Tab for Angel Gabriel
General mountain dulcimer or music discussions
Teri would you mind sharing your tab when you get it done?
Forum Activity for @glenda-hubbard
General mountain dulcimer or music discussions
Tab for Angel Gabriel
General mountain dulcimer or music discussions
I contacted Aubrey and she sent me the lyrics and chords. I will tab it out on my own.
Thanks to you all!!!
Tab for Angel Gabriel
General mountain dulcimer or music discussions
Hi Terri,
I've been off line for awhile, but there are a couple of ways to play Angel Gabriel. I don't have any clean tab, just my chicken scratchings. Are you looking for noter/drone, chording to support a voice or finger picking?
Stephanie
P.S I've sent you a friend request so we can figure out how to get the tab to you.
Tab for Angel Gabriel
General mountain dulcimer or music discussions
Thanks, Dawn, I already contacted Susan but she says she has never tabbed it. I will try to contact Aubrey, maybe she can help. If worse comes to worse, I could tab it but I am not the best in the world. : )
Tab for Angel Gabriel
General mountain dulcimer or music discussions
I have been looking for a tab of Angel Gabriel, a folk tune that I have learned to play but want to use for our club newsletter. Susan Trump plays and sings it beautifully and I found a video of her on youtube. I guess I could tab it out myself, but I'm being lazy! 
updated by @teri-west: 02/20/19 04:03:39PM
Looking for clarification on D A d
General mountain dulcimer or music discussions
Thanks Brian G and Skip. Thinking of D A d as a tuning which allows for Mixolydian or Ionian tunes to be played is helpful. Anne Lough in her book: "Welcome to the Mt. Dulcimer" suggests that this tuning could also be called 1-5-8 or Do-So-Do. This frees up my thinking also so that DAd could also be CGc etc.
Again thanks.
Looking for clarification on D A d
General mountain dulcimer or music discussions
Think of it as having 2 fret boards, one with a C#, one without [ D mixolydian and G-ionian]. As someone once said, adding frets is like overlaying fretboards. The plus frets basically add flexibility without retuning.The melody string[s] provide the modal character and the remaining 2 provide the dronenotes which define or provide the background for a mode. Consider tunings DAC and DAd, both use the same drones to provide the background for different melody string modes. If you play a tune that doesn't use any form of C inDAd tuning, I suppose you could call it what you want [probably wrong].
Looking for clarification on D A d
General mountain dulcimer or music discussions
Hi John. I'm not sure I understand your question, so this may not be a very helpful reply. :)
DAd is a tuning, not a mode. To distinguish between the two possibilities you mention, I'd say something like "I'm tuned DAd and the tune is in D-mixolydian" or "I'm tuned DAd and the tune is in D-major (ionian).
Looking for clarification on D A d
General mountain dulcimer or music discussions
I know that technically a pure D A d is the Mixolydian Mode with a flatted seventh in the scale. (Example: Old Joe Clark) I also know that when a person says they play in D A d but are using the sixth and one half fret (6+) that they are actually playing an extended Ionian scale without the flat. (Example: South Wind). How then should a person who says they are playing in D A d distinguish between the two?
updated by @john-w-mckinstry: 06/11/15 07:41:46AM
My new Berg!
General mountain dulcimer or music discussions
Sounds like you got quite the bargain there. Congratulations.
My new Berg!
General mountain dulcimer or music discussions
Congrats, Dave. My first dulcimer was Bill Berg student model. I still play it often and it seems to get better with age. Heck, maybe both o us do. You made a great find and buy.
My new Berg!
General mountain dulcimer or music discussions
I just bought a 5 string Berg hourglass on eBay for $78.00. This is one made by him and his wife. I have played many builders, including Mcspadden, and lots of others. This is by far the best sounding dulcimer I have played. All solid wood, book-matched back, all walnut with butternut, or cypress top. It is the first 5 string I have touched, and may never go back to a 3 string. Tuned dadD. I love it. Who ever said you need to spend hundreds for a great dulcimer?
updated by @dave-shattuck: 08/02/23 09:43:30PM
Show Us Your Pets!
