Forum Activity for @randy-adams

Good luck Teri! I'm always willing to talk further about the subject.

Another thing I'd like to mention is I believe the fretless dulcimer is capable of much more than what little I've done with it.

Teri

A couple of thoughts in no particular order:

-I sort of eased into the fretless by learning how to play across the strings with a noter, and that may be the easiest way to get started.

- It's easier to play across the strings with a noter w/o frets

- you don't have to smash the strings down, just barely push them to the frets

- with a fretless I don't push the strings clear to the fretboard, simply make a connection between the noter, string and fretboard

- I can't make the fretless dulcimer work with my fingers....hard to explain... the ergonomics don't work out. I have to use a noter.

- I have to play across the strings with the fretless b/c too many notes in a row on the melody string starts to sound like one of those cheap tin whistles.

- I play fiddle tunes and only a small % of the tunes really fit the fretless playing style, but when I find one that works it's fun!

I'm glad you like the tunes on a fretless dulcimer!... : )...

One of the first tunes I played across the strings with a noter is Drunken Hiccups....3 strings with frets.

By using more force pressing the string down it will buzz less than you will expect. The vibrating of the string will be much shorter, so there is only little sustain. To overcome this effect feeding more energy into the string is used, mostly by a bow (violin). Also the differences of which material string and board are made off is of great importance (Ebony is very popular).

Fretless instruments can play all tones possible within its range. The difference of a F# and a Gb can be made and is important, special when playing a double bass. Fretted instruments are always slightly out of tune, but it takes a trained ear to hear this. Sometimes perfect tuned instruments are used, but some people will find it strange sounding, because they are used to hear only equal tuned melodies.

About Randy's frettles playing, he uses a noter and not his fingers. A noter can deliver much more force on the string and stop it down almost like a fret. He is able to play all tones possible (not that he does) and can make perfect glides. Surely he needs a good muscle memory to play it. I believe not the entire frettboard is frettles, only the lower part?

Teri, you should watch some of Randy Adams videos here on FOTMD. He has posted many playing fretless dulcimers and even a couple with fretless banjo. His technique will teach you a lot and probably provide some of the answers to your questions.

Ellen, we have drool bibs for that....

It really is like shoes. One wouldn't wear snow boots on the tennis court -- or sandals out in the February slush. I had a chance to visit new dulcimer friends and had to remind myself of that commandment "Thou shalt not covet" as I saw their dulcimer collection. I don't think I left drool marks on the carpet . . .

My dad had 9 siblings Rice's must of believed in large families! lol

Ellen Rice said:

Rice is my hubby's name - somewhere there's ancestor paperwork about a grandpa that says "Pell Rice had 12 children" -- always makes me think, "Hmm, and MRS Rice had nothing to do with that?"

But I'm glad to see that dulcimer collecting is in a healthy state . . .

Dana R. McCall said:

Hey Ellen I'm a Rice too! My maiden name

Rice is my hubby's name - somewhere there's ancestor paperwork about a grandpa that says "Pell Rice had 12 children" -- always makes me think, "Hmm, and MRS Rice had nothing to do with that?"

But I'm glad to see that dulcimer collecting is in a healthy state . . .

Dana R. McCall said:

Hey Ellen I'm a Rice too! My maiden name

I'm not an "Imelda" but I currently have 17 playable dulcimers. 4 others needing repairs of one sort or another.

Dana, I'm certainly going to try my best to be there! I had a great time there.

Hope you come back this year and play some again. Looking forward to the 2nd annual J.A.R. Jam at my house.

R N Lackey said:

Well, Dana, in your case it's quality as well as quantity. You got a bunch of good uns! That's what makes yours so special. Thanks for letting me see and play some of them!

Hey Ellen I'm a Rice too! My maiden name

It is Maryann it isincurableandvery contagious

Maryann Lang said:

And floor space too! I have cleaned out what was once the craft corner of my office and now I am visualizing a music corner with achair, music stand and plethra of dulcimers -- and I have only been playing for a month or so -- DAd hits fast and hard and seems to be incurrable!

