Forum Activity for @ken-longfield

Mike, without a photo to see exactly what is going on with the dulcimers, I'm giving advice blindly.You could pull out all the string anchors and fill the holes with some type of wood. If it is a small hole, you might be able to use a round tooth pick. for slightly larger holes you might find a dowel that fits. Once glued in you can put in either small brads or nails. Not knowing how thick the end block is, it could be that the anchors don't go far enough in to the block not to bend. Another option is to use small #2 brass screws of 1/2" to 3/4".

I hope this helps with your problem. If not, feel free to ask again.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

I just bought two Dulcimers at a surplus auction at the local college. Perhaps it wasn't a good idea as the photos weren't very good and pre-inspection isn't a thing at the auctions. I did get them pretty cheap so perhaps it won't be a bad deal.

The problem the both have is that the anchor(?) pins at the base of the instrument and not in good shape at all. They look like someone tightened the strings to tight and they are pulling out. Odd thing is that they look like small brass brads like you would use in finish carpentry. A couple of them look as though you would have had to set the loop end on the string and then tap the 'brad' into place to hold it. 

It makes me wonder if these were just poorly constructed and then abused by the students over who knows how many years.

My question is this: My wife and I want to learn to play (retirement hobby) but now I wonder if I should try to repair them. Could new holes be drilled for a more proper hitch pin/anchor?

Thanks for any help you can offer.

Mike

What a great title for a thread! (poem, article, etcetera) I feel that way about many things, certainly wrt consistency of practicing - frequency and time spent. I was more disciplined when younger, for sure. Maybe some folks get better at that but I can't say I have! 

I do try to be consistent with 'default' fingerings for chords and the overall fingerings I arrive at for any given piece - though they may need to deviate in other places/tunes. Eg, my 1st position G in DAD tuning, 3-1-0, or the flip of that, 0-1-3, I always do with index on 3 and ring on 1 of the middle string, which is probably a common fingering for that one. Main point w consistency of fingering is having set patterns that become automatic and therefore smoother. I want to try to avoid micro-second slow-downs while my brain is deciding 'which finger??' 

As to warm-ups - good question/topic! Running through the scales is always good, and I second Dusty's suggestion of arpeggio's: the notes of a scale that make  specific chords, like the d-arpeggio, 0 - 2 - 4 - 7- 4 - 2 - 0, on either bass or melody d-strings; d-arpeg on the middle is 0 - 3 - 5 - 7 - 10 and back again (important!). [Chord tonics/names highlighted.] One G-arpeggio in DAD could be 0 - 3 - 5 - 7 - 10 and back down again on melody or bass d string. Here too, develop a consistent fingering choice/pattern. Can you find an arpeggio going across the strings - first on bass, then middle, then melody, and back?? They are there! 

I have a chord-melody warm up I do, especially when rusty. I have tab for it somewhere, but it's this, w scale highlighted: 

0-0-0 (D), 1-0-1 (A), 0-0-2 (D), 0-1-3 (G), 0-0-4 or 2-3-4 (D), 3-3-5 (G), 4-4-6+ (A), 0-5-7 (D) and back again. Invert to bass.

Lastly, doing a couple familiar pieces, always. Perhaps choose one or two 'touchstone' pieces you play every time you sit down. (Prediction: You'll get really good at these and they will become 'fallback' or 'in the bag to pull out' pieces.)

I suggest slower-than-performing speed - you are warming up. It's "just" warm up but I say do it well, not sloppy! 

More important than people may realize: Since they're familiar - as the patterns above will become - play without tab as much as possible - so you can watch your fingers! This is how to improve technique.

Make sure your fingers are doing what you want them to! (think of them like kids!) You need to make an eye-finger connection for your brain, that it will use when you inevitably need to look elsewhere (sing, etc) while you're playing. Get away from the tab as soon as you can, even if you make more mistakes initially. It's one step back, two steps forward, I guarantee!  

O course that doesn't apply strictly to beginners who need more visual reminders, but as you play more, don't remain stuck on 'the paper.'  Even for beginners, very simple patterns 0-1-2-3-2-1-0 shouldn't need to be read after the first time or two.

