Forum Activity for @greg-gunner

If we're talking about dulcimer workshop levels (and it sounds like we are), the solution is to have a short description of what will be taught.  Then the attendees can decide if they are ready to learn that particular skill.

For example:

"This workshop will teach the three basic chords in D-A-A tuning and some basic rhythm strums."

"In this workshop you will learn hammer-ons and pull-offs and how to apply them in the songs you already know."

"This workshop will teach you how to retune to the four most common modal tunings."

"Dulcimer Duos.  This workshop will teach you how to play with another dulcimer player.  One will play play the melody and one will play back up chords."

The best workshops I've ever attended were taught by Stephen Seifert, who took a single tune and presented it in stages.  In essence, he taught those attending how to begin with a simple melody and gradually add different techniques to make it a more advanced arrangement.    

This is a good and useful discussion!

In reading the Berkeley guidelines, I have to say that some of those criteria for being Intermediate seem more suited for Advanced however. I'd never meet those standards, especially the parts about " to play in and modulate to different keys with and without a capo or retuning; to flat-pick and fingerpick a tune"..... sigh... I guess I'll be an eternal beginner.     Also, is it not possible to be considered an advanced player without ever reading either Tablature or sheet music?- an intriguing question.

NSThoreau, I think you are right about the fact that there is often less info geared towards the huge segment of people who have just gone beyond the beginner stage. There must be good explanations for this but I can't think of any right now.

One would think that by the time one is an 'advanced' player they'd be at the point where they could be teaching  most of the workshops at festivals. Maybe there should only be one advanced workshop- called Teaching Advanced Playing Workshops... but then would they just be teaching each other how to teach the workshop?  hahaha
Sorry I don't mean to make light of this, but the problems and ironies of this classification system have always struck me. I've always found workshop festivals to be a mixed bag, partly because it's hard for me to know where I even fit in, and often by the time I figure that out, it's over.  

Matt, Thank you, I will look for the Daa forum.

Ken, Thank you too. I am not sure of the style I play. I like to play my melody on the middle string while strumming instead of the normal melody string. I use chords on two or three pieces but usually let the melody strings drone on.

Lisa, thank you. I was wondering about the fret issue and will have to think about the 4+ and 11+ or the 1+ and 8+ situation. Which gives you the dorian?

@notsothoreau, my personal opinion is that if you can play basic tunes reading tablature then you are no longer a beginner.  To some extent, that is a confidence and proficiency issue. If I tell you to play me a 3-3-5 chord, do you have to count frets to figure out where your third and fifth frets are?  If so, you are probably still a beginner.  But if you know the first octave of your fretboard, you are probably an intermediate player. Most festivals might refer to left-hand techniques such as hammer-ons and pull-offs as intermediate-level skills.  And among those of us who chord, we might point to the ability to play a certain number of chords, to be able to play more than one voicing of basic chords, and perhaps to understand some basic chord substitutions.  The ability to play in more than one tuning would probably be considered an intermediate skill as well.

But there is clearly no criteria that will fit everyone. I came to the dulcimer from the guitar and mandolin, and my right hand technique was advanced before I ever touched a dulcimer. Once I learned three or four chords, which I did the first 20 minutes I had a dulcimer, most people would have no longer considered me a beginner ,even though I had no understanding of the fretboard and was horrible at reading tab. (I'm still pretty bad at it today; I need to look at my instrument!)

The Berkeley Dulcimer Gathering posted the following criteria to help festival attendees identify the best workshops for them. It is admittedly centered on chord/melody play, which will not fit traditional gatherings at all.  (Although I regularly teach at that event, I had no hand in writing these descriptions.)

Absolute Beginner: You do not need previous dulcimer experience or musical background.

Beginner: You know how to hold your instrument, and can strum and play some simple tunes. You may not feel confident yet, but you love the music that your instrument can make! These classes will help you learn some chords, gain more comfort with your instrument and your ability to find and play tunes by ear and from music and tablature. You do not need previous dulcimer experience or musical background.

Intermediate: You have the skills of the previous levels and you’ve learned the basics of strumming and reading tablature, you need to expand your playing techniques and musical theory. You are learning to embellish your basic music with hammer-ons, pull-offs, and slides; to adapt an arrangement with different chord positions; to play in and modulate to different keys with and without a capo or retuning; to flat-pick and fingerpick a tune. You can play in different tunings.

