Forum Activity for @guy-babusek

Wish I could have made it, but I had to work! Cyntia told me it was a wonderful event (even without A/C in the concert hall... yikes!).

Before I started using my studio to record in, I just recorded my videos using my built in camera and microphone on my lap top like here:

Patty, if the song is in a major key, you can usually find the basic chords fitting into the I, the IV and the V chords of the key. For instance, if you are in the key of D major, your song can usually fit into D (I), G (IV) and A (V) chords. For the most part your I chord will be your "home" chord, as it is called the Tonic. Your IV chord tends to want to move to the V chord, and your V chord tends to want to move you home to I again. This is just a general rule of thumb and there will always be exceptions to this rule. In your melody, find out the strong beats of each measure, perhaps beat one. See if you can find a chord that shares a tone of the melody on the first beat of each measure. For instance, if your melody has the note "A" on beat one of a particular measure, you will notice that this note is in both the I chord (D) and the V chord, (A). Try each of those chords and see which one seems to sound most appropriate to your ear. Then do the same with beat one of the next measure and so on. Keep changing the chords around until you like what it sounds like.

Once you have arranged your song using those 3 chords, you may actually be happy with it, but you can also try substituting some other chords here and there. For instance, for some of your I chords (D) you may want to try some vi chords (b minor), for some of your IV chords you may want to try substituting a ii chord (e minor) and for some of your V chords you may try substituting a iii chord (f# minor). You will have to keep trying and changing things until it sounds good to your ear... that's the way arranging is! Once you have your chords done to your liking you can also try to arrange for a second dulcimer, playing a harmony part.

Blow the Candles Out arranged by Randy Wilkinson

I replace them about every 6 to 8 weeks but I play a lot. It sounds much nicer with new strings IMO.

I love my Boss TU-80. It shows the scientific notation of the pitch you are on (i.e. c5, A4, etc.).

Be patient with yourself, Julie. It takes a great deal of time and patient practice. Make sure you SLOW everything down a LOT! work slowly on small little sections at a time and don't worry about speed for now. Speed comes later. There is nothing wrong with you, it's just the nature of the beast. It will get easier and easier with time.

Absolutely!! if you have a particular image you are desiring to present that will definitely influence your choices in attire. Even an "unkempt" sort of look. I just think it's nice to consider how you are presenting yourself to your audience, rather than some guys I see who obviously put no thought whatsoever into what they are wearing. It's another part of the whole experience in addition to the music, and something that doesn't have to cost a great deal of money to consider.

Well, it's something about how everyone has them... but it's a little more crude of a saying than that in its entirety...

I think setting and audience makes a big difference in how you dress for performance. No need to be "out of place" or "over dressed" for your performance. either!!!

I agree Ken!

I always try to dress well onstage Mary. Even if I'm wearing jeans for a casual event, I always wear a collared shirt. I don't personally like to wear t-shirts on stage. For an evening indoor event, I avoid jeans and instead wear slacks and a collared shirt. I always make sure my clothes are pressed. It's just my opinion that it gives the message to my audience that I \ really care about them, the performance and the music. Again, that's just what I do... and you know what they say about opinions....

Personally, I think men should make an effort when on stage too. It's respectful to the audience to show you bothered to think about how you look. Just my opinion.

I suppose it depends on the style of music being played, Wout. I play in the other modes quite frequently.

Right.. sorry that I derailed it... I just see statements like "Modes represent a complete different music practice compared with what we use today" and have a difficult time not taking the opportunity to remind us that all western tonal music is modal music, and that is true for tonal music that is traditional with or without drones, popular music, the bulk of classical and jazz music, country, R&B, Rock, etc. Songs that use major or minor keys are modal. The bulk of all western music from at least the medieval period to the current contemporary period is modal for the most part. I think when people think something is "modal" they consider it to be one of those other 5 modes that are less commonly used and thus sound somewhat exotic to many ears. But the truth is, the chances are that all your favorite songs sung in every day major and minor keys are in fact, modal music.

I understand what you are saying John... my point really is that modes are not something unique from either the major or minor scale. There are 7 modes and those are 2 of them.

A mode describes the manner in which the whole steps and half steps are arranged in any diatonic scale. The two most common modes are commonly known as "major" and "minor" scales, which are 2 of the 7 modes in western music of the common practice period. The Major scale is also known as the "ionian mode" and the minor scale is also known as the "aeolian mode." In common practice the minor scale is also altered into either "harmonic minor" wherein the aeolian mode's 7th degree is raised by a 1/2 step giving it a "leading tone," and also the "melodic minor" scale wherein the 6th and 7th degrees of the aeolian scale are raised each be a 1/2 step.

My point is simply that when someone says things like "Modes represent a complete different music practise compared with what we use today" it is not actually accurate, since the major and minor scales are also "modes."

Don't forget that our major and minor scales are technically "modes", Ionian and Aeolian respectively (although the pure Aeolian mode is often altered by raising the 7th and sometimes the 6th scale degree). So while calling something "modal" when referring to the other 5 modes is common practice, it's not technically correct. Technically any "diatonic" melody is "modal."