I see there's overlap here between warm-up and practice, but I guess that's the point: Stuff you can consistently do to get you going!

Sorry, I tend to be wordy, but all of the above ends up actually being just 3 or 4 to 10 minutes, max! You can do it! 

Nate, as Ken and Skip have explained, the notion of key on a modal instrument gets a little tricky.

I would just define a key as the tonal center of a piece of music, the tone that seems to represent rest or resolution with the other notes creating different degrees of tension.  

Your effort to determine key by examining the sharps and flats of a piece makes sense in western classical music, and you are correct that the key of D major has a C# and they key of G has a C natural.  That "key signature" defines the major scale, or the Ionian mode.  However, with traditional, modal music, any mode can be played in any key, so the key, or tonal center, does not necessarily determine the scale pattern. To use the most common examples, D Ionian uses the C sharp, but D Mixolydian uses the C natural. 

In fact, those examples explain why the 6+ fret was added.  On a true diatonic dulcimer tuned to D, tuning DAd would not give you a major scale (Ionian mode) precisely because the 6 fret is a C natural.  To play the major scale, one would tune DAA and start the scale at the 3rd fret.  Then you get the C# on the 9th fret.  To avoid having to retune, dulcimer players about a half century ago began adding the 6+ fret so that they could play in the two most common major-sounding modes, the Ionian and Mixolydian, without re-tuning.

Let's also remember that a lot of folk and pop music doesn't use all the notes of the scale or mode.  A lot of music is pentatonic, meaning only 5 notes are used.  And heck, the old song by the Chrystals, "Da Doo Ron Ron," only has three notes in it!

"So what?" you might ask.  Good question.  My point is that every song has a key, meaning the tonal center or "home base" even if it does not make use of the scale indicated by the key signature.

Having said all this, I would guess that 90 percent of the time when you are tuned DAA or DAd you are playing in the key of D (or Bm, the "relative minor").  If you fret across all the strings, then you can also play in G and perhaps (though it gets tricky) A.  I've recently been arranging several tunes that work in both D and G on the DAd dulcimer. That way you can modulate after a couple of verses and impress your friends and family.

Ok maybe 35 years ago. ;-) my first computer was an Atari 520 st. The internet was just beginning. There were some forums, or I guess they were called bulletin boards or news groups back then. Same idea, slightly different email based format as I recall.  It seems like 40 years. Just ask Ken. ;-)

I learned several years ago that it is much easier to understand music theory, as applied to MD, when the word 'key' [in music] has several definitions. One defines or indicates the specific notes in a scale [the one you found], another, more generic, refers to the lowest note in a scale, regardless of the notes involved. The second one can also be a 'keynote' or 'scale center'.

So, in your tune, the written 'key' scale [def 1] is G; the 'key' on the instrument [def 2] is D. 

The 6+ can be considered an additional fretboard overlay that modifies the mode layout of the frets. Two fret board layouts, 1 without the 6+, one without the 6. 

Yes a little disoriented. I’m getting more familiar as I use it. I guess I imagined that groups were the same as discussions where different topics like “Instruments”, “playing and jamming” or “beginner players” and “fingerpicking” are organized. I guess technically the answer to my question was “no”. Assuming posts to groups are also called topics. I have been kind of looking at the screen with a confused look trying to understand why it seemed like things were in two different places. Now I understand. What can I say? Us old guys take a while. lol

Traildad, Fotmd is a social network, which has more various areas of content than a typical php forum, while it's also more searchable with less marketing than most Facebook pages.

Our Forums section is for most general interest discussions, and you can search within the categories there. But say you are particularly into noter playing, or chromatic dulcimer playing, or building, or dulcimer history-  there may be a special interest focus Group for that interest area, where people with a particular passion can hold discussions specifically related to that interest.  Having Groups is a way of keeping in one place discussions and info related to that certain focus area. Think of a Group as a club rather than a forum. In this respect Groups are useful. Imagine a new member looking for help in TablEdit or microphones... they can find that help very quickly in our Technology Group rather than searching all over the site.
But the general Forums area is useful because the subjects are more likely to be of interest to the whole membership ... such as changing strings or identifying a mystery dulcimer or finding tab books. Or, just gabbing about something nice that happened to you yesterday, or what new tune you are working on. 

