Forum Activity for @d-chitwood

In light of the recent fantastic conversation we just had about the chords, I wanted to speak about capos.

(Preface: I am 2 years in, play like a crazy woman time-wise, but have zero music theory knowledge so grace grace if this question makes you laugh.)

I was lying in bed early this morn, when suddenly I had an epiphany. If the  1 0 1 is an A chord, then if you place a capo on the 1st fret, are you now tuned to A? And if 0 1 3 is a G chord, when you place a capo on the third fret, are you now tuned to G?

Again, please don't laugh...I'm just now getting into this. If this is correct, then it would explain all the choices of chord for each A, G, D etc because you might be tuned into something where you need a higher fret. (Am I embarrassed at this point? Yes, yes as a matter of fact I am. But I feel safe here so yall go easy on me if this is not right. ) 

And...does anyone have a capo tuning chart that showed what key each capo creates?   

The comments here regarding a historical dulcimer make sense, however, what if you owned one of these and you truly wanted to use the dulcimer to its fullest and there's nary a song now that doesn't have the 6 1/2 fret? Personally, I wouldn't be able to play any of my favorites without that fret and I've bought two dulcimers without it. I added it to both and now enjoy them fully but truly do wonder, would anyone really be buying one to just hang on the wall...or, can you fully enjoy a dulcimer without the 6 1/2? 

My sister told me about a book called Dispatches From Pluto, by Richard Grant. The story of a Brit and a New Yorker who buy a Mississippi plantation and encounter southern culture for the first time. She said it was laugh out loud one of the best books she has read in ages.

Well how 'bout that! I'll be trying that out!

ROFL!! I'll keep that in mind! Dusty, you entertained my husband and myself last night with your playing. I like to pull up different videos with all of your massive collection (seriously, how many are you up to??) Every time I think I've found some wonderful luthier, I see you beat me to the punch. I basically want all of the ones you own.

Do you have a will? Children?  :) :) 

Hahaha, you're funny, Ken. Not coming to the dark side. I have noters but taping has made the world of difference. I can play for hours and hours and have no pain the next day. Immobilizing is what needs to happen and the tape works, just didn't know if anyone had used the finger ring splint things.

I have a bit of arthritis in the first joint of my middle finger/left hand. The more I chord, the more irritated it gets, so I tape it to immobilize it. I just saw on a few sites these sterling silver wired finger splints. They almost look like cool rings that can be worn down on that dip joint. 

Has anyone ever used one? How well does it work to immobilize the joint? I'm not giving up playing for sure, but I need to get creative on holding that one joint in place!

She moved through the fair........Are these the same song? I love Joe Collin's tab The Great silkie. And I love, She moved through the fair. Both haunting. Suddenly, I said, just this morning, ....WAIT...they sound exactly alike.

?????   Are they?

Thank you Lisa. At this point, I am fully 1-1/2 fret savvy and no longer cringe at the sight. I am seeing it as a benefit now and appreciate the add-on. However, that 8-1/2 fret, ugh, now that's an entirely different story! 

Jan that really helps me thank you!

I know this is an old thread, but I'm also trying to make this decision. Monica, did you buy one? What did you choose? I mainly play in DAD or CGC. I find the AEA tuning of a soprano is just too high for my liking and I'm thinking the Gdg would be too close to that. Wish I could hear one in person!

I know this may sound sorta silly, but back in the day (okay, okay...two years ago, haha!), my friend and I attended a day long time with Joe Collins. We were newbies but obsessed and had never had anyone show us exactly how to do a proper pull-off. Joe showed the class specifically how to do a fine and dandy pull off and you should have seen my friend and me turn our heads, look at each other with jaws dropped and a big ol' lightbulb go KAZAM! over our heads, haha!

Sometimes it's the little things. 

This is terrible!!!! Thank you SO MUCH for letting me know!

Dan, I haven't. Since she didn't buy it, and would be carrying it on as carry on luggage, would that be a thing? They usually have a few gifts they bring back and they have never had an issue before. 

