Thanks Mizz Robin ...
Uncle Burley, Th' Dame Grimmandower, Scooter and the whole gang from Posey wish you and everyone at FOTMD a very Merry Christmas.
(Oh ... and Aunt Holly was just fine once they got the giblets outta her moustache .................. )
( Robin Thompson said:
"Foo Foo was a breach!!!" LOL
Sam, I enjoyed the tale-- thanks for the posting. An entertaining Christmas dinner is a treat!
"Foo Foo was a breach!!!" LOL
Sam, I enjoyed the tale-- thanks for the posting. An entertaining Christmas dinner is a treat!
Guess Whos Coming To Christmas Dinner?
Yep Uncle Burley, now how did yall know?
Once Cousin Scooter had got big enough to run, hed took to runnin a right smart with Uncle Burley. After all, theys a lot a young feller could look up to in a well seasoned genaman like Uncle
Burley. (Even if the seasonin was closer to pickled!). Why Burley knowed ever
den tree on Hickry Flats and could spit durn near 20 foot without even a
runnin start.
These self same talents, however was lost on Ol Lady Grimmandower, Scooters prim but stern mother. She had little use for Burley Gillin or his bad habits
until th weasels came.
Aunt Holly Grimmandower had waged many a battle over th years to protect her fine coop of domineckers, not the least of which was that hushed up incident with Cousin Scooter that never quite got
hushed up. Shed whacked possums with hoe handles, snatched up black snakes by
th tail an bullwhipped their heads off an once even stared down a polecat
(an he aint never come back!). Weasels was differnt. They stalked th hen
house, come an went an the only trace was a few neck feathers. They come in
th night like hobos er Baptists an left with a fat hen. Aunt Hollys stock
of fryin pullets an layin hens was sufferin somthin fierce.
She tried to catch em stayed up many a night, just to have em come the one night she didnt. Shed fair wore the end off all th paper hulled 00 loads fer
Paps ol double from a loadin an unloadin the venerable side by side 12
guage. Finally Cousin Scooter put into words what Aunt Holly had known for some
weeks now.
Maw we gonna have to git Uncle Burley to trap them weasels.
I know son. I know siiiiiiiigh you skitter on over to that rascals shack an invite him up fer Christmas dinner. Reckon Ill roast yall a turkey. Ill have
a little crow to swaller mself. You tell him what I want him fer, an that th
dinners hissin yea er nay but if I know Burley Gillin, hed tackle a grizl
bear with a switch fer a slice of punkin pie. Aunt Holly was right, Burley
sent word back that hed be there an after dinner hed have a little parlay
with her over pie an coffee about them weasels.
As is fittin when in need, Dame Grimmandower met Uncle Burley at th door. Her watery eyed, French ankle biter Foo Foo peeped from beneath her full skirt and yapped
and yapped and yapped
It was right much of a struggle, but finally Scooters pack of coon hounds were swarped, kicked and otherwise persuaded to stay outside while Uncle Burley was ushered in an Foo Foo had him. Right by
the ankle.
grr, grr, grr, grr
no-no Foo Foo bad girl stop that!
Foo Foo was in heat an Burleys wooden leg smelled a lot like Spruceperrrrrrfect place to leave a little er invite
FOO FOO go to your box !
Well, good day Mr. Gillian. How good of you to come. Step into the dining room and take a seat whilst I fetch your supper.
Lands a Goshen, maam, hit shore smells good in hyear. Burleys mouth was waterin already.
Uncle Burley an Scooter pulled up to th dinner table an Aunt Holly went to th kitchen to bring in th turkey. Burley couldnt help but notice th fine table Aunt Holly had laid out particular
the large shiny spoons
Now Uncle Burley was right partial to spoons specially if they was played right an he considered hisself fair to middlin er maybe a might better specially if hed had a nip which he had
Folks the biggest difference in spoons marked Made in Japan an spoons marked German silver is probably bout seven dollars a spoon, but smacked agin Burleys
wooden leg boy did they ring! They sounded so good that as a broad smile broke
across Burleys scraggly jaw, he broke into an impromptu an highly animated,
rendition of Jambalaya.
