Forum Activity for @sheryl-st-clare

My family doesn't mind my practicing, as long as it is outdoors. 

Hey I'm just happy to have other bones nuts to talk to!

Your's, and Bob's, bones (spoons) playing videos were very inspiring. 

That's GREAT, Sheryl!   A practice buddy!!!  

Found out the nice lady who runs our weekly Dulcimer class is learning to play the bones too. She had a set of bones, and a pair of wood shims, with her last week(Just plain wood shims you can find a your local home improvement store). She had sanded the edges smooth. They were a little wide for my small hands, but they could easily be cut to be narrower. They are a creative, cheap, alternative to buying bones if you want to try them, but don't want to shell out the dough. 

Bringing my bones next time, and my Tim Twiss CD for a little extra-curricular activity. Should be fun!

I created my tab in Excel, by altering the height of each line, and placing borders on four lines, to give me three spaces. From there, it was just a matter of copying that format, and pasting it down the page. It took a little tweaking to get the height correct, but worked for me. 

When I play with guitar players, I usually try a couple of things: Key of D (in either DAd or DAA tuning) and Key of G using DGd tuning.  D and G are common and comfortable keys to play on guitar.  If your guitarist wants to play in C it's easy to capo the guitar up one step (which puts it in D) and you play the dulcimer in D (again using either DAd or DAA tuning).

If I am doing a mix of chord style and noter-drone in the same session, I like to use DAd for chord style and DGd for noter drone because you can quickly re-tune that middle string from A down to G and it's easy to hear the perfect 4th between the D and G strings.  It sounds like the first two notes of Here Comes the Bride.

Hmm...wondering if you could tune your bass and melody strings down a bit to C (middle string up to C), and then use a pencil or dowel to make barre chords across all your strings, and just play the melody if the songs are following a familiar structure, or else find your three I IV V main barre chords that match the tune's key.  Might not take long to figure out the key, and by knowing your zero fret is C, you can find the tonic barr chord right away and you're in business.  This could work fine especially since you have the 1.5 and 6.5 frets.   It'd be less to think about, no chord fingerings to keep remembering and switching, and might work well for that unusual situation, surrounded by key-changing guitars all night. 

Another option is to tune to CGc and do the same, making barre chords after you locate the tonic location for each tune they play.   Doing from the home base of C would be easier to calculate on the fly than starting in D on the open strings.

You can play the I IV and V chords for the keys of D, A, and G in DAA tuning. The "extra fret" is helpful, enabling you to play an E chord in the midrange of the fretboard.  So if you are tuned DAA,  The I IV and V chords are D, G, and A, respectively for the key of D.  If the other jammers switch to G, the I IV and V chords are G, C, and D, respectively.  Make the C chord on frets 6,4, and 6.  When they switch to A, the I IV and V chords are A, D, and E, respectively.  Make the E chord on frets 5,4, and 6+, from bass to treble (far to near).   Fiddle and banjo players love the "sharp" keys, so this knowledge will carry you far.  If you find your jamming mates want more keys than that, an extra instrument is advisable.

OTSFM sometimes has a dulcimer or two for sale.  Hogeye usually has a few dulcimers.  Not much selection at either.  Sadly, no place that I've found in Chi-town has a decent selection.  Some regional builder (hey, Folkcraft!) should bang on the door at OTSFM and throw us poor starving Chicago MD players some dulcimers!

The Old Town School of Folk Music is a must-visit: https://www.oldtownschool.org/musicstore/

Check the schedule for concerts and workshops.  When will you be in Chicago?  There's a workshop on Appalachian Singing on Sept. 28.  The ongoing MD classes meet on Thursday nights and the dulcimer ensemble meets on Mondays -- maybe you can sweet-talk your way in.

If you get up north, visit Hogeye Music in Evanston:  http://www.hogeyemusic.com/hogeyemusic.com/Welcome.html

 ETA:  heeheehee, I am not fast enough ;-)  Did we mention you MUST visit the Old Town School?

