Forum Activity for @dusty

Barbara, I was playing strictly in a flatpicking style but then bought a used Blue Lion from another member of FOTMD. I played it a little bit and really liked it, but one day I stroked the strings gently with my finger and the instrument just rang true. It sounds good with a flatpick, but really special with a soft fingerstyle technique. I began learning to fingerpick simply to do right by that instrument. And of course trying to fingerpick my six-string baritone dulcimette would be like fingerpicking a mandolin. Oh, maybe you could kinda sorta do it a little, but why?

Some instruments might really be versatile, but others so obviously want to be in a particular tuning or played with a certain technique that it's nice to honor those ideosyncracies. I gave up trying to play bluegrass guitar and mandolin with the accompanying obsession with playing lots of notes as fast as possible, and now my philosophy with the dulcimer is that if you have a nice sounding instrument, highlight that instrument. Pick or strum a little, let the notes ring out, and get out of the way.

Barbara P said:

Uh oh, Dusty Turtle, you're making me think that I need a designated fingerpicking dulcimer too! I sure love the way those Blue Lions look! (I see trouble ahead! LOL!) And a baritone - another type of dulcimer I sorely need!

Oh, and I don't even have a baritone dulcimer, so I need to add just one more . . .

Mandy, I know what you mean, and for that reason I have a guitar, a 12-string guitar, a mandolin, a ukulele, an autoharp, a fiddle, . . .

But, I now have several dulcimers and to me they are all different instruments. I have dulcimers in at least three tonal ranges, one a true octave dulcimer and another tuned a fourth of fifth above a standard dulcimer, the latter of which has six strings and is really good for fast-paced fiddle tunes in G or A. And even my standard dulcimers seem like different instruments. The Blue Lion is clearly intended for fingerpicking, not only because it just sounds great that way but also because the wider neck makes fingerpicking easier on the right hand.I use another dulcimer entirely for flatpicking, in part because it's neck is more narrow, but also because it has a 1-1/2 fret . . .

I could go on, but I think I've made my point. Just because I have several instruments that are all called dulcimers, does not mean they are all identical. In fact, they are as different as a guitar and mandolin. And even among those of us without the disposable income to buy dulcimers just for fun, the differences among dulcimers become more obvious the more you play and you come to see them as genuinely different instruments intended for different tunings, styles of play, etc.

Mandy said:

Hey Barbara,

My take on this is a little different actually. I want one of everything! By that I mean lots of different instruments.

How many dulcimers does one need?

Easy: just one more!

Some time ago in Everything Dulcimer I started a discussion asking for all the variuos names used for what we call the mountain or Appalachian or lap dulcimer. Rather than search that discussion out and add a link, I've just attached a Word version of the final list. I thought you might find it fun.

Barbara, I am sure you could find numerous discussions here and even more at Everything Dulcimer in which people tell those with chromatic dulcimers that they should just play guitaror those with strumsticks that they aren't real dulcimers. Feelings can get hurt and I don't think that is anyone's intention. I do not speak for the dulcimer community.(In fact, a lot of people can even tell by my playing that I am really a guitar player who switched teams.) Some people within the dulcimer community are much more strict than others about what constitutes a dulcimer. It is that debate that I don't find very helpful.

To one person a dulcimer with a chromatic fretboard can still be a dulcimer, but to someone else, a dulcimer is a diatonic instrument played in a noter/drone style. I've always thought it arbitrary that some innovations (like geared tuning pegs) can be accepted and others (like extra frets) can't.

But I think most if not all of us would agree on what a traditional dulcimer looks like and how it was played. Let's start there. Then we can explore the variations that stem from that traditonal dulcimer withough worrying about specific classifications.

Barbara P said:

Thanks Dusty Turtle. That makes perfect sense to me now. The dulcimer community accepts all similar styles as dulcimers. I'm sorry, I didn't know that this might be a sensitive subject. I guess that's why I couldn't find my answer in the archives.

I've stayed away from this conversation because, as those who've taken part in such discussions before can attest, things can get a little testy. Can a dulcimer have "extra" frets? Can you play chords on it? Can you reverse the string order and hang it over your shoulder like a guitar? If I tune my guitar DGDGBD and lay it flat on my lap, is it a guitar or a dulcimer? If a cigar box is used as the sound box, does the fretboard become a neck? Can it still be a dulcimer then?

