Forum Activity for @peter-w

When talking about the mountain dulcimer with my friends in Germany, there's always a little uncertainty about the genus of our instrument.

In German you can't just use "the" or "a" as definite or undefinite article with a noun - you have to make clear whether the thing you talk about is male, female or neuter by using "der, die, das" or "ein, eine, ein".
Now the "Duden" dictionary (it is THE reference / authority for correct German) says it is female, so it should be "die Dulcimer".

On the other hand - in literature and in documents on the web (including the German wikipedia) you find many examples for the use of the male article, "der Dulcimer". The reason for that may be that in genuine German words the ending "-er" is almost always an ending for things (or animals and plants) considered to be male.

Now again, "dulcimer" is not a genuine German word, but descends from Greek and Latin words, and went a long way round from there to French, and from there into the English word pool (I'm not a linguist and that may not be accurate, but you understand what I mean). Confusing.

So my question is:

When you talk about dulcimers (or when you hold one and play it), do you regard it as a "he", "she" or "it"?

Sorry if this has been discussed here before. Hope my English is good enough to explain what I'm asking for.

I'm curious about your answers! :D

When I played in bands I had everything we played Memorized. Sometimes people would ask for something we didn't know all that well and out would come the sheet music. Now days I don't know if its form a head injury I had a few years ago, all the meds I now have to take or just age catching me to soon in life, I am only in my early 50's. But I seem to have trouble Memorize music. Maybe I just don't play enough. I have to keep the music close.

The fiddler in that clip is very, very good, but she ain't a BIT funny!

I'm not sure memorize is the word I would use. I memorize lyrics, but for me, music is more a matter of getting the feel right than copying each note of someone's version. What if they wrote it wrong? Our local newspaper has a list of corrections every day on page 2. I listen repeatedly until I get the song into my head, then I work out how I am going to play the song. Tab is a starting point, and a guide when I get lost, but I take detours on any journey. I can't read tab fast enough to play in a jam with it, so I let my ears take over.

Paul

I know what you are saying, Gayle. When i use a tab to learn a tune, it takes me a while to 'get' the tune, and I sometimes will refer back to the tab when i forget parts- Like you, I do sort of 'see' the tab numbers in my mind, but once i play the part many times then again it's the sound that helps me actually 'learn' the tune. Tabs can help me pick my way through a tune that's complex or unfamiliar to me. Learning tunes by ear is a skill that is improved the more you do it, even when you start with something as simple as Mary Had a Little Lamb. Now after many years I can pick up a tune through tab or by ear, but it's when you internalize a tune and play it your way from the heart (no matter how slowly or simply) that it becomes your own. I'm sure we all feel that way.

Mandy said:

Wowzers! You call knowing 75 tunes a smaller number. I would be thrilled to be able to really know that many songs.

I could memorize tab, but listening to tons of version of it being played helps me much more than any tab ever could.

Wowzers! You call knowing 75 tunes a smaller number. I would be thrilled to be able to really know that many songs.

I totally agree with your thoughts here. I think of it in the same way. Memorizing any monkey could do (hey wait a sec am I calling myself a monkey? hmm not sure). But really getting intimate with and knowing a tune is different IMO. I could memorize tab, but listening to tons of version of it being played helps me much more than any tab ever could.

Strumelia said:

I don't think of it as memorizing a tune. I think of it as knowing a tune. Once i listen to a tune many times, and then play it many times, either alone or with others...that's when I know the tune. I might still make an occasional mistake or lapse, but I'll know it's a wrong note immediately and I'll hear in my head what it was supposed to be.

I learn tunes through several methods- sometimes sheet music, sometimes TAB, sometimes a recording, sometimes from other people playing it live with me so I can learn it. But no matter what method i use to 'catch' the tune, once I know it well I won't need to look at paper anymore.

That said, if time passes I might need a memory jog as Robin said, but usually I can pick the tune back up pretty quickly at that point, because I once knew it under my fingers.

