Tumbleweed, "Blowin' in the Wind" can definitely be played on a diatonic fretboard, and the vast majority of Hank Williams tunes can, too. If you need help figuring out a particular part of a song, why not ask for help in the Help Me Learn this Song group? Start a new discussion including the title of the song and explain the part you can't figure out. I'm sure another FOTMD will help out.
Just one minor point of clarification. If you are tuned DAd, your dulcimer is indeed in an open D tuning. However, if you play chords and fret across all the strings, it is possible to play in other keys out of that tuning. Bm is the most obvious, but there are lots of arrangements in G out of the DAd tuning, and it is also possible to play well in A. (Gary Gallier has developed a whole bunch of arrangements in A out of the DAd tuning, something he calls "cross key" after the way blues harmonica players plays blues on a harmonica that is technically a fourth below the key they play in.) You cannot play noter/drone in these other keys since the drone strings are locked in the open tuning.
Your question about that "one little note" that you can't find is probably not a matter of keys, but, as Ken indicates, of modes. The dulcimer has a diatonic fretboard, meaning not every note is possible. If you are indeed playing "newer songs" those songs may not be written in the traditional modes. You might be able to find that "one little note" on a string other than the melody string, and you might be able to find it by bending a string. But just changing keys won't really help.
Jerry says above that "it is not always possible to have on fret go across the fingerboard," but many luthiers are recognizing that and are making "true tempered" fretboards that look real funky:
You can find out more at True Temperament Fretting System .
And by the way, this is not a "dumb question" at all but in fact a very complicated one that involves mathematics, acoustics, and other sciences about which most musicians (including wannabees like myself) are entirely ignorant.
James, the conversation that Strumelia links to will indeed help you understand the difference between mean tone and equal temperament as they pertain to the dulcimer, and Peter's explanation also offers more than I can.
But let me just explain the problem that these two fretting systems try to address. It is sometimes said that G-d invented the octave and the fifth and humans invented all the other notes. Imagine a string tightened over a soundbox with no frets. Obviously, if you stop the vibration exactly half way along the string, you will get an octave of the open string. But between that open string and the octave, how many notes should there be? Different cultures answer that question differently. Some have 5 notes, for example. In western music, a chromatic scale has 12 notes and a diatonic scale has 7 notes. But where along that open string would you put them? It turns out that placing those notes along the string is not as simple as it seems, and exactly where they go would actually depend upon the note they are tuned in relation to. That is why in John's discussion Robin talks about placing frets not in relation to the open string, but in relation to the fretted tonic note.
So if you were fretting an instrument to be played in only one key, you could do a great job of placing those frets so that the notes would all sound great in relation to one another. But if you tried to play in a different key, they would sound off. Equal temperament tuning tries to basically split the difference and create note placements that are equally off in all keys, but hopefully close enough so that most of us can't hear the dissonance.
Here is a mathematical explanation of all of this: http://mathforum.org/library/drmath/view/52470.html . The first response by Dr. Toby might be all you need, but the conversation there goes on for some length.
Yeah, you should just veto the idea of playing songs alphabetically. Decide on a set list and arrange the music or tab in that order and no one will have a problem.
I think Ken hit on the main points above. Try to vary tempo, subject matter, playing style, songs with vocals and instrumentals, and so forth.
I just recently began putting together a set list for myself. Oh no, not because I have a gig, but because I like to fantasize that someday I'll get a gig. And I've begun to practice the set in order so that I know how long things run. I have put a couple of slow, fingerpicked tunes back-to-back on a couple of occasions, but as Ken suggests, I make sure they are couched in between upbeat, flatpicked tunes. I also like to pepper things with silly, nonsensical tunes here and there just to keep things lighthearted.
Gregg, I certainly urge you to do this, for I did the same thing about two years ago after the Redwood Dulcimer Day in Santa Cruz. I started with a list of 5 or 6 people in the Sacramento area, and that list has now grown to almost 40. We have met once a month for two years now, and we've never had fewer than six show up.
I do have three pieces of advice. First, I suggest removing your phone number from the announcement above. There are spambots that troll the internet for such personal information. If people "friend" you and then send you a personal message, you can share that kind of info privately.
