What a great question. Specifically for dulcimer, I would have to say Pretty Saro. I play it on my little ginger scale McSpadden, in reverse Ionian G. Someday I should post a video!
Aw I just don't get to go dancing anymore! We were taught country dancing at the very old fashioned girls grammar school I attended in the 70s. The music certainly wasn't as funky as that!! I learned a mix of English and Scottish dances and they were useful for going to ceilidhs when I was a bit older.
I also had a stint of doing circle dance in the 90s: a generic term for a collection of European folk dances that don't require partnering up and are done in circles, lines or chains. The sessions with live musicians were great; Turkish, Breton, Bulgarian, Jewish, all kinds of tunes.
I have had the trauma of having an banjo beheaded by ParcelForce in the UK; there was a big dent in the box suggesting an external impact of some force.
I have also safely received dulcimers overseas from the States. My bowed dulcimer from Ken Bloom was in a wooden carry case and then packaged with a good 6" of foam chips all around it. And I received a vintage Ledford dulcimer double boxed ( with bubble wrap around the instrument, inside a small box, then foam chips and a bigger box).
I do admire Robin's cunning psychological approach of providing a handle!
Hi Gayle and welcome aboard!
I agree that every website has its own "tone" and a lot of that is influenced by the approach taken by the moderator(s). Here on FOTMD there is a culture of welcoming everyone, regardless of identity or ability, and focusing on the thing we have in common, i.e. our love of and interest in the mountain dulcimer. So I really do find it to be the most friendly site I use on the whole World Wide Web!
Hi All what an excellent discussion!
I learned to read SMN in my teens in the school choir and local youth orchestra (double bass player)> I also was a self taught finger style guitarinst, and never used TAB for that, working mainly from books with SMN plus guitar chords, and learning by ear at church. I first encountered TAB about 5 years ago when I got an entry-level banjo with an instruction book (TAB and CD). I found it great for basics (in the absence of finding a teacher) but I can really identify with Mandy's point that she thinks that TAB maybe held back her development of the full knowledge and skills set for musicianship. My playing of ALL my instruments has leapt forward in the last 3 years since I got meself out to sessions and open mikes, got playing with others and set myself a regime for learning. In a way, I see TAB as being like using SatNav; if you rely on it alone a dependency builds and it can prevent the development of your own navigational skills which allow for more interesting and varied journeys. I can see its value in large group jams, and for beginners who may benefit from learning in that way (and Robin makes a very good point that we all learn in different ways so we must not enforce our own way as the only one!)
TAB still has some uses in my musical journey:I use TAB for a memory jogger, and I sometimes TAB out songs and tunes I have learned by ear or have in SMN, so that I can work out the smoothest "finger choreography" for the MD fretboard. As a mainly chord/ melody player this has proved to be really useful.
Hi - good topic choice Lisa!
Thanna - I would add my support to that offered by others. If there are no other specific dulcimer sessions in your area then look for an old timey, folk or acoustic session. You may have to try a few places until you land on one that is flexible and welcoming. I have certainly had my share of trials since I decided to get back into some public music via sessions about 3 years ago. It is worth persevering to find sympathetic others to play with as it will speed your learning immensely; I know that jamming and playing in public (alone and with others) has been a real shot in the arm for me. But first, a cautionary tale....
When we moved house a couple of years ago we were thrilled to find that a pub just half a mile away had a regular folk music session every week. However, having tried it a few times, it is not one we attend regularly, and I will tell you why.... The core members of the group have known each other a long time and know all each others' material, so they all launch in to everything without really listening. This can be a REAL problem. For example, once I was up to speed on a few american folk songs, we did "Shady Grove". Within 30 seconds of playing and singing, one of the regulars shouted "Oo its just like 'Matty Groves!' " and they all waded in on guitars, mandolin and melodeon. Well actually, the melody we use is NOT exactly the same as 'Matty Groves' and the harmonies we use ( we sing together with banjo ) are not the same as the famous version of Matty Groves these chaps all knew. The result was that we could not hear each other, and the discordant clash between what we were playing and what they were wading in with was HORRID!!
So to add to Strumelia's list of guidelines for welcoming newbies to a jam :
Happily, we know other great places to go now for playing and singing; so I guess the moral of my tale is that you may have to kiss a few frogs before you find the perfect match.....
Yes that is what I thought - other pics I have seen of old epinettes look just like the upper part of this instrument - like on these links posted by Patrmigan in the "Ancestor of the Dulcimer" group http://mountaindulcimer.ning.com/group/dulcimerancestors/forum/topics/epinette-des-vosges-france Maybe the luthier was curious about inter-breeding?? It is beautiful and that double sound box arrangement must give it a very special voice.I find this interesting- the way it has the effect of two soundboxes. It's almost like an epinette on top, mating with a mountain dulcimer! =8-o I've never seen pix of an epinette des V. with an hourglass shape before. I'm guessing it's an innovation/experiment by the luthier, but i might be wrong about that.
