Forum Activity for @dusty

Melanie, you deserve credit for trying to learn as much as you can about the dulcimer.  Kudos to you.  But you should also know that you don't have to know anything about modes or about hammer-ons or about chords to play music on the dulcimer. 

Don't even worry about tunings.  If you want to eventually play chord/melody and your dulcimer has a 6+ fret, then tune DAd.  Don't even think about other tunings until you are comfortable playing a half dozen songs or more.  If you want to play in a drone style, then tune DAA and don't think about other tunings for a while.

I just have two questions for you.  Can you tune your dulcimer?  Do you know how to read tablature.  If the answer to both of those questions is "yes," then send me a personal message and I'll give you tab that will teach you a few simple tunes in an easy, step-by-step manner.  It starts with one note per beat, only strumming out, and only fretting the melody string.  Then each version adds just one extra step until eventually you are playing a song with varied rhythm and chords.

If you don't know how to read tablature, let me know that, too. I can share something that will explain it.

I strongly recommend that you think less and play more.  I know it's not that simple, but my guess is that if you just start playing some of the information you've tried to learn now will eventually make sense.

Perhaps it's my senior brain but I'm getting so frustrated with learning to play my dulcimer. I began learning, wanting to know everything about this wonderful instrument, all the theory, the modes, chord progressions etc). But it just isn't clicking. I thought I wanted to play chord/melody style but I'm finding that my short fingers and slightly arthritic hands make chords difficult. I have a 26" VSL and don't want to go smaller. Then there are hammer-ons, pull-offs etc. The modes and tuning totally throw me. I've begun to think that I'm on information overload. I follow several very good dulcimer instructors, but each has their own way of doing things and seem to teach above my head at the moment. I've come to the conclusion that noter style may be a better fit for me. I've been reading up and listening to Jean Ritchie lately and I think that the traditional and Celtic style songs are what draw me in. 

Does anyone have any suggestions for me to learn? I found Strumelia's blog with her suggestion to begin at the beginning of the blog (2009). That looks helpful. I really think that getting comfortable with the different tunings may be important, even if I stayed with noter drone. 

I read when I first started that the mountain dulcimer was one of the easiest instruments to learn to play. I can pick out a tune by ear but I want to do so much more. What am I doing to make ti seem so difficult?

My friend Matt did a delightful interview with Aubrey Atwater earlier this year.  It can be viewed here: 

https://mattsmusic.net/interviews/aubrey-atwater/?fbclid=IwAR2IH_hvIwrxgUvEZCC6wcEKKUxumjPsJt93qEq2RE2tWUYQ_SfO-WRoYb8

Ken, thanks for the information.  Even after clicking around a bit on Facebook, I couldn't find a way to adjust settings as you did.  I appreciate your efforts to help me, though!  

Well I couldn read music notation either when I started with the dulcimer since I also started with cowboy chords on the guitar.
The good thing is that you don't need this since dulcimer tabulature is so easy to read (just press the noter or finger on the fret number of the indicated string). 

I'm pleased to hear that you are making progress now, happy playing

Robin, go to it on Facebook and right click on the video to bring up settings (I think, I don't use Windows) and switch from automatic to one of the lower settings. I used 240 and it worked well.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Good, I'm glad that worked for you..........so far as being computer smarter....I just wish I was smarter in general.

Thanks for the suggestion Salt, but 4 minutes and 20 seconds seems to be the cut-off. I was able to watch the video by going in to settings and changing from the auto setting to 240p. If I were smarter at this computer stuff, it would have dawned on me sooner to do that.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Thanks, @salt-springs yet Facebook is where I've tried to watch it originally and can't proceed beyond about 4:20.  Though please know I appreciate your efforts to help, though. 

It might work if you try it this way...........go down about a page and a half to the July 30th post.

https://www.facebook.com/AACHindman

Thanks, Salt. I had not seen the YouTube video before.. I appreciate your sharing it. I still would like to find a way to see the other video. When I see the video of the Artisan Center and think of how many times I've been in the Cody building my heart aches. It is not for the stuff that was lost in the flood, but for the lives disrupted and livelihoods compromised. They were making such wonderful progress with the Road to Recovery through the Luthiere and Troublesome Creek Instruments.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Try the youtube link if the first one jams at 4.20

https://www.facebook.com/AACHindman/videos/3247264138892023

Thanks for ALL of that, jost.  I have been playing more (my wife finally noticed, so that's a telltale sign right there).  The disadvantage I have with notation, music theory, tabs, etc. is my inability to read music.  I can pick out notes on a scale if you give me enough time, and I can see Jean Ritchie's indications of how to tune the dulcimer in her book on each song, but I can't read music well enough to make sense of anything else.  I've learned guitar ("cowboy chords"), ukulele and Native American flute mainly by ear, and am old enough to have picked up the guitar during the folk scare of the early sixties, giving me a wealth of tunes in my head that I'm beginning to be able to pick out by ear.

