Interesting!
folkfan said:
Dave, That dulcimer's a hoot.
There's another variation of the flat board dulcimer, "The Plickett Dulcimer". I had one of those once. The board was cut in an hourglass shape with the cutout area in the back, and a plastic fretboard. That company fancied them up with black decals. If I remember correctly, Mike Anderson learned to play the dulcimer on a Plickett that cost him $1.00.
Dave, That dulcimer's a hoot.
There's another variation of the flat board dulcimer, "The Plickett Dulcimer". I had one of those once. The board was cut in an hourglass shape with the cutout area in the back, and a plastic fretboard. That company fancied them up with black decals. If I remember correctly, Mike Anderson learned to play the dulcimer on a Plickett that cost him $1.00.
That is an excellent video Wayne
Wayne Anderson said:
David my introduction to Tut Taylor through this Video and have played it over and over.
just keep checking eBay. I've two (including the one I bought) in the last two weeks.
Patty from Virginia said:
David, that's cool! I wish I could get one of those.
David, that's cool! I wish I could get one of those.
A few weeks ago I attended the Summertown Bluegrass Reunion in Tennessee a vendor had a table full of fiddles. One item was different and so caught my eye (see photos below). I asked the vendor what it was and he didnt know and I remarked to him that it looked like a mountain dulcimer though he didnt seem to know what a mountain dulcimer was. I inquired what he wanted for the item and he said $40. I didnt buy it but latter I almost wished Id bought it.
That evening I looked on EBay and someone had the same type of item, also for $40, but this time if I bought it I also be out the price of postage so again I passed. That one did not sell.
A few days later I looked on EBay and someone else had another one for sale, asking $10. They erroneously called it a plank guitar, as did others on EBay, though the box doesnt call it a guitar at all. Figuring $10 plus postage was reasonable for a curiosity I bid on it and won.
Heres the Ebay description of the item I bid on:
This is a vintage Tut Taylor creation "HEE HAW", Yongestreet Productions wooden PLANK hillbilly musical instrument. Plank measures 24" long x 3 1/2" across, is three stringed, made of wood. It is stamped with the trademark Mule and the "Hee Haw" logo, dated 1976, & also is a Tut Taylor creation. This guitar was once used by blind students at the Tennessee School for the Blind.
I e-mailed Tut and he replied back confirming that the item is indeed a dulcimer and that I should tune all three strings the same (the box says to G).
Mr. Taylor also told me, This was my creation sold by a company in Tenn. They were played on Hee Haw by Roy Clark and Junior Samples.
I have received the item and it plays about like a $10 dulcimer, a bit tinny, but it does play. I mostly bought it for the curiosity factor anyway and am glad I did.
I looked up Tut Taylor, The Flat Picking Dobro Man, on the Internet and learned he was once a repairman at Gruen's Guitars in Nashville (probably the world's premiere vintage guitar shop) and now builds some of the best resonator guitars around.
I also found this about him:
Tut Taylor (born November 20, 1923) is an American bluegrass musician.
Taylor played banjo and mandolin as a child, and began playing dobro at age 14, learning to use the instrument with a distinctive flat-picking style. Taylor was a member of The Folkswingers in the 1960s, who released three LPs; he recorded his debut solo effort in 1964. Later in the 1960s, he played with the Dixie Gentlemen and in John Hartford's Aero-Plain band.
Taylor became a local Nashville, Tennessee fixture. In 1970, he co-founded the instrument shop GTR there, soon after releasing another solo album. He also co-founded the Old Time Pickin' Parlor, a Nashville venue noted for performances of old-time music, as well as Tut Taylor's General Store.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tut_Taylor
Tut's webpage: http://webpages.charter.net/tutbro/ and www.tuttaylor.com
Also see the Old Time Pickin' Parlor http://oldtimepickinparlor.com/fr_home.cfm
I do not know why the makers specified use Mahogany, I do know why I have in the past. As Dan has already pointed out, Honduras in particular is stable and easy to work, and as ff has said, is relatively light for a hardwood. It glues well, and will take most finishes. I have made several dulcimers where Mahog has been the primary construction material, nearly always using one of the more 'conventional' timbers as an overlay. Should be mentioned that some of the associated 'Heinz 57' types of so called mahoganies do have 'harder' qualities, I have an instrument made in the 80's which has a Utile fret board which has given good service and is showing little, if any, signs of wear.
