Forum Activity for @lisa-golladay

There's a huge factor in the sound of a dulcimer that often gets overlooked: the PLAYER!  I'm not talking about skill level here (although we all know somebody who can take a $50 toy guitar and make it sound better than most people playing a Martin).  I'm talking about the wonderful variety of playing styles that make each of us unique.

Do you fret with a noter or your fingers?  Strum with a quill or a pick?  Flatpicking?  Fingerpicking?  Fingernails or pads?  At what angle does your pick/quill/finger strike the strings?  Do you have a light touch or are you digging in?  Do you play at a consistent volume or do you want a wide dynamic range?

Drones? Chords? Up the fretboard in the 2nd octave? Scale boxes across all the strings? Old time? Jazz?   

If we took one dulcimer and passed it around, each of us would make that dulcimer sound different.  Plus we all have different taste (and different ears).  Sometimes at a festival I'll play two dulcimers and hear a whole world of difference between them, while my poor husband (who does not play dulcimer) does not discern any difference at all (and hence does not understand the objective fact that I need to buy just one more).

I am sure there are people who think a Carol sounds 4X better than a Gibson... maybe 100X better... and people who think the Gibson sounds better. Depending on how you play and what you're listening for, there might not be any significant difference between them.

The often-inconvenient truth is that nobody else can tell you what a dulcimer sounds like.  You have to play it and hear it for yourself. 

I've played both instruments.  And I know Bonnie Carrol personally, from "the old days".  No, Bonnie's dulcimers do not sound 4x as good as a Ron Gibson, or anyone else's.  Price in dulcimers is not necessarily about quality of sound.  It's about materials and workmanship and perceived value (name among other things).  For example, a $100 set of tuning machines (compared to a $10 set), and $200 worth of exotic wood (compared to $20 worth of poplar) make a dulcimer more expensive but do not particularly contribute to making one sound better than the other.  There are a huge number of variables (well over a dozen) which contribute to the sound of a dulcimer. 

I have a Ron Gibson on layaway (which I think really helps you afford a better instrument.) I haven't seen the Bonnie Carol dulcimers, so can't compare. I suspect that it's not just the quality of the sound. You would have to decide if the craftsmanship is better as well.

Sometimes the fiber washers are the culprit on that type of tuner.  There should be 2 to each tuner, and they tighten against the wood of the pegbox to hold the string in tune.  Try Ken's idea first -- it's easy and might do the trick.

https://dulcimer-noter-drone.blogspot.com/2009/03/take-your-pick.html

Thought I should like this nice article from Strumelia's blog, for reference.

No need to remove/clean/oil those tuners; just tighten them up say a quarter or half turn to start.  Then try things to see if they hold the tuning better.  If you crank down on them too hard you may break the "plastic" knobs (but replacements are cheap and easy to find).

here are some pics of what i am dealing with... looks pretty simple but sometimes its the simple that gets ya.... i just want them to work smoothly and hold tune

 old dulcimer tuners 2.jpeg - 82KB

jp, if you are able to post photos, it may help folks offer the most helpful advice.  

I did try a credit card pick, which seems to work better than the light ones I have. The trip to the music store will have to wait until the broke down pickup runs again :( Our mechanic's wife had surgery yesterday and it doesn't look like he will make it out today.

Thanks for the response! Every little bit of information helps.

i have an old ... old... MD. i am restoring it only really needs a new bridge which i have from Folkcraft... will have to do some sanding to get it to fit....  it has what i believe are banjo friction mechanical tuning mechanisms they seem to semi hold the tone... i believe the screw holding the tuner head  on is how to tighten the tuner.... should i remove them clean and oil them... any other suggestions?  thanks kindly.

1.  Regular flat picks; with the exception of the Herdim "Thumb-Flat Pick" -- basically an ordinary sized flat pick with a thumb-sized loop. IMHO the best of both worlds -- the loop keeps the pick from flipping away.