OFF TOPIC discussions
Here is a thread where we can all show off our animal buddies!
Let's see your favorite furry friends.... :)
updated by @strumelia: 07/31/23 09:29:55PM
The Positive Thread...
OFF TOPIC discussions
Tell us one positive thing in your day today!
updated by @strumelia: 07/31/23 08:38:43PM
Though I have all my digits, I have physical problems with my hands. For picks, I cut large ones out of plastic lids and use quills, too. Both of these give greater points of contact with the hand than smaller picks of whatever type. The more points of contact my hand has with each type of plectrum, the better it is for me physically.
I'm happy to see you're going to explore further options, Julian!
Julian, sorry to hear about this terrible accident. I'm sure it will take a while for you to recover.
My husband Brian had his left thumb completely detached by a table saw many years ago. He was lucky in that they were able to put it back and it's there, but it doesnt function at all- neither does his index finger next to it. They are just sort of there for looks. After two years of recuperation, he took up the huge challenge of playing oldtime fiddle, as a sort of physical therapy. Now 20 years later, he's a wonderful fiddler despite the fact that he cannot use his left thumb or index finger at all- he frets notes with his other 3 fingers and probably has the world's strongest left pinky at this point. That's one finger more than famous guitarist Django Reinhardt used to fret with- only 2 fingers- you might want to read about Django and his fingering challenge.
I don't know the details of your injuries, but I'm still hoping you will 'never say never'. The mountain dulcimer, because it can be strummed broadly across with a simple sweeping motion of the right hand, and played with a noter stick or a single finger with the left hand, might well be the ideal stringed instrument to play if missing several fingers. Please do consider the possibility that one day you will be able to play it again.
Meanwhile, my sincere wishes to you for a good recovery.
And keep in mind that one doesn't have to be a player or builder to part of the family here on FOTMD! 
Oh, Julian, I am so very sorry and hope your healing is progressing well!Though I do not wish to presume anything, there are various styles of dulcimer play which could, perhaps, be managed if you wished to explore options for playing mountain dulcimer.Again, I'm sorry about your accident! Take care.
Playing dulcimer with a ukelele
Playing and jamming difficulties...HELP ME!
Thanks, everyone! We will have to get capo for the ukes and give thata try....
Playing dulcimer with a ukelele
Playing and jamming difficulties...HELP ME!
If he knows D,G and A chords he can play with you.
He can capo 2 and play in C - CFG, which will please him.
If you have specific questions on specific songs, I'll help you if I can.
CGC tuning for you is fine too if you mostly are going to be playing with him.
Have fun, I do this all the time and they sound great together.
Playing dulcimer with a ukelele
Playing and jamming difficulties...HELP ME!
Correction: soprano and tenor ukes are usually tuned in the key of c - foggy brain late at night.....
Playing dulcimer with a ukelele
Playing and jamming difficulties...HELP ME!
Hi -
My hubby is the proud newowner of not just one ukulele, but 2 ( a little Diamondheadsoprano and tenor Fluke) and I as a beginner/intermediate player of a dulcimer would like to play together. The ukes are commonly tuned to the key of G. We have been experimenting a bit but should I retune to CGC to make it easier to accompany him or capo to G while in DAD tuning? I am open to any suggestions to make it easier to do.... ...thanks!
updated by @gale-a-barr: 02/25/19 03:50:36AM
There's nothing like getting to play music on your porch! Enjoy, Donna!And Kate has located information on Mr. Dunkle. It's always special to learn of the builder.
updated by @robin-thompson: 02/16/16 11:48:13PM
a digital data base of traditional folk tunes
General mountain dulcimer or music discussions
wow forgot about this one. lost all my book marks while back, now i can add this one back.
a digital data base of traditional folk tunes
General mountain dulcimer or music discussions
Yep. "Sniff" has been around for better than a decade. Too bad the author only set it to work on an old subset of the Mudcat Cafe song database...
