Forum Activity for @ken-hulme

No sense in keeping something you're not happy with.  IIWM, I'd talk to Mike and see what I can do for a trade-in.  

About 4 months ago I bought a Clemmer Banjammer at a festival (remember when we had festivals?).  I just haven't bonded with this instrument.  At first I thought it was because it was louder than I was used to, but that problem was solved by stuffing a sock in the back like you would with a banjo.  However, I'm still not comfortable with it and I finally decided just a little while ago that it is probably due to the height of the fingerboard, which is about 1 and 1/4 inches from the body (which consists of one board).  Somehow that seems to affect the action; my fingers just don't seem to glide along it as I would like.  I have two other dulcimers, a very old Folk Roots and a relatively new James McAnulty with an extra kind of "trestle" piece at the back which gives it a wonderful, mellow tone.  I bought the Banjammer because I thought it would be good for fiddle tunes, but I'm thinking of asking the builder if I can trade it in towards another instrument.  Advice, anyone?

Thank you, Lois!  I'll definitely check out that discussion.

@floralin, my sympathy when you compare the 3 stringed instruments where a chord's position is fixed.  At first this (coming from a guitar background) and the variety of tunings so that a particular fret may change notes (coming from a piano background) left me, too, as you said, "but when I try to memorize dulcimer chords my brain says, 'oh no, enough is enough'."

Dusty's given you the right advice.  I would also suggest you look at the discussion on "More DAd than DAA Instruction available."  You probably thought it didn't fit your needs and skipped it, but there are some points in it and in Strumelia's blog that may prove worthwhile for your exposure as you begin your dulcimer journey.

Yes, it definitely helps to know the names of the chords in a class where the teacher is discussing chord progressions.  ; -) 

Thank you, everyone!  I appreciate your help.

Nice.  Reminds me a bit of Carrickfergus.  Sorry I can't help with the tab tho.

Yep mahogany; perhaps ply which was common, or a mix of ply and plank.  J. Titus, builder.  Sort of "in the style" of Hughes Co. dulcimers out of Denver back in those days.  

The wood appears to be a type of mahogany used by many builders of inexpensive dulcimers in the late 1960s and 1970s. I can't tell if the top and back are plywood, but I suspect that the sides are. If the peg head and fret board are a single piece of wood the that is mahogany. The side view of with pegs definitely shows a piece of mahogany.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

I'm going to guess that the label reads. "J. Titus" and that 1970 is the year it was made. It is typical of a lot of amateur, kit, and crafts fair artisan instruments of the day. It isn't a fancy instrument, but looks to be nicely made and in pretty good condition. That is, except for the nut where the strings rest near the tuners. It has come unglued and slipped to one side. An easy fix. Without seeing the edge, it is hard to tell if it was made of plywood or not. 

It doesn't have any great value, except sentimental. Assuming there aren't any cracks or loose braces, it could easily be made playable. 

You don't have to know what you're playing to play very well. But it makes it hard to communicate with others about music. If you want to ask questions or answer other people's questions, it helps to actually know the names of the notes and chords you're playing.

It is worth paying attention to the point your teacher was trying to make even if you don't always follow his or her advice.  There is nothing wrong with playing a 3-1-0 G chord with your thumb on the bass string, and it might work great if your next chord position is a 4-0-1 or 4-2-1 A.  However, if your next chord position is an A chord played as either 1-0-4 or 1-2-4, when you will need your thumb on the melody, then your whole hand has to change not only its position but its angle of attack.  However, if you play 3-1-0 with your index finger on the bass, then your thumb is almost on that 4th fret on the melody string anyway, so you are already in position for that 1-0-4 chord.

My advice is to be as flexible as possible and not get locked into a single approach.  Your thumb on the bass may be fine some of the time and also prove a barrier to smooth playing in other contexts. We all know that cliche to "go with the flow," and I would suggest that you want to adapt your playing to best capture the flow of the music.

