I have purely diatonic instruments and those with 6.5 frets and love 'em all! I retune plenty using a false nut (at fret 1 and fret 4) from my "home base" tuning of DAA and am happy to have those extra frets when I want them.
@dulcimerjones I'm always working at developing a better ear. And learning the instrument-- what I think I can do with the mountain dulcimer within my playing capabilities. It's a lifelong journey, I think. :)
Figuring out a tune can take me months. Most often, I prefer to work from a fiddle version(s) or a banjo version(s) of a tune to figure out the essence of a tune and how the tune will lay-out on the fretboard of a mountain dulcimer.
I'm happy to see this back online!
I've learned over the years how helpful it is to figure out the essence of a tune, what is tune at its most basic form. The necessity of working on this skill became clear when I was honest with myself about my own limitations as a player.
Mark said if you'd like to send an mp3 of you on PAR, he'll put back-up to it. Just let me know. :)
Dusty, I look forward to hearing your Pig Ankle Rag! I've heard it played on hammered dulcimer but don't recall having heard it on mountain dulcimer.
I've been thinking on Cattle In the Cane this morning. First, I need to experiment with tunings to get an appriate key. Then, since I'm dealing with a real fiddle-y tune (lots of notes), I'll work on the process of subtracting notes because there's no way I'll duplicate what a fiddle is doing.
I've loved the tune Cattle in the Cane for years! Betty Vornbrock of the Reed Island Rounders fiddles it beautifully. And on their cd Hell up Coal Holler, Gerry Milnes (fiddle) & Lorraine Lee Hammond (Appalachian dulcimer) play a really nice version of the tune.
Right now, the tune feels out of reach for me. . . Maybe someday I'll work up a noter/drone version.
Do any of y'all have any out-of-reach tunes now that you hope to figure-out someday?
That is quite distinctive. And I don't recall having seen the exact form on a mountain dulcimer before.
Way cool! I gotta ask-- what did Jackson Browne's lap dulcimer look like?
I like the saying about how old-time music isn't as bad as it sounds. :)
PS- The record on the left is from the Fuzzy Mountain String Band.
@dulcinina Way to go! And thanks for the update.
@annie-deeley Look for the emoticon on the second line of strip at the top of the box in which you make replies. 
Wow, George, that is a big critter! Enjoy!
What a cool find, George!
I packed-up Mom, Dad, and a mountain dulcimer and we met my favorite guitar player about a 50-minutes drive from here at my folks'. We really wanted to participate. :)
You'll be all set for porch-playing, Strumelia!
Terry, I'm happy for you!
Piper Lou sure is cute!
Our rescue dog, Ariel-- we got her last Christmas Day-- will come lay in front of me sometimes when I play dulcimer. Ari had been a stray in Columbus OH and was then at the dog pound. The poor creature had some real physical maladies when the rescue pulled her from the pound-- who knows what all she'd been through? In any case, she seems to like dulcimer music. :)
Wood has a mind of its own. :)
Friends, get your Public Domain or original tune or song ready! August 26 is the day. And if you don't have a porch, just go outside someplace. :)
Yay, FOTMD!
Thank you, Strumrlia, for all your work here. xxx
You're right, Ken, I would've loved it! She seems to have been one of those people was was just herself, no pretense. (Almeda's telling of how her little sister's death effected her was most moving.) Her singing cut through to the bone in a good way.
I got to public wi-fi and watched this today-- and I'm so glad I was able to do so! Some of the stylistic features of Mrs Riddle's singing were common in small "holiness" and rural churches, I think, even in my childhood years of the '60's. And there were handkerchief wavers there, too. :)
Right now, it's Poplar Pole. The original sourse for old-time musician Chris Via was Mr Henry Reed of Glen Lyn VA. And I believe the Black Twig Pickers, an old-time band who also recorded the tune, acknowledged both Mr Reed and Chris Via.
Gail, you are whatever level is higher than a rock star!
Rob, it would have been nice to see you! Adam Schlenker is a lights-out flatpicker. This photo was put online by the venue. After Adam's set, we all played Black Mountain Rag to close-out the evening. By the look of things, Mark is taking his break here. :)
Tomorrow evening, Mark & I are to open for flatpicking guitar player Adam Schlenker at the Appalachian Listening Room in Logan OH. It's been a few years since we've played 'out' anyplace. Due to life circumstances, I have to meet Mark at the ALR, and return here to my folks' when the evening's done.
Happy strumming, y'all!
Congratulations to Gail on her win in the mountain dulcimer contest at Mt. Airy NC! (The following article just gives a bit of the flavor of the fest.)
http://mtairynews.com/news/51563/fiddlers-convention-possibly-biggest-ever
Some years back, one other student and I took a workshop on strumming with Jerry Rockwell. The other fellow and I both play using noters and Jerry had us doing some strumming pattern and he improvised over what we were playing. It was magical-- there in a cabin at Fort New Salem WV.
I like your stories, folks. <3