I hope that helps clarify a little more the difference between Groups (and their discussions) and the site's "Forums" area. FOTMD includes more than discussions and forums. Members have their own profile page with photo galleries, their videos and audio recordings, and events. Additionally, members can browse and search ALL the site's videos in one place, also all the site's photos and audios. Thus, you can go to a member's page to see that member's content and activity, but you can also go see ALL the photos, audios, or videos on the site in one central place by clicking on the top bar links.

When new members join, they are frequently disoriented by the many site areas and functions... and I understand that they might feel frustrated. I wouldn't want to write tutorials on every area and function here- it would simply take me way too long and few would want to slog through it. People tend to be impatient. But if they stick around and click around, they'll get a sense for how things are organized. Time makes things clearer.
I'll be the first to say FOTMD is not perfect by any means. More than anything else, it's meant to simply be an encouraging and safe place for beginner players to get help and make dulcimer friends. 

My curiosity compels me to ask- what forums were you participating in forty years ago?  I'm dying to know! 

Normally, "the key I'm in" is the open note of the Bass string.  That is, the entire instrument is tuned to a particular keynote -- C, D, G, whatever.  

The + frets are not there to supply notes -- not just sharps or flats -- above and beyond the diatonic scale.  The 6+ fret in particular was added to the fretboard because people wanted to be able to play a C natural as well as the C# which is 'natural' to that diatonic scale. 

When I first learned all this we talked about Modes, and the idea that players wanted to be able to play in more than one Mode with re-tuning.  DAA (a.k.a. Ionian Mode) is what guitar folks think of as the Natural Major Scale.  DAd (a.k.a. Mixolydian Mode) is almost the same -- except that the 7th note of the scale is "flatted" (a half step below what it would be in the Natural Major scale).  The 6+ fret was added so that players could play both the natural and the flatted 7th note of a scale starting on the Open fret.

Years ago I wrote the attached article about modes (scales) and the diatonic nature of the dulcimer.  It might help you understand things...

Uncontrite Modal Folker.pdf - 92KB

I’m not sure if that helps or if I more confused than ever. lol. Maybe there is a forum tutorial I should have read. What is the difference between forums and groups? I thought everything was posted in a group and you had to join the group first. Oh well. I’ve been on forums for forty years and I just haven’t seen this format before. I’ll get the hang of it eventually. :-)

Note that the My Posts tab is on the Forums page. Thus, as you correctly guessed, it shows you which Forum discussions you have posted in.

The "Help me learn this song" group is a Group. Groups have their own discussions which are completely separate from our site discussion Forums.  There is no tab that specifically shows you what Group discussions you've been active on, however if you go to a Group that you are a member of, you can see the Group's list of discussions. When you see the 'subscribe' button next to a discussion that is Yellow, you have either posted in that discussion OR you clicked to subscribe to that group discussion. Note that if you post in a Group discussion, you will be automatically subscribed/following it (the button will be yellow to indicate this). You can always click the yellow button to turn OFF your following of that discussion if you no longer want to receive notifications of a new post in that discussion.

Additionally, on your Profile page, there are sections for "All Activity" (all your recent activity, including things you 'liked'), "Latest Group Discussions" (that you have participated in), and "Latest Forum Discussions" (that you have participated in).
The activity sections on your profile page show your activity as opposed to the general site activity of all members seen on the site's Main page.

Hope this helps.

Since I took the screen shot the list has updated with my activity. The list isn’t complete though. I’m not sure how many are missing but the one I posted in “Help me learn this song” is not listed. I’m sure there are others. 

Yes.

On the Forums Page there is a tab “My Posts”. When I click on it I get a page with a list of some topics. Is it supposed to be a list of all topics I’ve posted in or created? Thanks. 

