ken, I think your comment gets to the general point that there is no "best" dulcimer out there.  Having played the guitar for 40 years, I do indeed like a mellow-sweet sound.  And in fact, I have a Blue Lion precisely because a noter/drone player found that the big bass drowned out the melody, so she sold it to me. What didn't work for her is exactly what I love about the instrument.  Obviously, different styles of music and different styles of playing lead to different styles of instruments.

What was the action like on the Bonnie Carol dulcimers you've played? I know playing with a noter means the action isn't as big a deal as it is for those of us who torture our fingertips, but I'm sure you have a sense of how low the action was.

Thanks, Rob. You sure went into the archives for that one.  I now see that Bonnie Carol with the scalloped fretboard in a lot of photos of David. Somewhere I read something about a Nashville Luthier who passed away, and perhaps that confused me.

Anyone else have a Bonnie Carol? How does it sound in the hands of a mortal?

Well, Bob, a really bad musician won't sound good no matter what they play. And a really good one will sound great on a great instrument and OK on a bad one.

But I hear a lot of musicians all the time and yet there are many dulcimers by famous luthiers that I have never heard. I know what a McSpadden sounds like. I have no idea what a Bonnie Carol sounds like.

I also know that I sound better on my Blue Lion than I do on that unknown dulcimer I bought for $10 at the flea market that I am tempted to use as kindling.  And when you have really nice instruments that sound great, all you have to do is strum a chord or play a pretty melody.  I've spent a lot of time in recent years learning how to simplify my playing, how to stop trying to impress with a fancy lick but instead how to find the essence of a pretty song and play it on a nice-sounding instrument while I stay out of the way.

I am lucky enough to have accumulated a few of those nice sounding instruments but I know there are others out there and I'd love to hear people playing them.

Rob, I'll have to give that album another listen.  The videos of Schnauffer always have him playing that unique dulcimer by the now deceased Nashville luthier.

Bill, when you do make a video, please don't make one of Monster High dolls riding stuffed animals to the land of unicorns. I've seen enough of those.

I would love to hear some of those dulcimers. I've heard one Jerry Rockwell that Stephen Seifert was playing for a while, but he has such sophisticated microphones and all that everything he plays sounds great. I did find one of Rob's videos of a Rockwell as well.  To my knowledge, I've never heard a Bonnie Carol dulcimer, but they sure look beautiful.

That looks beautiful, Joy. I have two small dulcimers, the baritone dulcimette I refer to above which I tune to G or A above a standard dulcimer and an octave dulcimer by David Beede (the model he calls the Eedy Beede). Here is a video he made of it before he sent it to me:

 Cool!  Thanks so much for making this happen.

Thanks, folks, for chiming in.  

Rob, I'll have to look at some of your videos. It was actually a comment by Jerry Rockwell that although he had been dealing with some family stuff recently he was going to get back to building which set off this whole thing. I had been considering investing in a really nice dulcimer now that I've managed to pay off some bills, and I realized that I've almost never heard dulcimer by him or Gary Gallier or any of other folk I list above.  I've heard Aaron O'Rourke and Erin Rogers play in person, so I've heard the David Beede dulcimers, but they all seem pretty rare in video.

Joy, I'd love to see and hear that Jim Fox dulcimer.  How short is the scale?  Just today I began re-acquainting myself with my baritone dulcimette by Ron Ewing.  I wrote a cute tune for it, so once I brush the dust off my technique I'll be posting something soon.

Bill, it should be pretty easy to make a video with your iPad.  My 10-year-old daughter does it all the time!

We know there are lots of fine luthiers out there making high-end dulcimers.  And some of them have long waiting lists, so there must be lots of people buying their dulcimers. Where are they?

I would love to see folks playing the fine dulcimers by the luthiers I mention above (and several others as well) but it seems all we can find is another McSpadden or Folkcraft. Those are both wonderful dulcimers, but I wish there were a greater variety of dulcimers in the videos we post.

If any of you have a fine, high-end dulcimer, please record yourself playing so we can all enjoy the fine music these wonderful machines make.