I'm all for really knowing a smaller number of tunes, rather than half-knowing a whole bunch. I usually work on a current repertoire of about 75 tunes, putting other stuff on the back burner for a while. I don't try to 'keep knowing' everything I've ever known how to play well, and when i go back to stuff i knew in the past I often need to refresh it for a while. I've read that the great fiddler Tommy Jarrell only had a repertoire of less than 50 fiddle tunes that he played wonderfully over the years.

I don't think of it as memorizing a tune. I think of it as knowing a tune. Once i listen to a tune many times, and then play it many times, either alone or with others...that's when I know the tune. I might still make an occasional mistake or lapse, but I'll know it's a wrong note immediately and I'll hear in my head what it was supposed to be.

I learn tunes through several methods- sometimes sheet music, sometimes TAB, sometimes a recording, sometimes from other people playing it live with me so I can learn it. But no matter what method i use to 'catch' the tune, once I know it well I won't need to look at paper anymore.

That said, if time passes I might need a memory jog as Robin said, but usually I can pick the tune back up pretty quickly at that point, because I once knew it under my fingers.

I'm all for really knowing a smaller number of tunes, rather than half-knowing a whole bunch. I usually work on a current repertoire of about 75 tunes, putting other stuff on the back burner for a while. I don't try to 'keep knowing' everything I've ever known how to play well, and when i go back to stuff i knew in the past I often need to refresh it for a while. I've read that the great fiddler Tommy Jarrell only had a repertoire of less than 50 fiddle tunes that he played wonderfully over the years.

Memorize, memorize, memorize. Except in an orchestral setting, where, as Robin points out, the maestro is telling the players how to "feel" the music, IMHO having paper on stage while performing is tacky. Others disagree with me; but that's OK.

It also, in part depends on how long the piece is, too. Memorizing a major concerto or opera or whatever - say The Planets Symphony -- is not realistic. But with dulcimer we're mostly playing repetitions of a verse and chorus.

I think its possible to have a memorized repertoire of over a hundred songs. I know I have more than a hundred songs that I can play with little or no prodding. I do keep a cheat sheet around with the first few measures of over a hundred songs on it, so I can remember how a tune starts when I'm hearing all sorts of other music around me at a jam or open mic. Again it depends on the nature and complexity of the tunes. I play mostly folk tunes with a verse and chorus; Robin plays more complex fiddle tunes.

One thing I forgot to mention was that memorising a tune for performance is not the same as longer term remembering a tune. I have memorised perhaps 100 tunes that I have recored or performed without music - but I'd be hard pressed to 'remember' 10 of them at present without some sort of memory jog to get me going. That memory jog could be written music or hearing the tune. Most of those tunes that I once 'memorised' for a performance would require some work to get back to that standard again.

So I wouldn't get too hung up on not 'remembering' tunes. Most musicians 'by ear'repertiore is made up of the 20 or so tunes they are currently regularly playing.

Gayle,

What Robin said! I feel I'm just "practicing" a piece until it's memorized. Then, and only then, can I work on it to try and "fine tune" the arrangement and make the song mine. I find some songs are easy to memorize and others are more difficult. As an example, I memorized "Nonesuch" in less than a week, however, I've been working on the "Farewell Pavane" now for about 2 to 3 weeks and still it's not coming together in my mind. I thought I had the Abbots Bromley Horn Dance memorized and ready to go; now I can't remember it at all. Oh well! I agree with everything you both have said.

Hi Gayle,

Certainly memorising your music will improve your performance of it in the long run as it frees up mental capacity to allow you to focus on the tone and feel of the piece. Lets take this top level professional concert as an example.

The orchestra members are using the music- the conductor is doing a lot of the 'feel' and enterpretation 'work' for them. The conductor and soloist themselves know the piece intimately and work without the sheetmusic, and this frees up their capacity to put real feeling into the performance.

Basically, reading the music is taking up brain space in the moment that you could be using for listening and adapting. It takes a lot of work to memorise a piece of music but as you have found it can allow you to improve your performance.

Robin

Wow. I can't imagine what it would be like to play an instrument containing such a history and years of hymns in it's wood.

what a great way to recycle the wood.