2.  Heavier than light.  Beginners tend to use too light of pick; but with experience shift to a heavier pick and more control for less "pick-click".

3.  See #1

4.  Credit cards, thin wooden 'strummer' type plectra.

5.  Don't buy packages of picks online -- buy dozens of singles from your local music store.  Different weights, sizes, shapes, etc.  eventually you'll settle on a half dozen that you use all the time.

I've seen a few discussions about picks, but they seem scattered about on the forum. I thought it might be useful to have a discussion just about picks (or even why you don't use one.)

Regular picks versus finger picks?

Heavy picks versus light?

Any brands that you especially like?

Any non-commercial picks that you prefer?

What's your suggestions for choosing the right pick?

I grabbed a pack of Ernie Ball thin picks to start out with, but I am finding them much too light. I've got another brand ordered but will probably get a few more kinds to try.

Hi Dean,

Really glad you and your wife could come, it was great to meet you! We had a blast ... yes, we could have played longer.  :-) It was really special having both Aaron O'Rourke and Joellen Lapidus there.

Look forward to seeing you again ... let us know when you're in Portland.

Patricia

Hi Patricia! 

Joellen introduced you and Wayne to my wife and me at the Hollywood Monday night.  I had returned home Saturday from the Menucha Dulcimer Festival where I learned from Joellen that you were presenting your Wonderful(!) film plus a concert from Joellen and Aaron.

My wife was delighted to make the drive to see and hear the magic. 

We were not disappointed - well maybe a little: the concert could have been another three or four hours!  :D  

Thanks for making a lasting tribute to this magical instrument and community.

Dean

Sweet!  :-)

Yes, Neal has a good version of this in his "Hits of the Beatles" book - I really like it. Some of the tunes are tabbed for the more advanced player. 

https://www.elderly.com/hits-of-the-beatles-dulcimer-solo.htm

I believe it's in the "Hits of the Beatles" book by Neal Hellman.

Hey @jp.  Welcome to FOTMD.  Since "Here Comes the Sun" is under copyright, you won't find free copies of tab around.  But there have been a few people to record it, and it's possible there's a version in a book somewhere.

hi i am new today.  i play h Dulcimer and hurdy gurdy been playing at Renaissance Faires since '94.

always had a passing intrest in MD... since the 70's was just down in NC and found a dulcimer in Black Mountain.... could not resist great price and walked off with it. now i have an old one on the wall of my music room that i am finally going to rebuild.... been building cigar box guitars for a bit.... hoping all this gets some of my passion back....

anyway does any body have the TAB to Here comes the sun.... can not find it any where?  thanks

Before Heidi & Bob moved west, I was fortunate to get to hear them in Lancaster OH!  

Lovely, thank you. :)

I downloaded the articles on a thumb drive, just in case . It did not take long.

Joe

What  Dusty said  but  also  on  the  Everything  Dulcimer  Facebook  page  

You might consider posting a "Wanted" listing in the For Sale Forum .

Thanks. I am searching the dulcimer community first. 

You can contact David and order a dulcimer (or at least get on a waiting list) through his website: ww.davidbeede.com .  I've never seen one of his dulcimers available in a store and used copies rarely come available.

Hello, 

     Does anyone have or know where a David Beede dulcimer can be found for sale? Thanks!

Lois, I'm not privy to any inside info, but I really believe that Bruce will make sure that *IF* the ED forums shut down, that at least the static content such as articles and Tab will be relocated and available online somewhere "in perpetuity" as he put it.  Bruce has indicated that this is his intention, and we have no reason to doubt it.

Additionally, there seems to be a bunch of people making offers to take over running the ED forums.  We don't know if/how that might work out, but it's another possible outcome.  And it seems yet others are downloading the entire site onto home drives.
I feel we need to patiently wait and see what develops.

One of the things I love about FOTMD & the dulcimer is the frequent reminder that there's no ONE way to play.  I find that also means I keep learning new things.  Discussions here & articles at ED can be great resources that I might not currently need but want a while down the road in my dulcimer "journey".  Yes, tab is a great resource, but what is the likelihood of anyone republishing articles.

