Fingerpicking doesn't mean picking the string up from the slot. More like fingering them individually sideways. BTW, it's always a good idea to know what gauge strings you are using. You will break one (or need to replace them anyway in a couple months), and will need to know what gauge to buy to replace it with...
Forum Activity for @ken-hulme
I've only been playing for 6 months, and am just trying fingerpicking on a couple of songs right now. It's tricky business, but the sound is so lovely that I'm practicing on my technique. My teacher said to think more of brushing the strings with my fingertips rather than plucking them. That's helped, but it's taking some practice time. 
Vanessa Lorentzen said:
Without a doubt...you have a good point here and I have noticed that fretting close to the fret is the way to get an excellent tone. Thanks for your input!
Beth Hansen-Buth said:Is it only buzzing on the strings you are fretting? I get a little buzzing now and then, especially on my base string, but I think it's mainly poor fretting skills on my part. What I do is go back and replay things more slowly to figure out where it's happening and play with how I'm fretting until it sounds a little cleaner.
You mentioned strumming with too much authority, do the strings buzz only when you strum forcefully or all the time? Some times strings will buzz if the finger or pick lifts the string upwards from the fret board rather than moving side to side. This upward pull lets the string snap back down against the frets and can create a buzz. You need to adjust your angle of attack on the strings to a cross motion eliminating the lifting motion if this is the problem.
Is it only buzzing on the strings you are fretting? I get a little buzzing now and then, especially on my base string, but I think it's mainly poor fretting skills on my part. What I do is go back and replay things more slowly to figure out where it's happening and play with how I'm fretting until it sounds a little cleaner.
My 40 year old box of harmonicas
Adventures with 'other' instruments...
i agree with this ! i have one myself and love it.
My 40 year old box of harmonicas
Adventures with 'other' instruments...
Leslie, Do you have any Scotch tape? preferably the gift wrap type. After reading about your mom I applied scotch tape to a nickel harmonica cover and the tape in no way hindered my ability to play the instrument. My lips never touched the metal and the tape is invisible. I think its a workable idea. Yes there are chrome harmonicas as an option but if you still have any nickel harmonicas I would go with the tape... Bob.
My 40 year old box of harmonicas
Adventures with 'other' instruments...
Bob I love this little story. I wish you could take a photo of your old box full of harmonicas and show it to us!
I have a couple of my harmonicas from 20 years ago, but sadly I think i lost my original two harmonicas I had as a teenagers, which would have been over 40 yrs old now. I always liked fooling around with harmonicas, but never got very good at it.
But I agree, it's always good to keep a little harmonica in your pocket- like carrying around a microscopic church organ!
I keep a set of rhythm bones and a limberjack in my instrument case when I go to music gatherings- like a harmonica they are very portable, and sometimes it's just the thing!
My 40 year old box of harmonicas
Adventures with 'other' instruments...
Back in the late 1960's I got my first introduction to playing music as a blues harmonica player. For myself it was an easy style of music to master but as I became better at playing guitar I put the harmonicas away in a shoebox never to be played again. In the last year I have spent much of my time learning old time Irish and British tunes on the whistle and this was a good time to pullout my old harmonica box and try what I learned on the tin whistle on harmonica. I was surprised by how many harmonicas I had and in so many keys. Its like opening up a time capsule. Everyone should own at least one harmonica. They fit in the smallest pocket and you can make music everywhere... Bob.
updated by @robert-schuler: 02/25/19 11:59:57PM
New Timber Hill Butterfly dulcimer arrived today !
Instruments- discuss specific features, luthiers, instrument problems & questions
That is a really gorgeous instrument, I loved watching you play! You look like you are having a blast with your new dulcimer, which is as it should be. Congrats on your new friend. 
New Timber Hill Butterfly dulcimer arrived today !
Instruments- discuss specific features, luthiers, instrument problems & questions
Hey Mary,
That's an increadible instrument - it sounds like a whole band
Great playing 
New Timber Hill Butterfly dulcimer arrived today !
Instruments- discuss specific features, luthiers, instrument problems & questions
Sounds great! Looks awesome (and really big)! The bass seems to speak out very nicely on the video.
New Timber Hill Butterfly dulcimer arrived today !
Instruments- discuss specific features, luthiers, instrument problems & questions
I just love it too! Here it is under the Meyer's lemon tree. The rumble is the wind--it is breezy and wonderful outside today. :)
updated by @mary-z-cox: 06/08/16 09:24:05PM
Hi Whit,
From D,A,A simply raise the bass D to an E - giving E,A,A I use a reverse capo on some of my dulcimers which I just slide under the bass string next to the first fret. On other dulcimers, where I have a slightly lower gauge bass string my bass string will tune up the tone from D to E. E,A,A gives you all those mixolidian fiddle tunes (OJC, June Apple etc) and any ionian ones (Buffalo Gals, Cripple Creek) if you either have a 6+ or simply avoid using the 7th of the scale.