Second, start a discussion in the California Dulcimer Dreamin' group here at FOTMD. Obviously, the folks there will be more likely to be interested than will other FOTMD members from around the country, and if you poke around the discussions there you might be able to target some folks yourself.
Third, if at all possible, start a website. I started one about 18 months ago for my Sacramento Group, which you can see at www.rivercitydulcimers.com . You can start it for free and then later decide if you want to "upgrade" to a paid account. In your case, you will want a home page that has all the key words like "dulcimer," "psaltery," "Los Angeles," "Southern California," "San Gabriel" and whatever else you can think of. That way a dulcimer or psaltery player who does an internet search will be able to find you. And add a page where people can contact you with their email address. I average about one interested person a month who wants to join (although often they initially inquire about getting lessons). That may not seem like a lot, but over the course of several months it adds up and helps make a fledgling group more viable.
I have other advice, too, about how to make your gatherings interesting for both beginners and advanced players, but you may have experience running such groups, so I'll shut up for the moment.
Finally, let me offer that I met you a few years back at the Harvest Festival (the year Aaron O'Rourke was there). I believe you and Leo were co-leaders of the jam circle that afternoon. Both of you did a great job helping new players gain the confidence to call out a song since you were there to bail them out if they got stuck and needed someone to lead. That experience also gave me a lot of confidence, for I learned that I already knew about half the songs that were played and I was able to just follow along and play chord backup for the rest. I never had the chance to thank you or Leo, but I really appreciate the knowledgeable but friendly way you guys ran that song circle.
I hope you manage to start a nice group. In addition to my group in Sacramento, there are regular dulcimer gatherings in Berkeley/Oakland and Santa Cruz. It would be nice to have a string of groups in Cali and perhaps we could entice some great players to come through and do a California tour, visiting each of our groups for a workshop or house concert.
Best of luck!
Charles, a guitar capo will not work on a mountain dulcimer since there is no neck involved.
I have both one of those brass clamp-on capos that Bryon points to and the more traditional capos such as those Ron Ewing invented and still sells for about $20 . The more expensive brass model does not actually work any better except for the fact that it is a little quicker, so if you are in multi-instrument jams where people switch from key to key really quickly, they can be helpful. But you can get pretty fast with the Ron Ewing design as well.
Patty, each in our own way, everyone here is saying the same thing, though it might be hard to see that at first.
Let's start with just the main three chords, I-IV-V, or in the key of D, the chords of D, G, and A. Each chord is made up of three notes: the 1st, 3rd, and 5th notes of the major scale.
D chord: D-F#-A
G chord: G-B-D
A chord: A-C#-E
Within those three chords are all the notes of the D major scale: D-E-F#-G-A-B-C#-D.
So the basic idea is that when you play a melody note, you want to play a chord that has that note in it. You may note that (unless you play the autoharp) you do not want to change chords for every single note, so in general, you look at the notes in each measure and see which chord is going to cover the majority of them. Sometimes you will have a choice, and then you will want to rely on your ear. And there are some other basic prinicples. In general, songs end on the tonic, or key tone, meaning in this case D. And very often they will go to the V chord (in this case A) before resolving to that D.
Before you try to figure out the chords for more complicated songs that include minor chords and diminished chords and all that fancy stuff, start out with 3-chord songs. In fact I would bet 70 percent of folk tunes only have three chords. As I've said elsewhere, I encourage people to sing or whistle or hum the melody of songs they know well while they just strum chords until their fingers are used to strumming chords and, in your case, you are getting the hang out of guessing what chord to play.
And you can also do this without looking at music and without thinking about all those notes I mention above. As you play a melody on your dulcimer, stop on an important melody note. Whatever chord you play is going to have that note in it. One reason for learning those chord shapes is because you will know right away what your options are. But you can also do this by trial and error. While you play a melody note, try to find another note on another string that sounds good with it. Do that on the third string, and you're all set! You don't even have to worry about what chord that is! I did that for a long while, not really worrying about what chords I was playing but just trying different chord shapes on different parts of the fretboard until I found one that worked. Eventually I learned the fretboard better and can name those chords, but who cares? The important thing is find chords that sound good.