In any case, it's pretty amazing!
Aha! SO pencil marks are a clue to your genius then Randy!!Fretless dulcimer works for me b/c I seldom play above the 4th or 5th fret....& almost never above the 7th....& play across the strings..with a noter....tuned DAd most of the time but also DAde, DAdf#, DF#Ad or DGBd.
It is difficult to play the melody up & down the melody string...starts sounding like one of them slide whistle things.....I need to bounce off open strings. I have ordered another fretless box dulcimer from Gary Sager that will have frets 4 thru 8 under the melody strings only and think it will open up new ways to play for me.
I actually prefer the sound & playability of a fretless dulcimer & with a little practice ...& a pencil mark or two.. : )...where the notes are comes automatically.
Yep that is it in a nutshell. A string with no frets is capable of producing any note within its range from one end (nut) to the other (bridge). In western music our ears are trained to hear whole notes (called tones in formal music theory) and half notes (semitones). (Other music traditions have quarter and eigth notes and maybe more- in Persian classical music they have 12 different steps between our half notes -i.e. 12 different versions of A ranging between A and A flat!!)Western music relies on these more limited steps in the infinity of musical possibility because it is easier to harmonise, and so it is important to play those half notes and whole notes accurately, especially when playing with others. So frets or position markers are an easy way to show the player where the notes are. The dulcimer does this the most simple way by having the frets positioned to give a "Do Re Mi" scale as you go up the frets, made up of whole notes and half notes. Most other more modern string instruments (guitar, banjo, mandolin etc) have their frets laid out in semitones rather than a pattern of tones and semitones.I used to play double bass, which is fretless,and the hardest thing was learning all the left hand positions, and the precise distances between my fingers in order to get the semitones accurately.Of course they get closer together the further up the neck towards the bridge you go, so I had to learn how to make the necessary adjustments to my hand position as I moved to higher positions. Frankly, it was much harder work than the guitar and I never progressed very far. Besides, it aint the most portable of instruments to just casually take along to a party or jam session!Frets are not necessary, but I do believe it makes an instrument easier to play, plus the fretboard lives much longer if the strings are not constantly wearing it from contact.
Roger
Sue - I was really pleased when I got the hang of clawhammer, it is a really versatile technique.
Lisa - I totally agree that it is impossible to play banjo or MD and not notice an immediate lifting of the spirits!
well it has been a year since any banjo related news was shared.
I got me a very be-au-ti-ful new banjo a couple of months ago; a Wildwood Troubadour. It was just sitting there on Ebay with no one paying any attention, so I got it for about half what I would have paid for a new one, and got to see and try it too before sealing the deal. I have wanted one with a tubaphone tone ring so I was really pleased. It needed a little attention as the head was really loose, and I found the action a little low so I swapped the bridge for a 5/8th. And now I can hardly bear to put it down! Hve not got any recordings yet but will be working on that during the summer.
Yep I think that sums it up Lisa. I use Banjo Hangout sometimes for banjo hints & tips, and Deering is the make everyone seems to worship, but the GoldTone Whyte Ladie gave me most bang for ma buck.(Lawks I seem to picking up the lingo from associating with all you fine American chums in cyberspace....)Gold Tones have a good reputation as a real solid good sounding affordable banjo. Good choice!
LOL Liz - yes, sorry if I kind of hogged your new baby a bit - it was of course sheer envy on my part especially given that the Saga banjo I had got earlier in December was decapitated by Parcelforce *sniff*See you when the snow thaws!Aha Jane I can see why I (hardly) never got to play my new banjo at our Christmas get toether - You were sizing it up for "secret santa" - good job I sat between you and the door - my new banjo AND the dulcimer book......
See ya soon friend.
Liz
Liz (Elizabeth) Thacker said:Foggers said:THanks for the replies Lisa and Randy; here is the news...
Well my laptop kind of hiccupped on the DVDs, but after threatening it with a hammer, things settled down and the disks play okay.
I like Dwight's approach to the right hand rhythm. I had already made a start on the bump-ditty pattern through a book i got a couple of months ago, but when I listen to practice recordings it just sounds too "busy" somehow. Having had a weekend with Dwight's "Just Rhythm" DVD I can see that I need to stop worrying so much about the "ditty" and I am already sounding more like I want to! So that is fun indeed.
Of course I can now see that my "Countryman " banjo just aint right at all for clawhammer playing...maybe I need a new banjo from Santa??