Advanced: You have the skills of the other levels plus the ability to play at least 4 chords in DAd or DAA tuning, to use 2-3 fingers (left hand), and be comfortable with at least 2-3 basic rhythms, utilize melody runs on all the strings using scales, then adding arpeggios and patterns from within chords, as well as a strummed chordal melody.

There was a discussion earlier about people continuing to refer to themselves as beginners, even though they were no longer beginners skillwise. I'm curious as to how someone would determine that they have in fact progressed beyond the beginner stage. What skills are necessary before you can call yourself an intermediate? Is it simply attitude? Confidence?

Short answer: The equivalent frets for CGG tuning would be 4+ and 11+.  However, depending on the scales and chords you want to play, you might prefer 1+ and 8+ anyway.

Long answer:  For people who play in DAD/CGC tuning, the scale starts at the open 0 fret.  Adding the 1+ fret gives them a flatted 3rd note.  That note is critical for playing minor scales and very handy if you are lazy like me and you don't want to re-tune or capo every time you want to play the blues.

In DAA/CGG tuning, your scale starts at the 3rd fret.  The 1+ and 8+ frets give you flatted 7th notes.  This lets you play a Mixolydian scale without re-tuning.  If you wanted a flatted 3rd note instead, you'd need the 4+ fret.

So... do you want to add a flat 3rd or a flat 7th?  Would you rather play Dorian and blues -- or Old Joe Clark?  The easier question is how often do you wish you had a fret at 8+?  Compared to how often you wish you had a fret at 4+?  If you've never wished you had either, maybe you don't need extra frets.  How often do you re-tune now, and why?

That was all about scales.  I can't help much with chords in CGG but you get these additional notes for building chords:

E-flat and B-flat with a 1+ fret

A-flat and E-flat with a 4+ fret

Another factor to consider is the 1+ and 8+ frets are fairly common now.  You can find tab and chord charts (though mostly in DAd) and it won't be hard to re-sell a dulcimer with those frets.  The 4+ fret is less common and it will be harder to find resources and harder to re-sell.

You may want to consider listening to the Hearts of the Dulcimer Podcast episode about Steve called The Many Modes of Stephen Seifert :  http://dulcimuse.com/podcast/resource/036.html

What Matt said -- you will get a few extra notes, but it depends on what kind of music you're playing whether those particular notes will do you any good.  In your current repertoire, are the significant (say even 10%) songs that require those 'non-traditional' notes??  

Are you playing Fingerdance or Chord Melody style?

I did not know about the Stephen Seifert workshop! I signed up for it. It's going to be tricky. We are trying to get our house on the market and really wanted to get moved out of the area. I'm gambling that I will be here for the workshop. 

The DAa forum would give you more guidance.  In DAd, the 1 1/2 - 8 1/2 frets give you the ability to play F on the D strings and C on the A string.  You would gain the same notes DAa or DAd.  Whether you would use them depends on the songs you play. 

I like it!  Very musical.  And I like the connection to your grandmother.  Thats what makes our instruments special to us.

Thanks for coming to the workshop! You all sounded so wonderful together. And Wayne and I had a blast.

Wayne really knows how to fix up dulcimers ... that's why all the dulcimers we brought sounded so good! We were glad that there was an extra dulcimer for her to use during the workshop.

BTW, did you know that Stephen Seifert is coming to Portland in September to do a 3 day workshop? Here's the info:  http://www.stephenseifert.com/three-day-registration/generic-three-day-lyb7e

Hope to see you again in another dulcimer setting!

After a great deal of agonizing, a lot of playing, and careful consideration, I finally chose my song. It is Bob Franke's "Alleluia, The Great Storm Is Over." I have not been able to get it out of my head since my first post in this discussion. 

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

I'm really infatuated with Southwind right now. Still working on playing it.

I don't normally name things like this (and I don't really name my treadle sewing machines either, except that I have too many Singers to just call them Singer.) When I got this dulcimer, I decided to call it Alta Bell. That was my maternal grandmother's name. She wasn't particularly musical but it seemed like a good name for an instrument.

I still want to listen to the Podcast. BUT...I attended a one hour workshop by the Hearts of the Dulcimer folks last night. I haven't had a chance to play with anyone else so this was great. My husband was impressed by how all the dulcimers sounded. Thank you again for doing that workshop!