Thanks, Peter. That's a pretty tune.
I have two questions for you:
1) Why did you tab this in 3/8 time instead of 3/4 time? Were you just following the original score or is there some advantage to that time signature?
2) Would you mind if I shared this tab with my local dulcimer group in California? I think it would work as a nice study in basic chord shapes.
Julia, the Arranging Group here at FOTM D is the place to ask TablEdit questions. Join that group and start a discussion with the title representing the question. I've done that myself and gotten specific answers within a day.
Julia Poor said:
Does this group answer questions about TablEdit?
If so, I've been on Everything Dulcimer with someone who is having trouble with it, and I'll refer him here.
Julia
Laura and others, I didn't notice this discussion or I would have pointed this out earlier, but a while back I discussed with Strumelia and the other Moderators the possibility of a group devoted to the various tab software questions, and we decided to use the Arranging for Dulcimers Group . If you visit there you will see some other discussions where people (such as myself) ask Tabledit questions. In the future, try to use that group for this stuff so we can keep it all in one place. (I would move this discussion there but I don't seem to be able to do so.)
Thanks! And happy tablediting!
My first song was Rosin the Beau, which I learned from the Bing Futch video on YouTube . I became obsessed with the dulcimer about 4 months before actually buying one, and over those four months I watched that video so much that when I finally got my dulcimer, I pulled over to the side of the road, and played about half of that tune from memory. By the end of the day I had the rest of the tune as well. Oh, my playing wasn't that great, but it was a nice start!
Yeah, I agree about how smooth and effortless Robin's playing appears. Her superior technique makes even difficult songs seem approachable.
My favorite is still Circleville. 
Sounds like you got quite the bargain there. Congratulations.
I personally have to know what a song sounds like before I can make any sense of tablature or music. In that sense, I learn by ear. But even better is watching someone play something. I can pick up a song much more easily if I can hear it and watch someone play it. In that sense, the visual and the aural go together.
But I would suggest that a lot of folks who think they cannot play by ear and yet use simple tablature to learn songs are in fact playing by ear. A lot of tab does not indicate how long you hold each note or where you pause in between phrases. You succeed nonetheless at playing songs correctly precisely because you know what the song is supposed to sound like and can play that even though the tab does not indicate all that stuff. In other words, you are indeed playing (in part at least) by ear.
I think a great way to learn your instrument is to put it on your lap and try to find the melodies to simple songs that you know really well. I bet you can pick out Mary Had a Little Lamb or This Land is Your Land or whatever. Start with kids songs not only because the melodies are usually simpler, but also because you know those really well. As you get better at "hearing" the difference between a note on the second fret and a note on the third fret, for example, you will get faster at picking out those tunes, and soon you'll be able to work on more complex tunes.
And if you work with chords, those simple songs only have two or three chords. And you know the chord will be one that contains the note you are playing for the melody. That generally means that you will only have two choices for any given melody note. I bet you can figure out which one sounds best.
Of course, more complicated music is . . . well . . . more complicated, but playing by ear is not something that is innate or genetic. It is something you learn. I can do it pretty well because I started playing the guitar at age 9 and did it mostly with no instruction, so I spent years of my life trying to figure out songs that I wanted to play. I wasn't always successful, and I am not always successful today either, but I have gotten better at it, and you can too!
Phil since harmonica tab shows which holes to blow in or draw from, it doesn't matter what key the harmonica is in. You can use the very helpful charts Tom posted earlier to convert that harmonic tab to dulcimer tab.
On the other hand, there is plenty of dulcimer tab for that song already. Here is Steve Smith's arrangement in DAA and DAD from the Everything Dulcimer Tab Archive.
Phil, I find all music theory is made easier if you can look at a piano keyboard. From C to D is one whole tone, or two half tones. From C to C# is a half tone, and from C# to D is a half tone.
So if music is written in the key of C, then every note and every chord has to move up that same amount: one whole tone or two half tones. An F note becomes a G note. A G note becomes an A note. A B note becomes a C# note.