JohnH
folkfan said:
Looked at the Blue Lion site and they do use mahogany for the fret boards, but all of the styles seem to have some sort of overlay in walnut, rosewood, or ebony in the specifications. I'm going to guess that they use mahogany for the fret board for the weight as it is a soft wood and not as heavy as many hardwoods. The overlays due to their hardness give the the slickness, speed, and durability that a fret board make just of mahogany wouldn't have.
I have only one instrument with a solid mahogany fret board, and it's slow compared to cherry, walnut, rosewood, ebony etc.
Looked at the Blue Lion site and they do use mahogany for the fret boards, but all of the styles seem to have some sort of overlay in walnut, rosewood, or ebony in the specifications. I'm going to guess that they use mahogany for the fret board for the weight as it is a soft wood and not as heavy as many hardwoods. The overlays due to their hardness give the the slickness, speed, and durability that a fret board make just of mahogany wouldn't have.
I have only one instrument with a solid mahogany fret board, and it's slow compared to cherry, walnut, rosewood, ebony etc.
Nice points Dusty! I personally have never had the goal to be a professional performer of the dulcimer, but I still want to be a good player. I personally don't think "Just have fun playing" and practicing towards having excellent technique are mutually exclusive. I find I rarely enjoy myself playing as much as when I have really practiced enough to feel like the songs are really right under my fingers and I can "play" them rather than stumble through them. Everyone is different, and I don't ever want to sound like I'm telling anyone how they should practice... just sharing some ideas of what I have found work for me and many of my fellow musicians, based on the original post which was asking for advice as to how to improve as a player.
Kay, I think Guy makes a good point here. Many dulcimer players will tell you explicitly not to practice, but to jsut have fun playing. But it appears from your initial comment that you are playing with the expressed aim of improving, and in that light I think Guy's comments are more profound than they appear at first.
Your initial post mentions a range of techniques, from chording and noting (notering?) with the left hand to strumming and fingerpicking with the right hand. Each of those techniques is different and requires its own unique development. Chording will not help you develop technique with a noter, and strumming with a flatpick will not help you develop good fingerpicking techniques. First, you might notice that few of the very best dulcimer players master more than one style. Linda Brockinton is wonderful at fingerpicking, but you will never see her play with a flatpick. Aaron O'Rourke can use a flatpick as well as any bluegrass guitar player in Nashville, but you won't see him fingerpick or use a noter.
For the moment you might indeed want to experiment with different styles to see which one is most alluring to you, but when you practice, you might want to isolate a technique and work on some aspect of that alone. Personally, I have been working recently on developing a stronger pinky on my fretting hand. I have found or developed some scales and arpeggios that necessitate the pinky and I try to run through those as often as possible. Just based on the cleanliness and speed of my fingering, I know I am improving even though I haven't really found songs that reveal my improved technique. Robin Clark posted a video not long ago on advanced noter technique . You might not be ready for the advanced stuff yet, but you might want to take a look at it and see how your own improvement might not necessarily involve chording or fingerpicking but sticking with the noter and trying to master that technique. And rememeber that each of the techniques he demonstrates might take a while to learn well enough to use fluidly in a song.
There are similar resources available for other dulcimer styles. You might want to choose one or two at a time and concentrate on particular techniques rather than playing songs in different styles and getting frustrated that you can't get them up to speed right away.
I had a teacher who said "Perfect practice makes perfect." It's more important (in my experience anyway) to have small but consistent practice periods where I work on small sections of a piece before I worry about playing a whole song... The joy of progressing, even very minutely is it's own reward!!!
Kay, you might feel a bit better if you read my blog post on the frustration of not sounding better more quickly:
http://dulcimer-noter-drone.blogspot.com/2010/08/why-is-it-taking-so-long-for-me-to.html
Kay, as a life-long musician I feel your frustration. I think it helps tremendously to record yourself over time and it very likely that you are making more progress than you realize or 'feel' like you are making. I think most musicians reach various plateaus over their playing lives and the feelings expressed by myself and other musicians I know are similar to what you are describing.
