Jennifer, I predict you will be very pleased with your a sparrow Hawk A. Congratulations on your choice.
This choice will get you off to a confidence building start, which is so important when learning NAF.
Over the last month I've seen dulcimers for sale by Dwain Wilder, Joellen Lapidus, and Rick Probst. If only my bank account were as voluminous as my DAD.
Wow! That's tremendous! I love the tone of that dulcimer and I love your playing. Thanks so much for sharing, Jan. That's absolutely great!
Dusty, I finally got around to making another audio clip, and it just happens to be with the "Little Mule" soprano dulcimer made by Jim Fox that I bought from Gary Sager of Prussia Valley Dulcimers while at Dulcimer U this summer. I really like the tone of this little guy (same model as Joy W's, above)...it has a bell-like quality that really resonates with me (ha ha!)
http://fotmd.com/jan-potts/soundcloud/219/donkey-riding
@john-gribble I've never been on a commercial flight. So, I take your point. :)
Thank goodness the Amburgey arrived safely!
Yes, Robin, I agree. But I think it is great that we all arrived safely. I still don't think blasting into the air a tenth of the way to outer space and halfway around the world is such a good idea! 
We use amblesideonline, so we learn hymns, folksongs, and appreciate composers as a part of our schedule. A long while ago I practiced some of the folk songs and hymns, but somewhere along the lines it became easier to listen and sing rather than add practice time. I'm happy to be practicing again! (Like David~ the loving it!) :)
John, thank you for sharing your story. What wonderful treatment by the airline personnel. Enjoy that Amburgey.
Ken
"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."
Thank goodness the Amburgey arrived safely!
Hi, Jan,
Good to hear from you, too. I do need to make (or cajole my wife into making) a 1970s hippie-style dulcimer bag. The soft shell case which I bought with my Warren May worked well in the overheads on the trip home from Kentucky and Tennessee last spring. And it is fine for around town.
I have a Feather Wren which is my designated "travel dulcimer." It is quiet, but great for weekend trips and late nights in hotel rooms. Sometimes I put it in a sock. It fits in a small suitcase with my clothes just fine.
My all-time favorite travel instrument is a Lapstick. It is a small electric guitar with a built-in headphone amplifier. Despite its small size and "different" appearance, it is a performance-level instrument which sounds great plugged into an amp. Yet I can stick it end-wise into most overhead bins. It doesn't take up much more space than a large bottle of booze.
Again, thanks. I'm glad you enjoyed the piece.
Well, it's really cool (and challenging!) to practice on both tabor pipe and penny whistle, I gotta say. 
Though they have different fingering patterns to play the same tunes, there is a sort of common thread of logic between the two. A recorder on the other would be completely different fingering learning curve. But tabor pipe and PW do follow the same 'increment hole/pressure logic'. That's is a very inadequate way to try and describe it, sorry.
But what it comes down to is that I think this is do-able. When I can play a real simple tune on the tabor pipe, I can 'sort of' stumble through it on the pennywhistle, which has more holes available before blowing up into a higher register. Very fun to compare the two. I have the plastic G tabor pipe and the metal G pw (both 17" long), and a metal C pw.
I'm finding it easier to get clearer tones on the plastic tabor pipe, but not really sure why yet. Less holes to worry about leaking air from maybe?
It's a bear to wrestle through all this and sooo many wrong and squeaky notes. But I really look forward to my practice sessions and that's the true test- am I having fun? ... yes!
Repetition, For me anyway. Over and over again. Then on to line 2, or Measure 3, either way. But always loving it.
Sandi -- ya messed up, girl! All along you should have been including "music instruction" in your homeschooling curricula. Then you'd have had plenty of practice time built in to your schedule! And, you'd have a passel of people to jam with.
Good to hear from you, John! Loved your account of traveling with your naked dulcimer...I will probably never think of uncased instruments the same!
I have safely traveled with a McSpadden "Ginger" in its soft padded case in an overhead bin, as well as an even smaller Ron Ewing "Dulcimette" in a soft padded case. This was on American Airlines flights. The Ginger had to be counted as a personal item, but the dulcimette was part of the contents of a large tote bag.
Objectsession said
We used to tape up our empty ramen packages on the dorm door . . the *outside* of the door. Kind of a pride/shame thing I guess. 
That's what we did with demerits when I was in college (LONG before the days of Ramen noodles!!!). We were supposed to feel ashamed that we'd gotten them, but most who got them felt like they didn't deserve them, so it was sort of an act of defiance to tape them to your door so all could see.
I (ahem!) got a few my freshman year--and, yes, I taped them to my door as was customary!
I hope music instruction is part of your homeschooling! I learned a LOT of songs from members of my family. If you have a section of your home used for instruction, I would start a list of Tunes We Know by Heart and add to it any time someone comes up with a tune they can hum or sing all the way through. If they can sing the lyrics, add a star! Keep another list on excel file and you can keep it alphabetized for quick reference. This is something that every member of the family (age 2 or 3 and up) can join in on. Sing while you do chores, wash dishes, etc. Helps the time pass faster, too!