Joe, I suggest that you stop by the Old Town School of Folk Music. If they don't have books you want, they can probably tell you where to find them in the Chicago area. Here is the website: https://www.oldtownschool.org . Hope this helps.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Thanks everyone!

Whether your answers are long or short, I hope everyone is realizing as they read these responses that playing the dulcimer is a very personal experience.  Each individual brings to it their love of music and looks to find a way to have the dulcimer express this in the way that pleases them most.  And, as several have said, sometimes the journey changes for one reason or another--but it's still all good!

Life-altering game changer in all my music playing, on any instrument, has been two pronged
...and for me they've gone hand in hand:

-discovery of dronal tones and older intervals and dissonances...and how they can move me to my soul.

-embracing rhythm/beats/percussion as an equally important aspect (if not most important) as notes or melody in my music making.

Mine was a variety of factors.  I am not knocking chord melody nor finger style at all, but I realized when I got back to playing dulcimer in 2013 that while I love those styles, I could not execute them well on the dulcimer to do it justice.  So instead I worked on noter style playing, using CGG Ionian tuning.  I worked on a song at a time, instead of a bunch at once.  That way I could say I could play (insert song title) very well, instead of a bunch of songs so-so.  

I also worked on my strumming technique, and started doing the alternate strumming you see in my video clips.  At first I got it down for slower songs, then started working on faster songs with it, like Wildwood Flower and Old Joe Clark.

Lastly, I figured out what tunings and set-ups worked best for me and my music.  I got into Bagpipe tuning, and use that on 2 of my dulcimers to-day.  I also have on my Bagpipe tuned instruments the 6.5, which I know some traditionalists will stick there noses up the air about, but my rational is this: If tuned Ddd Bagpipe, from the open fret I get key of D mixolydian, and if it does not dip below the scale, D major.  From the 3rd fret I get key of G major.  Like having 2 dulcimers in one.  As well, if I do a reverse capo under the drones on the first fret, I get E minor.  The flip is that I also had gotten a mean tone fretted McSpadden hourglass, no 6.5, doubled middle string, and tuned E-BB-B.  Partially because there was talk about this fretting system no doubt because of John Henry Crocker on this site, and seeing a video of someone in the UK playing a McSpadden in this set-up, I decided to bite the bullet with it.  So on some songs, I like to use this.  Another thing I figured out for me was that I prefer to play with a single melody string, as to my ears, it has a cleaner sound, so I either prefer equidistant 4 string or a doubled middle string.

So there you go, the long winded answer to a simple question 

I started playing chord melody style in DAd, like the vast majority of players coming to the instrument.  The game changer for me was discovering pre-revival dulcimers and their playing styles.  I'm not a 'traditionalist', it is just that I love the aesthetics of playing with a noter and pre-revival strumming styles, particularly on old instruments specifically designed for melody against drone playing styles.  I've loved discovering all I can about early players and working on their styles to incorporate what I can into my own playing.  There's such a depth of musicality to this style of playing - and the moment of realising that noter drone playing was not limited to being 'a beginner's way to play' was the game changer that started my journey down this path.

Dana, you did a fantastic job with the festival!  You and your family are absolutely wonderful (you taught 'em right)! 

Thanks Dusty. So in a way it's like a friend of mine who once said to me about playing the guitar: "Concentrate yourself on the right hand: that's where the music comes from. If it is the other way around people would play the guitar reversed." That knowing it changes a lot in my techniques.

I'm leaning towards ice cream. Really, I'm actaully leaning towards ice cream right now!

Bob, you and your son are totally rockin!     Yayyy...we both met the challenge! 

Ok, here is my half of the challenge.  My son and I doing Pretty Betty Martin on dulcimer and spoons.  I can either play them or use them to eat ice cream!

Wout, I think you have the main idea, but you might be thinking too literally.  In common American parlance, a "game changer" is an idea, technique, or event that significantly changes the manner of doing something.