As Burley found his rhythm with his good leg Scooter commenced a ifen into his fist.
eef a ife eefa eefa ife eefa eefa ife a ife.
Slobbers not withstandin th boy was purty durn good!!! As he whopped the big leg of his bibs with his free hand, the two of em let the music take em. Burley was almost to shoofly pie an that was
his favorite part them spoons was fair hummin,
trrrrrrrrrr ricky tic tic, tika, rickety, tic, tic, tika,tika,tika, trrrrrrrrrrrr tik
Burley was a keepin time with his good toe and jookin his head at the same time.
Foo Foo seen her chance.
The hairy lil fuzz ball sneaked across Aunt Hollys newly braided rug, sidled up to Burleys wooden leg an squatted. As the trickle turned into a stream down the side of Uncle Burleys brogan an
began to puddle on the rug Aunt Holly come through th door with th (German
silver) turkey platter!
What she seen was Scooter (did I tell yall what a fine boy hes a turnin out to be?) uh what she seen was Scooter head drawed plumb back twixt his boney shoulder blades, shakin all over, spittin
an a slobberin at th mouth bouncin on his chair and beatin hisself
alternately about the legs and chest
eef a ife eefa eefa ife eefa eefa eefa eefa EEEFA iiiiiiiiiiiiife
By now Burley was in that other place the place where Jim Ed Brown, Maxine an Bonnie strived to go th place Hank Sr. was a headin when his liver played out th place Elvis seen once at the end
of Love Me Tender eyes rolled up in his head ears laid back an them
fine German silver spoons Aunt Hollys granpa brung over on th boat was now
all but in-a-visible as Burley jooked an headed into the finale.
Jambo-lie, shoofly pie an nanner puddin.
DEEEEEMONS
Aunt Holly screeched, as th platter fell to th floor soundin like the symbols from the VFW Marchin Band. Th turkey splatted to the floor, and ricocheted toward the wall gathering speed and Foo Foo enroute.
Uncle Burley stopped playin right away he needed both hands to hang on to the German silver chandelier above the table.
Scooters chair turnt straight over backridge an alls you could see of him was bony ankle bones an tenner shoes sticking up over th table.
All this took place whilst Aunt Holly was a fallin to a swoon..
Doc Stokes place was at the mouth of the holler, so it didnt take him long to get there. Onct hed examined Aunt Holly an found nothin more serious than th vapors he popped open his little bottle
of smellin salts an she started to come around first thing that met Aunt
Hollys blurred vision was the beautifully browned an basted Christmas turkey
over in the corner. It was on its back, legs spread and appeared to be giving
birth Foo Foo was a breach! ! !
DEEEEEEEEEEMONS ! ! !
uh, here Dame Grimmandower take another snort, an Doc stuck th bottle under her nose agin.
Uncle Burley could see that shed probably had enough entertainment for th night an quickly climbed down from the chandelier an excused hisself. He figgered thingsd quiet down a might quicker
if he wasnt there when Aunt Holly was finally at herself. Probably was a good
idee too cept Uncle Burley stepped out on th porch amongst 13 ornry
coonhounds with fresh Foo Foo all over his leg.
.. folks they was a ruckus in th holler that night
Uncle Burley should have a new leg whittled out an harnessed up come spring Aunt Holly had Granny Wren in fer a day er two to roust out th DEEEMONS an Doc got the end of
Scooters tongue, what hed bit off laughin sewed back on purty neat
hope your Christmas dinner turns out a might better.
http://www.gilamountaindulcimers.com/clubs.htm
Try checking here for clubs in your area. Ukulele turn up at dulcimer jams, and at least from what I've seen, they are welcomed. Our club has a fiddle, guitar and sometimes a banjo. You can also talk to players and builders for ideas and see what the different playing styles are. Reading about it on here is OK, but seeing and hearing first hand is better.