Rather than asking "what constitutes a dulcimer" which only encourages us to draw a sharpboundary between dulcimers and other similar hybrid instruments, let's askhow to define a traditional mountain dulcimer and traditional mountain dulcimer playing, and then explore what some of the variations of that instrument and those playing traditions are.

Even the analogy of waterfowl species doesn't quite hold up. A goose may not be a duck, but if you see an odd-looking waterfowl that appears to be half goose and half duck, what is it? We define a species as a a group of animals that can produce fertile offspring. There is a species of bullfrog on the east coast whose habitat ranges from Maine to Florida. At each step of the way, the bullfrogs can mate with those around them. But if you take one from Maine and one from Florida, they cannot mate. Or let's try another analogy. Take an ice cube and put it on the counter. It immediately starts to melt. On the outside, therefore, is water, and in the very center is ice. But where is the boundary between those two? As long as it feels wet, it is water, and you can never quite get to the ice because as you get there it begins to melt.

Sometimes there are no clear boundaries and rather than inventing them to make our classification system seem more rational, we should just accept that everything is in flux. Traditions evolve. Let's embrace the old, and the new, the long accepted and the avant guarde. If the music is sweet, it's all good.

Ron Beardslee has recently begun putting a bunch of beginner tab up on the Redwood Dulcimer Day website: http://redwooddulcimerday.com/resources.html . Ron teaches the beginner class at RDD every year and usesthis tab for that class. If you are just starting out, this material is perfect.

Mark Tindle has made available a lot of tablature of common dulcimer tunes (especially hymns) in arrangements mainly for intermediate players: http://www.tindlemusic.com/tablature.htm .

Gary Gallier has posted a bunch of tab on the Gallier Brothers website, though I would not recommend it for beginners. Some of it is pretty difficult stuff: http://dulcimercentral.com/?page_id=6 .

The same is true of Neal Hellman, who hides an ecclectic assortment tab in the deep recesses of the Gourd Music website: http://www.gourd.com/dulcimertabs.html .

There is, in short, lots of tab available for every level of MD player. Make use of it. I do. But I would also urge you all not to be a slave to tab. Learn songs by ear. Make your own arrangements. Use your instrument to express yourself.

Nick, I personally don't play in a droning style, so those who have already responded are more help than I can be. And they've also given you solid advice. In the key of D, DAd or DAA would be the most common tunings. In the key of G, DGd would work. And Ken's advice on bagpipe tuning might work in either case.

Another possibility, though one shunned by traditionalists, would be to use a capo. If you are tuned DAA or DAd, you can obviously play in D. With a capo a the 3rd fret you can play in G, and with a capo at the 4th fret you can play in A. The other common key would probably be C, and you could tune down a note to CGG or CGc for that.

The main advantage of using a capo (the fact that your fingering doesn't change as you change keys) is less important to drone players than to us heretical chord players, but you might consider the option if it doesn't offend your traditionalist sensibilities.

Bruce playing with the Seeger Sessions is a pretty good party, but so is this, which begins with a dulcimer:

That's pretty cool. Life just ain't the same without a trombone solo.

And to be fair to Jimmy Fallon, Bruce does call him over when he yells "spoons," so it's not like he insisted on jumping in front of the camera.

Wow! Talk about a wall of sound! I love the way the violin and horns weave around each other. But I think if I had that band behind me even I would sound good. There must be a video of that whole concert somewhere. I'd love to get a copy. They also do a version of "Pay Me My Money Down" that has a nice Zydeco beat once theaccordeon and fiddles getgoing.It's just plain toe tappin' fun.

Nice choice, Sam! I wish Strumelia would post more of her playing with Brian. Maybe if we beg her every day and promise to wear our FOTMD buttons everywhere we go . . .

Sam said:

I spend a lot of time viewing videos here and on youtube. Here's my favorite:

http://mountaindulcimer.ning.com/video/brianlisa-hellupcoalholler

Another great voice and another great dulcimer:

I wish I had known about the dulcimer years ago. As a guitar player, I tried for years to figure out what odd open tuning Joni was using on those songs. When I finally "discovered" the dulcimer a few years ago I finally found the video above and it all made sense.

Do you think if I change my name from Dusty Turtle to Sunset Pig Joni will kiss me?

Barbara P said:

Dusty Turtle this was the song that piqued my interest many years ago (and A Case of You)! Too bad I didn't start playing then! I am so glad you posted this video. She is just so incredibly wonderful!!!