I mentioned earlier a way to find the site once it is offline, but, if not re-posted on an online site, those articles won't be found in a search engine like Google.  You will only know about those articles by searching the old ED site on the "Wayback Machine."

DRAT!  Sure would love to see those articles move here or somewhere else in an active site.

Thanks to everyone who responded, I really appreciate the clarity of your instructions. I went to the 'jam' today with my two dulcimers, one tuned to D and the other to C. Since I don't have a capo yet, I managed to play along to about 90% of the music, using the fingering you provided. Many, many thanks! It was a lot of fun. I look forward to extending my versatility with a capo, but I now have a great start!

Susie, I'm sure the location of the tabs from ED will be well posted by many, no matter how the scenario plays out.  

When that is done, can you share the link to the location of the tabs? 

The original post concerned playing along in a jam session with other stringed instruments in multiple keys.  In that situation, retuning is rarely an option due to the noise and speed at which one tune flows into the next.  In the quiet of one's own home, learning how to retune to play in different keys on a single dulcimer is an excellent skill to have.  Using Dusty Turtle's chart, you will be relying primarily on the I, IV, and V chords.

In a jam session, however, the other musicians are not going to remain quiet and wait while you retune.  You have to adjust to fit in with the other instruments.  Utilizing a second dulcimer and a capo allows you to play in four different keys: D, G, C, and F.  With the 6 1/2 fret, the Key of A is also possible.

D-A-A Tuning allows one to play in the Key of D from the nut, the Key of G from the capo at the 3rd fret, and the Key of A with the capo at the 4th fret and utilizing the 6 1/2 fret instead of the 6 fret.

C-G-G Tuning allows one to play in the Key of C from the nut, the Key of F from the capo at the 3rd fret, and the Key of G with the capo at the 4th fret and utilizing the 6 1/2 fret instead of the 6 fret.

@erna-schram, as you can see there are a few different approaches here.  Mine is close to both Banjimer and Rob.

The most common keys in folk, bluegrass, or old timey jams are C, D, G, and A.  If you practicetuning back and forth between DAA or DAd and CGG or CGC, then you will only need one dulcimer.  For the key of G, capo at the third fret with your normal D tuning. For the key of A, capo at the fourth fret.  Then all you have to know is how to transpose.  What's nice about the capo is that you don't have to learn new chord shapes. You can continue to play the same chord shapes you already know.  Then the only trick is knowing which chord to play.  Perhaps this transposition chart will help.

It should be obvious how to read this.  If you are playing a song in the key of C and you are tuned CGG or CGC, then when the song requires a C chord, you use the fingering for your D chord.  When the song requires a G chord, you use your fingering for an A chord.  If the song is in the key of G, then tuned DAD or DAA, put the capo on the third fret.  If the song requires a G chord, you use the fingering for a D chord.  If the song requires a Bm, you use the fingering for an F#m.  And so forth.

Personally, if I were bringing two dulcimers to a jam, I would tune one as a baritone to be able to get the keys of G and A and the other as a standard to get D and C.  Then no capos are needed.  But if you only bring one dulcimer and a capo, you can easily get the four most common keys.

And if you think a little bit, you can get the others as well.  What if someone wants to play in the key of F to fit their voice?  You can tune to C and capo at 3!  If someone wants to play in Ab, you might first call them crazy, and then you could think:  "If a capo at the fourth fret gives me the key of A when I'm tuned to D, if I tune to Db, the fourth fret will be Ab!"  A little bit of creative thought will allow you to find most keys without having to re-learn different chord fingerings for each one.

Again...  Bruce Ford says he will keep ED's Tab files available online for everyone to use, and no need for everyone to download all the Tabs.

I will give you a simple way to play in 4 different keys with two dulcimers and a capo.