I did feel badly for the lady next to me. She'd spent $200 on a dulcimer shaped instrument, with an action so high that it was difficult to play. I just hope people will do a little research before they get that first instrument.

I have been thinking of a second dulcimer with extra frets at the 1 1/2 and 8 1/2. But I like to use the DAA tuning down a step for singing. I know that DAD players gain some tunes/songs with the extra frets but I am not sure if the 1 1/2 and 8 1/2 frets would be the correct extra frets for a DAA (CGG) tuning system. Any advice? Thank you!

Passing Forward.  Good on ya!

Very generous.  The dulcimer community is just wonderful, isn't it?

That is awesome! Hope you find it a great home!

Richard, that is very generous of her and you. I'm currently working on refurbishing a kit built dulcimer for a friend of mine to give to one of her students. She is always looking for instruments to get children from our area started on the mountain dulcimer. Someone will have a fun time getting started with the Apple Creek.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

The widow of my best friend has asked me to help dispose of her late husband's student dulcimer. It will be a gift to someone (child or adult) who wants to learn to play but who does not have and cannot afford a dulcimer to start out on. The dulcimer has been played very little and looks new. It comes with a padded soft case and I will cover shipping cost for a needy learner within the 48 continental states. It is an Apple Creek ACD100 tear drop shaped model with 24.25", VSL just right for a smaller handed person or one whose hand has limited mobility.

I would like to suggest that the recipient learn to play the dulcimer and when they no longer need this instrument that they would consider passing it on to another needy learner.

Thanks for reading this.

congrats on the new member of your family.

The selections picked speak well of the poster's taste and convictions.  Seems we need to find a folk hymn based on an irish air. I do love "Be Thou My Vision."

[quote="Ken Hulme"]

Glenda -- that's a really different tune for Going Home.  Had never heard it, but I like it. 

The one I'm familiar with (and play) is based on The Largo from Dvorak's From The New World symphony,with words by William Arms Fisher in 1921.  The English boy choir Libera has an outstanding version on YouTube.  I don't have the high sweet tenor voice, but do a passable baritone version.  

  Yes that's one of my favorites too Ken. That's why I mentioned the movie Gods and Generals so it wouldn't be confused with the other song by the same name . I liked to do a medley of both songs you cant beat the beautiful version by the boys choir could listen to it all day. It was a hard choice and glad we don't have to be put in a situation where we would have to choose. 

OH Susie...  I love "Wild Mountain Thyme" and would be delighted to hear you play it....

As we all are eventually.

Glenda -- that's a really different tune for Going Home.  Had never heard it, but I like it. 

The one I'm familiar with (and play) is based on The Largo from Dvorak's From The New World symphony,with words by William Arms Fisher in 1921.  The English boy choir Libera has an outstanding version on YouTube.  I don't have the high sweet tenor voice, but do a passable baritone version.  

What a great question. Specifically for dulcimer, I would have to say Pretty Saro. I play it on my little ginger scale McSpadden, in reverse Ionian G. Someday I should post a video!

Right now I'm thinking the fiddle tune "Liberty."

I've heard old timey versions , superfast bluegrass versions , a classic Cajun version , and a beautiful, slow version on the autoharp by Bryan Bowers that has a hymn-like quality to it and ever so slowly picks up momentum.  So I'm thinking the song could suffice for any mood.  

There are no words to it, so I could spend my time on that proverbial desert island writing lyrics!

I lead a non-creative life....mine are all referred to by the builder. 

"Wild Mountain Thyme"

The song I want to choose I cannot play yet!  "My Savior's Precious Blood".  Of the things I can play, which I understand is the actual question, I guess "O Master Let Me Walk With Thee".

I did not name my first dulcimer (pictured <<<), but I did name my Feather Dulcimer Teagan.  It means "little poet".  OH how I love that thing!  Teagan has a gender identity crisis though, because at first I thought boy, now I think girl, and that could change again....  

I also just refer to my dulcimers by the maker/builder

 I have to say Going Home from the movie Gods and Generals a movie about the Civil War. I find myself playing this one over and over. I've never grown tired of listening or playing it.. I feel like it is the perfect Dulcimer Song. I just sat an the Russell Fork River is south West Va.and played it for almost 2 hours perfect place perfect song.!