Well, Dana, in your case it's quality as well as quantity. You got a bunch of good uns! That's what makes yours so special. Thanks for letting me see and play some of them!

LOL RN just call me Imelda! HAHA I know there are several out there with a lot more than my 25+ Jan for one.

http://mountaindulcimer.ning.com/photo/dulcimer-wall?context=user

One of the best collections, of which this is just a portion.

Wayne,

Thanks for the laugh and the link. Wow, there are some serious instrument collectors among the mix!

Wayne Anderson said:

Laughing "Imelda Marcos of Dulcimers" have to break into song "Don't Cry for Me McSpadden" lol. There are a number of us who have the DAD - Dulcimer Acquisition Disease and to keep everyone happy should write it DAd. There are more than a few of us that have two or more - there is an on going discussion on FOTMD How Many Dulcimers you may want to take a look at that discussion, Ellen.

But as many have said, you cannot have just one...lol

I first laid eyes on a dulcimer in August 2013. I now own two. I now look at wall space in the house differently. Instead of visualizing a picture moving into a blank space, I wonder how a dulcimer would look hanging there.

Where is this leading me? I have seen a few pictures here of proud players who have a line up of dulcimers -- which leads me to ask, "Who is the Imelda Marcos of dulcimers?"

Please humor me by posting photos or links to your collections. We might as well see the what lies further down the path.

Dusty--Thanks for mentioning scale positions. Since I am most comfortable playing by ear, I think in terms of scale positions and then transpose to the correct fret positions based on how my instrument is tuned (and possibly by what mode I'm playing in, but I don't actually think about modes!).

I also usually do a "tuning check" in addition to tuning individual strings with a Snark or Korg tuner. Since I'm using a 1-5-8 tuning, Icompare the open bass and melody strings with the middle string at the 3rd fret. I thencompare the open middle string with the bass and melody strings fretted on the 4th fret.

Tuned DAd, that means I first listen to eachstring playing a D, followed by each string playing an A.

If I'm playing alone, though, and don't have a tuner handy, this is a good way to tune the dulcimer to itself.

It's also a quick way to check the tuning after apiece using a vigorous strum or periodically during a long jam session.

Heavens Wayne- that would make too much sense for me! (down the road, I just might cave and get a tuner..)

I love my snark... great for the dulcimer, and the harp!!!

Cool- thanks Guy- as always you are a big help.

I think I am getting/remembering it now: 7 frets; hence the first open is C, then D; E; F; G; A; B ?

( Crazy question from a dormant dulcimer builder and knock-about-player huh!?)

Start out with C in the bass and then tune the middle to the 4th fret of the bass string, and the melody to the 3rd fret of the middle string. Or just use an electronic tuner.

How would I tune my dulcimer to C-G-C ? (using this tuning-to-itself style) It is the tuning for a song I love. She did capo on 1st fret to play "Rights of Man", and I MUST learn that tune!

Now this I can do! Thanks!!

Another way of envisioning the relationships among strings is by scale positions.

Ionian tuning (DAA or CGG, for example) is also referred to as 1-5-5, meaning the middle and melody strings are tuned to the fifth scale position starting with the bass string. Then all you need to know to tune your dulcimer is how to count to 5.

open = 1

1st fret = 2

2nd fret = 3

3rd fret = 4

4th fret = 5

Since the middle and melody strings are tuned to the fifth, you tune them to the bass string at the 4th fret.

Mixolydian tuning (DAd or CGc, for example) can also be referred to as 1-5-8, meaning the middle string is tuned to the fifth and the melody string is tuned to the octave (the 8th). Again, all you have to do is count.

open = 1

1st fret = 2

2nd fret = 3

3rd fret = 4

4th fret = 5

5th fret = 6

6th fret = 7

7th fret = 8

So for a 1-5-8 tuning, tune your middle string to the bass string at the 4th fret and your melody string to bass string at the 7th fret.