First, tune the first dulcimer to D-A-A.  Your basic chords in the Key of D are:

I Chord = D, 2-0-3 (where 2 represents the bass string fingered at 2nd fret, 0 represents the middle string left open, and 3 represents the melody strings fingered at 3rd fret)

IV Chord = G, 3-1-3 (where 3 represents the bass string fingered at the 3rd fret, 1 represents middle string fingered at the 1st fret, and the final 3 represents the melody strings fingered at the 3rd fret)

V Chord = A, 1-0-2 (where 1 represents the bass string fingered at the 1st fret, the 0 represents the middle string left open, and the 2 represents the melody strings fingered at the 2nd fret)

You can transpose the whole thing up to the Key of G by capoing at the 3rd fret and thinking of the capo as the new nut.

I Chord = G, 2-0-3 from capo (the actual frets fingered are 5-0-6)

IV Chord = C, 3-1-3 from capo (the actual frets fingered are 6-4-6)

V Chord = D, 1-0-2 from capo (the actual frets fingered are 4-0-5)

Second , tune the second dulcimer to C-G-G.  The basic chords in the Key of C are:

I Chord = C

IV Chord = F

V Chord = G

The chord shapes remain the same as before: 2-0-3, 3-1-3, and 1-0-2.

Once again transpose up, by placing the capo at the 3rd fret.  You can now play in the Key of F with the same chord shapes:

I Chord = F

IV chord = Bb

V Chord = C

In conclusion, the three chord shapes remain the same for all four keys: I chord = 2-0-3, IV Chord = 3-1-3, and V Chord = 1-0-2.

The capo is nothing more than a temporary nut.  If you had a chromatic dulcimer you could capo at every fret on the dulcimer.  Since most dulcimers do not have chromatic fretting, you just need to be sure that you have a comparable spacing of frets.  Without the capo you have a large space, large space, and short space to the right of the nut.  If you capo at the 3rd fret, you once again have a large space, large space, and small space to the right of the capo (temporary nut).

Finally, if you have a 6 1/2 fret you can place the capo at the 4th fret and in D-A-A tuning play in the Key of A.  However, you must ignore the 6th fret when playing.  You will have a large space from fret 4 to fret 5, a large space from fret 5 to fret 6 1/2, and a small space from fret 6 1/2 to fret 7.

I Chord = A

IV Chord = D

V Chord = E

Likewise, you can place the capo at the 4th fret in C-C-G tuning and play in the Key of G.  Remember to ignore the 6th fret and use the 6 1/2 fret instead.

I Chord = G

IV Chord = C

V Chord = D

The easy part is that the basic chord shapes remain the same (2-0-3, 3-1-3, and 1-0-2) for all of the above.  Just think of the capo as a movable nut that allows you to move the chord shapes up the fretboard to play in different keys.

So with two dulcimers, one tuned D-A-A and the other tuned C-G-G, you can play chords (or melodies for that matter) in five different keys: D, G, C, F, and A.  These keys will handle nearly every key you will face on a regular basis.  

2 dulcimers is a great way to go to jams.  If you're in DAA then raise the bass string to E and your A melody & middle strings are in A mixolydian, EAA  (Like DAd.)  If you're in DAd then lower the A string to G and you're in G ionian, DGd (like DAA.)  If there are some songs in C then take the DGd and capo on 3.  This will get you started in jams.

I agree Dusty ... Heidi and Bob's music is wonderful. Lucky you that you got to hear them in such an intimate venue. Bob's cello together with Heidi's dulcimer is an incredible combination.

A Capo and a Reverse Capo can help you attain other tunings.  Personally don't play chords, I play N&D or Fingerdance, and I re-tune, so others will explain who those tools can do better than I.  

Most of the multi-instrument jams I've attended over the years go so quickly that there is no time to be flipping through pages trying to find the tune that has been called.  What I do is listen the first time through and try to pick out a 3, 5 or more note "run" on the Melody string, and then play that run in the same time and tempo as everyone else.  I'm sort of creating my own part, if you will, that fits in with what the others are playing.