I do have to add though that two months on any instrument (even dulcimer) is a very very short period of time! Don't be too hard on yourself and enjoy the process. I've been playing guitar since age 8 (I'm 49 years young) and I'm still not where I would like to be. I had a many years long plateau at the upper intermediate level and couldn't seem to break past it no matter how much I practiced. I had to step back and RELAX about it......be good to myself...find the love for my instrument.......and magically a year later I was playing much more difficult repertoire without pulling all my hair out!
So my humble advice is
1) Record to track your progress as this gives you much better and more concrete feedback
2.) Relax and Enjoy
3.) Relax and Enjoy
4.) Relax and Enjoy
Okay you get the picture. It will come!!
Cheryl
Kay, all musicians get frustrated with their own progress, so the feelings you are experiencing are normal. One way to avoid the sense that you're not getting better is to record yourself playing a song. You don't have to share it with anyone, but date it and keep it. And keep practicing. After a couple of weeks ora month go back and listen to your recording. You'll probaby know immediately that you can already play much better. That sense of progress can motivate you to keep playing and help avoid the frustration that you seem to be experiencing.
Kay, that's a wide open question ht demands us to ask other questions. What is your musical background? How many hours a day or week do you practice? What do you mean by better and improve?
1. No one says you have to play chords or fingerpick. Those are not traditional techniques for playing dulcimer after all. I've been playing N&D nearly 40 years, and for more than half of that time I only strummed out, not back and forth. I would learn to fingerpick or chord if you paid me. In all that time I developed my own style of play based on N&D and strumming, including some thing I learned here, ignoring stuff that didn't suit me there.
2. When you say "improve" do you mean increasing your memorized repertoire? Or do you mean playing tunes close to 'performance speed' the way you hear others play? How many songs have you learned, are you trying to learn? Is there a local group against which you're measuring your supposed lack of improvement? What scale are you using to judge your improvement or lack thereof?
3. In any learning situations there are 'plateaus'. You learn new stuff, then you practice the new stuff until you've "got it". Then you look for more new stuff. If you're not adding new stuff to learn; if you're not stretching yourself, you stay at a plateau for a long time, until something or someone comes along and sparks you to learn more/do better, etc.
4. What kind(s) of music are you trying to learn? American folk? Modern? Religious? Celtic?
Playing all of two months and you're worried about improving? At this stage, if you can play 3 or 4 songs well -- that is up to performance speed, from memory -- then you're head and shoulders better than most beginners I know. Chances are you're not that far. But if you can pick out half a dozen songs by reading tab, and they aren't dirge slow, then you're doing pretty good.
Kay, finger picking is not that easy so give yourself some time. I've had my dulcimer over a year and I still feel like a beginner. I do believe making progress is a result of spending more and consistent time playing the instrument. I have found that once I learn I song if I continue to practice it I can really improve on my technique. I also try do do at least three verses of a song and not do a one verse wonder. My daughter's piano teacher has my daughter to practice a piece until it becomes second nature. Repetition is the key. She does give my daughter a few songs to work on so that she doesn't get bored. Hang in there. If you are enjoying it then you are doing fine
Dean, this is not really an either/or proposition. If you play dulcimer in a droning style, meaning you play the melody (with a noter or your fingers) on the melody string, then you will learn to play in different tunings depending on the melody of the song. Some songs only work in DAA, some only work in DAd, and some lucky ones can be played in both tunings. Other songs will require DAC or DAG tunings.
If you play across all the strings and play chords, then you do indeed have the ability to stick mostly to one tuning. Thirty years ago DAA would have been the most common. Today it is DAd, as you have discovered with the Desert Dulcimers.
I would second Skip's advice to stick with one tuning at a time for chording. And right now, 90 percent of the chording world plays mainly in DAd. You will find more resources for that tuning and will see more examples of it at workshops, on YouTube, and elsewhere. Mind you, I am not making a value judgment of one tuning over another, merely pointingout that for practical reasons, you will find more help chording in DAd.
But I still encourage you to experiment with other tunings, especially if you are playing in a droning style.
My opinion only, learn one at a time for chording. The chord finger positions will be different between the two tunings, V[A]=101[EAe] in DAD and 100[EAA] in DAA for instance.Many [most?] 'chords' on the MD are onlypartials. There are a bunch of them that will feel awkward at first but get easier over time. You will learn the best way, for you, of fingering/transitioning between chord changes as you progress. Most of the folks I know use DAd for chording but I've heard that DAA may be easier/better for it.
