Hi Julian,
There seem to be a few of us don't there. Thanks for the email address, but I do think it would be good if we could have an Aussie players group on FOTMD so we could chat in the same time zone .... Do you know of Richard Troughear's dulcimers? I'll be seeing him on Friday, as he's visiting someone here in the Blue Mountains, and he'll have some instruments with him ... Looking forward to seeing him..
Mark Brothers said:
To get all the Australian members you have to use the advanced search and select Australia from the drop down list under the heading country. As you observed doing it any other way gives quite variable results.
A group is the way to go if possible.Well, that way of doing the search worked, so thanks Mark....only still no Richard. I think a group would be nice too.
Ken Hulme said:
Mark - as Lexie pointed out in her response above, go to the Members section on the blue line at the top of the page. Then enter Australia in the Search box.
I know of at least one other Aussie here -- Richard Troughear, who mostly posts on Everything Dulcimers, and who has become moderately famous for his scientific experimental approach to dulcimer building.
There was also a man a couple years back, whom we helped talk through his first dulcimer build. If memory serves he is/was from Tasmania.
And don't forget Helen Seiler from Creswick, Victoria who posts here very frequently.
Hi Ken,
Helen welcomed me when I first joined, but it's interesting that her name doesn't appear when I type Australia in the members' Search box , or even a Victoria entry in the members' Advanced Search box. I also typed in Richard Troughear and got " Sorry, no members matching your search were found" ..
If I type in Australia, only 6 names appear, typing in Queensland gives me 8,Victoria gives me 12, NSW gives me 9 - hence my initial question. I do think an Aussie Group would be nice ...
Mark - as Lexie pointed out in her response above, go to the Members section on the blue line at the top of the page. Then enter Australia in the Search box.
I know of at least one other Aussie here -- Richard Troughear, who mostly posts on Everything Dulcimers, and who has become moderately famous for his scientific experimental approach to dulcimer building.
There was also a man a couple years back, whom we helped talk through his first dulcimer build. If memory serves he is/was from Tasmania.
And don't forget Helen Seiler from Creswick, Victoria who posts here very frequently.
Well, I was wondering about that, which is why I started this discussion.
Have you had a look at dulcimerschool.com, with Stephen Seifert? I enrolled, and it has quite a lot of good stuff. I'm also looking at dulcimercrossing.com, although I haven't enrolled in that one...
Anne
Hey Peter,
Thanks for replying. Where are you?
Anne
Hi Anne, I know how it feels to be far away from the dulci groups, that's why we have this fabulous site, so we can connect and learn together.
Anne Bowman said:
Hay LLexie,
Well, there are quite a few other Aussies, but we're quite a distance from one another ...
Hay LLexie,
Well, there are quite a few other Aussies, but we're quite a distance from one another ...
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.
Hi all,
I was just wondering how many other Aussies there are in FOTMD ....
Cheers,
Anne
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.
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!
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!
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.
Hi Pamela
Pamela Rossetti said:
welcome Monica
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.
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.
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.
Very interesting. Thanks for sharing this.
My latest dulcimentary is on our club's website:
https://athensdulcimerclub.wordpress.com/dulcimentaries/dulcimentary-articles/the-unofficial-history-of-westphalia-waltz/
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."