Paul
Great advice from everyone!
Yes I agree with CD and Robin that it would be a great idea for you to buy an inexpensive student or cardboard dulcimer and get a little bit familiar with playing before you make decisions on how to build your first dulcimer.
Decent cardboard dulcimers can be less than $100 and good student wooden ones can be less than $200. Other members here can recommend excellent sources that are made with care and not just junk.
There will always be many little but important things you just don't think of at first if you've never played a particular instrument before.
Dear Dennis;
I'm only about a half step ahead of you in the learning process. Maybe not that much as you will most likely learn a lot faster than I have. I think CD has given some very good advice. I'm finding (in my experience) music theory AND mountain dulcimer theory. Like CD, in reflection, I would start with a little of the latter. A good student or quality cardboard dulcimer will not only give you a basic instrument to actually feel and hear it will also give you tons of knowledge about construction, construction methods, structural requirements and some insight on what you will need in tools and/or equipment to make a functioning fretboard/tuning head.
I was impulsive and wanted to whittle. I'm paying for that in lost time now. You'll get very good advice here. Read through everything you can. Weigh each response and try to be objective about the content and author. I'm finding that , for me, I wish I had started strumming with a good 3 string instrument with NO extra frets. I think starting there would have let me learn the tradition, the music, the instrument and the appreciation of all.
Most of all, enjoy the journey.
Hi Dennis,
Strumelia and Paul have offered some excellent advice, and from the sound of the music you like and your previous musical experience on uke then playing chord/melody and building a dulcimer with extra frets beyond pure diatonic is your most likely final outcome.
However, CD brings home a good point too. At present your decision making for your self-build is being based on just abstract theory and coedified knowledge. There is nothing wrong in that as a starting point but it will not give youthe complete picture or all the information you really need. I see from your profile that you have only just joined us and it looks like you do not presently have a dulcimer? So I would also suggest that you get hold of a very cheap student model, second hand or cardboard dulcimer and get a little "hands on" time. I think that such personal active experience and experimentation combined with the advice from here would really help you find a very comprehensive answer to your questions. Just a little time playing would give you invaluable additional knowledge to put toward the design and build of your own instrument.
Two thoughts come to mind from your post. You are mostly playing songs that require a certain amount of chords from outside the basic key the songs are written in. On a diatonic instrument, this requires a certain amount of alternate tuning to get the notes to make these chords, and also to play all the melody notes. Since you have these notes and chords available on your ukulele, you may want to go in a totally different direction with the dulcimer. Try playing more traditional dulcimer repertoire. You can use a true diatonic dulcimer, or go with extra frets. Much of this will be old folk songs. You can still play chords, or go to the real traditional styles using drones instead of chords.
On the other hand, since your tastes do run toward jazz and standards, you may want to look into some of the other tunings, and maybe a couple of extra frets. Th e6+ helps , but you will really want the 1+. You will also probably want to add the equivalent of both in the next octave, ie the 8+ and 13+. Players who like jazz and pop tunes often use a tuning such as DAC, or a four string tuning.
Here's more on the subject from a previous discussion, on another web site:
http://everythingdulcimer.com/discuss/viewtopic.php?t=25420
This can also be done on a diatonic dulcimer, you just need to find tunings that give you what you need. But you may have a few issues with finding keys you can sing in. I suggest finding keys on your ukulele, then decide what most common key you can sing in would be the best for your dulcimer, since the gauge of the strings will dictate that certain tunings/keys may not be compatible with certain gauges.
Paul
Hi Dennis, excellent question!
It must be confusing to see so much info of all kinds here and not knowing where/how to start.
