It's fascinating how Zupfgeigenhansel drew inspiration from Breuer's collection and put their unique spin on folk tunes. Adapting songs to suit your own style is a common practice in the folk tradition, and it's great that you've carried on that tradition with the mandolin.
I hear you Wally 
. I had an aunt who had perfect pitch (and a Steinway piano worth about as much as my house!). When my uncle was learning a right-hand picking pattern for the banjo, she didn't mind the repetition of the picking, but she couldn't stand that he was always practicing in the same key. So he used a capo and would just change keys every few minutes.
Using capo to change key on the fly seems to be a good idea.
Some re string their instrument to help improve their learning curve.
I've had these silver plated classical guitar strings sitting in their paper envelopes in a bucket of spare strings for probably 3 years now. Finally decided to sort through it a bit and I found two separate strings which had each turned rainbow colored! The variety of colors is crazy and I was wondering if anyone knows more about this. Ive heard of strings getting a duller color over time, but these look like a full on art project. Thanks in advance,
Nate
That interesting phenomenon adds flair to an on stage performance.
Let's see your performance to enjoy.
Hi All,
I'm new here and looking for examples of videos or audio of dulcimer and mandolin played together in an ensemble. I hope this is the correct place to put this. I love Appalachian Mandolin & Dulcimer by Butch Baldassari & David Schnaufer. My latest project shown in this video (thanks for the comments many have made) is more of an ensemble encompassing multiple genre's I'm more interested.
Thanks much for this wonderful site.
cheers,
Dave
https://daveberrymusic.net/home
Hi All,
I'm new here and looking for examples of videos or audio of dulcimer and mandolin played together in an ensemble. I hope this is the correct place to put this. I love Appalachian Mandolin & Dulcimer by Butch Baldassari & David Schnaufer. My latest project shown in this video (thanks for the comments many have made) is more of an ensemble encompassing multiple genre's I'm more interested.
Thanks much for this wonderful site.
cheers,
Dave
https://daveberrymusic.net/home
I bet the lack of videos of dulcimer and mandolin playing together is now pushing you to make a video of it.
I play banjo, also. I started with guitar in '66, banjo in '68. But after starting to learn dulcimer in '90,I really got more interested in banjo again after hearing clawhammer players playing with dulcimer players. The combination just feels right to me.
Paul
It's never too late to start over!Different combinations of instruments have appealed to me, too, Paul. Back in the seventies I thought that Appalachian dulcimer and synthesizer would make a great combination. Go figure.Kate and Anna McGarrigle used a variety of instrumental mixes, even dual clawhammer on "Excursion a Venise" in concert (you can find it on YouTube), with Kate and sister Jane. The Transatlantic Sessions (lots of it on YouTube) feature a variety of North American and British Isles instrumental combinations. Banjo and dulcimer sounds like a great mix. A friend once gave me "The Best of Just Friends", a dulcimer CD by George Haggerty from Vermont, and it's filled with combinations: dulcimer with guitar, tin whistle, concertina, fiddle, bodhran, banjo, mandolin. The Fuzzy Mountain String Band had dulcimer in among all those fiddles and banjos.Hmmm ... How about banjo, dulcimer, and Northumbrian smallpipes?Messing with the banjo could be the musical equivalent of working on your bicycle. The Orpheum has been "tweaked" lately with head tightening and replacing the bridge with the one that came with the banjo when first purchased. If the sound needs to be "plunkified", stuffing something between the head and dowel stick works well. The old metal mute also completely changes the tone.
The combination of instruments in use guarantees some excellent tunes for dancing.
I'm seeing some fingerboards stop slightly south of the last fret and a saddle or bridge like that of a violin actually afixed to the body of the dulcimer. Matter of fact, I have come to believe that only imagination limits the styles and or structure of our beloved instruments ... and that's ok. If we accrue knowledge of the instrument and it's many variations, we will pick up sufficient terminology to understand what most folks are talking about. If we don't understand, I've yet to see a builder or musician that would not take a moment to explain.
All it needs to maintain is its tune.