The best tuning I've found for pure chording is DF#AA [1355], four equidistant strings.
That's a real "can of worms" question, Dean. Everyone is going to give you a different answer. I personally vote for you learning BOTH DAd and DAA -- as well as DAC and DAG and the other modal tunings as well. Neither DAd nor DAA will 'solve' everything, as neith of them is particularly minor in nature.
And did you know, btw, that you can play chords (if you must play chords) just as well in DAA as you can in DAd? And it may be easier on your hands. Check out this article:
http://www.everythingdulcimer.com/articles/31/Learning_Chord_Melody_Style.pdf
Unless you've got two dulcimers, it's probably better to focus on one tuning for a day or a week, then retune and work on things in the next tuning.
Sweet sounds from that old guitar. I hope my modern guitar sounds that sweet when it get that old.
Dusty, you are a gold mine of info.
Robin, I didn't have a chance to listen to your clip until now- it sounds so rich and old style- really great. 
Robin, that guitar sounds amazingly warm and mellow. You have certainly rescued a treasure.
And I'm impressed by your playing as well. I agree with Rob; you sound Jeffersonian, as in Blind Lemon.
There are a few good sources for that mix of hillbilly and race records that was common in the 20s and 30s. I have a CD of African-American fiddlers calledFiddler, Singthe Blues for Me, and there is a two-CD set called White Country Blues that is basically old "hillbilly" singers playing blues. There was a repertoire of acoustic blues music that was common to both white and black performers who, of course, listened to each other. As Rob says, the music was only separated by record company producers and marketing folk. And of course, that whole tradition of Piedmont Blues, which centers on fingerpicking and uses the standard 12-bar form much less frequently, was equally white and black. In fact, some of your playing could easily fit into that tradition.
OK, so I ramble. I guess I'm a ramblin' man.
That is one beautiful instrument, Lisa! I'd love to pluck a little on it!
Oh Lisa that's a wonderful instrument And I just LOVE the case!!!!
My little parlor (US spelling!) guitar would have been originally steel strung. It is braced for steel strings and this is typical of the Oscar Schmidt guitars of this age.
There are some folks playing guitars of the 1800's in the Minstrel genre groups, they are amazing and lovely smaller parlor guitars, but must be kept tuned lower as the banjos also were low tuned during the 1800's. They were just not built to withstand modern high steel string tunings. Robin, your guitar was built a little later on, was yours originally strung with gut or steel strings, do you know?
This original 1850's Ashborn guitar is now strung in Nylgut (originally strung in gut), and is regularly played in lower-key minstrel style sessions:
Robin, I think the influence and "mixing" of Black & White music predates the recording industry. Indeed there are some (and I think I'm one of them,) who believe the recording industry is what separated the music. They recorded black artists and wanted blues for their "race records" division. There were a few black string bands who were recorded, but, for the most part, string band music was recorded for a white audience. The Mississippi Sheiks, Papa Charlie Jackson, Henry Thomas and Uncle Dave Macon have similar "sounds" on a lot of songs. I believe songs like "Keep My Skillet Good & Greasy," "Georgia Buck," "Pallet on the Floor," "Sandy Boys," "Reuben's Train" are representative of that tradition I like to call (as I read it somewhere) proto-blues: that common music of black and white which predates the recording industry. We play a lot of it in the old time music world, without thinking about it, or even without knowing it in some cases. The recording industry and early record producers have done any of us interested in the history of "folk" music a disservice by dividing up music along racial lines. Wouldn't you love to have a black fiddler's rendition of "Turkey in the Straw" from about 1920?
Thanks
Rob - I have a lots of old blues tracks on various CDs but really haven't listened to them for quite a while - I sort of moved into old time and bluegrass. Perhaps I should fire up a few tunes by the old blues masters and have a listen again. There wasquite a swirling mix of music in the southern Appalachians around the 20s with influences of the blues coming in to 'hillbilly' music.