Sheryl... you seem to know me too well. heheh
hmmm
Here are a few instruments I will probably never ever play:
piano or organ
Highland bagpipes
hammered dulcimer
autoharp
standup bass
guitar
trumpet
marimba
HA HA! ~I got a good chuckle out of that, actually, Terry~ Six kids are the reason I haven't played in a few years, but now I have older ones along with younger ones (18 - 2), and they are working me out of a job! I've never made them watch their siblings, but when Whit came along they all just wanted to. :)
As I make our homeschool schedule for the year I just might schedule thirty minutes a day for myself to have dulcimer time, because I enjoy it so much, and it's having such a good effect on me! :) ~right now still = lazy days of summer, so I am reading and playing and enjoying~
Lisa, Good good start on the pipe and drum. Is there any instrument you cannot, or will not eventually play? I see your calendar is full. 
Hey hugssandi, how do you find time to play anything? With six kids? Wow. Strumella may see fit to give you a fotmd.com metal of honor one day.
Like a circus balancing act, huh? My advice would be for you to NOT MEMORIZE SONGS, YOU NEED YOUR SLEEP.
PS: Sandi, please understand that what I wrote above is a hahahaha moment for you. I just funnin with ya.
I am SO PLEASED that y'all continue to share. I think the key for each of us is to find our own niche, as everyone learns so differently! I'm sure many will find answers here, as I have. *THANK YOU ALL!*
Terry, I'm sure I wanna do this!! :) I truly am having SO MUCH FUN playing my dulcimer again!!!!!
I just came across this topic and was fixing to give my two cents, a then read Gail's post above.
It works.
When I'm driving my car the 14 miles to town, or 35 miles to my grandkids school to watch them play ball, if I'm not practicing harmonica, I'm singing songs that I have to memory or listening to songs I am learning. Whew!
This is just my simple way of keeping these songs in my muscle brain memory. I just beg for excuses to drive alone.
A key for me in my practice routine is (and this is important) as I am singing a line, I practice visualizing the beginning of the next line. If this makes sense, you can't think it, you have to see it
But once you really get it, there's really no thinking or seeing at all, it's just there. The problem you may experience is going to sleep at night, or just taking a nap during the day. Brain overload. You're extremely sleepy, but your songs won't let you sleep.
You sure you wanna do this?
Not so creative. I got the idea by actually getting my moustache caught in the harp rack.
I've never tried playing the mouth harp with the dulcimer.
Jim, that's so clever to 'trick' the kids into helping work the limberjack. 
Here's a tiple, essentially a 10 string wire strung ukulele. It was made in Chicago by the Regal Company.
It has four courses and is tuned gG-cCc-eEe-AA. I do play this on occasion.
I don't believe I'll play the mouth harp with the drum, but when playing for kids, I have played the mouth harp while working a clog doll (limberjack). I would play it for a while, then pretend to get my moustache caught in the rack. I'd then ask one of the kids to come and work the doll while I played the mouth harp.
Thanks Rob, it is interesting how they combined the instruments and make them work together. I really enjoyed learning about these musicians.
I think the first thing is to have the tune in your head. I usually do - because it's one I've heard and want to learn. You can always go to YouTube and hear almost any tune you want. Then, whether learning by tab or by ear, I start at the beginning learning bits at a time and building on them until I can play the whole thing through. Once it's thoroughly implanted in this old brain, I normally don't need to look at the tab again. That's just my method - hope it helps!
Glad it worked out so well for you, John. I wonder, though, what would you have done if things had turned sour and became the nightmare we all fear?
Steven
Steven, I guess I would have written about that, if it had seemed noteworthy.
~love this so much~
Thank you. I'm glad you liked it.
However, something just doesn't feel right about it. After all, it's pipe and tabor, not harmonica and tabor.
You need a one-handed concertina & tabor.
Jim, while I also have quite a few in a drawer. Always one or two laying around in view.
I also keep a couple in my dulcimer bag and a couple in a uke bag. I like to be ready.
Here's something you might try, Jim. Instead of a pipe, use a harmonica, holding it with your harp holder. Then you have a hand to steady the drum and the other to hold the drum stick. It actually works nicely. Real nice
However, something just doesn't feel right about it. After all, it's pipe and tabor, not harmonica and tabor.
I got a four way traffic light down my road. Stopping at red takes two minutes out of my life. Now I use that time playing harp. Most times I don't mind if the light stays red a little longer... Robert.
And if you have a rack, it should be perfectly legal to play while driving. In Canada, at least, hands free devices are legal. I'm not sure the police would agree.
A couple of folks mentioned Chromatics. Toots Thielemans, the master of the chromatic harp passed away today (August 22, 2016) in his early nineties. Here's a clip of Toots playing his most famous composition, Bluesette. Part way through he is surprised by another master of the chromatic harp, Stevie Wonder.
I bought a chromatic in the mid-sixties after hearing Toots, but it has not received much attention.
A friend of ours and a mentor to both of my sons, the late Willie P. Bennett was the best rack player I've ever heard or played with. Here's the last song I ever heard Willie play:
Willie plays Stardust
One of our neighbours, Carlos Del Junco is one of Canada's (and the world's I'd guess) best mouth harp players. He sometimes sits in with our jug band. Here he is with our fiddle player, Jim Bowskill, playing guitar (Jim is a master of many instruments).
Jimmy Bowskill & Carlos Del Junco
Here's a link to some of their music and interviews, I thought it was really interesting.