Here's a post I put on our local dulcimer group about a new mountain dulcimer from old boards from a century old church

http://athensdulcimerclub.wordpress.com/2012/09/22/grady-makes-a-new-mountain-dulcimer-from-old-boards-from-a-century-old-church/

Here's another dulcimer that another feller in our group made a week or so ago for his wife http://athensdulcimerclub.wordpress.com/2012/09/13/jerry-todd-builds-a-mountain-dulcimer-for-louise/

I knew that, but I had to locate better advice. Here's some:

Paul

You can put pepper spray in one of the pockets, just in case of Bear trouble. Don't spray against the wind.

Paul

The pants leg is useless without some sort of cushioning inside it. Hiking is always accompanied by such things as steep or wet slippery ground, partially buried rocks and tree roots, loose gravel and small branches. Tripping is a lot easier than we always think. You need pants large enough to allow for some type of cushioning inside. Foam can be purchased in sheets at fabric stores, and cut out to fit your instrument. Or, buy a package of bubble wrap. It comes in a roll, I get it at the local Drug Store, but I think other stores and shipping stores carry it as well. If you need larger pants than your size, you can cut out the inseam of both legs, and sew them together to make one tapered bag. While you're sewing, make some straps and sew them to the bag to attach it to your backpack. Plastic trash bags don't last long when walking through bushes, even without thorns. Twigs and such have a habit of tearing the bags apart. I tried using doubled plastic trash bags for my sleeping bag once, and it lasted one day.You might want a layer of cloth between the bubble wrap and the dulcimer, in case the varnish is sensitive to the plastic. You won't know until it's too late. Use an old pillow case for this, or light weight old pants. Put the trash bag inside the cloth bag, or use some type of oilcloth to make the bag, rather than old pants. A yard or two of oilcloth and some strap material from the fabric store, an old pillow case,and a package of bubble wrap to me is all you really need. Put the instrument in the pillow case, wrap it in the bubble wrap and trim off the excess. Then make a bag big enough to fit, with wiggle room to let you push the wrapped dulcimer into the bag.

Paul

Got a pair of Sunday pants ( holy, holy...)? Take the leg without a hole and cut it of at the crotch end. Sew shut along the cuff. Turne the edges over at the other end and sew a tube about an inch wide. Run a bootlace through the tube as a drawstring. Stitch a rope carry strap from end to end. Viola! Cheap gig bag.

Oh, enjoy your trip, Andrew. I also have a stick dulcimer....they are great for hiking.

Regarding the bear, take a banjo to throw at the bear...a "sacrifice" so to speak, to save yourself and your stick dulcimer. (Just kidding...I play banjo myself, so I'm entitled to make fun of it.) Take plastic bags to protect your instruments and use sturdy cases. Maybe some pepper spray .

Jan, I am coming in late to this discussion of your dulcimer, but if you want to know more about your particular instrument, Howard Rugg, over at www.EverythingDulcimer.com can tell you all about it. He and his brother along with Jackel made your dulcimer. I do not know if Howard is on here at FOTMD, but he does check in at ED occasionally. You might try asking about your dulcimer in the "History of Dulcimers and Songs" thread.

Ken

post pictures

Tuned to DAAA, you are tuned for the Key of D. The D scale starts at the 3rd fret of the melody strings, which are most likely two strings very close together. These are fretted either with fingers, or with a noter, and used as one string. Try the scale from that point, and you will find that the correct notes are all in their places. Traditionally, the other two strings were left open as drones. They provide the harmony. I can't say for sure why the scale was not begun at it's root, but it actually works out to our advantage that it is done in this way. Many songs require us to play some notes below and some above the 1st note of our scale. Placing the root at the end of the fret board would require us to find some notes on another string. As your dulcimer is tuned, you would need to go to the 4th string for those notes.Placing the D closer to the center of the fret board gives us room to go both up and down from the D. This is one of the most common tunings, and a fine place to start learning.