And if you have one of these high-end dulcimers and are not playing it, please consider putting it on the market so someone else can find it and let it sing to the world!

 James, as you can see, Frank linked to two versions of the song, both in DAd.  The melody goes down (in fact starts on) the middle A string.  So if you want to play melody drone, you will need to tune DAA and adjust the tab accordingly.

Hey, Hey! Mr. Keane ain't monkeyin' around!

Tumbleweed, I guess we'll be learning the bass at the same time.  If you've got any tips, pass them along.

Wout, I put on the tapewound strings yesterday and really love the sound.  The tone is wonderful, reminiscent of an upright bass fiddle.  Thanks so much for that suggestion!

Kristi, try Liquid Skin or New Skin or any of those liquid bandaids.  They were actually intended to apply to your skin, which superglue was not, though it does work.  My cousin's cello teacher told him to use one of the liquid bandaids when his fingers couldn't go any more but he still wanted to practice. Plus, it's good stuff to keep around the house.

Thanks, Bill.   Yeah, there is a reason the bass and drums are considered the rhythm section.  If I can just learn enough to play some decent tracks on tunes I record for myself I'll be happy.

Thanks for the encouragement, James. Just in fiddling around and trying to get some blues bass riffs, I've found I'm using my pinky. But I'm going to slow down and find some online lessons since I don't want to develop any bad habits.

Wout, I picked up a pack of the tapewound strings and am putting them on right now. There is definitely a loss of some volume, but I like the tone and the feel.  Thanks for the suggestion.

Thanks, Wout.  In the video the guy is playing a bass with frets, and the strings sound pretty good.  One question: what kind of volume do they have when you are not plugged in?  Is there any reason to think they would have less volume than steal strings?

Thanks for the advice, Wout.  

Since I don't really play bass (I can fake it since I play guitar, but my technique is really lacking) I can't tell how the action is. It seems pretty good, for the strings even up the fretboard are not too high. I haven't formally tested the intonation, but I think I would have noticed problem if it were obvious enough. 

It's good to know I might not have to use my pinky much, but my hands are not that large, so we'll have to see.  I've been working on strengthening my pinky for dulcimer and guitar playing, so it can't hurt to keep working on it.

In my initial post just below the picture I have a link to a review of 4 or 5 ABGs by a bass guitar website.  According to them, the only one that could really function in an acoustic setting without being amplified is the Boulder Creek.  So although you may be right that it seems louder to the player because of the soundhole on the top (Boulder Creek's "signature" design), it appears that it really is louder than most of the others. I think it is a bit bigger than the others, too, which might be part of the reason for the volume, though Boulder Creek tries to credit their bracing system.

I'll have to look into your suggestions on strings.  The Shop gave me a free set of phosphor bronze strings since the ones on there are a bit old, but I was planning on picking up some Elixir or other "squeakless" strings.  I'll have to experiment a bit. As I've said, this is all new territory to me.  Thanks again for the advice.

Thanks, James.  My hope is to eventually develop some arrangements that include the dulcimer, guitar, and bass, and to record them all myself. I've got a ways to go, though.  My pinky is really weak and I get a lot of buzz when I fret with it.  It's going to be a while before I'll be able to play cleanly.

Thanks, Ken.  It was a good deal for both of us. The shop wanted to make room for more instruments for the holiday season and is also gearing up to move to a nicer location (with a permanent theater for all those dulcimer concerts!).  I wanted an acoustic bass guitar but would never have spent the $1000  Amazon lists.  

I can't wait to join some jams and give it a go.  Just playing around on it makes my fingers feel so weak, though.  I need to do some weight training for my fingers!

Well, I've never really played bass before, but I have found myself in a few jams where we needed a bass, and I have visions (fantasies?) of making some recordings where I play multiple instruments  . . . so . . . I couldn't pass up the opportunity for a really nice price in this Boulder Creek acoustic bass guitar.  I had had my eye on it for some time at a local music store where my dulcimer club meets, and they were running a clearance sale to make some room for new stock. None of the acoustic basses were chosen for the sale, but I asked about this one and the owner agreed to sell it to me for 10 percent over his cost, which is way less than half of the price on Amazon and 40 percent lower than any price I could find anywhere.  When he threw in a slightly used case, I couldn't resist.  Now I've got to strengthen my fingers to be able to play the darn thing!

