Forum Activity For @Strumelia

@strumelia
12/30/09 12:46:44AM
2,416 posts

I do not recommend the stuff that comes as a chapstick type tube. I found it lets the pegs slip too readily. That's the ' peg compound '. They made me use it on my cello pegs in high school. Hated it then, and bought it again when I grew up... and hated it all over again.I DO recommend the 'PEG DROPS'- a liquid that comes in a tiny plastic squeeze bottle (like eye drops do).This stuff corrects both aspects of the pegs- it corrects too slippery ones and makes them grip better, and also corrects pegs that won't turn enough. But you MUST follow the directions exactly. It's not 'more is better'. That stuff is really great, and will last you forever: http://www.google.com/webhp?hl=en&tab=iw#hl=en&safe=off&num=20&q=Ardsley+Peg+Drops&aq=f&aqi=&oq=Ardsley+Peg+Drops&fp=52e8f388e5caca67
updated by @strumelia: 02/16/16 03:20:43PM

@rod-westerfield
12/31/09 01:24:22PM
109 posts

Dulcimer Damsel said:

Hi, Miss Rosemary, and Happy New Year !

I have been playing at church for several types of services. Our music director has been very supportive of trying 'new' things so I am fortunate with that. BUT it does not stop folks regarding me with this funny mix of curiousity and fear when I come down the aisle, dulcimer akimbo. ( : I just take heart and know that I do a kind service when the elders who grew up with dulcimers thank me for playing an "instrument I have not heard in YEARS!"

The thing I try to remember when playing in church is that we are not playing for them.. we are playing for Him and he loves our music...:) :)

@strumelia
12/30/09 10:29:22PM
2,416 posts

folkfan said:

Striking just the melody notes is how I play with a striker, and if I lift my hand and angle downward with just the tip I can even pick up the lower notes I need on certain songs. I've done "Peat Bog Soldier" in Aeolian and have to pick up a 0 fret on the middle string. This is a song that works well will a strong marching beat. Dona, Dona, also in Aeolian, is another one.

Wow i would love to see a video of you playing that. :)

@folkfan
12/30/09 09:46:41PM
357 posts

Striking just the melody notes is how I play with a striker, and if I lift my hand and angle downward with just the tip I can even pick up the lower notes I need on certain songs. I've done "Peat Bog Soldier" in Aeolian and have to pick up a 0 fret on the middle string. This is a song that works well will a strong marching beat. Dona, Dona, also in Aeolian, is another one. Strumelia said:

Check it out, it's a wonderful and traditional playing technique, here demonstrated on a French Epinette des Vosges..... :)

@folkfan
12/30/09 09:39:56PM
357 posts

Never be embarrassed to talk about how you play or if you've tried something different. You never know when that something you did, is just what someone else would benefit from. We can all listen and learn from each other. And I bet you did sound great. Shas Cho said:

Ha!
I was playing this way on Christmas night
and my family thought it sounded great.
So did I, and it was fun,
but I would have been embarrassed to mention it here...

folkfan said:

How about using a striker to beat the notes out with your right hand rather than a pick.

@strumelia
12/30/09 08:53:13PM
2,416 posts

Check it out, it's a wonderful and traditional playing technique, here demonstrated on a French Epinette des Vosges..... :)

@ken-hulme
12/28/09 04:42:41PM
2,157 posts

I'm assuming you do the "usual" pull-offs and "hammer-ons". There's a technique that I call 'ghost-noting" where you sort of skip the strum of a particular note and let the sustain and the stopped noter play the note before moving on.Say you're playing Frere Jacques: 3-4-5-3, 3-4-5-3. 5-6-7 etc. and of course strumming every note. Play the first set 3-4-5-3 with individual strums; but on the second set, strum 3, slide to 4 and stop the noter with no strum. The sustain will sound the 4, then in tempo slide on to the 5. Not the same sound as sliding through a fret to get to another one.Here's another trick that's kinda fun - play the wrong note, then slide into the right note still in the same beat.One reason all your songs start to sound the same is that you keep hearing them. Time to learn some new tunes. More complicated. New tempos. New genres. Whatever. New Years Resolution - don't play any of your "regular" tunes for at least 3 months. Start all over fresh and learn new tunes beginning 01-01-10.

@razyn
12/28/09 09:32:49AM
51 posts

Just curious, but are you noting with your right hand and picking with your left, reaching across? Your avatar photo looks that way, to me. That's already adding a little... variety.

@folkfan
12/28/09 12:10:55AM
357 posts

How about using a striker to beat the notes out with your right hand rather than a pick. March type songs, or songs like the Little Drummer Boy are interesting done this way. A chopstick is what I usually use. Some people use hammer dulcimer hammers. I strike just the melody line for a clear bell like tone.

@dave-holeton
12/27/09 09:31:56PM
13 posts

Dulcimer DamselListed are some suggestions.1.) Provide a short and interesting story, anecdote, or history behind the song you are about to play.2.) Learn and play songs in as many of the modes as you can (Aeolian, Dorian, etc.)3.) If you have another dulcimer player, one of you can play the harmony on certain songs.4.) If you have another dulcimer player or two or three, play some rounds.5.) Sing while you play. You don't have to always play the melody note you are singing, you can play a note in the chord for your melody note.6.) Add an act or an impact moment for a given song. Mississippi Sawyer is sometimes played with a crash note where everybody pauses for a moment on a sour note. I and my partner stop and look at each other and say "What?" when we're singing a couple of the parts in "The Battle of New Orleans". Maybe some of your songs have places where a change of tempo, a statement, a joke, or other creative act could add to the song.7. Try some variations of hitting the strings and don't strum across all of the strings on all notes. Try playing the base or middle strings by themselves in between playing the melody string(s).8. If guitars or other instruments are being played while you are playing, listen for the places where the drone strings clash with the chords on the other instruments and try to not play the drone strings on those notes.I hope at least one of these suggestions is something you're not already doing. I'm sure we'll see some more suggestions on this post.Good LuckDave
updated by @dave-holeton: 02/15/16 10:01:56AM

@rod-westerfield
01/07/10 04:15:51PM
109 posts

Forum Activity for @strumelia

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A Very Merry Christmas to all my New Friends

A Very Merry Christmas to all my New Friends

A Very Merry Christmas to all my New Friends

A Very Merry Christmas to all my New Friends

A Very Merry Christmas to all my New Friends

A Very Merry Christmas to all my New Friends

A Very Merry Christmas to all my New Friends

A Very Merry Christmas to all my New Friends

A Very Merry Christmas to all my New Friends

A Very Merry Christmas to all my New Friends