Soon, hopefully in March, we have two London friends coming to visit. Last year, Lianne, picked up my dulcimer and just started playing...as in chords and intermediate songs. I was shocked and loved hearing her 'go to town' on my celtic songs, having had no lessons and no prior experience. 

I have purchased her a Little Mule soprano dulcimer so it will be easy to take back on the plane.

I'm wanting to put together some things for her to get her started. I'll get her a capo, some picks, some strings, but what else? Trying to find a Larkins book.  Any particular accessories I'm not thinking of?   She's going to be so excited! 

A tuner! Forgot about that!

Anything else? 

I have it on two of my dulcimers and I've yet to use it. I'm guessing those of you who do, are playing at much more advanced level than myself, but again, I've yet to encounter the 8.5 in a tab. Mainly, it just messes with me when I go to quickly hit the 9th fret.

I was wondering what sorts of experiences yall had had when selling dulcimers on ebay. I think I understand the fees are 9 or 10% then you add paypal to that. 

Have you mainly had good experiences? Did you add sound files? Did you find yourself sitting with a bag of popcorn watching the last hour? 

Is there a software program that allows someone to 'cheat' the system and outbid the last bid? If so, how does that make you feel? 

I know, I know...lots of questions, haha! 

I"m a little tea pot

The ants come marching, one by one, 

I'm a juvenile delinquent....that's just what I wana be...la la la la...

I was JUST thinking about this very thing the other day and realizing this generation of kidnicks aren't singing things like 'Ring around the rosie' and 'I've been working on the Railroad'. Sad to think these would pass away!

Thanks Ken and Rob. Hopefully tomorrow I can start playing with it.

I got a wonderful Schatten Dualie Outside r acoustic pickup for my dulcimer and wondered where the best position to place it would be. Any tips? Thank you!

Haha, Steven, it's like the Incredible Mr. Limpet had a dulcimer baby. 

Haha, Brian, I actually played Nut Factory Shuffle yesterday and it was so loud, I'm pretty certain the birds flew off the trees. He gets such good volume with that deep body!

Haha, wouldn't that be the bees' knees! The problem is though....I got this dulcimer to give to a young friend who visits once a year from the UK. She sat and played my dulcimers for two weeks last year (having never played before) and I wanted to surprise her with her very own, in a hard case for the travel back. 

I wasn't expecting this one to be...Koa. And so amazing, haha! Folk Roots have the richest, buttery smooth and yet loud voice of all my dulcimers so I might need to keep looking for Lianne. :)

How exciting! Thank you for finding that out. I found Howard's response on E.D. and I'm very excited to know this!

I'm looking forward to hearing from Howard in this. I also posted in Everything Dulcimer and sent an email. I changed out the strings just now, played a tune and woke up every single solitary person taking an afternoon nap between here and the Mississippi. This thing has a VOICE, Lord help mercy! I love it, ha!!

So I bought a brand new (yet old) FolkRoots dulcimer from a fellow in CA. He bought it at a renaissance fair..he thinks back in the 80s. The gal he bought it for never played it. So basically it's brand spankin new. I got it today and it's gorgeous. The case is mint and it looks like Howard just handed it over this morning.

With that said, I want to learn a bit more. The inside label says Rugg & Jackel Folk Roots dulcimers  D200 S 170 Nothing is kerfed on the inside. The top is light and the back darker and the fretboard looks to be walnut or mahogany with the little pick marks both woods have. Any info would be appreciated!

 FolkRoots.jpg - 41KB

Cat, I know that trigger finger can be treated. Have you seen an ortho? I'm still playing but I am using a 1.5 inch padded splint and taping it to my finger. It only affects the one joint and my finger is still free to press down a string. I can tell a big difference.  I hope you are able to find something that works for you.

Is anyone attending Unicoi this year? I went last year and loved the fellowship, the vendors and the great teachers. I was just 10 months in and it was a fantastic immersion for me.  I also snagged a starsong and several great books.

I cannot wait to play all the different dulcimers up for sale, fact-finding of course :), and snag some books.

Hope to see someone there!

Well, I finally got that gosh-darn ball to give up the ghost. I first squeezed on it with some jewelry pliars. It was tougher than all get out. Then, I used two hands, squeezed my eyes shut and made a face and it still wouldn't squoosh!  