Paul

Yep - made like that. The 6+ fret is an innovation of 1960s builder Howie Mitchell, who wrote the first, or one of the first how-to books on dulcimer building. The true diatonic scale does not include that half-step.

Personally, I refuse to have a dulcimer with a 6+ fret, but then I'm an uncontrite modal folker and hard-core traditional player! You don't need the 6+ fret if you're willing play in DAA, and tune to DAd only for the handful of true Mixolydian Mode tunes we commonly play. Most tunes tabbed in DAd are not Mixolydian. They are Ionian mode tunes tabbed in DAd so that folks don't have to re-tune from DAd to DAA to play them.

Another option is to tune that dulcimer to Ddd also called Bagpipe tuning. That way you can use DAd tab (but not for chords, as the middle drone is d not A.

If you're a dedicated DAd, Chord-Melody player, you can have the 6+ and 13+ frets added, or you could sell/trade it for a dulcimer which has the 6+ fret.

As a Personal Chef I do pretty special things to veggies...

Jan - Sure wish I could trade veggies for a dulcimer!

I believe what you're referring to is what we normally refer to as the 6+ fret, not the 7th fret. Many older dulcimers were built without that fret, back when people weren't stuck on playing everything in DAd.

Take a look at the pictures of the traditional diatonic fretboard and "added" fret fretboard in my article for new players called I Just Got A Dulcimer, Now What? It's here: http://mountaindulcimer.ning.com/profiles/blogs/i-just-got-a-dulcimer-now-what just to make sure we're talking abut the same thing... Then tell us which of those two fretboards your new/old dulcimer has.

BTW - Howard Rugg is a member here and comes around periodically. If you send him a PM I'll bet he can give you lots of details about your instrument.

Any reasonably competent luthier (including most of the builders here) can add the 6+ and/or 13+ fret. I've seen prices ranging from $10 to $50 per fret.

More likely it is missing the 6 1/2 fret, which is a fret put in more frequently after the 1960's. It's an option, not a defect.

Your dulcimer is probably pure traditionally/diatonically fretted.

But to be sure, we'll need to see a picture first!

Not confused, just relating to, andintegratingthe info.

If you play in dulcimer jams, you may find most songs are played in D. If you go to jams with fiddle or banjo players, you will find that most songs are played in specific keys. As said above, these usually are dictated by where the tune falls easily on the fiddle, or in some cases, on the banjo. Bluegrass players tend to use the same keys as OT players, though a few keys that seldom are used in OT jams also come up. Song circles are more likely to have a wider variety of keys, as many players change the keys to suit their own vocal range. This can cause a lot of re tuning, as each person in the circle chooses the song & key in turn. I tend to take more than one instrument to song circles. Sunday I found myself using F several times, as there were a few ukulele players there. F is a common uke key. Not one I usually use on guitar or banjo, but we adapt with a capo. I don't think I ever tuned a dulcimer to F. I capoed the guitar for one song, and retuned the banjo for a couple. I didn't have a uke or dulcimer with me Sunday. I've seen a few harmonica players with a bag or box full of different harps. Seems even a chromatic harmonica still favors one or two keys, and doesn't do so well outside of those two.

Rock jams are very conscious of keys, as most players seem to believe in capturing the exact arrangement they heard on the radio, down to the last note of the solos. I never felt compelled to work that hard at learning a song, myself Are you fully confused now? Adapt to the jams you go to, but make sure you enjoy yourself.

Paul

Skip don't feel bad...you are not alone in that aspect. Sometimes information runs out of my brain too, like a sieve!

Thank you folks. I've never bothered much with music until way after I retired. It's kind of like being a kid again with a neat [cool?], new toy [music] that I'm playing with, learning how it's put together and why it's used in a particular way. With the help of folks like y'all I've learned a whole lot. Sometimes it doesn't stay with me or takes awhile to sink in though.

Excellent post Strel

Skip, as explained, you really need to make up your mind if you're wanting to play on one string or three.
3 strings uses DAD mainly and it's up to you to make the appropriate chords by fingering. This is non modal tuning.
1 string uses the drones to make the chords for you,so retuning is a necessity. This is modal tuning.