[You can also tune the melody string to middle string. Since the open string is the 5th, the first fret is the 6th, the second fret is the 7th, and the third fret is the 8th or octave. So once you tune the middle string to the fifth tone of the bass string (the bass string at the fourth fret), you can tune the melody string to the middle string on the third fret. Now you can double check it all, since the bass string at the 7th fret, the middle string at the 3rd fret, and the open melody string should all be the same note in any 1-5-8 tuning.]

I won't bother going through this for other tunings such as the 1-5-7 tuning, but hopefully you can see the advantage to thinking in terms of scale positions. The scale positions themselves tell you how to tune your dulcimer. The counting you learned from Sesame Street is all you need to know.

Thanks- I am just playing notes on the melody sting, with the others as drones.

It really depends on whether you are using drones or not. If you are using drones on the middle and bass strings, then you need to retune to get the proper mode, or use a capo. If you are using chords then there are more possibilities of playing in various modes within each tuning.

For Aeolian tuning... for Dorian tuning it's tuned to the base string at the 3rd fret.

In Mixolydian tuning, you can play in the Dorian mode starting at the 1st fret if you use the 6.5 fret... it's an easy way to play in that mode...

oh--- the melody string is at the 6th fret of the Base String? I will try that one! Thanks :)

It's good to remember that the names of the tunings and the modes use the same words but don't always mean the same things. You can play in different modes in different tunings... I have an arrangement of Greensleeves that uses the Mixolydian tuning, and also one that uses the Aeolian tuning. First two strings are the same as the Mixolydian tuning, but for the melody string you fret the base string at 6 and tune the melody string to it.

For Dorian tuning you can tune the melody string to the 3rd fret of the base string.... Then your Dorian mode starts on the melody string at fret number 4 and skip your 6.5 fret.

Guy

Hi friends,

It has been ages since I have played my dulcimer, and I have since forgotten how I used to tune it to itself! I had learned some modes from a Jean Richie book I read years ago, and forgot almost everything!

The common tuning I use now is:

Press Bass String (4th) behind the 4th fret = 1st & 2nd strings open

Treble (thinnest) String (next to bass string)= 1 octave above open 4th String

-What is this mode called(Mixolydian?) is it CcG?

There was another fun tuning I used, which was great for playing "Greensleves" because it was in minor tuning (Dorian?). Does anyone know how to tune the dulcimer for that (tuning to itself?)

Hopefully this question is not too confusing!

Thanks for any help :)

Place the coin onthe crown (top) of the fret, under the string.

So, check the distance from the bottom edge of the string to the top edge of the fret with each coin.

Katie, since we are both upi the Hudson Valley from NYC, I wouldn't be surprised if you and I haven't attended the same contra dance at some point.

Babs,

Have never heard of Strip the Willow, but the movement looks familiar. Loving bagpipes, I'd love to see our annual Highland Games start this. Here in the Detroit metro area we've the oldest U.S. Highland Games, but all dancing is left to the young lassies and occasional lads in competition. When I get to the next Contra dance I'll have to ask about Strip the Willow. Dare I presume it's the name of the tune?

Of course just saying "We do a lot of Strip the Willow here, though I'm not sure if it's contra-dancing but it is fun" could be subject to misinterpretation if folks just see "strip" and "fun."

Our folklore society joins with a contra group to produce an annual dance. Have gone to the past 2 years. This past year I was all set to join the contra group when health problems got in the way. It will come up again this February. I'll have the insanity of being in Sweet Charity in March, but hope this is the year I finally start being a contra dancer and not just a contra newbie visitor. Dance is definitely my favorite exercise and mainly it's been belly dancing in recent years, so this looks like a fun way to add more dance.

Great old movie scenes, Patty. That 'Grand March' seems a bit stiff and formal!