From D,A,d I again raise the bass D to an E (either re-tuning or with a reverse capo) giving E,A,d and can then play the A dorian tunes (Shady Grove, Elzic's Farewell, Cluck Old Hen, Cuckcoo, Frosty Morning etc). With a 6+ you can also work all the ionian and mixolidian tunes around this tuning aswell. So on 90% of modern standard dulcimers E,A,d will cover off everything the fiddlers play when they re-tune to A,E,A,E
I also use A,a,a and A,a,d depending on the sound I want.
If you want to play chord/melody then a quick way to get to the key of A is to put a capo on fret 4. As long as your dulcimer has a 6+ fret then this will give you the A scale and the chord shapes you are used to from D,A,d. Additionally, by using the 6 rather than the 6+, you can play many Am fiddle tunes in this position.
Tuning your D,A,d 1-5-8 dulcimer to the key of A - keeping the same 1-5-8 string ratio - is a little more awkward. As Ken says, you will probably need to change your string gauges.
You can play in the key of A from D,A,d using 1-0-1 as your root chord A, open strings as the D chord and 1-1-1 as the E chord (3-3-3 for G on mixolidian tunes).It is a little awkward as it is the mixolidian scale that's under your fingers. But tunes like Old Joe Clark and June Apple that are usually played in the key of A mixolidian at old time sessions can be played using this approach.
If you play melody/drone or noter/drone then your options for getting to the key of A with a standard string set are greater than with chord/melody. I regularly (make that daily!!!!) play in the key of A because the list of fiddle tunes played in that key is endless! If you can't play in A major, A minor and A mixolidian then you will never cut it at any old time sessions!!!!!!!
Do you want a Mixolydian tuning (158) or Ionian tuning (155)? For a Mixo tuning you can tune down to A'EA, where the Melody string(s) are the same as the Middle drone when you're in DAd and the bass string is an octave lower. Or you could tune up to AEa, where the bass string is now the same as the A in DAd and the melody string is an octave higher than that. In either case I suspect you'll have to change string gauges as "normal" string sets around 12,12,20w probably won't go that high or lwo without breaking or flopping...
What's your favorite mournful, spooky, or lonesome song to play?
General mountain dulcimer or music discussions
Thanks, Stephen, for the info. It is such a pretty, haunting song. I have the "Song Catcher" DVD and just happened to watch it again a few days ago. I have been doing the song for some time using the dulcimer. I use a different, less clunky rythm than is heard in the movie.
Stephen Addison said:
The songwriter( of When the Mountains cry) has posted a lead sheet on his web page, its fairly easy to play from it - I've used this for banjo and dulcimer versions as well as guitar versions. Here is a link to David Mansfield's lead sheet. You can make it sound just like the movie - it's also easy to make it too pretty.
Ellen Rice said:
Any chance of the TAB being posted some place ?
What's your favorite mournful, spooky, or lonesome song to play?
General mountain dulcimer or music discussions
The songwriter( of When the Mountains cry) has posted a lead sheet on his web page, its fairly easy to play from it - I've used this for banjo and dulcimer versions as well as guitar versions. Here is a link to David Mansfield's lead sheet. You can make it sound just like the movie - it's also easy to make it too pretty.
Ellen Rice said:
Any chance of the TAB being posted some place ?
What's your favorite mournful, spooky, or lonesome song to play?
General mountain dulcimer or music discussions
That's FOTMD member Michael Futreal of Twang Darkly (we share Shreveport, LA as home base). Great stuff!
Brian G. said:
I wouldn't call You are My Sunshine a bright and cheery song at all, especially when you consider the verses. This verse, for example, has a more melancholy feel:
"The other night, dear, as I lay sleeping
I dreamt I held you in my arms
When I awoke, dear, I was mistaken
So I hung my head, and I cried"This one seems vaguely menacing:
"I'll always love you and make you happy
If you will only say the same
But if you leave me to love another,
You'll regret it all one day"And this one is definitely sad:
"You told me once, dear
You really loved me
That no one else could come between.
But now you've left me
And love another,
You have shattered all my dreams."Aura Waters said:
What's your favorite mournful, spooky, or lonesome song to play?
General mountain dulcimer or music discussions
I wouldn't call You are My Sunshine a bright and cheery song at all, especially when you consider the verses. This verse, for example, has a more melancholy feel:
"The other night, dear, as I lay sleeping
I dreamt I held you in my arms
When I awoke, dear, I was mistaken
So I hung my head, and I cried"
This one seems vaguely menacing:
"I'll always love you and make you happy
If you will only say the same
But if you leave me to love another,
You'll regret it all one day"
And this one is definitely sad:
"You told me once, dear
You really loved me
That no one else could come between.