As I'm finally beginning to master tuning with wooden pegs, and figuring out which strings and tuning sound good on my instrument, I'm "worrying" less and playing more, as has been suggested.  Thanks

Another hint concerning the myers pickups/microphones: After a embarassing situation where the pickup didn't work (another open mic at a different location) it turned out that you might need an impedance transformer or a passive DI box to get a signal. I guess the other venue plucked me right into one they had at disposal. The passive DI box also has the advantage that it will shield the mic from any phantom power (which might toast it I guess this happened to my mic because at some point it suddenly didn't worked any more. Thanksfully my german music store has good customer service and just sent me a new one without charge). 

The information is a little bit hidden on the Myers website: 
https://www.myerspickups.com/support

In my college days in Germany some fellow students and I  used to have a proverb: "Everything has already been said, but not yet by me" ("Es wurde bereits alles gesagt, aber noch nicht von mir"). It was used to make fun of people who love to hear themselves talk. At the risk of being one here some further thoughts:

First: I agree totally with Ken that you should stop worrying and start playing. I too was quite confused at the beginning  from reading to much about modes/tunings etc pp until I started just playing in Ionian tuning (DAA / CGG). I used tabs from Jean Ritchies Dulcimer book and Gamses "Best dulcimer method yet", later from Strumelias excellent blog.
At some point I wanted to try to play songs in a minor key and just used the given tuning (after some help from this forum). 
Continuing this I ended up playing songs in different tunings for different modes and somehow the whole mode/music theory stuff started to make sense because I heard the musical relation between the different strings. I also started to hear when the tuning sound wrong (still not good enough to tune by ear). 

It just needs time, so stop worrying and start playing. Before I played dulcimer I already messed round with chords on my guitar so I was quite confused by all this theoretical stuff. Why couldn't I just have some chords and started playing?
It got better when I realised, that noter/drone doesn't need chords so is actually easier for beginners but the price is that you need to learn some tunings. 

Second: For actually doing this two other books might be helpful  (they definitively were for me!):
First Neal Hellman's dulcimer chord book. Although it's for chord playing it was a big help for me when I started playing noter/drone. Why? Because he also has a big introduction of the several tunings and modes, something most chord instruction books don't cover. He need to do this however since he also gives chords for different tunings to give his readers and students more options in their repertoire. 
https://gourd.com/Books.html
Another great one is Mark Nelsons collection of dulcimer tabs for old time songs:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34496115-favorite-old-time-american-songs-for-dulcimer 

He also gives a lot of differnet tunings without getting to theoretical. He just says something like: Use this tuning for this song or any other tuning for the mode. 
Although many of the tabs are for chord style there are one for noter/drone too (I learnt The Cuckoo and Wedding dress from his tab). And like Hellman he uses chords for different modes, to give his readers more options. 

Although I'm strictly a noter/drone player I would recommend both books to any beginner (with Jean Ritchies Dulcimer Book and Dulcimer People which you already have) no matter which style they actually want to approach.

Just my two cents.

Best regards, Jost.

Thanks Salt, Ron, and Robin for you comments. I, too, thought of Mike, Doug, and all the other folks I've met in Hindman over the years. I have been ins several floods here in Pennsylvania and involved in the cleanup afterwards, but none have been as devastating as this flooding in eastern Kentucky. Our area Lutheran churches were just getting ready to send some work crews to western Kentucky to help with the rebuilding after the tornadoes. I suspect we will be doing the same as eastern Kentucky cleans up and prepares to rebuild. I usually make donations through Lutheran Disaster Response who coordinates with other religious organizations and government entities in providing relief and rebuilding aid. I will also be making direct donations to the Appalachian Artisan Center and other folks in Hindman.

Like Robin, I have been unable to view the video for which Salt provided a link past about 4:20; just after she gets inside the Troublesome Creek Instruments building. I hope sometime to be able to see the entire video.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

@ron-gibson, I've thought of Mike Slone, too.    

I live here in old coal country in southern Perry County OH and since the hills aren't nearly as big as those in SE KY, we do not get walls of water as you describe.  We do, though, see flooding due to many areas not having much/any top soil for good rain in-soak due to mining (some done many decades ago and some done more recently).  My heart is with all touched by the awful flooding. 

So true Ron...........if you have never seen that sort of thing you can't imagine the speed and power of those things.  Tragic situation all the way around.

Yep -- some instruments (seemingly identical to others of the same model by the same maker) just seem to want to be in a certain tuning; others will swap tunings and sound good in all of them.  Whether it's internal instrument volume, strings of differing sizes and tensions, tensions on other parts made certain ways or what; your guess is as good as mine.  