For a visual aid you can also use the Circle of Fifths instead of a piano keyboard.
All you need to know to transpose is the key the music is written in and the key you want to play it in. In this case, the big red C is at the very top, and the D is two steps in the clockwise direction. So for every note or chord in they key of C, you move two steps in the clockwise direction to get the corresponding note or chord in D. We see again, an F becomes a G, a G becomes an A, and so forth.
The basic idea is that the relationships among all the notes have to remain the same, so the interval between the original key and the new key will be the same as the interval between any note or chord in that original key and the corresponding note or chord in the new key.
This stuff is hard if you try to do it in your head, but if you can look at a piano keyboard or the Circle of Fifths, it is much easier.
phil said:
I think I under stand that. but the problem I have is how do you change something form the key of C to the Key D I seem to can't get a handle on how to do that.
Since I have ESP, it would not be appropriate for me to "guess."
John, I'm not sure there is a reason to change that setup. In the first response above I described the standard way dulcimers are strung, but I don't know if there is a reason for that other than the benefits of standardization.
However, if you haven't changed strings in 40 years, I would definitely suggest doing so.
Ain't it the truth! Just a few years ago I was asking questions like would my fretboard get warped if I put on slightly heavier gauge strings. Now I'm an old timer tellin' the youguns you much tougher it was in my day.
Dan Goad said:
there ain't no "betters" around here. Some of us have just been playing around with them for a tad longer than you have. You'll be giving out advice before you know it.
Cute toes.
You are correct. That is not right.
The strings should feed over the top of the pins.
Additionally, the pin on the top right in the picture should be for the bass string. The pin on the top left in the picture should be for the middle string. The pin on the bottom left should be for the melody string furthest from you, and the pin on the bottom right should be for the melody string closest to you.
I suggest getting on new strings. But replace one at a time in case the bridge is moveable. Otherwise you'll have to post a question about how to position a bridge, and then we all have to learn physics together.
(Actually, it's not that hard, but it does take a few minutes working with a tuner.)
My suggestion would be to change the way you think about the question itself. When folks sing in harmony, they are singing the notes of a chord. One of those notes is the melody part. So instead of thinking in terms of harmony parts, why not think in terms of melody and chord. If your wife is figuring out the chords that back up the melody, then all you have to do is find the right voicing for that chord on your dulcimer so that you are playing the melody note.
What I mean by that is best explained by an example. Let's say your melody note is the F# that is round on the second fret of your dulcimer tuned DAd, and the chord is a D. You might choose to play 0-0-2, for that gives you the melody note and two notes of harmony. But you might also choose 4-3-2, or 032, or 232. And those chords are D chords (or 2-note approximations of D chords) and you should play around with your arrangement and see which one sounds best.
Or if the melody note is the A on the fourth fret of your DAd dulcimer and the chord is a D, you might try 0-0-4, 2-3-4, 4-4-4, 6+-4-4, and so forth. Play around with those different chord voicings and you will find the harmony notes that you think sound best. And then maybe the second time through you could change chord voicings for a different arrangement.
I don't think it is a bad idea to study harmony arrangements, but I know that those arrangements are based on the chord structures of the songs. To me it makes more sense to learn those chord structures themselves rather than learning one or more harmony parts that stem from those chords.
Peter, the book looks very informative and well organized. I just sent you a personal message, too.
Having spent lots of time in Jersey (and more to come later this summer) I think it fair to say that there are a lot more guns than there are dulcimers.
Some of those guns might be for hunting in the Pine Barrens or Poconos, but those in the Meadowlands have less noble functions.
Maryann Lang said:
guns and dulcimers - yup I think this former Jersey family is thoroughly redneck now! (and lovin it!)
Well you can imagine me installing strap buttons on my own on my very first dulcimer. I was drilling holes and covering my face in tears at the same time!
But that strap made all the difference in the world. The instrument "became mine" immediately. I can position it exactly the way I want regardless of how high my chair is or how far my legs are apart. And I can play more vigorously, not worrying about moving my precious instrument. I would have given up on the dulcimer had I not found the courage to install strap buttons.
If I were a dulcimer, I would say, "Strap me down and tickle my strings!"