Just out of interest - I've fitted a set of heritage strings to the guitarthat are made by Newtone Strings in Derbyshire. I know Malcolm Newton and often chat to him on the phone as I order about 1000 strings from him each year for my guitars! The heritage sets have thinner round core wires and so come up to pitch at a lower tension. Hopefully my little parlour guitar's neck will appreciate the lower tension and stay stable without warping for a good few years! Here is a link to Newtone Strings.
As a listener, player and researcher in early country blues, I'd say that was either Blind Lemon Clark or Barbeque Robin on a 6 string. Seriously, Robin, that's a great sounding instrument and you play it well. I've been hoping to rescue one of those myself, but haven't found one cheap enough that is restorable. Most that I find are warped quite badly. That's great
I picked this lovely little vintage parlour guitar up on Ebay about 4 years ago in a sorry state (and for not much cash at all ). A friend of mine took it to bits (not difficult as it was in bits!) and has put it back together. It is an incredibly light guitar with mahogany back, sides and neck and spruce top, the top and back are ladder braced. The neck is a lovely 20s thick C profile with no truss rod and the tuners are the old 'reversed' style (giving a clue to the date). Although the instrument has no label left inside a lot of research bought us to the conclude it is indeed from the Oscar Schmidt factory - the bridge shoulders being the significant marker.
It is a really lovely little instrument to play and from the pick marks on the body it has seen some good use over the years. It is not a valuable instrument or collector's item but rather a simple player's delight. She has a wonderful voice and, whilst I'm not any sort ofguitar player at all, I am enjoying finding my way around the fretboard of this great little instrument. I haven't picked up a guitar for the simple enjoyment of playing for years although I handle them every day for my job, which I suppose is why I don't play guitar anymore!!!!!! Anyway, perhaps this instrument will rekindle my interest. Here is a little soundclip of the beauty that I've just recorded.
Wood putty will crumble after only a short time. Buy a 1/4" or larger dowel at a Big Box Store. Drill a matching hole over the old hole. Cut a length of dowel, slather with Titebond (never Elmers white glue) and follow David's instructions for trimming and smoothing. Many older dulcimers used one or more 1/4" wooden dowels for string pins, nothing more.
For String Pins, most of us use a brass or steel brad or small headless nail. Others use a length of welding rod, coat hanger or small screw.
Violin Pegs are Tuning pegs, used instead of geared tuners. Violin End Buttons hold the Tail Gut of the Tailpiece onto the tail end of the violin -- under completely different stresses than dulcimer String Pins; more akin to a dulcimer strap button.
Though I have my own personal feelings on situations like this, I can certainly empathize with both views.
I think this discussion has thoroughly represented both sides of the issue at this point. So before it gets into further back and forth, I'm going to close it to new responses and leave it at that. Others can read it and hopefully make their own informed decisions. Thanks everyone.
Just reading this post & did seeCripple Creek was able to reach theirgoal on the fundraiser to save their machinery and continue to get some Dulcimers out - pay the IRS off!!!! Than much clean up - images of the flood looked really bad.
Does anyone know what is the latest, do they still have a store or are they just on line now?
I feel sorry for anyone who is having difficulties. I'm sure it is not their intention to put out a bad product. All I'm saying is that anyone who builds and sells dulcimers should be willing to back up the quality of their work. I would never buy a dulcimer from someone who has no refund policy. I looked up the web site you posted and it appears they are very near the goal of the money needed. I have friends who have owed money to the IRS and the IRS is more than willing to work out payment plans. They want the money because they don't want to be in the business of selling assets.
Elise, I know emotions can run high but Siggie wasn't the only one who had problems. Here is a link to someone else who had a problem, http://mountaindulcimer.ning.com/group/beginnerplayers/forum/topics... .
I understand from other FOTMD members that Cripple Creek were great dulcimers. I also have a friend who built one from a kit. Having said that I personally have a problem with any builder who doesn't stand by their product. I purchased my dulcimer from a builder who would refund my money if I wasn't happy with the dulcimer. I understand Siggie did get his money back less a restocking fee but he shouldn't have had to go through a lot of trouble for that. Any builder who thinks their product is good should back that up with a return and refund.
I would be upset if I purchased a dulcimer that had flaws and the builder was unwilling to fix it or refund my money even if I bought the dulcimer from McSpadden or Folkcraft. While I understand some performance dulcimers can get quite pricey, $450.00 is a lot of money to spend on an instrument that has flaws.