Some voices can make me cry. And if it's accompanied by a dulcimer, I am powerless.

So much music.

So little time.

Vivian, I am so sorry I never saw this question when you first posted.

My first dulcimer, which I bought about 4 years ago, is a Unicorn Woodworks dulcimer made by Johnie Nicholson.

When I first decided to buy a dulcimer, I searched for a local luthier. The only one I found (or so I thought) was Johnie Nichoson. At least the area code of his phone number was for Northern California. But when I called I learned that he had moved to Idaho. I was reluctant to buy an instrument without seeing it first, but he explained that he still buys his wood in Berkeley, and a couple of times a year he makes the drive. About four years ago I met him off the highway near Sacramento while he was on his way to Berkeley. I met him and his wife and he showed me about a half dozen dulcimers. I bought one made of mahogany with a spruce top and rose bud sound holes. At the time it cost me $340if I remember correctly. That dulcimer has served me very well. It is very well balanced and has exceptional sustain.

Over the years I have picked up a few other dulcimers, including (like Patricia) a Blue Lion and a Modern Mountain Dulcimer (both of which cost substantially more than the Unicorn). Both of those have much more volume than the Unicorn and especially much more bass response. The Blue Lion is my favorite for fingerpicking and the MMD is my favorite for flatpicking, but the Unicorn is my second favorite for both. I have also come to own and then re-sell other dulcimers, including a Folkcraft, a Laurel Mountain, and a Folk Roots. I think the Unicorn is at least as solid as those better known instruments. The spruce top gives it a warm tone and the lack of finish on the wood helps increase the sustain.

Just today I was reunited with my Unicorn Woodworks dulcimer, nicknamed Rosa because of the rose soundholes. I had lent it to a newbie about a year ago who was interested in playing. Since I was starting a local dulcimer group, I was eager to recruit as many people as I could. She now has another dulcimer, our group is going strong, and Rosa has returned home. My daughter missed the dulcimermore than I did and insisted on holding it during the drive home. I put on new strings and have been playing my old friend for about an hour or so.

I think Johnie makes instruments that are an exceptional value. I doubt there are many dulcimers in the price range that are any better. The only caveat I would offer is that because Unicorn Woodworks dulcimers are not as well known as some others, they don't retain their value the way a McSpadden does. But if you are looking for an affordable dulcimer to play, it is a very good choice.

I think I've posted one video which includes my head (but I wear a hat in that one). The rest just show the dulcimer. Why?

Vain answer : My face is so handsome that I don't want to distract people from the music.

Self-deprecating answer : Since I look at the fretboard while I play, all you'd see would be my receding hairling. And if I lifted my face up, all you would see would be my double chin. It's a lose/lose.

Serious answers :

1) I have learned a lot (nearly all) of my dulcimer playing from watching other people's videos and I would like to pass on that method of learning. But if I were to sit far enough back from my webcam to get my face in the video, no one could see my fingers on the fretboard.

2) Ienjoy the anonymity of using an online moniker and not showing my face. I have no trouble sharing my legal name with people here; just send me a personal message and you can learn the name the IRS knows me by. But my entire professional life is online. I work online but sometimes I don't want to be at work. So as a private citizen pursuing a private passion online, I create a senseof privacy by using a different name and not showing my face (save my avatar). For example, right now I am about a month late with a project at work and I don't want my bossto figure out that I'm hanging out with Mandy the banjo/dulcimer galwhen I have so much work to do!

Butsince you asked:

Now you've learned; watch out or you might get what you wished for!

Mitch, you will find that whereas Robin, who never uses tab, representsone extreme, the other is people who can only play when the tab is right in front of them. And there are a lot of dulcimer players like that. Obviously, whatever way of learning a tune works for someone is the right way for them, but I do think there is an over-reliance on tablature in the dulcimer community.

You are right to think of the tab as a fake book, and most of us use tab to get the basic idea of a song but then we rely on our ears and eyes to modify or embellish the tab and make it our own. However, there are other uses of tab that center not merely on the bare bones, but the embellished version itself. Stephen Seifert, for example, has indeed published his Join the Jam series which is like a fake book, but he has also put out his DVD lessons and other material where he has painstakingly created tab for his improvisational work. That use of tab is aimed at helping us find our own ways to embellish the basic songs. And some tab is intended to demonstrate arrangement possibilities. I bought a book of tab from Nina Zanetti in my efforts to learn to play fingerstyle dulcimer. The tab is helpful not to learn the melody, but to learn how to add notes around the melody in order to create a song that moves in a steady rhythm without strumming chords and still expresses and expands upon the melody.