Related to my original question, I've been trying different tunings, and especially different combinations of notes, high or low, to see how the instrument reacts.  It appears, at least to my ears, that the problem with the melody string sounding sharp or flat disappears somewhat the higher I tune the strings (at the moment, 12, 14, and an unwound 20).  Presently in DAA, with very little problem noted, and I think the instrument sounds better there, than my original CGG, and definitely better than if I try to go any lower.  I don't know enough about sound dynamics, but I do know from guitar playing that there is sometimes a "sweet spot" in the way of string gauge and tuning on any particular instrument, depending on size and wood used.  I believe the dulcimer top on this one is spruce (see attached photo).  Am I on the right path, here?

As mentioned earlier, I can't lower the bridge at all, and my work on the nut appears to have given the strings at that end a somewhat decent height.  Thanks

dulcimer-b.pdf - 429KB

Da book, da book!!

[quote="Strumelia"]

Of course, if you can't sing either of those songs, you're in trouble. lolol

Well then bim-bim-BOM wouldn't help either!

Of course, if you can't sing either of those songs, you're in trouble. lolol

"Do you hear what I hear" is "My dog has fleas" for the dulcimer!  Thanks for sharing that, @john-w-mckinstry.

Hats off to those who continue to try to bring music to nursing home residents in these dificult times.

what a gem that Jolene is. and great name too!  <3

Hey i like that Do you hear what i hear trick too! 

Jolene just turned 1 year old; I adopted her about 8 months ago from Berkeley Humane.

 jolene_bday.jpg - 90KB

No caption needed.

Glad you liked it.  It sort of comforting in a day when otherwise we are dependent on electronics to harken back to simpler times. Speaking of which, I just found out that you can dial an app. on your Smartphone called, Cleartune. You then place the phone on your dulcimer to tune it.  Needless to say, I am not a techie and will stick with my Korg Tuner or the old reliable, "Do you hear what I hear?"

John, that is so coooool!!! I'll remember that one and use it.

Thanks John.  An interesting alternative to bim-bim-BOM!

Responding to Royb and others looking for a simple way to tune to DAa or DAd, I found the suggestion of Joe Collins, a noted dulcimer teacher, very helpful. In his book: "Dulcimer Basics, A Mt. Dulcimer Primer",he suggests that in the sung phrase, "Do you hear what I hear.." in the Christmas carol, are the notes or intervals needed for DAd or DAa.

"Do you"=D (bass string);  "hear what"=A (middle string); "I"=d (melody string for DAd) and "hear"=(a)meldody string) DAa.  Used with permission from Joe.  Hope this is helpful. John

Thanks Robin. Interesting. I have Kevin Roth's two record instructional but not the booklet that would have come with it.

Roy B, I have this book, put out by Homespun, and it came with a recording:

https://folkways.si.edu/jean-ritchie/traditional-mountain-dulcimer-taught/book/smithsonian

I am a straight by-ear player and have listened to Jean's instruction (which accompanies the Homespun book) many many times.  There is also an older instructional recording Jean did and it is offered by Smithsonian/Folkways.  If I were only going to have one of them, I'd go with the Homespun.  I only include the link so you can see what it looks like-- I'm thinking I purchased my copy straight from Homespun.      

Robin, Homespun Instruction? Are you talking about a book or recording?

@lisa-golladay Beethoven and Jean Ritchie (from her Homespun instruction tuning description-- not the early Folkways version)!  

@royb I'm not a great player yet have been at it since '05.  Though modes haven't sunk in all the way for me, it hasn't stopped me from making music one bit.  Still enjoying the journey!  Happy strumming to you!  

Thanks Lisa. I agree with everything you wrote!

Ironically, the reason I recommend "In Search of..." to beginners is because it gets them tuned up and making music right away. No tab, hardly any theory -- just strum and listen while you play. Not until Chapter 6 do alternate modal tunings show up. So this is a point on which Force and d'Ossche agree with our own Ken H (and also me). Put down the book and play

I speak from experience, since I am another person who likes to gobble up information. It's fun to plunge into the deep end, but the only way to really grasp how a dulcimer works is to play it. The modes will make sense eventually, but not until you've been playing for a while. This is especially true for guitarists, most of whom need to let go of their prior training and allow the dulcimer to lead them down some winding roads that don't seem to be going anywhere... yet.

A lot of the old books have "creative" ways to describe tunings. We didn't have electronic tuners and you couldn't always count on having a piano, tuning fork or pitchpipe when you needed it. The "X+3" stuff is confusing and I'm glad we don't need it nowadays. CFCC is a reverse Ionian tuning that puts you in the key of F.

The Beethoven version of the t-shirt would be Bim Bim Bim BOM, wouldn't it?

I agree with with Ken H.

I do have one last thing to point out, He bases all his tunings as starting on the melody string [being D for example]. The current concept is to base tunings on the bass string. This difference seems to affect the results in various ways.