But now you've left me
And love another,
You have shattered all my dreams."
Aura Waters said:
What's your favorite mournful, spooky, or lonesome song to play?
General mountain dulcimer or music discussions
Oh, so pretty!
Guy Babusek said:
What's your favorite mournful, spooky, or lonesome song to play?
General mountain dulcimer or music discussions
Any chance of the TAB being posted some place ?
What's your favorite mournful, spooky, or lonesome song to play?
General mountain dulcimer or music discussions
The funeral song from the movie "The Song Catcher" (When the Mountains Cry). It is one of the most simple, haunting songs I have ever heard. I sing and play a version of the it on the dulcimer.
What's your favorite mournful, spooky, or lonesome song to play?
General mountain dulcimer or music discussions
Under "plaintive" more than the other choices: two hymns (I think both are from the shaped-note tradition) chorded in B minor in DAA tuning: "Wayfaring Stranger" and "What Wondrous Love Is This."
Minor keys have an unfinished quality about them, with something in them begging to be resolved. This is a perfect match to "Wayfaring Stranger," a story of a spiritual pilgrim waiting for his unsatisfying and unfinished life to be resolved by entrance into the heavenly Kingdom. "Wondrous Love," likewise, presents an unfinished story. It is a Lenten hymn which reflects upon what Christ's love for us cost Him, while awaiting the not-yet-achieved joy of Easter. These two songs, with their anxious, "not-quite-yet" quality, illustrate why people started composing in minor keys in the first place.
What's your favorite mournful, spooky, or lonesome song to play?
General mountain dulcimer or music discussions
I really love this thread.
This might be a good place to mention "Creepalachian" music. It's contemporary, alternative Appalachian music, typically dark, moody and minor. Tom House's "Someone's Digging in the Underground" is a good dulcimable example. Except for the electric rhythm guitar, it could be something Alan Lomax recorded.
There's a badly recorded version HERE or get the studio track from Amazon for a buck.Scroll way down for the lyrics HERE .
I think of Tom House as reporting from Appalachian darkside in the amphetamine age. It ain't sweet, spiritual stuff, be advised.
See also Freakwater, another group in this genre.
What's your favorite mournful, spooky, or lonesome song to play?
General mountain dulcimer or music discussions
Did anyone mention Omie Wise. Another might be Old True Lovers by Edden Hammond. Or The Carpenters Wife... Actually anything played on the banjo in sawmill tuning... Bob
updated by @robert-schuler: 07/04/15 01:45:05PM
What's your favorite mournful, spooky, or lonesome song to play?
General mountain dulcimer or music discussions
I've always thought that 'My Dearest Dear' was very sad. I'ts one of those songs that won't go away and I have several tunes to it now.
What's your favorite mournful, spooky, or lonesome song to play?
General mountain dulcimer or music discussions
I just realized you did I Moved Through the Fair. It's amazing.
What's your favorite mournful, spooky, or lonesome song to play?
General mountain dulcimer or music discussions
These are to lovely Guy. Watching your fingers in the first one was like watching ballet.
What's your favorite mournful, spooky, or lonesome song to play?
General mountain dulcimer or music discussions
A similar idea, but no, the one I'm looking for is definitely "October is a Gypsy Lass". I've found it in a couple spots online, but no one ever says who wrote it...either the words or the music.
What's your favorite mournful, spooky, or lonesome song to play?
General mountain dulcimer or music discussions
Could it be this:
October is a gypsy queen
In dress of red and gold.
She sleeps beneath the silver moon
When nights are crisp and cold.
The meadows flame with color now,
which once were cool and green.
Wild asters and the goldenrod
Bow low to greet their queen.
When she is tripping through the wood
With song so clear and sweet,
The autumn leaves come sifting down
And rustle 'neath her feet.
Winifred C. Marshall
What's your favorite mournful, spooky, or lonesome song to play?
General mountain dulcimer or music discussions
One of my fall favorites is "October is a Gypsy Lass" which was published in some magazine for children in the mid-late 50's. I have no idea who wrote it, but my sisters remember all the words and we've always remembered the tune, which can be sung spritelyor slowly and spookily--I like it both ways. If anyone could ever find the info on this, I would be forever grateful. I would also, of course, like to know if it is copyrighted!
What's your favorite mournful, spooky, or lonesome song to play?
General mountain dulcimer or music discussions
I meant "She Moved Thro the Fair" DAaa
What's your favorite mournful, spooky, or lonesome song to play?
General mountain dulcimer or music discussions
This tune is not haunted or scary...but I think In the Bleak Midwinter is a mournful tune. I love to play it.
What's your favorite mournful, spooky, or lonesome song to play?
General mountain dulcimer or music discussions
Yay! Flint is stopping by! 