Forum Activity for @kevin-r

Ok, I know this is silly, but... drifting thread....

On my browsers, for some reason the font style plays tricks on my head for certain words. The oddest one is that when it says "tornados", my eyes think it says "tomatoes".  This results in my browsing through news stories and seeing headlines such as:  
"Tomatoes leave path of destruction in the midwest".  "Dozens injured by tomato in Oklahoma".

I ended up buying an old “Plickett” dulcimer shaped object to keep in the car.  It’s very quiet and sturdy.  It had a trial run last night, as I ended up doing an emergency overnight respite visit with a hospice client to give the family a break.  I spent most of the night in a recliner about fifteen feet away from the open bedroom door, and plucked on my Plickett softly, to keep myself awake and pass the time, along with watching Forensic Files at low volume. 

The strings were the original super thin, rusty wire, so I swapped two out with what I had on hand, and ended up tuning it to C, g, D, with the melody string being tuned lower than the middle, as is my personal presence.  This is my favorite tuning that I use on my cardboard box dulcimer that I play constantly, too.  The lower tunings made the Plickett sound less plinky, giving a more pleasing plunk.

It’s a fun little board, and I think would survive the trunk of my car wrapped in a towel in a duffle bag this summer.

For those who don’t know, a Plickett was a small novelty dulcimer sold in the 70’s for a while.  It’s two feet long, five inches wide at the bouts, and a 3/4 inch thick solid board, with a big circle cut beneath the bridge in the back, to give it a little volume and resonance.

It’s not perfect by any means, but it beats not having a dulcimer at all by a long shot.  I suspect my cardboard box dulcimer would survive a summer in the trunk if it were in some sort of bigger box or case, but I love it far too much to try that.  The Plickett is actually small enough that I just put it in my work bag and it stuck out just a little, so I could bring it into work or field work situations with me, and not leave in the trunk at all.  Yay!  I have something to use during work breaks!

Lisa

Jennifer and Jill, I'm certainly glad you got something out of my video.  We should all remember that we have a Group here called Help Me Learn This Song where members can ask other members how to play certain passages and the Arranging for Dulcimers Group where we can seek help arranging tunes.  We should all probably make use of those Groups more often to seek advice from and share advice with one another.

It may seem that there is a wide chasm between "beginners" and "skilled" players, but that divide can be bridged.  I remember marveling at how cleanly some people played or how they used certain fingers (like their pinky or thumb) in ways that I seemed incapable of doing. But I just kept plugging away.  I've found playing scales and arpeggios and using a metronome have helped me immeasurably.  My pinky is finally feeling strong and I can sometimes play a verse or two really cleanly, with no buzzing or extra strings hit by accident. It doesn't take a long time working with those kinds of exercises to see some benefit.  I tell my students that when you work on a song, you get better at that song.  But when you work on exercises such as scales and arpeggios, you get better at every song you play.

Actually, sometimes the best players intimidate as much as they inspire.  They just seem so proficient that it seems you'll never get there. That can be discouraging. But some beginners not only play with great enthusiasm but often express really great musical ideas, perhaps a rhythm, or an accent, or one or two well-placed notes, that can be truly inspirational even if the execution is not perfect from a professional standpoint.