I've used a "D" tuning on my banjo and played the melody on one of the D strings using the rest of the strings as drones. It is not ideal, but works.
Ken
"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."
Banjos have five strings, including a short drone string. Oldtime banjos can be tuned to over a hundred different tunings, in many many combinations. Some of those combinations can include strings tuned to D and A and yes also DAd and include other notes on other strings, like gDAda. Keep in mind that our familiar DAd or DAA dulcimer tunings are nothing more than a tonic note with a fifth... and "tonic + 5th" notes appear in the tunings of all kinds of other instruments as well, since it's a common musical interval to use.
Banjos have lots and lots of tunings. The reason people tune banjos in different tunings is usually in order to play certain tunes or certain 'families of tunes' more easily. Since it can be hard to remember so many tunings by naming all the tuning's notes, some banjo tunings are conveniently referred to by a song name associated with it... such as "Sandy River Belle tuning", "Little Birdie tuning", or "Reuben's Train tuning".
Paula -- it can be done, as Robin suggests. Probably better with a banjolele or other short-necked version than a full size instrument.
Paula, I have a Dulcijo-- a little 3-string banjo tuned to DAd. To play out of G, I'll re-tune the middle string to G. I haven't had much chance to play around with it yet hope to in the coming year. Here is a photo:
Dusty, thank you! I've been envying people who can sing a verse or 2, then throw in something that's not just playing the same thing without the words, and then returning to the words. Can't borrow Mastering Variations, but see Amazon has a limited # of copies. DRAT! It's the sort of thing I should have suggested as a Christmas present.
Some of what you suggest has come up in a song I've decided to stick to playing instrumentally only. I found 2 versions of Morning Has Broken. Surprisingly both are in the same key with the 1 I would play as an interlude taking the spot where your hand is already in a chord and arpeggiating (if that's not a real word, it should be) the chord. On 2d thought maybe I'll sing on version 1 & use version 2 as an instrumental break.
O.k. you didn't give the full course or book, but it's a great start with suggestions on proceeding that easily delays my roughly $35 - $70 (buying both O'Rourke's books & including the shipping) for now. When I am ready to move on to more involved discoveries I now know where to go...to a book or 2. The librarian in me, of course, approves the book recommendation,
Has anyone ever retuned a banjo into mountain dulcimer tuning?
Lois, this is a big question, for at essence you are asking how to improvise or take a solo.
First, just some terminology. The term "filler" is usually used for what we do in short spaces, say a few beats in between melody lines or when the melody line sits on a long note.
If you want to play a whole verse doing something different, there are other terms. If you stay close to the melody, it would just be called a "variation," and there are some strategies for creating variations. Aaron O'Rourke teaches this stuff by differentiating between melodic variations, harmonic variations, and rhythmic variations. (He has a book or two entitled "Mastering Variations.")
If you leave the melody behind, you are playing what would have been called many decades ago a "musical interlude," but what we refer to more recently as "a solo." In both cases the chord progression is the same as the verse you are replacing, but you are no longer pretending to play the melody. The way to learn to do this just by feeling or by ear would be to record yourself just playing the chords of the piece and then practicing coming up with alternative melodies. You start by finding the safe notes, which are just the notes of each chord. If you venture to a note that is not a chordal tone, that's OK, so long as it's a passing tone and you get back to a chordal tone soon, probably the first beat of the next measure. As you get a feel for the chord progression, you can perhaps plan how to move from a safe note for one chord to a safe note for the next one.
One of my golden rules of dulcimer playing is to keep your left hand in the shape of a chord at all times. That way you can pluck any note and it will sound OK. In that sense, each of your fingers is already fretting a safe note. Sometimes you can play several filler beats or a section of a solo just by playing arpeggios (the notes of a chord) in a rhythmically interesting way. And sometimes starting with an arpeggio will lead you to more adventurous melodic invention.
A lot of folks who teach this stuff will demonstrate certain scales, such as the 5-note pentatonic scales, as good for improvising. They are, but on the dulcimer we only have 7 notes anyway, so we are already pretty close to the pentatonic scales. And even if you play around with those scales, it is still a good idea to resolve your improvisations on those chord tones, so I would still stress keeping close to those chord positions.
Both Aaron O'Rourke and Stephen Seifert teach this stuff. You might look for some of their online lessons.
Finally in the interests of full disclosure, let me confess that I think in my own playing I am pretty good at filler and often play tunes adding lots of bass notes, extra strums, rhythmic arpeggios, short licks, and some chord substitution, so that each verse sounds a little different than the others. In that sense I am creating variations. But I am not good at all at those longer musical interludes or improvisational solos where you leave the melody behind. When I perform a song with words, I almost always include one or two verses of an instrumental break, and the audience probably thinks I'm improvising, but the truth is that I compose that stuff and practice it over and over again (OCD anyone?), the same way you practice a new song. It's not very inventive either, but it does add a little break from the vocals, and hopefully every now and then I get lucky and find a cool lick here and there.
