Aussie Players
General mountain dulcimer or music discussions
Hay LLexie,
Well, there are quite a few other Aussies, but we're quite a distance from one another ...
Forum Activity for @anne-bowman
General mountain dulcimer or music discussions
Aussie Players
General mountain dulcimer or music discussions
If you want to connect with folks from Australia, go to member page and in the search box type in "Australia" and this should show you members from that country.
Have fun struming those sweet sounds and hope you can connect to some great folks.
Aussie Players
General mountain dulcimer or music discussions
Hi all,
I was just wondering how many other Aussies there are in FOTMD ....
Cheers,
Anne
updated by @anne-bowman: 03/02/19 08:59:14AM
Hi Chuck,
The fret order I gave you is for melody string only and needs to be played up the fretboard to stop yourself dropping off the bottom end.
You can take it down an octave by subtracting 7 from the FO, but you'll need to borrow a couple of notes off the bass string,
6 => 3 on the bass.
5 => 2 on the bass.
What tuning are you using ???
As with the whistle, the FO doesn't change, it's the tuning that determines the key.
If you've got yourself cast in DAd you'll need a 6+, in this case reduce the FO by 3. (9 => 6+)
Hi Chuck,
The song was written by Dick Farrelly in 1950 - EMI hold the copyright which is why your having trouble finding a simple score for it. The film was 'The Quite Man'I have it on DVD 
The tune has some accidentals which is why it is difficult on dulcimer.
You'll hear some refrains of the tune from the film score here
Hi Chuck,
Not sure which tune you're referring to here.
'The LAKE Isle of Innisfree' is a poem by W B Yates, though I've not heard it sung.
'The Isle of Innisfree' is an American popular song that I know from some old John Wayne film. Is this the one you want?
It's Ionian and goes something along the lines of :
7 10 11 12 10 7 5 10 9 9 8
11 10 9 8 7 8 7 6 5
7 10 11 12 12 12 12 11 10 13 8
11 10 9 7 6 7 9 11 10
D tuning would be DAA
G tuning would be DGd
Hope that's enough to get you going.
Joe, how neat that you got to speak with the builder himself!
updated by @robin-thompson: 02/14/16 11:01:48PM
Beginning
General mountain dulcimer or music discussions
Thanks Strumelia, I stumbled upon it last night.
Strumelia said:
At the moment I don't even no where to begin with finger picking. Any suggestions are appreciated.
Monica, do join the Finger Picking Group on this site, and get all kinds of awesome help in beginning finger picking!
Beginning
General mountain dulcimer or music discussions
At the moment I don't even no where to begin with finger picking. Any suggestions are appreciated.
Monica, do join the Finger Picking Group on this site, and get all kinds of awesome help in beginning finger picking!
Beginning
General mountain dulcimer or music discussions
Thank you Cynthia , I will check it out
Cynthia Wigington said:
Hi Monica. I'm fairly new too. What I did was find an easy one for finger-picking, settled on Be Thou My Vision. I think the free tab is on Jerry Rockwell's site, and my video of it after I'd been playing about a month is on here too. Have fun now.
Beginning
General mountain dulcimer or music discussions
Hi Pamela
Pamela Rossetti said:
welcome Monica
Beginning
General mountain dulcimer or music discussions
Hi Monica. I'm fairly new too. What I did was find an easy one for finger-picking, settled on Be Thou My Vision. I think the free tab is on Jerry Rockwell's site, and my video of it after I'd been playing about a month is on here too. Have fun now.
Beginning
General mountain dulcimer or music discussions
First off I just want to say thank you for the "Warm welcomes".
I have been playing for only a few days. I have mastered strumming Bile them cabbage at a nice even pace. Ode to joy is coming along . Amazing grace is putting my fingers to the test with stretching and acrobatics, but I couldn't even attempt it the first two days so I know things are improving.
At the moment I don't even no where to begin with finger picking. Any suggestions are appreciated.
updated by @monica: 08/03/23 10:51:04AM
Ken, I definitely suggest checking out videos. I came to the dulcimer from guitar and mandolin and learned my first dozen songs or so from YouTube videos by Bing Futch and Stephen Seifert and others.
There is really only one book specifically on technique: Mike Casey's Hands-On Dulcimer: Developing Technique through Exercises and Studies.
Otherwise, for nice arrangements of Irish tunes in a soft, fingerpicking style, I would recommend books by Linda Brockinton and Nina Zanetti.
Neal Hellman also has a book of Irish tunes, and he has a whole bunch of books out there on Shaker tunes, Beatles tunes (that's a really tough one that I don't recommend), music of the world, and more.
Steve Eulberg has a nice book out there that includes a wide variety of English and Celtic tunes, including some from Scotland. I think it's called Another Jig Will Do.
Maybe others will disagree with me, but since you are already experienced with other stringed instruments, an instructional method book will be too basic for you. Dig around YouTube and when you find a really good player whose music you would like to play, and then check out their websites to see if they have any books out there.
I bought the David Schnaufer DVD a while back, but while I was waiting for it to arrive I learned his version of "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry" just from watching the YouTube video. You could probably do the same.
One other thought: both Stephen Seifert and Steve Eulberg have online subscription "schools." Seifert's is called The Dulcimer School and Eulberg's is called Dulcimer Crossing. In both cases, you pay a monthly fee and have access to a whole range of resources. I have only seen samples of Dulcimer Crossing lessons, but I learn a flatpicking version of "The Wind that Shakes the Barley" from it. I am much more familiar with the Dulcimer School and although I wish Stephen were more active on there, there is an enormous amount of material there, from beginner lessons to phenomenal classical or jazz pieces that I don't know if I'll ever play. There is video, audio, pdf downloads of tab, and more. It might be worth joining one or another of those online schools and spending a month digging around to see what interests you. You can always cancel your subscription. Both of those guys are not only great players but understand the diatonic fretboard and are experienced and thoughtful teachers.