 39259578-27F0-4C0C-84BC-A8A3DCCCD4E8.jpeg - 137KB

Most forums I’ve used take you to the beginning of the conversation at the top if you click the topic link, but have a second “recent” button that takes you to the last post at the bottom. That way you can start reading at either end. This did take some getting used to but at least now I can find the beginning. lol

I do wonder how the middle strings  tuned to open D guitar tuning or DADF#AD would sound as a backing drone. (added benefit of replacing strings with no hassle or fuss since you can buy em all in a single pack from any music shop, just make sure the guitar strings are light gauge with that long of a VSL)  I would imagine very nice but I really have no clue. Thanks for sharing!

Hey guys I have been trying to practice writing my own tab and I wrote out tab by ear for an old folk song called sally wheatley. Because I did it by ear, and I'm still just beginning to learn music theory, I didnt really know what key I was in. because I didnt use any half frets my first thought was that I was in the key of D, but I noticed the key of D has a C sharp, and my arrangement has a C natural, so I think this means it is in the key of G? This seems weird to me because I assumed that since the dulcimer is diatonic, that the non half frets would be the diatonic scale, but if C# is in the scale of D, why is it the 6 1/2 fret? whereas C natural is the 6 fret. Would love some help this stuff is not very intuitive to me !

Try DAC. I don't know which style you're playing in, but with the "melody" string tuned to G, the #1 note of the scale is on the 4th fret. That puts you in Dorian mode. It is kind of a minor, but not the "real" one. The "real" one, the natural minor (aka the Aeolian mode) starts at the first fret. And at the 8th fret. DAC tuning will give you that scale with nice drones. 

@picklechickens I am a straight by-ear player.  One alternative might be to use a different tuning to get Samanthra to lay out right on the fretboard.  (I tune all over the place in order to get the sound which hits my ears best.)  The only caution is to not make huge tuning leaps and break strings.  It really can be fun to try a variety of tunings.  

Val, what a great gift!  There is something special about playing an instrument built by a relative or friend.  (I have several built by friends.) I'll keep my eyes open for photos!

This one Robin is a Christmas present for my niece she wont know till Christmas day. Will get my son do to do some photos of my builds and will post.

@macaodha Is the dulcimer for you to play or for someone else?  Feel free to post a photo of your build sometime!

Getting close to finishing my 6th dulcimer, hour-glass mahogany back and sides spruce top. And loads of other stuff.

This posting's title tickles my funny bone because it applies to me!  The most consistent thing about me when it comes to playing an instrument is my inconsistency.  :)

If I happen to be working on making up a tune, it is usually the thing with which I begin.  Otherwise, it's just whatever comes to mind and can be played in a tuning (or a near tuning) of whatever dulcimer is at hand.  Though playing mountain dulcimer is often one of the first things I do in a day, I have no regular habit regarding what to play to begin.  

@gary-major Such cool songs!  When you're ready to share them here, please post in the group Rockin' in the Free World.  (Copyrighted songs need to be posted in a group or forum discussion.)  

I have been working on Wendy Songe's version of "King of the Fairies". Fun tune! Also, I recently purchased the sheet music of "John Barleycorn" as performed by Steve Winwood of Traffic and working out chords, etc on my chromatic dulcimer. 

Jan,

   Someday I would like to learn how to write out a score on Tabledit also. Good luck and looking forward to hear about your progress!    

I have copied a few tabs, Blowing in the Wind, There's Something about that Name and where have all the Flowers Gone. My goal is to share one with you all as soon as I can master it. I'm getting excited to get into the grove again and since winter is fast aproaching, what a better time to start. 

Take care my fellow Dulcimer Players

I'm working on learning how to make a score (TAB and standard notation) using Tabledit.  I'm using it with an original composition, trying to see how possible it is for me to get some of the music in my head into written form.  Of course, with my issues with reading tab, I probably won't be able to play my own tab once it's complete!

I usually default to playing scales and arpeggios when I first pick up the dulcimer, especially if I haven't played in a while.  I try to end any playing session doing a couple of tunes that I know really well, so the final emotion I leave with is satisfaction and competence rather than the frustration that comes when you learn new stuff.

