Forum Activity for @strumelia

Awesome, thanks!

Ok, I see it is offered free on Bob McNally's website, here:

http://www.strumstick.com/index.html

There was no name or author listed on the pdf.

...I like to make sure the author's name is made clear, and that they are giving their work out for free if we link to it here.

Babs i just want to make sure you wrote that instruction booklet- are you the author? Thanks!

Thanks, Bab! While there are a few familiar tunes here, such as Mrs. MacLeod's, there are also some new-to-me tunes. These will be fun to use with my violin students - and fun to play on the dulcimer, too. Much appreciated!

Linda

One great sourcebook there, Babs. Thanks for the link. I see several I'll be trying to add to my repertoire.

Thanks Babs That's a great find!!!! It looks like noter drone players heaven It is always exciting to find new tunes - I'm just having a go at Bonnie Tammie Scolla. I wish I'd noticed your post earlier this evening as I would have recorded a tune or two but it is a bit late now - I'll have to work one up for tomorrow.

Thanks, Babs - a great resource! (Some tunes that I know, but a lot that I don't.

FYI: this is the website entirely devoted to the 1-3-5 tuning: http://www.mountaindulcimer-1-3-5.com/ .

Sorry Babs - I see you're also from the UK! For my earlier replies I'm afraid I made the assumption that you are from the USA, like most members here.

Something else I should have said in my earlier replies is that, if you haven't already done so, it makes a lot of sense to familiarise yourself with 1-5-5 tuning (eg: DAA) BEFORE getting into 1-3-5. DAA is a beautiful, expressive tuning in its own right, and most old-time instruments were made with this kind of tuning in mind - with good reason. You may be familiar with Robin Clark's many brilliantly insightful writings here on FOTMD about his musical discoveries based upon his study of old instruments and playing styles, and with his many superb sound files. If you're not familiar with them, then give yourself a treat and look them up.

From a 1-3-5 perspective, a bit of DAA playing will familiarise you with where the notes are in this highly traditional tuning. Then 1-3-5 won't feel as strange, because your 2 outer courses are the same - and you just have to get used to all the weird chromatic notes on the middle string!

Hello Babs -

It's difficult for me to give you a straight answer as to whether I'm tuning down to CEG (or DF#A) from a Dadd tuning. The dulcimer I almost always use for 1-3-5 playing is my Sunhearth hourglass, which has a 27+5/8" scale length. I only have 3 strings on it, so I don't use doubled treble strings, and, as on all my various dulcimers, I use it for a number of different tunings. Amazingly - with the same set of strings - it works well in EBe, DAd and all the way downwards to AEA (and the various modal tunings within the same range).

You mention EG#B tuning. I use this quite a bit - it works really well.

Skip is quite right to say that 1-3-5 is no good for noter-drone playing (which I love), nor is it particularly helpful for nearly all of the folk-based music which most MD players want to play most of the time. Where it really comes into its own is opening the door to a more chromatic range of repertoire (show tunes, standards, some light classical etc.) than the MD can otherwise cope with.

Just in case you're interested, there are a couple of 1-3-5 pieces in the sound files on my FOTMD page, both in DF#A. They are "The Old Rugged Cross" and "We'll Meet Again" (a Second World War song which is enduringly popular here in the UK.)

I use DF#Ad [1358], equidistant, for now, along with DAD [I have 7 MD's], and have found it pretty nice. It's been fairly easy to learn to fingerpick/flat pick using DAd tab, I don't read SMN. You can also tune the melody D down to 'c' and have bar chord 7th's [or play 158 DAC]. 135 is really not for noter drone though, but is really good for chording and fingerpicking. I do use a slightly heavier string for the F#. I prefer the 4 string DF#Ad to the 3 string DF#A, which also allows using both tabs, 135 and 158. I also tried CEGc, which allowed me to get Dm [DFAd, 1011].

Hello Babs - I sometimes use 1-3-5 tuning, and, like Ken, I've never had trouble tuning my middle string down to F#. (Indeed there's one song I sing on which I accompany myself in 1-3-5 tuning in C. So that's CEG, and I have no trouble with that either, but it's probably at the limit of what the string will take from a slackness point of view.

I wouldn't particularly recommend FAc, because your bass string would be VERY tight at that tension.

I have and use a Hughes dulcimer and I find it has a nice voice or sound, other people at our dulcimer club have made good comments on it.mine is dated jan26,1989 its there model H38W4S and is made of solid walnut and spruce with crome tuners. I bought it new in 1989, and use it all the time. Hughes is no longer in bussiness. Alter all this time it was the only dulcimer I had. I just ordered a new dulcimer for Mike Clemmer on Townsend TN.

You're welcome, Lawrence.

I suggest you find other examples of dulcimers at a music store or at a festival, and compare them to yours.

