This looks like fun. My town just started an acoustic jam through the parks and rec dept. That might be another avenue for finding players. I've missed the first couple of sessions due to work, but I'll make the next one. The organizer emailed chords and lyrics to a 75 song playlist, with quite a bit of variety.
Here's an after vid from last weeks session (others had already left). Michael stayed and played this with us (Jon and I) so I grabbed the camera. Just learning this song so I know I screwed up on the instrumental, but man it's fun!!
Here's a fun jam session :) And you can even hear the dulcimers :)
HAHAHAHA, that is great! You are right. Then I'd never have to say anything.
Jam went AWESOME tonight. Had a second banjo show up. We played a bunch of tunes, sang, and had a great time. Gonna make it a regular Thursday night thing. 
Mandy -- you need the tee shirt that reads Tune It, Or Die!
thanks! The mando player (that was out of tune) called off for this week so I don't have to worry about that this time. I asked another player about it via email and he noticed it also (so at least there is another person to help me deal with it next time). LOL
Good luck, Mandy. Keep us posted about how it goes and how you deal with the out-of-tune mandolin.
Tonight is our second meeting! I'll have 2 new showing up, can't wait.
This is very good advice! Wait before you invite. Jam with them a while first.
Strumelia said:
I have a bit of advice if you want it- start just by having a weekly or monthly jam. Get to know the people who come and see what they do. I'm imagining you'd be welcoming most folks with acoustic instruments, right? Well, unless you are actually wanting to form a band that contains everyone who comes to the jam (and maybe you DO want that), I suggest you hold off talking about forming a band to the general jam group... You may find that you don't blend well musically (or personally) with everyone who comes to the jam, and it's far easier, with less bruised egos, to invite a few people later on privately in terms of forming a band rather than to tell the whole jam group from the start that you are wanting to form a band. I guess a lot also depends on how big or small you want your band to be.
Good luck and have fun!
Dusty - I'm guessing here but I think the banjo player coming to the next jam will probably already know it and be fast at it, LOL. He's been playing clawhammer for a long time and it's a pretty standard tune I'm guessing. I just learned whatever I wanted and never really tried to learn the standards or anything. I'll see how it goes next time. For now I think what I'll do is just try and get the chords down so I can do a little backup version of it while others play the melody notes. I'm really wanting to learn how to back (since all I pretty much do ever is play the melody on stuff). I really need to work on transitioning into playing a backup part and a lead part. Call it OT or not, I don't really care what it's called but it's how I would like to play.
We sort of did that in our session. I'd just play a quieter version of the melody while someone took a lead, but I'd like to switch from the melody back and forth to backing. I'm only able to really accomplish this on one song so far on my banjo. Red-haired boy, which I worked on for a solid month. The longest I've ever worked on any song really. Maybe I'll get RHB in the rotation! Haha.
Mandy, I play "Blackberry Blossom" with a few friends. One is a relative newbie on the banjo and can't play it as fast as the fiddle, mandolin, or me on the guitar (not that I'm a speed demon or anything). But we came up with a way to play the tune. We begin singing the words that Michelle Shocked wrote for the tune, which requires a slower pace. The banjo player takes her turn at that speed, and then when she's done we speed it up for the other instruments. You guys might consider a change in tempo like that as a way to let everyone get their chance.
Jennifer - It went great!! We talked a bit, played some tunes, and created a list of things to work on for next time. I was happy with it. Thank you for asking.
Everyone - funny, i sure never thought tuning would be a problem. kind of a no brainer to me and i tune often because nothing is good about that cringe my ears feel when a string or two are off. yeah i guess i'll have to use one of the good suggestions here for next time. maybe once everyone is there i'll just say - let's take a few minutes and get all our instruments in tune before we start. Hopefully that will get the message across to him, and it wouldn't hurt for everyone just to double check.
I'm excited to say that I now have another banjo player who wants to come! So that will be 5 for next time if everyone can make it.
I played my dulcimer for a few tunes too .
I have a LOT of work to do though also. I realized I like to play slow basically. Haha. Slow is easier I guess for me anyway. I had a heck of a time keeping up on blackberry blossum. I am familiar with the tune but have never learned it. We wrote down the chord changes so me and one other guy who didn't know it could both read it. Geesh I could not even come close to keeping up with that. Maybe I shoulda said - can we do this a little slower. Haha. Anyway it was a great time and I can't wait for next time.
I'm a jammer now baby!
I'll add a bit to Dusty's good advice- I usually just say that 'we all seem to be out of tune with each other', and I suggest we all tune to the same tuner to get us all 'in synch together'. That way nobody gets offended at all. Oy! the things we do! lol
That's great that you got things started, Mandy. Good job and congratulations!
Some folks are great musicians but less than discerning when it comes to tuning. When you start to play, you might simply stop and suggest that "someone" seems out of tune. Then pull out an electric tuner and ask everyone to double check. That way you are not pointing the finger directly at him but getting the point across that being in tune is important.
How about, "Wow, let me check my tuning. Anyone else need to borrow a tuner?"
I sure there are better ways of telling a person But I can be pretty blunt at times. I am kind about it. He may be good with the Guitar but sounds like he still has a lot to learn on the mando.
Yippie! Just had my first jam at my house. It was fun. Had 2 show up playing mando and guitar. One couldn't make it but says he will next time with a dobro and harmonica.
We messed around and did a few tunes each where everyone followed (not me very well, but eh I'm a work in progress HAHA). We sang and it was pretty cool except I'm pretty timid and quiet I guess with singing. I'm still trying to gain confidence singing.
