Forum Activity for @james-phillips

Kevin, now don't forget us when you become famous.

Great interview Kevin!!! Thanks for sharing the article and thanks for doing what you do!!!

Ramps under snow today 

Ramps are up about 3 inches  here in WV.

Here's the place to be for the famous (infamous?) ramp

http://www.richwooders.com/ramp/ramps.htm

The ramps up home in WV should be coming in soon.  Kevin and Rob can answer you better than me.  I ain't found no ramps in AL yet.  I sure miss them.

And we'll be able to say "I knew him when . . ."

You are a find ambassador for the dulcimer, Kevin.

Thanks for sharing the article Kevin. You deserve the recognition for the fine work you do with the instruments and in preserving the old ones. I'm proud to know you.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Well, Charles and Dan.............we got one this year...............Happy First of April, Terry.  By the way Dan...........you got some ramp?

Gee whiz Kevin............if that's 19 in the pic, my Prichard is a for sure celebrity.....most excellent dude..........

Thanks Ken.

Good job, Kevin.  Well deserved recognition of your talents.

 Thanks John..

Thanks Terry! I try!  

I'm proud to know you, buddy!  Now we've both gotten some ink regarding our unusual craft activities!

That's a great article, and Nicole seems to have presented the facts properly-- something that is rare to see.

Congratulations.

Very nice article, I am excited to have read more about you and your work, it is fabulous and you atta be excited. 

Kevin, I disagree with you not playing well, you and I play well enough to hear the sweet silvery sound of the instruments you so beautifully craft. I know I love my Thomas it sleek beautiful shape and that sweet, sweet sound. Best is that you made it, Thank you Kevin.

I really like your Prichard's and one day hope to be able to get one, but it needs to be JI fretting. Y'all sold me on that!

Great work Kevin, very happy for you and your success. 

I understand your reticence. When you do an interview you have no control over the final content and the author may not understand the subject well enough to present a good look. 

This reporter knows what she's talking about and does a nice job.

Very good, Kevin.  I knew you'd do good.

Thanks guys, wasn't sure about doing it at first,but, now seems ok. Randy my prices have been the same since I started, may have to go up sometime

How cool, Kevin-- I enjoyed the piece a lot!   And have had the pleasure of seeing and hearing the wonderful instrument you built for my old friend Kathy.  :)

Did the price of Prichard repros just go up?... : )....Ha! ....glad I got mine before you got famous!

Nice article Kevin...f'sure...

That's a good article, Kevin.  Good job with the interview.

Just wanted to share this, I have never had an article don on me before,and am just excited.  http://www.timeswv.com/news/old-style-dulcimers-connect-music-to-state-s-roots/article_f65e246a-ee73-11e5-88fe-3f2a4719fdce.html

Unless you need both the 6 and 6+ frets in the same song. Then you could find the two notes far enough apart to be cumbersome, in some songs. Over The Waterfall uses both, but not close together. The A part uses one, the B part uses the other.

The 6+ fret is not for DAA tuning, rather it is to get the DAA notes while tuned to DAD. The 6+ is almost never used in a tuning such as DAA. It helps you to njot retune as much. But the same thing can be accomplished by retuning, or by playing  the melody on the middle string when tuned to DAD. Tougher to do for noter players, easier for fingerdancers.

A 158 tuning such as DAd will give you all the chords that BELONG to the key that your 1 indicates, but chords from outside of that key will not all be possible. On a diatonic dulcimer, a certain amount of tuning changes is normal to accomodate different keys and/ or modes. A chromatic fretboard will give you all the notes, but some of the quick simplicity of the diatonic fret pattern is lost, so there is a somewhat longer learning period. Not so different from mandolin, guitar, etc, but there is more to deal with. No single three string tuning will compensate for all the missing frets. If the music you intend to focus on requires frequent use of chords that come from outside the basic key, a four string tuning as mentioned above is probably your best bet. 

You guys are out in right field.  Deep too.

Drive the Cold Winter Away is in my book of English Country Dance Tunes for Dulcimer, Vol 1 

http://www.lulu.com/shop/mark-gilston/english-country-dance-tunes-for-dulcimer-vol-1/paperback/product-2311230.html

Here I am playing it so you can hear the arrangement:

Hi Lexie, Wow, that's so touching! I'll share your words with her family, I know that will warm their hearts. Judy was a wonderful person and we're so glad we had an opportunity to know her. 

Thanks for listening!

Yup, we have a bit of a collection going.  :-) Thanks for listening! 

Hi Erin,

 I want to encourage you to play on your own till you find folks to play with. I am in Central MT and no one around has even heard of a mountain dulcimer. I am slowly introducing it. I am a beginner to music and to the dulcimer and have reached out to folks on this site who have very generously helped me learn everything I am ready for about the instrument, strumming, using a noter to basic music tabs, building and the history of our wonder "sweet strings".

There are many folks that offer skype lessons and instructional videos on this site and U-Tube.

I hope you enjoy your dulcimer journey and I hope you just play and have fun with it.

Lexie

I have been catching up on the pod casts; thank you for introducing me to a beautiful soul Judy Klinkhammer. She was quite a pioneer there in the mountains. I really appreciate her spirit for her music and how she shared it with anyone.

What an inspirational woman with the MD and her life with passing on music.

Wow! We're up to 14 already?  We just had Neal up here in Sacramento for a workshop and concert this past weekend.  I look forward to taking a break from work and checking out the latest episode.

Thanks for all you do!

Hearts Of The Dulcimer Podcast - Episode 14
Neal Hellman: Part Folk, Part Classical, All Acoustic

Neal Hellman has played the mountain dulcimer for more than 40 years and is the founder, director, and one of the primary artists on the Gourd Music record label. Gourd Music recordings are known for lush arrangements often pairing the dulcimer with folk and classical instruments. With music by Gourd Music artists.

For episode resources: http://dulcimuse.com/podcast/resource/014.html

Salt-springs, thank you for posting this chord chart! I was just at a place of needing one, and voila!! Typical fotmd magic!

John Henry's tribute to John P is altogether fitting and proper.  And so lovely. 

I will pass on the info.

    I hope you do continue with the dulcimer even if on your own. There is lots on here or you-tube on 'how to' Even if there are others around, you still spend a good amount of time playing on your own. So, try and stay with it for one day when you can meet up with some folks. Do you have several dulcimers or is your Smoky Mountain,  the dulcimer you are learning on? AS long as it has a nice action (not too hard to play) and a sweet sound it's as good as any to play.

Good luck, ask a question and strum away.

John Henry has posted a beautiful tune tribute, played for John P ....

Lament for John P

I have a town & country, a mini-van but much better than the some cars that needed to hop onto the sidewalk at the end of Causeway Blvd. and many other parts of the city Friday. Rain just came too fast for the pumps to keep up. 

Yes, ken, I am very familiar with new orleans and flooding, just wishing erin 'all the best' with her move. Ha, it's not just the level of the water but the pot-holes, they will drop you down sometimes another foot while you're driving. 

I was uptown visiting family and dropping off a dulcimer to my sister-in-law. She has recently became very interested in their sweet music but the weather messed up the amount of time I had to show her much of anything. What is the saying 'hell or high water' well that didn't keep a dulcimer from landing in new hands and a heart ready. 

"high ground" and "New Orleans" just don't belong in the same sentence....