The quality varies quite widely, from cheap cardboard kits to fabulous works of art such as Blue Lion dulcimers.

Some of us on this site recreate historically significant dulcimers of the past, so that today's enthusiasts can experience first-hand what it's like to play an old-fashioned instrument for a reasonable price.

Lawrence, I haven't seen this type of Hughes dulcimer before.

Most Hughes dulcimers I've seen are what I 'd consider low-grade instruments made of lauan (Philippine mahogany) plywood, and simply built.

From the photo, I'd say that you have a medium-quality dulcimer, however I can't play it or examine it from here.

It looks like a step or two up from their usual range of dulcimers.

I also like the Zoom - I've used a H2n for the past couple of years to record tunes for our club website . With just under 800 mp3's now online, it's made life a lot easier, since I can record anywhere without having to worry about the noise of having the computer on, etc. I've never worried about video, however. I don't really think anyone wants to see me!

You are correct Kristi. I have quite a few places bookmarked for researching tunes, people, instruments, etc. It is worthwhile having a place where all of these are available saving people time in searching for them.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Good idea for a forum, Ken. Thanks!

In another discussion Robert Schuler pointed me to the Snips and Clips website of penny whistle tunes. Lots of those tunes work on the dulcimer, of course, too.

This is a place to post general folk music resources for folks interested in more than just the mountain dulcimer. The first one I share came from a post over at Banjo Hangout. It is a site called Folk Music Worldwide: http://folkmusicworldwide.com . This is posting of radio interviews with people primarily from the great folk scare of the 1950s and 60s. There is some interesting conversation here. Have fun listening.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Charley, I am glad to hear that you took the plunge in to mountain dulcimer. I hope you enjoy it and I trust you will get well soon.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

I hope you feel better soon. I would love to hear your new dulcimer

Well, Charley, I hope you get better fast and start enjoying your new musical toy. Let us know how it goes.

Charley, sounds like a plan to me.

I'd didn't know Judy, but that was a fitting tribute.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

What a beautiful tribute, praying for her family.

For those of you who have been to the McSpadden Dulcimer Shop in Mountain View, Arkansas you probably met Judy. After a battle with cancer she passed yesterday (7 Feb).

James, my understanding is that the tenor guitar is tuned to fifths, usually CGDA or GDAE. AndGDAE is exactly how a mandolin is tuned, though an octave higher than a tenor guitar). So you might seek out mandolin tab for tunes. Even if you tune CGDA, you could still use that tab; you will simply be in a different key. But chord charts and tab for the mandolin are certainly more popular on the internet, so you might look for that stuff instead of limiting yourself to lessons on tenor guitar.

Thanks Stephen. I ultimately did get an Ibanez tenor guitar from Sweetwater, and printed out a sheet of basic chord shapes I found on the internet. I'll be looking for some tenor banjo books on Barnes and Noble later on. I did post a picture of my Ibanez on my profile page a few minutes ago if interested in seeing it.

I was looking around for any recent things on tenor guitar - I found this Youtube lesson - it's a good introduction. The playing is not always legato - but the information is good. It should get you started.

Not many resources out there - but tenor banjo and manual are tuned the same (CGDA) you can find chords for them. Mel Bay has some tenor banjo resources. You can find some Youtube video of Wayland Holyfield playing the tenor guitar. I'd played a mandolin and fiddle which I'd viewed as an upside down guitar - when I got a manual, I just transposed. You can actually tune it as DGBE and treat it as baritone ukulele - I currently have my mandola tuned as a tiple - I could play in mandola/tenor guitar tuning but I didn't find it useful to sing with. It depends on your voice though - clearly Wayland Holyfield has made great use of a tenor guitar accompanying his singing,

Your best bet for finding things online is to look for tenor banjo material - there is a lot of it - including methods - some of them are on the internet archive. Good luck and have fun!

I'd been playing guitar since I was 16 years old, and decided since I will turn 40 in March (ugh), to add another guitar to the arsenal, an acoustic tenor guitar. I saw a modest priced Ibanez that I am looking at, which should fit the bill nicely.

I was wondering if anyone on here owns a tenor guitar, can point me in the direction of some resources etc. so I can halfway have a clue when the time comes when I get a tenor guitar.

Looks great!

That's really nice work Mandy. You made a beautiful instrument which I am sure you will enjoy forever. Thanks for sharing it with us.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

I just saw this. It's a beauty for sure

Here's the vid!

Full of wonderful mistakes

I already broke a string, LOL. Too much messing around tuning. I decided to go with DAA on this one. I found some DAD tab for this and didn't like the way it sounded so I winged it.

Great Mandy, we will be watching for it. Enjoy strumming your sweet dulci.

Mandy said:

Next few days or so hopefully. I'm working on a song I want to play on it now and once I feel it's pretty good I'll post it.