Thank you all so much for your responses.  It was a teacher (I don't  remember who) who told me not to use my thumb, I think because it would take too long to reposition to the next chord.  I'm talking mostly about the 3-1-0  and 5-3-3 chords, in DAd tuning.  Or I think that's what  I mean, because...

Another little problem I'm having is that I know guitar chords, know banjo chords, and can fake mandolin chords (have trouble with the barre), but when I try to memorize dulcimer chords my brain says, "oh no, enough is enough".  So I'm having to go by how the chord feels in the piece or sit there and say, "let's see, d-e-f#-g, and a-b, and d, so this must be a g chord".  This is slow.  But I can play a piece all the way through without remembering the names of the chords, or choose to use a chord without knowing its name.

I've had classes with both Stephen Seifert and Aaron O'Rourke.  They are wonderful!

@Floralin, I personally never use my thumb on the bass string, but I know some superb players who do so a lot.  I also have one student who does it even on some of my own arrangements.  The short answer is if it works for you, then it works for you.

One big issue when it comes to left-hand fingering is how the dulcimer is positioned on your lap.  People who use their thumb a lot will want the dulcimer to be angled so that the lower bout is tight against their right hip and the head is angled out over the left knee (assuming you are a righty). Watch some of Guy-Babusek's videos here to see a good demonstration of that kind of positioning.  That angle makes it much more comfortable to use your thumb (but much harder to use your pinky).  People who don't use their thumb as much and rely more on their pinky move the head of the dulcimer in more so that the dulcimer is closer to being perpendicular to their legs.  That positioning facilitates the use of the pinky.  Check out Aaron O'Rourke's videos for an example of that, and notice that he also lifts the bottom of the dulcimer off his lap and angles it away from his body, something else that would make it harder to use your thumb on the bass string (and maybe the reason I never do it).

Personally, I use both my thumb and my pinky, and I shift the dulcimer on my lap depending on the fingering for any given song.

I am not sure which G chord you are talking about.  In DAd:

I play the 3-1-0 G chord with my index on the bass string and either my ring finger or my pinky on the middle string. 

For the 0-1-3 chord I use my ring or middle finger on the middle and my thumb on the melody. 

For the 3-3-5 chord, I use either index, middle, thumb or middle, ring, thumb.

For the 5-3-3, I use index, ring, and pinky. 

For the 5-6-7 chord I use either ring, middle, thumb or middle, index, thumb.

For the 7-6-5 chord I use either index, middle, pinky or index, middle, ring.

I'm sure there are other ways to get these chords (in fact, I know both Stephen Seifert and Aaron O'Rourke barre two of the strings when they play the 3-3-5 and 5-3-3 chords) but those approaches work for me, and in cases when there are more than one possibility, the context of the notes before and after will dictate which I use.

My advice is to do what works, but be aware that it might not work all the time, so be prepared to try other possibilities as well.

I inherited this piece from my mother-in-law when she passed away.  She's had it for decades and I'm going to sell it but I don't know anything about it (style, finding the brand, etc.). She lived in the Denver area for the last 30 years and likely got it in that area or in her regional travels.  Any help would be appreciated.

There is a maker mark inside that I can't decipher. (see photo). It looks like a Pi symbol with "itus" after it.  Or it could be S.Titus where the S and T are running together, or possibly a JTitus.  I can't tell and I've done searches for all of them with no results.

It also has the date 1970 underneath it (or possibly this is a model number??)

Approximately 33" long x 8" wide x 2 3/4" overall.

The fretboard is 1 3/16" wide by about 1/2" thick.

I don't know if this is walnut, spruce, cherry or what type of wood.

Again, any help is appreciated.