I’m starting to learn my third song. Wildwood Flower, Old Joe Clark and now Wreck of the Old 97. I’ve been playing dulcimer for over 40 days, but I lost two weeks while on vacation. So I’m still working on the basics like strumming and keeping the noter from sliding off the string. 

My warmups are: Kumbaya, and This Land is My Land....  :)  They put me in a good mood.

Sorry, I can't claim to be an "organized" player!  My warmup is simple.  I play a song or two that I know well.  The first one fairly easy (like "Corinna, Corinna") and the next more challenging ("Si Bheag, Si Mhor" -- which is a challenge to spell, too).  It's enough to get my fingers moving.  I don't often play scales or chord progressions unless there's a particular tricky bit in the tune I'm working on. 

There is value in playing the same warmup every day.  It helps to get your mind focused.  Not unlike meditation or prayer.  As an actor, I still use the same vocal warmups I learned in college (in a year I prefer not to mention) and I can feel my mind snap to attention the moment I start.  That would be a good discipline for me to develop on dulcimer, I am looking forward to reading other peoples' responses on this thread.

The song that snaps me into shape on dulcimer is the song I play at the end of a session, especially when I'm frustrated.  "Simple Gifts," drone style.  Reminds me I like this instrument and it is not an implement of torture.

Since I have written here that I will be working with my dulcimer on "Ue o Muite" I would like to let you know that I have just uploaded the video on youtube - if you like to listen to it please find the link to my youtube chanel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbtgN6BpTZTuAv0Ng8ndGYA?view_as=subscriber

Tonight salmon and wild rice.  Tomorrow::  CHILI!

I'm making an attempt to organize my practice.  Primarily playing chords; is there a warm up to get you started?

For the past six months of being covid era homebodies, we've not eaten out at all, and in fact only even gotten takeout food once, early on. One because we are super cautious, and Two because the restaurants around here are not all that inspiring to us to spend the money. We've been used to cooking at home.

However, today i drove to buy some hardware supplies and as i drove home past Main St I noticed a local Italian place had moved from its dreary old mall location to a new place right on MainSt.  It looked pretty and inviting as I drove by ...and i smelled pizza. (!) So when i got home i looked up online and saw a whole new website had been put up for it, featuring lots of online ordering options and local delivery too.

I decided to splurge and order us some custom pizzas. Brian was really surprised but i was hungry and had a serious hankering for pizza!  I ordered us each a whole pizza with our own favorite toppings, so that we could have it for dinner two nights in a row.  I paid online with a credit card, even the tip. The pizzas arrived quickly and I had her leave them on the porch table.
It was acceptably good pizza and we very much enjoyed the rare luxury of fresh delivery from only a few blocks away. My pizza craving will now be satisfied for a good long while. 

"A Taste of Jam"

Recently I rediscovered the "Athens Dulcimers" website. They offer: "Beginner Tunes", and "Basic Jam Tunes".  They play by ear in these videos, but through research I came up with tabs to help me at first with these tunes.  My goal now is to play by ear like they do too. Now I have a taste jam before joining the real thing. 

Hello and thank you to everyone who commented on my profile page! Nice to encounter such warmth and friendliness before I've even posted anything!

As I wrote there, I inherited a dulcimer last year and have just recently started trying to play it. I'm especially interested in shape-note tunes and have been trying to learn Samanthra. I was advised to tune the dulcimer to DAG and play it in d minor. This seemed to work well until the end of the third phrase. There's a low b-flat there, but the second fret is a b natural. Does anyone have other suggestions for how to make this tune work?

Gotcha, I'll have to look for jewelers files, sound useful. My razor saw seems to have worked ok, had to finesse it a bit for the wound string, but none appear to be moving around in their slot. Thanks for the tip.

File for "fit" reasons not aesthetics.  A string will normally set firmly into a V notch, but can slip around inside a saw kerf.  I have a set of small jewelers flies - triangle, square, round, half round -- that attach to an included handle.  I think the set was $10 at Ace hardware.