THEN, I went out to my husband's hefty man pliars (heh, heh, I'll show YOU) and gave a hard squeeze (face, mouth, eyes...all engaged). Do you know that little booger wouldn't budge!?

I then decided I was pulling out all the stops and threw some weight into it and finally, FINALLY it dented, I worked another five minutes and it finally succumbed. Seriously, somebody needs to put NASA in touch with this particular string maker.

That done, I spent the next 15 sweaty minutes, tuning. ding, ding, ding, ding, ding  DING...DING...DING...I have a B!!!  Honestly, it it just me??    The bridge was NO problem. It was tuned beautifully open and also on the 7 fret. The subtle smudge was enough of a guideline.

My least favorite part of owning a stringed instrument. Finally got the thing to DAD and after playing four songs, said, "Nah, CGC", and down it went. 

Well, the GOOD news is that there appears to be a remnant of some sort of 'stuff' on the wood. I can clearly see where it was. I'll start from there but for now, only have bass strings with that darn little brass nut and I've gone and forgotten how to remove it. Twisting the wire is not helping at all. 

Well, I'm bringing up this old thread. Today, I put on my big girl britches and sat down to restring my blue lion. Without knowing the bridge was floating, I decided to start with a nekkid dulcimer, and removed all the strings. Off goes the bridge!  Rut-Ro.  

So now, it's bad enough I suffer from string-changing-smack-me-in-the-face-phobia, but now....I've got a bridge in my hand saying,"Whatcha gonna do now girlie?!"

Do all blue lions have this? 

I'm wondering if anyone else has issues with a finger joint that gets irritated from overuse. On my chord hand, I have one joint that is needing to be taped or splinted. How have yall handled this pain-in-the-finger? 

I just got a cortisone shot yesterday and they gave me a super duper metal splint that keep the tip of my finger exposed. Any advice on how to manage this irritation? 

(edited, you're right, I HAVE..) It's showing $350, Phoenix, yes. Can't tell much about the shape though. Yes, I have a Starsong. Happened upon it at Unicoi last year. I play my Ron Gibson more than anything though, but everytime I pick it up I still say, "Wow...this is a beautiful instrument!"

There's a MM for sale on craigslist in Arizona right now. Dusty, I thought you had a Gallier. Why did I think that? I have a starsong but I'm only 20 months in and not confident enough to show myself on here. 

Never mind! I just found an earlier discussion and now I have my answer! Thanks for the article link Dusty!

We have dear friends who visit each year from London. Last year, the gal, Lianne, a gifted artist, sat down with my dulcimer and basically taught herself to play. They are coming back soon and I would love to find a reasonably priced dulcimer and gift her with that and some books and a capo. 

The problem is (besides finding a great deal)...how will she manage to get it back to London in one piece? A hard case runs around $185 and that's going to be out of my price range. I had heard the air lines have had to accommodate musicians because of some recent damages.

If she can carry it on, that would really help. Thoughts? Ideas?  

I, too, suffer from Dulcimer Acquisition Syndrome and ALSO received a brand spankin' new Ron Gibson teardrop this week! LOVE IT!!

One day after I received a used Blue Lion.      Love it too!

My corner is full with the Gibson, McSpadden, the Blue Lion, the Gallier and the FolkRoots. 

What to do, what TO DO. 

A dear gal friend came to visit and she loves playing with the dulcimers, so I gifted her with the Folkroots. She is thrilled and now there is one more member in the dulcimer family! 

And an empty space in the corner!

Ok, got it!! Thank you! Love the hat!

Ok, Dusty, I'm going to play the ignorant person here. Are you saying get a microphone stand, like what Elvis sang into (I'm showing my age and my first crush :) ) and put a mic on it called the Sure M57 and I'm assuming you place this right up close to the dulcimer?? And the Mic attaches to the amp?  If you can draw a cartoon, that would be even better. :) :) 

Okay great! Phil, on that Shatten, do you also use the double sided tape? And it holds? (ken you pretty much know everything, don't you? :) ) Yall are such a fantastic resource!