Given the type of music you like to play (which likely includes jazz-based, stringband, & tinpanalley stuff), and your uke experience, it sounds to me like you'd do well getting started in playing the dulcimer in chord style, with some melody lines incorporated into that. This happens to also be the most common method of playing dulcimer these days, and thus there is a LOT of tab and chording materials out there available for you to explore.
Most people these days also seem to get started in the tuning of DAd... the first lower D being the heavy bass string. Sometimes it is written DAdd if you have double melody strings. The melody string(s) are tuned to the d an octave above the bass string, and the A on the middle string is tuned between the two d's.
When you are tuned DAd you will begin by playing in the key of D. You will thus need to learn the 3 basic chords for that key and how to finger them on your dulcimer. The chords are D (easy enough, all open strings strummed), G, and A. D, G, and A are your I, IV, V chords for the key of D.
Perhaps others have more or different suggestions, and maybe someone can point you to some online chord charts or simple chord style tabs to look over?
's about time ye got better, John!! A' the best!
Wow, John Henry, what a relief that you're home.
Welcome back and glad to hear that all is well, John.
John Henry said:
To all at FOTMD
I am home, after an exciting early morning ambulance ride nearly three weeks ago to the ccu in our local hospital, where, after due deliberation, and much prodding and poking, it was decided that my old ticker needed a couple of modifications and a bit of a tune-up. Not the best way to avoid doing the Christmas Shopping, but I am assured that I shall be as good as new now, I hope that someone has told my wife, LOL.
My grand daughter has tried to keep me informed of happenings on this site, and I was surprised and gratified to hear of the comments made by my friends, thank you, I will be in touch as some as I get back in the swing, just feel a bit drained as of now.
Its good to be back tho'
JohnHenry
Is it good to see you, John Henry! I confess to being jealous that you've been made good as new. :)
Take care and heal well, friend.
John Henry!!! So glad to see you are on the road to recovery. Really miss talking to you. I always look forward to our little banters back and forth. Rest up and take it easy for now. Your friend, Dana
John Henry said:
To all at FOTMD
I am home, after an exciting early morning ambulance ride nearly three weeks ago to the ccu in our local hospital, where, after due deliberation, and much prodding and poking, it was decided that my old ticker needed a couple of modifications and a bit of a tune-up. Not the best way to avoid doing the Christmas Shopping, but I am assured that I shall be as good as new now, I hope that someone has told my wife, LOL.
My grand daughter has tried to keep me informed of happenings on this site, and I was surprised and gratified to hear of the comments made by my friends, thank you, I will be in touch as some as I get back in the swing, just feel a bit drained as of now.
Its good to be back tho'
JohnHenry
Hi John,
I've heard that a little malt whisky is very good for thinning the blood after such a trauma - for purely medicinal purposes of course!
I hope you are back on your feet soon!!!
Welcome home, John. I don't mean to your house, I mean to FOTMD!
welcome home.. John glad to hear that you're as good as new.. we are all glad to see you back.. and I'm sure all your dulcimers await you... 
Glad too see you are back John Henry. I know all about having too go back in for a tune up. Thankfully i wont need to have one for a long while. Take it easy and work back up to speed, we will be waiting on you here. :)
John
Good to see you're back with MOT secured for yet another year. For the Americans among you it's a kind of licence to practice - in this case Mountaindulcimer Occupational Therapy.
Glad to hearyou're feeling better after the Op - it's been quiet in the UK without you!
Geoff
John Henry said:
To all at FOTMD
I am home, after an exciting early morning ambulance ride nearly three weeks ago to the ccu in our local hospital, where, after due deliberation, and much prodding and poking, it was decided that my old ticker needed a couple of modifications and a bit of a tune-up. Not the best way to avoid doing the Christmas Shopping, but I am assured that I shall be as good as new now, I hope that someone has told my wife, LOL.
My grand daughter has tried to keep me informed of happenings on this site, and I was surprised and gratified to hear of the comments made by my friends, thank you, I will be in touch as some as I get back in the swing, just feel a bit drained as of now.