Melody doesn't really use the sort of full TAB you have, but is more likely to be just a fret order, most people seem to play by ear anyway. The thing that's most important here is knowing the Home Fret(which fret the tune ends on)

There are only four Home Frets in regular use ( 0,1,3 and 4), so what you are asking for is four lists of tunes based on these frets.
As you say, this sort of info is scattered far and wide.
I used to keep lists like this but gave up after about 200, the problem with this sort of thing is that the majority of tunes can be played from more than one Home Fret, so any lists you make will be full of duplicate entries in differing lists. It's further complicated if you have a 6+, this essentially gives you a second diatonic fretboard supperimposed on the original and extends the number of Home Frets available, making it possible to have some tunes that can be played from all four of the Home Frets.

You'll more likely find it of use to have just one list of tunes giving the modes they can be played in.

john p

Skip, Ionian is a mode that can be played in C, D, E, A, B, G, or whatever pitch your dulcimer strings can hold. It is the note relationship to get the tuning that is important. 1-5-5 is the note relationship for Ionian. 1 shows the position on the scale and is tuned on the bass. I tune C so C will be my 1. Next is middle at the 5th pitch of the scale which in the key of C is G. and so with the melody string. My 1-5-5 is C-G-G. My tab for Brother John is 3453, 3453, 567,567, 787653,787653,303, 303. If I use the same 1-5-5 tuning pattern but start with D, then I'll tune DAA, but the tab for Brother John stays the same and the fretting doesn't change. The dulcimer does the transposing and gives you the correct sharps or flats needed for the key.

Since the key that the song or tune is being played in is strictly up to the player, I mark my tab with either just Ionian, or 1-5-5. CGG, DAA, GDD, AEE, In fact you don't even have to be on a key as we think of it simply a good pitch for your instrument to play. This is known as "tuning the instrument to itself".

Hi Skip,

There are session conventions for Old Time and Celtic sessions that place certain tunes in certain keys. This has usually occured because the tune falls easiest to the fingers on fiddle in that particular key. If you want to know that Old Joe Clark is an A mixolidian tune, or 'Shove the Pig's Foot' is a G ionian tune then the best place to look is in any fiddle book or on line somewhere like The Session http://www.thesession.org/ or Old Time Jam http://www.oldtimejam.com/Tunes.html

You'll find a few of us on FOTMD will play tunes in their usual session keys rather than just in D. This is because we play at open sessions where those tunes are played in those keys - so it is pragmatic to learn them in the standard session key. If you only play for yourself or at dulcimer jams then I would stick with the key of D and DAdd - it is the pragmatic thing to do in those circumstances. If you want to join in at multi-instrument old time jams then you will need to learn the tunes intheir standard sessionkeys. You can still do that primarily from DAdd if you are a C/M player, and some very good C/M players manage exactly that without a capo! For example: Old Joe Clark in A mixolidian works fine out of DAdd C/M style using 1,0,1 as your base.

You'll also find a few of us here on FOTMD tuning to keys that suit our instruments. I'll post tunes in their non-standard key because that specifictuning for that specific tune works tonally on the dulcimer I'm playing. Forexample: Ralph Lee Smith has a video on YouTube of him playing Sourwood Mountain (usually played as an A tune)on an old Pritchard dulcimer in the key of E. I emailed Ralph about this and he said it was because that dulcimer he had sounded good in E. I.D Stamper recordedSourwood Mountai in G on his small bodied dulcimer etc etc. I have ended up recording some very unusual tunings for tunes simply because I didn't have a tuner to hand and so tuned up my strings to 'a good note' !!!

Robin

Strumelia; You pretty much described what I've seen, been involved with. Since your blog is read and referenced by a lot of folks, maybe you would consider adding a section to your blog that ties tunings, not tab, to tunes. These could be lifted from FOTMD posts. Eg.,Good King Wenceslas - Ionian - DAA.

Skip, the problem with what you suggest is that one can use several tunings or methods to play any particular tune or song, depending on one's style of playing and approach, and depending on what version of the song you hear. There is often more than one way to skin a cat. There is seldom only one strict tuning for a particular song or tune.