I love my snark... great for the dulcimer, and the harp!!!

Start out with C in the bass and then tune the middle to the 4th fret of the bass string, and the melody to the 3rd fret of the middle string. Or just use an electronic tuner.

It really depends on whether you are using drones or not. If you are using drones on the middle and bass strings, then you need to retune to get the proper mode, or use a capo. If you are using chords then there are more possibilities of playing in various modes within each tuning.

For Aeolian tuning... for Dorian tuning it's tuned to the base string at the 3rd fret.

In Mixolydian tuning, you can play in the Dorian mode starting at the 1st fret if you use the 6.5 fret... it's an easy way to play in that mode...

It's good to remember that the names of the tunings and the modes use the same words but don't always mean the same things. You can play in different modes in different tunings... I have an arrangement of Greensleeves that uses the Mixolydian tuning, and also one that uses the Aeolian tuning. First two strings are the same as the Mixolydian tuning, but for the melody string you fret the base string at 6 and tune the melody string to it.

For Dorian tuning you can tune the melody string to the 3rd fret of the base string.... Then your Dorian mode starts on the melody string at fret number 4 and skip your 6.5 fret.

Guy

Yes, Robin! I should be in town for several months... it's supposedly finished and ready to be shipped. I'll post pictures when it arrives!

Trip was good, very hectic but lovely. Then I came home to a LOT of work. Those are the times when I just can't get online as much. I really missed everyone though! How have you been Carrie? How's your playing going?

Nice to be back on FOTMD! Looking through all the wonderful posts makes me so happy!!!

How is everyone doing?

A key is not the only determining factor which makes a song easy or difficult. All songs have something called a "tessitura," or vocal range. It depends on a combination of the tessitura of a song, the voice type of the singer in question, and the amount of training or lack thereof of the singer which will determine which key is comfortable for a singer to sing in.

Many (but not all) traditional melodies tend to have similar vocal ranges, making the key of D difficult for many women to sing in because it will be at or above the second passaggio (break area) in a woman's voice. This can be very difficult especially in untrained voices, (however some untrained soprano voices work much better in D than C in these melodies).

The Key of D for tenors and high baritones (again depending on the melody and the voice in question), will actually be more comfortable in D than in C in many of these songs, due to the fact that the melodies will often peak just below their first passaggio (break area). In fact, in a tenor's voice, the key of D can often be a bit low for some traditional melodies. So it's really all very relative.

There is a sweet spot on each fret right behind the fret. If you get too far behind the fret, or right on top of it, you get a less clear sound, distortion, buzz, etc. I think playing very slowly and cleanly especially when practicing up tempo songs yields the best results. I do think that muscle memory is important. Whether you are playing chord shapes or with a noter, your body gets used to playing on the sweet spots if you practice right. That's why it takes a bit of getting used to when I change dulcimers with a different VSL. So I think watching the fret board is very important until you get to a point where you are able to play cleanly without watching... sort of wean yourself off of it. Obviously if you are learning a song from tab or sheet music, you aren't as concerned with performance, but after its been memorized, unless your playing is somewhat advanced, I recommend watching what you are doing so that you don't practice something you don't want to be playing. But this is just how I play... everyone is different of course. When using the dulcimer to accompany a vocal, it's nice to not have the head looking down all the time, especially if performing.

Carrie, you play beautifully by the way!

Listening to music has become more important than ever before. I have been playing music since I was very little. I think over the years my ability to think from the point of view of a listener rather than that of a performer has developed and uplifts me much more than it did years ago. Plus, in University we were always "listening" to music. But that type of listening, although very educational, trained me to listen critically. I think that all that training has done me a lot of good, but it has taken years to be able to put my critical ears on the shelf and just "be" with a piece of music. It's a good thing!

Good points Chuck. I had a music teacher in college who used to get so frustrated with students who would only practice what they did well. She would say "Why are you practicing that again? You already play that beautifully! Save that for the stage. Work on the hard stuff!!!" LOL

Nice points Dusty! I personally have never had the goal to be a professional performer of the dulcimer, but I still want to be a good player. I personally don't think "Just have fun playing" and practicing towards having excellent technique are mutually exclusive. I find I rarely enjoy myself playing as much as when I have really practiced enough to feel like the songs are really right under my fingers and I can "play" them rather than stumble through them. Everyone is different, and I don't ever want to sound like I'm telling anyone how they should practice... just sharing some ideas of what I have found work for me and many of my fellow musicians, based on the original post which was asking for advice as to how to improve as a player.

I had a teacher who said "Perfect practice makes perfect." It's more important (in my experience anyway) to have small but consistent practice periods where I work on small sections of a piece before I worry about playing a whole song... The joy of progressing, even very minutely is it's own reward!!!

Very nice playing Joy!!! And a wonderful tune you wrote too! Thank you for the information on the action and intonation issues. Both are definitely issues I'd have trouble with.

Thanks Frank