I have used tab in the past and I still do, almost every day that I play. But I never rely on it and I need to have a song "in my head" in order to learn it. Personally, and perhaps this comes from having played the guitar for years, I begin by trying to understand the structure of a song. Is it in AABB form or perhaps ABAB? What are the chord progressions of each section? Once I know that the song has, for example, an 8-measure A part in D major which is repeated and an 8-measure B part that begins in Bm but resolves back to D major, then I begin to work on the melody. I might consult the tab (or SMN) to get a sense of that basic structure or perhaps to help with some difficult parts of the tune. But for me personally, I have to hear the song in order to make use of the tab, and I end up learning more by listening than by looking at tab.

And once I learn a song, I never refer to tab again and take pleasure in the fact that my playing strays further from the tab as I play the song, hopefully creating a version that is really mine and not the creation of whoever wrote that tab that helped me in the beginning.

Funny. A banjo named Lola just seems wrong for some reason. Jed, OK, but Lola?And Mr. Fiddles works for acartoon violin. Wally works for me, especially if it's a baritone or bass dulcimer.

Kimberly Moore said:

As far as the gender is concerned, I'm not sure why I refer to my dulcimer as a he. Actually, I refer to my fiddle as Mr. Fiddles. The banjo I play, however, is namedLola.

Dana, can we assume that Curly Sue is a girl and was not inspired by the Shel Silverstein/Johnny Cash song "A Boy Named Sue?"

Dana R. McCall said:

My baritone's name is Curly Sue because of the really pretty curly maple she is made of.

How about Nutmeg , since Connecticut is the Nutmeg State?

I originally thought it odd to name instruments. I never named by guitar, my 12-string guitar, or my mandolin. But it's easy enough to say "the Guild" or "the 12-string." It's a lot harder to say "my six-string baritone dulcimette by Ron Ewing."

My sense is that folks who have lots of dulcimers give them names, but if you only have one, there is no need. When I was in college I had a cat named TC for "the cat." I saw no reason for a real name since it was the only cat in the household. I only named my first dulcimer when it became my first dulcimer, meaning when I got a second one. When it was the only one I had, it was just "my dulcimer."

But my question here is about gender. Why is your bike female? Why are most dulcimers female? Maybe they are not. The hourglass shape definitely seems feminine to me, but a teardrop? I don't know.

And what about Jim's football-shaped dulcimer? Maybe he should call it "Jim Pluck-it." [For those who don't know, Jim Plunkett was a Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback with Stanford University who went on to win two Super Bowls with the Oakland Raiders back in the 70s and early 80s.]

B. Ross Ashley said:

That's odd, I never thought to name my dulcimer ... my bike is Madama Butterfly, because she is an Italian/Taiwanese hybrid (a Bianchi Boardwalk, built in Taiwan about 1987.) I probably ought to name the dulci. Hmmm. It's a stock Connecticut-built 1989 Folkcraft cherry teardrop.

Cherry Poptart? Yeah, right.

There's got to be a name in your description, Judy: "beautiful honey blond buttery color." That sounds like a girl to me.

Judy said:

Fun topic! I just got mine and haven't thought of a name yet. I'd love some suggestions. She (or he) is made of cherry and sitka spruce-a beautiful honey blond buttery color. I'm anxious to hear everyone's names

Please don't be offended. It's late andI'm a goofball.

Today my daughter said to me, "Daddy, I think you should give at least one of your dulcimers a boy's name. They can't all be girls." (Let's see, Rosa, Queenie, Lucinda, well she's a tomboy . . . )

If she were older, I might have responded, "But the curves, honey, the curves are just so . . . so . . . voluptuous and alluring."

And whoever said "Dragonfly" was a girl anyway?

And she named her dulcimer (an Eedy Beede with dolphin sound holes) "Splash!" A splash ain't got no gender, does it?

Among those of you who name your dulcimers, have you chosen male names, female names, or a combination? Has anyone stuck to those gender-neutral names like Carmen, Pat, Chris, or Alex?

Guitars have always been hermaphroditic, with a female body and a phallic neck. What about dulcimers? (And don't get me started on trombones!)

Congratulations, Vivian. Those concert dulcimers of his sure look beautiful. So many dulcimers, so little time. . .

Rod was the first to welcome me to FOTMD and he embraced me as though we were old friends.