Bass Player website has a nice review of the instrument here . What I like most about it is that it is loud enough to be heard in an acoustic jam without being plugged in, but it has a pickup and pre-amp if I need to go electric.

Cool, Bobby. If I had any kind of taxidermy mount in my house I would want it to be a jackalope.  I was just explaining to my daughter what jackalopes are . . . uh . . . or aren't.

Someone told me that jackrabbits are not rabbits and antelopes are not antelopes.  Sounds crazy to me.

I love the color and design on the scorpion head, Charles.   All I could think about hearing of your Milgro charm was the "charming"  film the Milagro Beanfield War .

Here is something different.  This is a document, probably about 20" x 14" that I have in a frame. The printed part reads "On the part of the King and of Monsieur the Intendant of Bordeaux" and goes on to explain that a nobleman wanted to start a weekly market every Monday and a fair the third Monday of every month. It asks whether anyone opposed those actions. OK, it's interesting enough that the French King would ask for public comment, since he could have simply granted or denied the request, but what I find interesting is the ceremony of information. In an age before newspapers or television, how did this news get out?  The handwritten part is a testimony dated "the year one thousand seven hundred fifty six and the 28th day of the month of March" and reads, "I, Pierre Dutil . . . testify to having read, cried, and published this announcement at the beginning of parish mass in the town of Julliac, on the main doors of whose church I posted this announcement so that no one can claim ignorance of it." And of course, the fact that the document dates from 1756 is pretty cool, too.  Maybe you'll see me on Antiques Road Show someday.

Thanks, Bob. That's a funny video and much better rababa playing than the video I found (I suggest jumping to about 0:52):

When my daughter was in pre-school I used to visit with a cart filled with instruments and entertain the kids. I played the ukulele, guitar, autoharp, mandolin, and dulcimer.  Her teacher was so taken with my ability to play these stringed instruments, that when my daughter "graduated" to kindergarten, she gave me this rababa as a present.  Her husband works building huge hotels in the Middle East, and he brought it back from there.  Somewhere along the trip he lost the bridge, so I just stuck on the bridge for a banjo mandolin. I have no idea how to play it, for you bow across a single string the tone of which you can change either by twisting a nob at the top or by pushing down on it with your finger. But I think it would be pretty hard to play Bile Dem Cabbage on this thing!  So instead of getting played, this piece just hangs on the wall in the living room.

Jan is really onto something. If you can whistle a tune, it means your brain has learned to associate different sizes in the opening of your lips to get different pitches. When you hum or sing, your brain has learned exactly how much to stretch or relax your vocal chord to get a certain pitch.

When you learn an instrument, your brain can also learn how high up a string you have to move to get a pitch. It's just a matter of doing it enough that you can train your brain in that manner.

When you first learned to whistle, you couldn't do "I've Been Working on the Railroad" right away; your brain how to learn to associate the opening of your mouth with different pitches. It took some practice.  The dulcimer takes practice, too.  One reason I don't like to look at tab is that I want to see where on the fretboard I am getting different tones, so that my brain can learn those distances. Sometimes I sing the fret numbers while I play to reinforce the connection between the fretboard and the notes that are in my brain. And I spend a lot of time just trying to find simple melodies on the dulcimer.  Not to learn the songs, but to practice letting my brain figure out where to find the right pitch. The more you do it, the better you get.

A few years ago I went to a Christmas show at Slim's (a club in San Francisco owned by Boz Scaggs) that featured El Vez, the Mexican Elvis impersonator.

For the first song, the band was playing a cover of the Stones's tune "Sympathy for the Devil," you know with the female backup singers doing the "woo woo," and El Vez coming out doing Mick Jagger gangly dance positions and stuff.  He then approached the microphone and everyone expected "Please allow me to introduce myself, I'm a man of wealth and fame," but instead, El Vez switched into Elvis impersonator mode and sang "Blue Christmas" while the band (including the back-up singers) kept playing "Sympathy for the Devil."