I cannot take on such a huge project or responsibility as deciding myself what tunings are 'proper' for so many tunes and songs. No matter how carefully it was put together, such a list would be loaded with mistakes, personal preferences, and would be missing alternative tuning choices.

It is far easier to simply learn how to figure out what tuning is needed for a particular song or tune.

Traditional ballads were sung in any key comfortable for the singer. Whether that ballad was 'major' or 'minor' sounding would dictate that you'd need to use either a minor type mode dulcimer tuning (aeolian or dorian), or more of a major type sounding tuning (mixolyd or ionian)- again, the notes and intervals used in a song's mode would dictate which mode you'd need to tune to to play it on a dulcimer....not the key. You still need to tune your dulcimer to a mode so that you have the needed notes to play the song, since the dulcimer is fretted diatonically, with missing notes in the spaces.

In general, you can easily look up fiddle tunes on several handy existing internet sites and see their 'home key' - whether they are traditionally played in the key of A or D on the fiddle for instance. Do you need someone to point you to a couple of those sites?

Old ballads/songs were sung in any key comfortable. Sometimes musicians play mainly instrumental versions and then they might adjust to a key that suits their instruments a little better, and the singer adjusts. Most fiddlers will not like playing in the keys of Bflat or E, for example, and fiddlers don't use capos.

I want to emphasize again to others reading this, that keys and modes are not the same thing. And when we tune our dulcimers, we are actually choosing BOTH a key and a mode, even if we don't realize it. Simplistically put, if a dulcimer player has no 6.5 fret and they tune to DAd, then they will likely be playing in the key of D, in mixolydian mode. If they have a 6.5, they will still be playing in D, but they can play in either mixol. or ionian mode. If they use the 6.5 when they are playing a tune in DAd tuning, then they are playing in ionian mode ...still in the key of D. Skip I bet you know that already but am stating it for other readers' benefit.

I understand that part Ken. What I'm after is if there's a place I can find what tuning 'should' be used for a particular tune without 'reinventing the wheel' every time I want to play a new tune or even some I already know, in DAdd. How to determine modes has been discussed many times as has been the note relationship. I have a whole bunch of tab, almost all in DAdd, many are for tunes that have been described as being 'better', or should be played, in a different tuning. I didn't, and don't, know which tunes these are since almost everything that folks hand out, or post, is in DAdd tuning. I probably even have Good King Wenceslas somewhere, in DAdd.

It seems that someone, somewhere, someone has posted a, more or lesspermanent, list of tunes by tuning/mode that doesn't disappear over time. After all, you can find anything on the net, can't you?

I suspect the tab would be different since the notes available on the melody string are different, eg., DAdd doesn't have a C and DAcc does [so a tune is being played, basically, in D vs C when using the melody string only for the melody]. I also suspect the impact is not as strong for chord/melody players since they use all the strings and drones don't play as big a part in the tune.

Strumelia; You pretty much described what I've seen, been involved with. Since your blog is read and referenced by a lot of folks, maybe you would consider adding a section to your blog that ties tunings, not tab, to tunes. These could be lifted from FOTMD posts. Eg., Good King Wenceslas - Ionian - DAA.

I've read your blog in the past and learned a lot from it.

I have several MD's and I have, and had, them in various tunings, including 135, which I like alot.

Skip, to answer your questions one cannot really toss out the subject of modes, because it is very much tied in with your questions- the dulcimer is a DIATONIC instrument, fretted in modes, and that aspect cannot be separated out no matter how much one might wish it to be.

But all that aside- a lot depends on what music one is playing, and whether one is playing in modern chord style or in traditional noter style.

Traditional fiddle tunes, for example are not all in the key of D! -as you likely know.