Seriously, I had so much trouble getting my dulcimer to stay in one place until I installed a strap. I know it's not for everyone, but with a strap you don't have to worry about sitting at the exact same height to create a flat lap or anything like that. You can adjust the dulcimer anyway you like it, even tilting it up ever so slightly to allow the back to vibrate more (thus obviating the need for a false back or possum board). And tilting the dulcimer also solved the tennis elbow (strummer's elbow?) I was developing early on.
By the way, how do you make a possum bored? Just read him War and Peace !
Good point, Jan! David is a remarkably innovative luthier. Check out this video where he demonstrates the warm, mellow sound he gets with a "decoupled" tailpiece and how sticking something as simple as a credit card underneath the tailpiece results in a more traditional dulcimer sound.
Armsmere, a few years ago I tried to get people at Everything Dulcimer to start rating luthiers. I wanted to buy a really nice dulcimer and needed some guidance. But there was great resistance. The dulcimer community is very close-knit, and no one wanted to hurt anyone's feelings by stating formally in a discussion somewhere that one person's dulcimers were better than another.
It was suggested to me that I simply watch videos by people whose playing I enjoyed and whose dulcimers sounded good and ask them what they were playing and why. Eventually, I ordered a dulcimer from Ron Ewing and bought used dulcimers by Blue Lion and Modern Mountain Dulcimer. I also acquired but had to part with a Laurel Mountain dulcimer and a John Stockard dulcimer. All--though especially the Blue Lion and MMD--fall into the modern loud, mellow guitar sound category rather than the traditional high silvery sound, but all are great instruments. There are others, too. My suggestion is just to pay attention to what is being played in videos and if you are lucky enough to attend a dulcimer festival, just ask people if you can play their dulcimers for a moment. There are lots of great instruments out there and I'm sure you'll fin more than several that will please you.
By the way, I would add Laurel Mountain to Ken's list. Mary used to work for Folkcraft when they were in Connecticut but decided to stay behind when the company relocated to Indiana. Her standard models resemble Folkcraft in size and basic design with only minor differences. But she does really nice work. I miss the beautiful Laurel Mountain I was obliged to sell in order to partially pay for my Modern Mountain Dulcimer.
Terry, can you tell us what style of dulcimer you play? Do you play melody/drone, do you chord, do you play across all the strings?
If you you play melody/drone, I would suggest Going to Boston. It lets you slide up and down the fretboard just like you do in Wildwood Flower.
The hardanger fiddle looked like one of the more interesting instruments in the documentary, perhaps because it is so recognizable as a modern violin with the exception of the sympathetic strings that echo a former era.
What a treat that must have been for you, Robin!
Very cool. It's amazing how great she can play all those various instruments.
Great suggestions, Ken, in part because I know all those tunes. I already added "You are my Sunshine" and will probably add the two "Valley" tunes as well. Maybe the rest will make next year's list.
Kenneth W. Longfield said:
Dusty, a few we do here in the east are Down In The Valley, Red River Valley and You Are My Sunshine. There is also Clementine, Rocky Top and Tom Dooley.
Ken
"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."
Geekling, when you speak of the "jam in front of the festival" do you mean the small group that plays right in the entry to the church grounds? That jam is indeed intimidating and is not really a jam; it is more like a group of friends who already play together. But the festival holds another all-instrument jam towards the end of the day in which people sit in a big circle in that big room where they have lunch. People of a variety of levels join in, and Leo Kretzner leads the whole thing in a really inclusive manner. When I first joined I passed when it was my turn to call a tune, but the next time around I called out Southwind or Rosin the Beau or some tune I knew pretty well. I also just listened during a bunch of tunes I didn't know, and played chords for those whose structure I could figure out but whose melody was too fast to learn on the spot. But as I mentioned, I did learn two or three tunes over the course of the jam and for my first one, I was happy with the number of tunes I was able to play along. Now here we are two or three years later, and I've created my own list of 40+ jam tunes and I know them all! It's amazing how many tunes I've picked up over the last few years!
You two would look so cute playing a courting dulcimer! I can certainly see why that would be on your wish list.