You can't find kitsch like that everyday! The band is called the Memphis Mariachis and the back-up singers are called the Lovely Elvettes. The first time I saw them, at a winery in Napa, the Elvettes wore sombreros over their breasts.

Here is a less elaborate version of what I'm talking about:

One way to hasten the development of calluses is to soak your fingertips in vinegar or olive brine or something like that.  Old school baseball players used to urinate on their hands to toughen up the skin. If you do that, though, please don't play my dulcimers. 

Some people's personalities have similarly marinated in vinegar, which hastens the development of callousness.  Certainly no one here at FOTMD, though.

A victory for people and a strike against corporate greed!

I wonder if Warner will be obligated to pay back all those royalties they demanded over the years.

Wout, I think you have the main idea, but you might be thinking too literally.  In common American parlance, a "game changer" is an idea, technique, or event that significantly changes the manner of doing something.

So Jan was asking people what they had discovered in their own dulcimer development that significantly changed in a positive manner how they were playing and learning the dulcimer.  So yes, indeed, it is a matter of growth. But not the slow, incremental type of growth that you might get from practicing scales every day, but the growth that comes from a specific change that leads to a big leap in your understanding or ability.

First of all, this is a great question, Jan.  Thanks.

Second, I have two responses, one physical and one mental.

 When I first started playing, I had trouble controlling the dulcimer. It would slip all over my lap and sometimes even sort of tip over.  To keep the dulcimer in place I used to use the moveable arms of my office chair to hold the dulcimer on my lap. But that meant I could only play in my office.  Eventually I got up the courage to drill small holes in my precious instrument and install strap buttons.  Immediately the dulcimer became mine. I know not everyone plays with a strap, but I have found that physically attaching the instrument to my body gives me much more control over it and a much more intimate relationship with it.

 I had a mental epiphany one day trying to fingerpick, but it is something that works for any modern style of playing.   I was trying to add little filler in between melody notes and I realized that as long as my left hand was fretting a chord, any note I played would be OK. So I tried to make sure that as I played the melody I was always ready to play a chord, and then I let my fingerpicking hand just pluck strings almost randomly. I now do that when I play with flatpick, too. I'll just throw a basenote in whenever there is a break in the melody, or play a quick arpeggio, or whatever. You don't have to plan it ahead of time or even think about what you're doing.  As long as your left hand is fretting a chord, any string can be played. It's really liberating not to have to worry about hitting a wrong string. And sometimes starting with one or two strings will lead to a short idea for a melodic filler.  But it all starts with knowing that playing a chord makes any string safe to play at any time.

Nice story, Robert. I'm sure it's gratifying to finally "free" your dulcimer and let her sing.

Great news, Dana!  Woohoo!  It's time for a happy dance! 

Check out this discussion at Everything Dulcimer . You will find links to audio versions, video versions, and also tablature both for noter/drone play and for chorded play.

Jan is sorta kinda probably correct, or not.  The West Virginia fiddler Ernie Carpenter wrote the song (in the 1950s, I think) and you would expect it to be under copyright. However, I have not found any evidence that the song is copyrighted, and everyone (not just dulcimer players) seems to both credit Carpenter for its composition and also post music and tablature freely.

Vicki, you might contact folkcraft to see if they sell possum boards custom fitted for their dulcimers.

But all you really need is a board.  Peter Tommerup just uses a board originally intended for a bookself, and he puts whatever dulcimer he is playing on it.  Here he is in a duet with his wife Leann: https://youtu.be/DWfnkcGS1Y0?t=4m53s .

Seamas, one of the members of my local dulcimer group shared a pretty and simple arrangement with us. I normally wouldn't feel fre to share his arrangments, but he did give me permission to post it on our website. You can find it on the RCD Songlist page at www.rivercitydulcimers.com .

C'est super cool, ça!  Thanks for letting us know about that, Pierre!  I obviously need to get to know Malicorne better, huh?