Over the past several decades a new dulcimer popularity and a new dulcimer 'industry' has occurred, but many dulcimer players nowadays have very limited musical confidence. They want to avoid re-tuning, and they prefer to play in just ONE key and one tuning or maybe two. They use capos, but even that only rarely. They don't really understand about changing tunings or keys, much less anything about modes. They are comfy playing in groups with only other players like themselves, all on dulcimers, all in D. They go to large festivals and workshops that mostly teach more of this method, and give out more tab to play all in D, and again mostly in one tuning and in chord style. So there is a system in place right now that encourages everyone to remain in D and in DAd and DAA and no one need 'fear' having to learn any other tunings. A big part of the fear of other tunings is because if you play in chord style , changing your tuning means you will have to learn different fingerings for chords....something most folks want to avoid. So that's one reason why folks who play in traditional noter style don't have as much reason to avoid using different tunings. They have learned the simple concept of tuning (their melody string only, not too complicated!) to one of 4 modes. Since re-tuning the melody string like this to play tunes in the 4 common modes seems to be such a shrouded mystery to most DAd chord players, I suppose it may make it seem as though the noter players are 'very, very adept'...but in reality is a real simple skill and no new 'fingerings' are required, which makes it even simpler!

Once you know how to tune into a mode, tuning to different keys is merely a matter of knowing what your strings limits are- where they will become just too tight and break, or too loose to play.

It's a big subject, and one I talk about a lot in my traditional noter playing BLOG.

Skip; part of your answer does deal with Modes. Modes are scales, and each is different. It has nothing to do with Keys which are the basic note of the tuning - D, C, G etc. DAA is one of eight Ionian scales all of which have the notes - do, re, mi, fa, sol, la, ti, do. The Mixolydian scale is do, re, mi, fa, sol, la, ti-flat, do. Old Joe Clark, for example cannot be played on a dulcimer that does not have a 6+ fret unless you retune to DAd, because only then is there a ti-flat note in the scale. People who have 6+ frets on their dulcimer play both Ionian and the very few true Mixolydian tunes without re-tuning.

The other 'inappropriate tuning' also has to do with scales and their relationship to the drones. Take a perfectly good Ionian scale tune like Good King Wenceslas, that needs only do, re, mi, fa, sol, la, ti and do.

Folks here and on ED talk about retuning to play various tunes and comments have been made concerning the tuning that 'should' be used for a tune. I have a few of questions about this;

1. Where can I go to find the other than DAD/DAA tuning that 'should' be used or is recommended for these tunes that are being played in the 'inappropriate' [DAdd/DAaa] tuning?

2. Why are these tunings recommended? Because it 'fits' the sound of a strummed, N/D, instrument? What if the MD is being flatpicked or C/M?I'm not interested in mode related reasons because they, mostly, have been discussed before.

3. If I find SMN for one of these tunes will it the be in a different key [original] andthey have been 'converted' to D for the convenience of MD players/instructors?[Everyone knows the MD can only play in D. ]

I have never been around anyone who actually retuned, jam session, fest or anywhere else. It seems everyone in the group sessions I've been to, admittedly not that many, is in D and no one wants to take the time to retune, it slows the session down too much. Not even if they knew the tuning 'should/could' be different. It also seems most of the folks espousing retuning play solo or are very, very adept players [or have more than one MD ].

You may be able to get Folkcraft to make a FolkRoots with a 3/4" or even 1" high fretboard for playing Noter & Drone style. Don't try anything shallower than 3/4"; you just won't be able to play well...

Rich,

The longer the VSL, the more space between frets. Unfortunately, that also means more difficulty reaching chords. If you are looking for a rich mellow sound, you might want to try a spruce or cedar sound board. Hardwood sound boards tend to emphasize the higher notes and sound more "twangy." Softwoods have more of the lower undertones.

McSpadden and Folkcraft have two different approaches to the "rich" sound. McSpadden makes what they call a possum board and Folkcraft uses a false bottom. Both are designed to lift the bottom of the instrument off of the players legs so that if can vibrate and produce a more resonant sound. Some like the sound, others feel it is moving away from the traditional dulcimer sound.

As with any instrument, let your own ears be your guide. If you go to their websites, you can find videos of musicians playing different instruments.

Good luck,

Matt