So Jan was asking people what they had discovered in their own dulcimer development that significantly changed in a positive manner how they were playing and learning the dulcimer.  So yes, indeed, it is a matter of growth. But not the slow, incremental type of growth that you might get from practicing scales every day, but the growth that comes from a specific change that leads to a big leap in your understanding or ability.

Ain't that the truth!

And it's so nice to see you having big fun on this site again,after all your hard work! 

Really happy you enjoyed the Ledford Festival Dana. Would love to be there one day!

Sheryl, we did about six takes for this video.  This one was the last take, and the only one where I couldn't resist putting in that final 'last word' click 'cause the silence was deafening... which made us both laugh. 

Tom, the lucky break of Dom actually coming to our town inspired me to try yet again with the bones, and this time it began to 'take'.  I love that we all inspire each other!

What Tom said! Very impressive Lisa. Loved the improvised final click. You got the last "word" in. 

Do your thing, that's what is going on...

I wanted to understand the feeling of the words 'game-changing', because it can mean another way to play the game, but also changing the rules or even the complete game... I think this discussion is about growth and the moments one is aware of this growth. And as every preacher or shrink can tell you: growth is a mile stone on the road to happyness. So are picks...

Great responses on this discussion!  One of the things I wanted to add was that these changes aren't necessarily permanent ones--they may just be what you needed at that time to make a difference. 

For instance, I changed from a 28" to a 23" VSL and found it much easier to get my left hand to do the chords and fingering I wanted it to do. But as I got more proficient with those skills, I began using dulcimers with longer VSLs.  I now usually play dulcimers with a VSL in the 25-27 " range.

The super thin picks helped me with strumming tempo when I was struggling with that.  For awhile, I too, used only thin picks. Later, however, I started experimenting with picks of different thicknesses and now use a variety, for different purposes.  But the thin pick--at that time--was a real game-changer, for sure.

Imagine you're on a car trip, heading east across the USA, and about midway across the continental 48 you decide you'd like to experience the beaches on the Gulf of Mexico.  So you head south.  That doesn't mean you continue heading south, no matter what! You may decide to alter your route to take a better highway through the mountains.  Or you may detour around a swamp.  You may even decide partway there that maybe you'd prefer the Jersey shore or the sands of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.  That's OK!  You can change your mind, try something different.  You might even decide to spend your time in a cabin with great mountain views, instead of heading toward an ocean.  

It's OK!  Do your thing! 

OK Bob, now you have to put yor money whar yer mouth is!:

-still rough, but I'm happy to be at this stage after two months of steady practice...lots of room to improve going forward!...

http://fotmd.com/strumelia/youtube/1797/bones-practice-with-fiddle-sept2015

Strumelia, I'm up for the challenge if you are!

Wout, I am right handed.  And yes, you are understanding 'game changer' correctly.  I learned both strumming and finger picking playing guitar.

I think what I was trying to say is that I have forgotten how hard it is to work with both hands because it is automatic for me after so many years.  When teaching my kids I have left off trying to teach them rhythmic strumming (bum-ditty-bum-ditty for example) and just let them strum to the melody line.  This way they get to hear themselves playing a tune which is fun and exciting for them.  Luckily both of them have a good ear, so I can often sing a line and they can follow it on the dulcimer.

Hi Bob,

Are you left handed?

Most people who are only strumming think the left hand is more important than the right. I thought so too until a teacher told me the right hand is the most important, because it produces the tone and the dynamics. The left hand will follow the right. If the left hand would be the most important we would plat the instrument reversed.

As soon one switches to finger picking there will be a moment this game changer will show itself. (BTW I hope I understand 'game changer' right in the way being the thing which changes one's playing; I am not a native speaker...)

The first thing that popped into my head when I read this thread was that teaching my kids has been a game changer for me.  It has really made me slow down and think.  I have been strumming instruments for 30 years so it's really second nature for me to sit down and pick out a tune because I don't have to think at all about what my right hand is doing.  But that's not the case for my kids.  Since I have been doing it so long, I had forgotten how hard it is to combine rhythmic strumming with fretting notes and chords.  So I had to slow down and not worry about strumming with the kids right now and just focus on helping them be successful playing a tune.  