Its good to be back tho'
JohnHenry
To all at FOTMD
I am home, after an exciting early morning ambulance ride nearly three weeks ago to the ccu in our local hospital, where, after due deliberation, and much prodding and poking, it was decided that my old ticker needed a couple of modifications and a bit of a tune-up. Not the best way to avoid doing the Christmas Shopping, but I am assured that I shall be as good as new now, I hope that someone has told my wife, LOL.
My grand daughter has tried to keep me informed of happenings on this site, and I was surprised and gratified to hear of the comments made by my friends, thank you, I will be in touch as some as I get back in the swing, just feel a bit drained as of now.
Its good to be back tho'
JohnHenry
Easier to smuggle in some wire and string up the bedpan :)
john p
Robin Clark said:
Did you manage to smuggle an MD in tohim? - you could alway say it was abed pan !!!!!!!
Robin
Hi John,
Tell the old bugger to leave those nurses alone and concentrate on his playing next time you see him!!!
Did you manage to smuggle an MD in tohim? - you could alway say it was abed pan !!!!!!!
Robin
John Shaw said:
I've just been to see John Henry in hospital this afternoon. He's very cheerful - but rather bored! His operation which was due last week was delayed because of equipment failure, and has been rescheduled for tomorrow. He was tickled pink by the interest and concern of his friends on this site, and would love to hear from them.
Thanks for letting us know, John S! Our friend will be in my thoughts.
Good to have the address-- thank you, Rod.
John Shaw said:
I've just been to see John Henry in hospital this afternoon. He's very cheerful - but rather bored! His operation which was due last week was delayed because of equipment failure, and has been rescheduled for tomorrow. He was tickled pink by the interest and concern of his friends on this site, and would love to hear from them.
I've just been to see John Henry in hospital this afternoon. He's very cheerful - but rather bored! His operation which was due last week was delayed because of equipment failure, and has been rescheduled for tomorrow. He was tickled pink by the interest and concern of his friends on this site, and would love to hear from them.
Dana and any one else want to send John a card ... here is his home address
John H. Crocker
30 Court Road
Horfield
Bristol BS7 OBT
England
Dana R. McCall said:
Does anyone out there have John Henry's address? I love to send him a Get Well card.
Does anyone out there have John Henry's address? I love to send him a Get Well card.
We, like all John's friends and admirers, wish him well and trust he will be up and out of hospital before Christmas.
If not, there's an ever-present risk of a mass dulcimer-relatedvisit - which could put back recovery by months...
Let's all play for him as well, Rod.
Geoff and Anne Black
It's been said by many already, but can't hurt to repeat. "Get Well Soon and Best Wishes"
I just notice this and i hope and pray fo a speedy recovery John Henry. Get back here you are missed.
Yes, a swift recovery for John Henry! (I've missed him!)
Thanks, friends, for passing this along.
Thanks, Rod and Strumelia, for informing us of John Henry's situation. We are all wishing him a speedy recovery, I am sure. Please keep us updated if you receive any news.
Thanks Rod for starting this thread.
John Henry's granddaughter Kate left this message on the chat wall here today as well:
Hi all, leaving a msg on behalf of my Grandad - John Henry. He's still in hospital, having an 'mot' on his heart....I know he's missing this site and all his friends on here lots!! Im sure he will be back online with you all as soon as poss!! Best wishes Kate (John Henry's grandaughter) xx
I know we all miss John Henry very much here and we wish him a rapid recovery! Can't wait to hear from him in person again here.
Get well quick John H !!!!
Thanks Rod I was wondering where he's been. I hope it's nothing to serious? Here's wishing him a speedy recovery.
Thanks Rod, I was thinking of giving him a bell earlier today.
Let's hope he'll be back with us soon enough.
john p
I received an email from John's granddaughter.. she stated that he had been in the hospital for the last couple weeks and may be there another week.. just thought I let all you know.. please add him to your in prayers..thanks Rod