@Ferrator, first, bridges and intros are different. Bridges are usually part of the composed song. It might be considered the "B" part that contrasts with the main melody. The kind of intro you are talking about is not a formal part of the composed song but a few bars played before the song starts.
One trick for an intro is to play the end of the "B" part of the song. For example, if you were playing "Silently Night" you might begin very slowly playing the part that goes along with the words "Sleep in heavenly peace," then pause for a moment, and then begin "Silent night, holy night . . . ."
You ask a very good question that gets at the difference between merely playing a song and playing an interpretation of a song, which would include intros, filler, perhaps a musical interlude (what we used to call the "solo") as well as an ending.
Because the intro & the ending can easily come from the piece, they aren't as hard to come up with something. My puzzlement is always that "filler" between sections or verses. Suggestions?
You have tried the phone numbers and email on his website I presume.
You chose RVW's Fantasia on Greensleeves as an example of what you would like to do. A fantasia often involves playing with a "theme" or phrase of music in several different styles. It tends to be highly improvisational. You really need to be very familiar with and comfortable with the tune before you start improvising on it. One of my favorites is Seven Variations on God Save the King.
Ken
"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."
@Ferrator, first, bridges and intros are different. Bridges are usually part of the composed song. It might be considered the "B" part that contrasts with the main melody. The kind of intro you are talking about is not a formal part of the composed song but a few bars played before the song starts.
One trick for an intro is to play the end of the "B" part of the song. For example, if you were playing "Silently Night" you might begin very slowly playing the part that goes along with the words "Sleep in heavenly peace," then pause for a moment, and then begin "Silent night, holy night . . . ."
You ask a very good question that gets at the difference between merely playing a song and playing an interpretation of a song, which would include intros, filler, perhaps a musical interlude (what we used to call the "solo") as well as an ending.
Yes I do. But trying to get hold of Dale is proving as easy as looking for teeth on a chicken. Mine was made in 1988 so it is "aging in and mellowing" very well.
Is there an easy way to come up with a bridge or an intro?
For example, I have one of the Jessica Comeau books. Included is Scarborough Gaire. Now it is blatantly obvious that the version in the book and the one she plays are quite different. Granted, she is a pro and therefore, makes the big bucks. But is there a rule of thumb for doing that sort of thing?
Right, put in 3 zillion years of practice and all...
Ralph Vaughn Williams did something pretty incredible with Greensleeves:
Ideas?
Yes.............top of the line......you have one?
I tried tying flies once. Damn things just will NOT hold still. It is as calming and Zen as herding cats.
Has anyone heard of Aeolus dulcimers made by Dale E. Foye?
Congratulations on the Christmas gift from your mother-In-Law and wife. It's always good to see a dulcimer going to a good home. The best part is you only have to give it some attention on a regular basis to fully enjoy it. No feeding, watering, daily walks, or cleaning of the litter box is necessary.
That's great news, sounds like a win-win for all. We'd love to see pictures of it, if you get the chance. You're going to love having that McSpadden!
@staylor -- sounds like Santa was good to you. If you have any questions. just ask. We enjoy helping folks on their dulcimer journeys.
Great to hear that you have the McSpadden. Enjoy the dulcimer. I'm sure you will have fun playing it.
Ken
"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."
@staylor Well, happy new year & happy strumming! So good how things worked out. :)
Thank you all again for your responses. Santa--in the form of lovely wife and mother-in-law--genuinely surprised me by buying this beautiful dulcimer on the sly for $200. That was a bargain for us, and our friends were happy for it to go to someone who'll actually play it without the hassle of shipping.
I look forward to spending some time here and learning more. Happy new year!
I had the great honor and pleasure of doing a minor repair on one of Merv's personal instruments for him, a year or so before he passed away. He was a great builder and promoter of chord-melody in DAAS as well as the 1-3-5 tuning...
My name is Tom Campbell. I first played a dulcimer in summer of 1983. Merv and Jo Rowley introduced me to the mountain dulcimer. I met them at the Rockford Folk Festival in Rockford, Illinois. Merv and Jo were like parents to me. Merv was a master luthier and Jo a very talented artist. I love Merv's dulcimers. I look forward to getting know some new folks who share the same love that I have for the dulcimer and old time music.
Merry Christmas
RB
Thanks for that Dusty.
Strumelia, the black lyre in the picture a few posts back is the Nordic Lyre and on looking at it it does have similarities to a crwth .... attached is a picture of the crwth.