 IMG_8101.JPG - 134KB

You'll get lots of opinions on this, probably best answered by someone who teaches in chord/melody style.  :)

Of course a lot depends on 'who' told you this (another beginner student? the teacher?..), and what the reason was for their advice. There might be a good reasons to follow or not follow their advice based on the situation. But a good teacher will usually have a good reason for their advise. Maybe using the thumb there create an awkward hand/wrist angle.

I'm assuming you're in DAd tuning? There is more than one way to finger a G chord. Which G chord  are you referring to?
A lot also depends on the sequence of chords or notes going on in a particular tune as well. Sometimes finger positions will be changed from the norm in order to make a specific musical phrase or sequence flow better and not sound choppy.

Various factors at play on this. Hopefully an actual chord style teacher will jump in to help here.

I love this song so very much and have spent quite some time trying to find my way around TablEdit, but alas, it's just not happening. The sheet music is readily available. Has anyone tried their hand at this song? It's quite lovely.

I'm not a Chord-Melody player.  But the first rule of playing dulcimer (having done it for 40+ years) is this: 
 There Is NO right way, or wrong way to play the dulcimer -- there is only The Way that works for you. 

Others may not like or approve of how you do play, but that's their problem.  Let no one dictate to you. Just because someone is a teacher does not make them right -- for you. 

I play other instruments but am fairly new to the dulcimer.  I was told in a dulcimer class that using the thumb on the low 'd' string - for example, when making a G chord - is a no-no.  But sometimes it just seems more convenient and quicker.  Opinions? 

Beautiful pets in this thread!

Your big blue looks like my late Humbug would have looked with a few more years under his fur!

We have three cats. Our big handsome grey boy cat Teddy is usually sweet, but he's very big and strong and turns into a powerful deadly tiger when any vets try to examine him. Imagine our dread when we found out he has to get a medicine drop in his one troublesome eye twice a day ...as in forever. Yikes!

At first he fought it a bit, but we kept turning the event into a petting/brushing mini session after his drop...he loooves being petted or brushed. So now two months later he absolutely demands we give him his eye drop twice a day, coming to get us, meowing loudly and leading us to the bedroom where we sit on the bed to give him his eye drop and then the reward of 30 seconds of petting or brushing. It's too funny! he gets so excited and in the middle of giving the drop he starts purring so hard he rumbles.    That's when we call him Rumble Purr Teddy.

@anne-maguire , nice to see you checking in! I hope those animules all realize how lucky they are and settle into polite behavior, adding extra joy to your life.  :)

@buckeye67 : sorry i missed seeing your post til now.  Those 3 "curs" are quite camera-ready and appealing! The genetics must have been a good match to produce that handsome brindle boy Sam!

Well, rescue dog Biddy is well and truly settled, and has, I think, accepted this as her permanent home - at least I hope so! There was someone running past the house and over the bridge a couple of nights ago - she went off like a bomb!! Very big, deep barks and growls - took a while to settle her down. 

Senior cat and her still at loggerheads - problem is, Pug runs from dogs, as the last dog he had anything to do with tried to eat him! Junior cat gradually becoming more and more at ease. Not cuddle up together friends yet, but while Biddy was asleep last night he did come up to the lounge, stood up to investigate a dangling dog paw, then just walked away. I think they will end up friends.

So, all working out for the best, for now!

Yes, time is very weird.  We've been working from home since early March.  Seems like we've been doing it forever...yet it seems like we just started.  I read somewhere the reason for this is the sameness, we're not having events in our lives so much that make marks on time.  Can't plan anything, really, so it feels like a permanent hold pattern.  Super strange.

Here in NY i believe masks are required inside any food markets.  The big supermarket told me they had to hire a guard at the front door to make sure all customers were wearing masks when entering. (I'm glad about that!)  Keep in mind that NY was very hard hit by the virus except in the outlying rural areas.

Still rare to find toilet paper, paper towels and tissues here in my area... and thankfully they have limits per customer.

I found a great market for fresh meat and produce that I like to go to now.  But since I'm pretty stocked up, I only need to get random supplies once every 10 days or so, and i freeze some bread and meat when i have a little space.