Ken, if you already play other instruments (especially stringed instruments) and you understand basic music theory, the more important question is what kind of music you want to play on the dulcimer. Do you intend to play noter/drone, do you want to flatpick fiddle tunes, fingerpick O'Carolan tunes, or something else?I played guitar for many years and although I have some instructional books, I learned a lot more by watching videos than beginner books.It is not clear to me that a book designed for a real beginner, meaning someone with no experience, is what you need. But I'm sure people could recommend good books or DVD lessons if you could indicate what kind of music and what kind of playing style you are interested in.
An Unofficial History of Westphalia Waltz
General mountain dulcimer or music discussions
Very interesting. Thanks for sharing this.
An Unofficial History of Westphalia Waltz
General mountain dulcimer or music discussions
I am into the history of songs and who brought them alive.Very interesting and a very lovely song.
An Unofficial History of Westphalia Waltz
General mountain dulcimer or music discussions
My latest dulcimentary is on our club's website:
https://athensdulcimerclub.wordpress.com/dulcimentaries/dulcimentary-articles/the-unofficial-history-of-westphalia-waltz/
updated by @david-bennett: 06/11/15 07:42:26AM
Wouldn't put one inside the instrument, but that's me. If you get static shocks shuffling across the floor in socks, your house is too dry. Bowls of water set around, wet sponges on a saucer, or a humidifier will keep the humidity up where it needs to be. Winter is cold country can be very dry unless you have gas heat.
Pat, I have not had any instruments repaired at HMT, but I have visited the store many times over the years and purchased things from them. The folks have always been friendly and helpful. Reading about their repair people on the HMT website, I would not hesitate to let them work on one of my instruments. Take your dulcimer over there and see what they say.
Ken
"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."
Hello Pat, don't fret too much over that crack, probably the easiest place to fix such damage ( in my experience also one the the more 'common' cracks to be found, usually resulting from someone picking up an instrument with a 'thumb on top' grip adjacent to a sound hole and exerting enough downward pressure to cause damage) Careful manipulation of the crack to open it sufficent to be able to rub adhesive into it, followed by the careful insertion of a glue soaked piece of linen (I use a piece of handkerchief, don't tell my wife !) thro' the soundhole if possible, below the crack, massaged into position with a finger. Any surplus adhesive on the top to be cleaned away immediatly. Kevin M does good work.
I've done four or five in that manner.
JohnH
No no gorilla glue! Repairing this type of crack is the same as repairing sound hole cracks in violins. It requires fitting small cleats to the underside to stabilize the crack and prevent it from spreading. The size and thickness of these cleats is very important to to preserve the sound of the instrument. Like I stated its an easy fix ,but, needs done in the proper way.
God luck with your dulcimer. Kevin....
I am sorry about the crack in your Jeffery's, I hope that Kevin can help you to fix it Pat.
I have a question, How can we prevent this sort of thing from happening to our treasured instruments?
Would regular lemon oil treatments help?
Kevin Messenger said:
No need to tetire the Jeffreys, a sound hole crack is easily fixed. If you can't find someone local let me know, I would be happy to help you out.
help me name that fiddle tune -- please!
General mountain dulcimer or music discussions
TunePal......yahoo, fantastic...I'm in, gotta get it.
help me name that fiddle tune -- please!
General mountain dulcimer or music discussions
I knew Rob would know
help me name that fiddle tune -- please!
General mountain dulcimer or music discussions
Hi Dusty. Yes, it does work. I was pretty skeptical also. Maybe I'll throw up a little demo so you can see. It's not like the pop music ones that tell you the artist/song/album and where to buy it; this one takes you to the musical notation and can play back that notation. I've tried playing a number of tunes for it to try to decipher and it does a very good job. It works best if you just give it a single-line melody only.
help me name that fiddle tune -- please!
General mountain dulcimer or music discussions
Thanks, Brian. I had heard of that app or another just like it but I assumed incorrectly that it was for pop music and would not be helpful for traditional music. However, I just checked it out on my Android phone (where it costs $4.63, by the way) and it states that it is specifically for "traditional Irish, Scots, Welsh, and Breton music." It sounds pretty cool. Does it actually work? There are so many common phrases in these old tunes and so many variations of individual tunes, I am a bit skeptical.
help me name that fiddle tune -- please!
General mountain dulcimer or music discussions
Hi all! I just wanted to mention that you can use TunePal for exactly these kinds of situations. This is a free online service you can access, or you can spend a few dollars and get the app for iDevices and Android. It does a number of things, but one of the coolest is that you play what you know of a tune and the app will then return a list of tune possibilities and percentage confidence levels. You can click on a result and get the music for the tune, and the app can play the tune back for you from that music to make sure it's what you wanted. You can also search tunes by keyword, tag tunes to your person tunebook and more.
I realize I sound like a commercial, so let me state that I have no association with the App or its author; I'm just a very satisfied user who thought others might also like the app. I certainly think it's worth the few bucks being charged for it. :)
help me name that fiddle tune -- please!
General mountain dulcimer or music discussions
Well check out the big brain on Rob!
That's it! I used to play that one on the mandolin about 20 years ago, which is why it was in my head.
Thanks so much!
Thanks also to Bob. I had worked through some of the hornpipes on the slips and snips page, and Ricketts was coming up, so I would have found it eventually.
Rob N Lackey said:
It's Rickett's Hornpipe
help me name that fiddle tune -- please!
General mountain dulcimer or music discussions
You nailed it Rob....