I use ABC notation all the time. It's a great way to store a lot of music scores and pass them on as they use very little memory, it all being just writing. There are a lot of freely available software options depending on your operating system. I used to use ABC2Win but when we upgraded to Windows XP it wouldn't work properly so I use ABC Navigator instead. Only downside of that one is that it doesn't include a beginners guide to writing ABC. For the uninitiated the ABC above for Little Liza Jane - you would highlight it, and copy the whole thing into an ABC file on your computer, then using your ABC program when you open it it transforms it into a nicely laid out score. The program will even play it back to you, including endless repeats and at whatever speed you want, which is great for learning new tunes. ABC Navigator uses a quite pleasant concertina-like sound.
On the whole I find it very easy to use and after a bit of practice to write tunes out in. So much so that if I was jotting a tune down in a notebook now I'd do it in ABC, then when I got home I'd type it into the program and it'd play it for me.
Brilliant. One downside is that it only works for a single melody line. So great for folk music, but not if you want a score that includes a harmony line. Another is that ABC written on one program might not be entirely compatible with another, so if you've downloaded a song, you might have to change it a bit to work on your program. Looking at Liza above, I can see in fact that it wouldn't play properly on ABC navigator - it wouldn't like the unfinished bars at the end of line one and 3. Easy to fix though.
Just do a search for ABC notation and you'll find useful `how to' guides.
I want to hear what pleasant concertina sound is.
I just love this thread and the people who make it as it is.
Seems like I am going to check this software soon.
I completely agree. Wooden flutes , like the native American flute, are about celebrating culture and style, not limiting who can make or play them
I like to play concertina on the porch but my neighbor seems to hate me when I do so. Can someone explain why.
You may wish to try this english concertina However,I suggest you think really hard before getting one, for what I heard they are one of the more challenging instrument to learn.
I play the fiddle and feel that playing the dulcimer has helped me play it..I don't play many chords..just melody string and drones.. so having a lot of fiddle tunes in my head it seems to be easy to find the note interval on the fiddle.. just my experience..of course intonation is a bit tough but tuner helps...i find that just going for it without timidity is best..good luck and fmhave fun
It's ok you'll get there.
I am not really a Vonnegut fan, but this story inspired me years ago. It is so true that some things are worth doing because they are inherently interesting and fun. It doesn’t matter whether I am ever able to play like my idols (or willing to play in public at all). I can and should do them because I want to do them.
I have far more hobbies than most people. And some of them I do very well. People have asked me why I don’t turn them into a business (glass beads and carving tools). The answer is because the doing is the purpose. When I make someone else’s beads or blades, I lose the joy of making them.
Sometimes the only thing that matters is if you want to learn and do something like playing a violin, dulcimer, etc. You don't need to be good you just have to have fun.
Hi. I have taken up the fiddle 9 months ago..love it.
That's great, did doing dulcimer help you in learning fiddle?
How well you can learn on your own depends on many factors.
What is your previous musical experience? Have you taken violin lessons or learned to play some other instrument by ear? Can you sing folk songs? How is your sense of rhythm? Any such experience can either help or hinder your learning.
As a starting point, you should be trying simple songs which you already know, and work from clearly printed TABS for those pieces.
Have you? Can you share some advices on what courses to take?
Thank you very much shanon! I'm already having a lot of fun with it :)
That's good to hear, feel free to share your fiddle performances here.
Ive just started learning fiddle! It's the one instrument that Ive always wished I was really good at, if I could pick one. Guess it's finally time to get that ball rolling!
Nate
Good luck on your journey.
Ken, I've become a bit of an instrument hoarder and I probably own more instruments than anyone could master in a lifetime, so I get what you mean. The fiddle is one that I feel more motivation for than other instruments so I finally bought myself a beginner model. I am hoping some stuff I learned on mandolin can transfer over
Nate
I believe so. Good luck on your journey.
This maybe a little of topic but since I saw some of us playing playing accordion/concertina maybe I should share this short article.:https://medium.com/@cassidybole0712/maintenance-and-care-of-concertinas-9a2ed8a86ec7
Is it really normal for a dulcimer to have a very weak, drowned out sound?
Do you guys like to play along with a concertina?
They must played that accordion really bad.
Oh my goodness I thought I was the only one who's pets react to playing an instrument.It is very odd I have two cats one loves music the other one loathes it.I also play Piano and accordion.When I play any of those instruments along with the Mountain Dulcimer my one cat goes crazy to the point of my having to stop playing.
We got him as a kitten from the pound about 7 years ago he was badly abused.I am wondering if his previous owner played an instrument bringing back bad memories for him causing him to act this way.Or maybe my playing is really bad...gee..never thought of that. lol