Be aware that for dulcimer tab the db uses the olde 'backwards' listing of strings for tunings -- AAD for DAA etc. Perhaps your best use is to enter the tunings of your strings rather than use one of the 'canned' tabs.
a digital data base of traditional folk tunes
General mountain dulcimer or music discussions
thought you folks could use this.....have fun
updated by @ravenmadd-garcia: 06/11/15 07:41:11AM
It's always difficult writing down something that is done almost instinctively. I think we use all sorts of methods all at the same time.
So I might be trying to match a note I can hear in my head, or seeing if the next note is up or down, or trying to gauge how far away it is(the spaces inbetween), Then the words and notes might not sync up and I realise I've missed a note somewhere, or I've got all the notes for the words but need to slip in an extra little something to keep the rhythm going etc.
Every so often shut your eyes and try to carry on playing. Even if you only manage 2 or 3 notes before you have to open them again it does wonders for your confidence.
I function almost entirely by ear (which is why I was first eagerly recruited and then summarily dismissed from my high school orchestra) -- although I also learn by closely watching others play. For whatever neurotic reason I cannot stand reading music or tabs. As my ear and memory fade in old age, the disadvantages of this approach are abundantly clear.As a kid I eventually compelled myself to read music, when, after burning through three piano teachers in two years, there was no one around to show me how to play Chopin nocturnes. But it was very frustrating. It would take me weeks to memorise a piece from sheet music. I could learn the same piece in a couple of days if someone took the time to walk me through it, or just play it in front of me a few times.
I personally have to know what a song sounds like before I can make any sense of tablature or music. In that sense, I learn by ear. But even better is watching someone play something. I can pick up a song much more easily if I can hear it and watch someone play it. In that sense, the visual and the aural go together.
But I would suggest that a lot of folks who think they cannot play by ear and yet use simple tablature to learn songs are in fact playing by ear. A lot of tab does not indicate how long you hold each note or where you pause in between phrases. You succeed nonetheless at playing songs correctly precisely because you know what the song is supposed to sound like and can play that even though the tab does not indicate all that stuff. In other words, you are indeed playing (in part at least) by ear.
I think a great way to learn your instrument is to put it on your lap and try to find the melodies to simple songs that you know really well. I bet you can pick out Mary Had a Little Lamb or This Land is Your Land or whatever. Start with kids songs not only because the melodies are usually simpler, but also because you know those really well. As you get better at "hearing" the difference between a note on the second fret and a note on the third fret, for example, you will get faster at picking out those tunes, and soon you'll be able to work on more complex tunes.
And if you work with chords, those simple songs only have two or three chords. And you know the chord will be one that contains the note you are playing for the melody. That generally means that you will only have two choices for any given melody note. I bet you can figure out which one sounds best.
Of course, more complicated music is . . . well . . . more complicated, but playing by ear is not something that is innate or genetic. It is something you learn. I can do it pretty well because I started playing the guitar at age 9 and did it mostly with no instruction, so I spent years of my life trying to figure out songs that I wanted to play. I wasn't always successful, and I am not always successful today either, but I have gotten better at it, and you can too!
I'm a visual learner, in that I'm far more likely to remember and understand something I read, rather than something I hear. The old saying about "Goes in one ear and out the other" fits me to a T.
When it comes to music this is especially true as I have no memory for instrumental music at all. Unless I have words to associate with the rhythm of the music, and tab to play with, I'm rarely able to remember a tune, much less play it. It can take me forever just to be able to recognize and name a tune that I frequently hear.
Playing by ear is a concept that doesn't work for me for more than the problem with memory, though I'd say that is a major part of my inability, but I also don't hear as well as I should. Thank heavens for electronic tuners and sheet music.
I learn by ear. Its easier if the song has words. Helpful from the start to know if its major or minor modal. I get the tune in my mind and with a dulcimer or tin whistle, I chase notes randomly until I link a note to a word or note in the song. After that the rest of the song or tune falls into place... Bob
yep it was worth the work. I have put the 3nd son to the side for the moment and working on a John Denver Song thats coming along a lot easier. when all else fails take the easy way.
Babs Greene said:
Great going, Phil!
phil said:Got it to work. Just working out the bugs and I will soon be playing somewhere over the rainbow. Just wish the 2nd song was going as easy.