This has actually helped my playing because I find that I focus more on bringing out the melody line and trying to make it ring out clearly from the strumming.

The game changer for me occurred when I became a student of the game.  I watched (and still do) as many videos of people playing the dulcimer as time would allow.  I discovered that there are many approaches and many styles to experiment with.  I asked questions here on FOTMD and got varying opinions...but I got opinions.  Then, I finally got to attend my first live "in person" dulcimer workshop to see and hear "up close" many of the answers to my questions with immediate feedback.  I guess my true game changer was when I immersed myself in all things mountain dulcimer.  I kept the things that worked, made note of the things that didn't work for me, and continue the process to this day (and try to share those experiences with others so that they might avoid some of my earlier frustration).  The wonderful byproduct of this is all of the amazing friends that I now have in the dulcimer community that I didn't even know five years ago.  The mountain dulcimer community is genuinely a fantastic collection of people.

Jan, sadly one game changer for you has become a crutch for me. The thin pick. I do not play well and I've resorted to a thin pick because it does not make my mistakes at loud  :( I haven't developed any confidence in my playing. I still make the same mistakes I did in my first month with a dulcimer. I'll never play well, I've accepted that, but I can get some of the melody, some of the time ... and that's enough.

Great discussion. 

About the thickness of the pick: an eye opener to me was the use of a 'hard' pick gives a better tone control than a 'sloppy' one. The sloppy pick absorbs the energy of the arm muscles. Sloppy picks sound always the same.

What happened is this: take a wooden plank, hard with no bending and put this under a heavy box using a piece of wood to make it to swing-like operate. The hard plank works fine. Using a thinner or sloppy plank the box can't be lift or just a little bit...

First of all, this is a great question, Jan.  Thanks.

Second, I have two responses, one physical and one mental.

 When I first started playing, I had trouble controlling the dulcimer. It would slip all over my lap and sometimes even sort of tip over.  To keep the dulcimer in place I used to use the moveable arms of my office chair to hold the dulcimer on my lap. But that meant I could only play in my office.  Eventually I got up the courage to drill small holes in my precious instrument and install strap buttons.  Immediately the dulcimer became mine. I know not everyone plays with a strap, but I have found that physically attaching the instrument to my body gives me much more control over it and a much more intimate relationship with it.

 I had a mental epiphany one day trying to fingerpick, but it is something that works for any modern style of playing.   I was trying to add little filler in between melody notes and I realized that as long as my left hand was fretting a chord, any note I played would be OK. So I tried to make sure that as I played the melody I was always ready to play a chord, and then I let my fingerpicking hand just pluck strings almost randomly. I now do that when I play with flatpick, too. I'll just throw a basenote in whenever there is a break in the melody, or play a quick arpeggio, or whatever. You don't have to plan it ahead of time or even think about what you're doing.  As long as your left hand is fretting a chord, any string can be played. It's really liberating not to have to worry about hitting a wrong string. And sometimes starting with one or two strings will lead to a short idea for a melodic filler.  But it all starts with knowing that playing a chord makes any string safe to play at any time.

A positive game-changer for me was when I realized Strumelia and a few other experienced players were right when they emphasized the importance of being solid with rhythm.  A wrong note isn't going to throw a jam off the rails but being off with rhythm can throw things all out of whack.  Once this sunk in, it caused me to try to pay particular attention to rhythm. . . I always need to work at it.  It's fun work, though! 

Sheryl, I do have picks that I put my name on--they cost several dollars, so losing one of those is a bigger deal.  I've gotten at least 3 returned to me because of that, so it does pay, if you can figure out a way to do it.  Those picks have foam on the part you grip with your thumb and finger(s)...they're called "Grippy Picks", or something like that.  Mike Clemmer sells them (as do others) in a variety of thicknesses.