There is absolutely NO rubbing alcohol, Chlorox wipes, or hand sanitizer to be found here in the stores yet. Not even hydrogen perozide! Even jugs of laundry bleach are sparse on the shelf.
Luckily I still have enough disinfecting supplies that I bought several months ago.   Since i don't venture out very often, thankfully I'm not going through it as rapidly as I feared.  By the time I run out of disinfecting/safety items hopefully it will all be available again.   :)

I have tons of lettuce in my garden right now at its peak.  There are several friends of ours who come by and pick up a big bag that I set out for them. Sometimes they stop to chat for a while- we put our lawn chairs out on the lawn 12 feet far apart so we can sit and visit when they come by.  Fun!  In a couple more weeks my mature lettuce will bolt need to be pulled out and reseeded. Lettuce struggles a bit with the Summer heat though, so it's at its best for me in the Spring and Fall. 
Now with the temps rising, the string beans are loving it.  I have two types growing- both are very slim and French, so they don't get fat and tough like the Blue Lake types i used to grow.  I have Tenderette green which are truly tender and I've grown for several years, and also Velour- which is similar slender but dark velvet purple. It looks gorgeous raw, but does turn dark green when cooked.

I'm finding the passage of time has become deceptive during the covid times.  We've been staying isolated at home for 3 1/2 months now. In some ways it feels like an eternity ...but in other ways it seems to have passed in a flash.  Weird.  Other people must be experiencing similar things?

Only in the last couple of weeks has toilet paper shown up regularly on supermarket shelves. But only in small packages of 4-8 rolls.   And perhaps about a month ago eggs and meat became once again a regular find.  It was certainly nerve wracking to walk through a supermarket and see so many empty ailes.  Still hard to find Lysol or Chlorox wipes or rubbing alcohol, but hand sanitizers are available again.

The governor has lifted most restrictions here and left it up to county officials to determine what activities will be permitted. In the county where the music shop is where I teach, group gatherings are still forbidden, but private lessons are now allowed.  I was relieved, though, to hear that none of my students feel comfortable returning to in-person lessons yet.  The lesson room we use is tiny and does not have great ventilation.  If we could meet outdoors, or in a larger space we would all feel more comfortable. One of my students has decided she actually prefers Zoom lessons, saying that not having to worry about gathering her stuff and drive to the music shop enables her to concentrate more just on the music.  Interesting.

Thanks for asking. It is still under warranty, so I shipped to McSpadden. They heard nothing and replaced the zero fret. However, the problem was still there. Then I let my teacher hear and he clearly heard it. So, my husband did some fret adjustments. He put thin paper under nut slot of bass string. It is still there, but not as bad. I found another place willing to look at it. Just finding the time to do the drive. When I finally get fixed, I will definitely let you know. The bass string was sitting on the 3rd fret. The nut needed adjusting but is unmovable. My husband figured it out. But he is a guitar teacher and not a luthier so he adjusted a fret just a little. However, what he did made it bearable to play. 

@silverstrings , did you ever figure out what was going on with this?

Pete,

Thought you might be interested in something like this, since it will be on line maybe it's something you could do. With Jerry having a workshop it might be something like what you are trying out now - sounds & delays          https://www.nutmegdulcimer.com/

Nutmeg Festival will be ONLINE this year.   Lots of  instructors - One mention , Jerry Rockwell   (   Jerry Rockwell Dulcimer TEDX Talk ) 

Steve,

I am glad you had a good experience with Cedar Creek.

All of my transactions with Jeremy/Cedar Creek have been great.

They demonstrate true customer focus (and a good product)!

Keith

I decided to order from Cedar Creek, and had an experience worth noting.

They sent my order via UPS, and I got a phone call a couple of nights ago, informing me that I was gonna be hit with $60 “importing/brokerage” fees to get it to Canada.

