Forum Activity for @robin-thompson

Wow good things really do happen. I always knew there where some awesome people here. But today just blew me away when I went to the mail. I am not sure if I can say what came, but there are some really spectacle people here. I would like to thank them for what they have done. Oh and ya can't knock the smile off my face no matter how hard you try. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

well we went to rent a place today. Just sitting here now waiting to hear if we get it or not. how do you have references when you have lived in the same place for the last 25 years. waiting just makes me nervous.

I thought lots more folks would see Uncle Eddie in a shop like that than in my Michigan basement!

Tourists look for dulcimers in Hindman... Most Michigan people don'teven know about them (or care).

It was an interesting trip, but I'm glad to be back home, especially with the worsening weather.

Patty,

Wait'll you find out where 'Uncle Eddie" will be living for a while...

(HINT: He didn't come back to Michigan).

I'm not so sure this is as complicated as it seems, nor does it call for unusual or minor tunings. The whole thing can be played in plain old C ionian tuning using no extra frets and the drones sound good all through the tune.

Walter is in a normal (not minor) fiddle tuning- hear him check his tuning in the beginning. He's playing it in the key of C, even though it modulates in the 'low part', which he starts out playing first.

Tune to C-G-G (C being your bass string) and the tune's 'home base' is located on the 3rd fret, ionian mode.

Walter starts on the modulated 'low part'. That's what is confusing people, because it 'sounds' minor, leading one to think a special mode tuning is needed, but it's not. Try playing that first/low part by starting frets 5-7-8, 5-3-4... etc.

The high part goes back to the root C major feeling, and he plays in the upper octave starts by using frets 10-11, 10-11-12...etc. You can also play it in the lower octave, starting on fret 3, but then it will sound yet lower than the other part. It's kind of nice with that real high part, gives it some punch.

Some folks might choose to start the tune on the high/major sounding part, and if Walter had done that it would have probably been easier for people to figure out. It would have been a more 'predictable' way to play this tune. But it's pretty cool and more fascinating to start it on the modulated quirky sounding low part.

Robin, your noter technique is definitely advanced. And hey, no beginner could use a false nut so effectively.

Folkfan, no beginner could talk modes and tunings as clearly and confidently as you do.

I love you both, but y'all are nuts.

Thank you, Phil! I hope you and your loved ones are having a nice Christmas!

Hi, Angela! I have dulcimers with 4 tuning pegs yet I only have 3 strings on them. The number of strings is really just a matter of personal preference (based on different factors, the type/style of music you wish to play being one of those factors).

There is a "For Sale" area that can be found by by clicking on FORUMS/discussions in the green strip above and scrolling down the page a bit. Oftentimes these are used instruments for sale. Here is a link you may wish to spend some time checking out:

http://mountaindulcimer.ning.com/group/beginnerplayers/forum/topics/what-should-a-beginner-look?commentId=3745489%3AComment%3A83151&groupId=3745489%3AGroup%3A36

Hope this helps!

Pieter, you have a lifetime supply of bone for nuts & saddles! Perhaps you'll want to play a tune for the butcher someday. ;)

Cool, Leighann! I love this sort of "found" picks!

Leighann Batemon said:

I found a great pick solution! I use an elongated bread bag tie that I've rounded out the corners. The hole in the top makes it super easy to hold onto, and the elongation of it makes me feel more comfortable strumming. Thank you, everyone, for the nice (andingenious) posts-- I'm really grateful you took the time to respond. I learned a lot!

Oops! In my earlier posting, I neglected to say that I cut my picks so they're more or less the shape of a big ol' kidney bean. With all due respect to my friend KenH, I don't think it's the least bit silly to search Google for how to make a milk jug pick! Some plastics work better than others and some pick shapes suit some folks while still other shapes suit other folks.

Leighann, I often play with a big homemade pick cut from the lid of a plastic food tub. If you wish to take a look at my playing using a big ol' homemade pick-- and it's pretty visible in my hand before I actually begin to play a tune-- in this video:

http://mountaindulcimer.ning.com/video/ridin-the-zigzag-wobble-railroad-on-lap-dulcimer-played-in-noter

If I had to play using a little pick, I'm not sure how I'd do it. So, hope this helps!

And my bowed dulcimer friend Roseanne Denchy is also a FOTMD!

It really is something of a surprise to me how many music friends I've met over the past several years, especially because I've never attended any of the big dulcimer fests. (When I joined Everything Dulcimer in '05, I'd not yet met any of the dulcimer friends I have now.) I feel rich, indeed.

Thanks, Dana!

Oh my goodness, Dana, how did I do that? Seems like I've known you forever, my friend.

I probably should've made a paper-and-pencil list and not responded to this thread for about a month.

Am I losing my mind or what ?

Now, let's see. . . a few other bowed dulcimer friends who are also FOTMD friends are Ken Bloom, Ruth Randle, Marsha Harris. . . Oh, I'm coming to realize that I'm not sure who-all I've met in person in the dulcimer world who is also on FOTMD and am realizing I've actually met quite a few FOTMD folks in-person. There's Heidi Mueller, Jerry Rockwell and Mary Lautzenheiser to mention a few more wonderful folks. I met some of the friends before there was an FOTMD and since I confuse easily . . . Love my music friends!

Oh, Kim, I was so focused on mountain dulcimer events. . . ! What a pleasure it was to meet you in Pilot Mountain and to see you take to the bowed dulcimer so quickly. (I wasn't surprised to see you catch-on so quickly! )

I also have met Don Pedi, Paul Tantillo, Maurice Solis, ReVonda Crow, Teri Sato, Marge Diamond and Randall McKinnon. There are some FOTMD members I've listed that I met before there was an FOTMD; I knew of them from Everything Dulcimer and then we met in-person.

My goodness, how could I have neglected to mention meeting Paul Tantillo, Maurice (Mo) Soulis, and Don Pedi at Don's wonderful Tao of Dulcimer Retreat back in May? What a pleasure it was to become acquainted with these fellows!

Like Rob, I've not met a FOTMD member I didn't like! I'm trying to think of them all. . . and they kind of come in the 'order' in which I met them. Gary Sager, Laura Elder, Butch Ross, Julie Elman, Ken Longfield, Hunter Walker, Kendra Ward, Tish Westman, Bing Futch, Doug Berch, Ken Bloom, Jim Fawcett, Rob Lackey, Sam (Oh, gee, I just think of Sam as Sam and can't recall his last name! )Tom McDonald, John Wood, Barbara (nice lady who sold a dulcimer to Jim F). . . I'm likely missing someone. My world has been made richer for having made the acquaintance of each of the friends of the mountain dulcimer!

PS-Oh, I must be forgetting someone!