Playing chords is really no mystery. The vast majority of chords you will need are triads (three-note chords). If the three required notes are available on three different strings (so they can be played simultaneously) and within reach of the thumb and fingers, then the chord can be played on the mountain dulcimer. If a complete triad is not playable on the mountain dulcimer, it is normally because one or more notes of the triad cannot be played due to an unreachable finger stretch or due to that particular note's unavailability in the chosen tuning.
Since the mountain dulcimer is not usually chromatically fretted, it is often necessary to retune the dulcimer to make certain notes accessible. Both D-A-A tuning and D-A-d tuning (with a 6 1/2 fret) optimize the availability of notes required to play in the key of "D" major. In D-A-d tuning, the added 6 1/2 fret enables the musician to play the C# note that otherwise would not be available on the melody or middle string.
@Hobbyhorse, those look like quite elegant instruments you are making. Nice job!
Thanks all for your comments.
I used the Rutger uni plans and did enlarge them a little to accommodate the alto tuning that I settled on. The nylgut strings are ok for the d and a but do not have enough tension on the G to get a clear note, however overall it did make the sounds I was hoping for. Ultimately I will have to get a gut set for it.
Irene the plans for the hurdy gurdy came from Graeme McCormack of Tasmania who runs a web site called Antiquated Strings. They were free, which was nice but there were some inconsistencies in the dimensioning which kept me on my toes. I am a builder of instruments ( I am a retired joiner who now has time) rather than a player but I can feel my way around the ones I have built .... I do not pretend to be proficient. The hurdy gurdy did take me 6 months to build. The rebec was just completed today and is still something of a mystery .... given a little more time and I will probably have a better understanding of the fingerboard.
Strumelia, yes the Crwth is bowed but it traditionally has a flat bridge on it which makes for some mournful sounds at times. There are 4 strings over the fingerboard and two that run free and are played as in a lyre. My hands are not really as flexible as they need to be for this one. The Rebec scale length 13 1/8 and the overall is 22 inches. I do have some timber put aside for a tenor rebec next year.
Ken, the Nordic Lyre is also one of Michael Kings, as also was the Crwth. I found him to be a very good communicator who seemed interested in what I was doing, which I thought was a bit special.
Çhristmas wishes to all of you.
Hobbyhorse -- your Lyre looks really nice, as do your othere builds. I build a few lyres myself. My favorite small lyre is the Cologne pattern from Michael King in England, and my mist recent is an Oberflacht pattern, also his, with kalrose carving on the soundboard. If you search the Photo section on "Lyre" you'll see pix of mine.
I've followed Paul Butler at Rutgers for many years. He has done some amazing builds!!
Hobbyhorse, that rebec looks wonderful! What is the scale length you settled on? Did you make a 'tenor' sized one?
You are very talented. I like the looks of your crwth as well. Do you bow the crwth?
Hobbyhorse....your builds pictured here are just marvelous. I know your N.Z. wood and the history of that swamp Kauri wood. But your building such fabulous musical instruments is a marvelous thing. Do you play the rubic and the hurdygurdy? I've always wanted to make a hurdygurdy....wayyyyyyyyyyy too many parts.....Did you do that hurdy gurdy with plans from somewhere? aloha, irene
@hobbyhorse How does the rebec sound? The hurdy-gurdy? Your builds look good.
Herewith my Rebec.
The body is from 10,000 year old New Zealand swamp kauri, the soudboard is recycled kauri and probably 100 years old and the finger board is from matai, again a New Zealand timber. The rebec is finished with lacquer and the finger board is oiled. I have used nylgut strings on it at this stage as this is what I have in my workshop and I really wanted to hear what it sounds like. It is strung as an alto: G d a
YOWZA! Vicious table saw! I'm doing much better already. I tend to heal fast, and now I have a nice coating of NewSkin on there. That stuff is great! It did not sting, probably partly due to the fact that it was no longer a fresh wound, and also b/c I found a formula that also claimed to have a topical analgesic in it.
That's right! You know, table saws are bad for damaging your fingers or hands. The tips of my thumb and forefinger on my right hand went through "an aggressive change" over a year ago due to my table saw. Things healed very nicely, thank God, but the sensitivity is gone somewhat. It's harder to pick up small objects now, but I'm thankful that the injuries weren't much worse.
You'll be fine after a while, I'm sure.
LOL! I'm on the computer a lot for work, and I am very, very swift at typing. That first morning, I had a really clumsy/hasty attempt at a bandage and so the finger was knocking into other keys when I typed. Annoying! Slimmed down the bandage and got my speed back. But no way could I have fretted with that tip. Best to not damage ones hands in the first place! 
I understand! I have different problems with my hands. Other than pulling up my pants and brushing my teeth, mountain dulcimer is the big consideration when something happens with my hands. :)