UPS is famous for this, and had I known CC was gonna use them, I’d have said no. USPS ships it to you, hands it off to Canada Post, and if Canada Customs takes an interest, you might get hit with taxes. But “brokerage fees”? No.

i dropped Jeremy at Cedar Creek a note, and he was horrified. They’d chosen UPS because it was supposedly cheaper for me.

He was good enough to rebate me half the UPS cost.

He didn’t have to.

How often do we have a customer experience that it’s worth posting about? I mean, a positive one :-)

Congrats and thank you to Jeremy and everyone else at Cedar Creek.

Steve

Regarding who built the mountain dulcimer Kathy was playing, I have received information from my young music friend Matt Searles about the mountain dulcimer-- here's the reply Matt received in response to an email he sent to Carol: 

“The dulcimer Kathy plays in the documentary is one I made for her. I had never made a musical instrument before that project, and sadly, never made one after that either, since I moved away from access to the woodworking tools I used to build the dulcimer shortly after that. I did get lots of help from a real luthier for the project, so it turned out well.”

Matt is who introduced me to the music of Kathy and Carol and I am grateful to him!  

Oh, thanks for the information, @leny-sue!  

@CaonnorC, there are actually several variables to consider as you continue playing and thinking about what would be ideal for you. Obviously VSL is one, as is the width of the fretboard. Another is the distance between the strings.  I find for flatpicking I want strings that are close together, with an inch or less separating the bass and melody strings. But for fingerpicking I don't mind a little more space in there so my chubby picking fingers have some room.  The kind of fretwire you use is another issue.  Some dulcimer players prefer jumbo wire so that you don't have to press the strings all the way to the wood of the fretboard.  That allows a softer touch and faster playing.  And some luthiers are starting to make radiused fretboards, mainly with the goal of increased comfort of the fretting hand.   It's a lot to think about. 

But for the moment, just keep doing what you're doing.  Those stretches should get easier over time.

Thanks, @dusty-turtle I am glad I'm not alone, or doing it all wrong. I tried my wife's Dulcie-May (smaller, teardrop) and it was a lot easier to reach them, but the fretboard is narrower and I have wide fingertips. Swings and roundabouts. 

I'll keep at them, and hopefully my fingers will strengthen and stretch over the next couple of months. I like noter playing too, but it's fun learning to flatpick and play the arpeggios.

I'll probably look for a slightly shorter VSL with a nice wide fretboard around Christmas, by which time I should be able to play well enough to know what I want.

@ConnorC, a dulcimer with a 27" VSL should be fine for chording. In DAd tuning the 1-2-4 and 4-2-1 A chords are indeed the toughest to reach, but they can be done, and keep in mind that the muscles in your fingers will get stronger and will stretch a bit, so just keep at it.  And yes, you will want to you use your pinky.  Some dulcimer players don't use their thumbs and others don't use their pinkies, but I figure I need all the help I can get.

I still have and play dulcimers with 27" and 28" VSLs, but I have to admit that my main playing dulcimer has only a 25" VSL.  The shorter scale length not only makes certain chords easier to finger, but makes it easier to play fast since my hand can stay in a  relaxed position as I cover several frets.

There is one other more recent one titled "Keepsake". Yes, their harmony is perfect.

@leny-sue I'm glad to know that and imagine others are, too!  I'm not sure but the circa 1965 album may have been their only LP.  I love their sound!  

Bruce, my dulcimer, has a 27” VSL (nut to bridge if I understand that properly). I have fairly large hands, but a few chords in D and E need quite a stretch even for this ploughboy. 4,2,1 Or 3,1,3 for instance. (My thumbtip to ringfinger tip is 10”)

What length is about right for chord players, or do you just adapt like I am having to do? My pinkie finger seems to get involved more often than people I watch on youtube. 😳

I play noter and drone when with my wife, but left to my own devices, DAD and chords come out. 😂