Merry Christmas, Rod.

Nice tribute to Rod. I can't believe it's been a year.

Peace to one and all.

That is nice, Susie. Iwas on that audition list, too, but basically gave up ever hearing from Richard. As it turned out,I obtained one anyway, but was obliged to sell it to pay for another (much more expensive) dulcimer. My ad with video demonstration is still available in the For Sale Forum for anyone interested.

As Ken has pointed out, the shallow fretboard does not allow it tobe played noter/drone style. I also found the stringsa bit loose andwould suggest different gauge strings. But other than that, the instrument is very well made, has excellent intonation, and especially for its size, has a really nice tone, one that seems to get better as thesebrand new instruments mellow a bit.

Susie said:

Surprise, surprise......I got notified by Folkcraft and got the FolkRoots Travel dulcimer on Friday to try out for a few days. My sister also got one. I'll be giving them my feedback...mostly good, but a couple suggestions. Nice that Richard followed through with the auditions. Neat little dulcimer...nicely made. I'll be sending it back, though, because I have another dulcimer on order.

I stopped waiting. I just figure maybe someday I'll hear from Richard that they're ready. But until then, I'm not holding my breath. I also thought we were supposed to be the beta testers before they sold the model, but they're already selling the model! I don't really understand why they need testers anymore.

I have heard nothing recently, but I do know there were some delays as they changed the bracing on the instrument.

I think you got your wish, Flint. Here we are three years later.

Well, it's not a traditional ballad or anything, but David Schnaufer's version of the Hank Williams tune "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cryhas moved me ever since I discovered the dulcimer. Elvis called it the "saddest song I've ever heard in my life."

Did you ever see the Robin weep

When leaves begin to die

That means he's lost the will to live

I'm so lonesome I could cry

You football fans might like to hear Terry Bradshaw sing the song , too. Weren't the seventies great?

Flint Hill said:

I sure am enjoying this thread. Hope it has a long and productive life

This kind of inter-linguistic confusion can be offensive and comical, too. Years ago while i was living in France the family I was staying with welcomed another American for a dinner. She had just spent a few days in Paris on her first trip to France. They asked her how she liked Paris, and she responded that Paris was the city of joy--"Paris est la ville de joie"--and she wanted to say that she was ajoyous girlas well, so she said, "Et je suis une fille de joie." Horror fell on the faces of the French family. You see, "fille de joie" may literally mean girl of joy, but it the common name for, well, shall we say . . . una puta.

I don't know if this is the same collection, but here are 200 songs: http://singalongwith.us/ .

Hi Tony,

John P has this right. I believe the 6-1/2 or 6+ fret became common in the 70s and is almost standard now, to the point that a dulcimer that does not have that extra fret will usually be labeled explicitly asa "true diatonic."

The 1-1/2 or 1+ fret is the next most common "extra" fret. It is useful for blues, as John P states, because it gives you the lowered third, the most important of the so-called "blue" notes. But it has other uses as well, most notably the ability to play the 7th chord of the I and IV and also a wider variety of minor chords.

Two of Bing Futch's recent Dulcimerica videos examine the 1-1/2 fret in depth, so if you want to see what can be done with that extra fret, give those videos a look.

I've seen some folks who have added a 4-1/2 fret, and Ron Ewing convinced me to put not only a 1-1/2 but also a 1/2 (0+?)fret on my dulcimette, the logic being the greater number of chords that could be played. I'll be honest, though, although I use the 1-1/2 fret often, I have not yet begun to explore the .5 fret (or however you designate it).

Traditionalists will argue with some pursuasiveness that once you begin adding extra frets, the dulcimer ceases to be a dulcimer and becomes something closer to a guitar or mandolin.

There is a group here at FOTMD entitled "I have extra frets," which sounds like the opening line of a 12-step group: "Hello, my name is Dulci and I have extra frets. I knew I had a serious problem when after getting a 1-1/2 fret one day I was banging on my luthier's door at 4:00 AMbegging for more."

Thanks everyone for your warm welcome. I'll do my best to help maintain the friendliest place on the internet.

Are moderators necessarily moderate?

And if you practice moderation in all things, aren't you being excessive in your moderation? If you are excessive in your moderation, then you are not practicing moderation in all things, so you are not excessive in your moderation.

Oh, my head is spinning. Good thing my wife just popped the bottle of California bubbly that we never had a chance to share on Valentine's Day.