We did a few OT tunes, some newer folk/contemporary not sure what to call it. I lead Wagon wheel and Swept away. They liked those! One guy did a version of Drunken Lullabies by Flogging Molly that I MUST LEARN (it was good).
I made a list of 2 songs from each of us to work on for next time so hopefully we'll be a little more ready ( i say we, but of course mean me!!!! )
I think we all had fun and can make the next meeting, so I'm psyched about it. Question though-
What if one person is really out of tune? I mean like pretty bad. I'm no great player or anything but this mando was seriously out of tune and the guy is like a pro guitar player, so I wasn't sure how to approach the subject. He plays blues guitar like nobody's business but dang that mando was BAD out of tune. Not sure how to handle this because here I am a basic newb at jamming and didn't know what to say. The other guy even said something (can't remember exactly what) but the dude messed with it for a minute and it didn't sound any better. I can't even believe I'm dishing on a guy who is really friggin good (even on mando his runs were amazing) but the dang thing was out of tune!!!! GGRRRR.
Anyway, I'm excited about next time and have a list of songs to work on! WOOT
Mandy, you've gotten some great advice so far. Let me underline a few of them.
First, I would forget for the moment about a band. Don't even mention it. Just wait and see and if you find some musicians with whom you click, then you can get together with them. I know of one or two bluegrass bands in the San Francisco area that started asthe core group of a monthly jam and then split off to do their own thing.
You are correct that in bluegrass jams the center of the jam is people taking turns soloing. A premium is also put on speed. You really have to have your chops down to improvise in a bluegrass jam.
But in Old Timey jams no one solos per se. People play the song over and over again. One standard assumption is that to join a bluegrass jam you have to learn the songs beforehand, but you can actually learn them at an Old Timey jam, where the songs are generally played at a relaxed speed, formal solos are frowned upon, and everyone plays either backup or just plays the melody.
At most jams there is either a single leader who chooses the songs and sets the tempo, or people go around in more or less of a circle playing that role. Strumelia is probably right that it is often a fiddle player, but that is not always the case. I know Peter Tommerup leads an Old Timey jam as well as an Irish jam and--if I am not mistaken--a French music jam. He does so playing hammered dulcimer and mountain dulcimer. I've even been to a jam where a singer was the leader. He just new tons of lyrics (like 2/3of Rise Up Singing) and strummed chords on the guitar. He would begin and the rest of us accompanied him. Occasinally he would leave a verse open for a musical interlude and one or two brave souls would attempt a solo, but the stress was clearly on accompanying the vocalist.
Since you don't know what dynamic the jam will take, I would suggest you start to developa repertoir of standard tunes in the standard keys. Then you can get things started by suggesting a tune or two which you know well and which others probably know as well.Maybe you'll get lucky and some other folks will show up with their own repertoir, or maybe someone will show up who's an obvious jam leader and can point you all toward musical paradise.
Good luck. I hope it works out and you both geta regular jam going and also find some kindred musical spirits with whom you might start a band.
P.S. Strumelia's warning about many bluegrass tunes being under copyright is important to remember. But it will only be an issue if you record yourselves and post that recording somewhere, or if the jam is held in a commercial venue like a pub. It you are just friends getting together to play, you can play whatever you want. But if there is an audience, then owner of the venue will be responsible for copyright issues. Usually pub and restaurant owners who often have live music pay regular annual dues to ASCAP to cover themselves.
Ok this is great. Gives me a better idea of what each really is. It seems there is a huge variety in all this stuff that I really didn't know about. I'm more of the "hey let's get together with a bunch of acoustic instruments and play" sort of thing. I like both the old and the new. I'm not worried about playing any copyrighted songs at all though (it's my front porch).
I wasn't sure how to word the craigs listing really, so I titled it Folk/Bluegrass/Old-time acoustic jam. So it looks like I did that pretty good I'm thinking since I kind of tried to hit everything.
I don't know if I'd be down for a fiddler ruling the whole show though, LOL. I would want it to sort of go around and everyone pick something they would like to play. I guess more of a folk circle thing like you said.
I'm going to keep running the ad and try and get more people as time goes on too. The response has been pretty small so far. LOL.
thanks, anyone with any more tips about how I should do this please let me know.
Can someone tell me how regular old-time (not necessarily just dulcimer groups) jams are done? It's my understanding that an old-time jam would basically be everyone playing the notes together with no breaks or leads. Is this correct? The ones I've been to (only a handful) weren't really OT per se, more bluegrass I guess. Everyone would play together to begin with and then each person would take a lead or break until it went around the room.
Mandy, I've played almost exclusively in old-time sessions for over 14 years, my husband is a wonderful old-time fiddler. But I've also dabbled in bluegrass, folk, and Irish sessions now and then (not that I'm good at playing in those styles though, I'm not...lol). There are many kinds of jam sessions: general folk music, bluegrass, old-time, Irish trad, Cajun, etc etc. I'd have to label most dulcimer groups as 'folk genre' since they play such a wide variety of both trad and modern material.
Many musicians who just play for fun (and particularly those who would most likely be interested in open jams) play tunes and songs that overlap more than one of these genres. For instance, bluegrass players play a lot of old-time songs but they play them in modern bluegrass styles...and many folk singer types will sing bluegrass songs, or vice versa. What I'm trying to say is that maybe you are limiting the response you get if you label your jam specifically as an 'old-time' session. An old-time session would not normally be playing modern folk songs or playing/singing songs in bluegrass style.
In a typical old-time session , it's most often the fiddler who leads and decides the tunes based on their repertoire, and the other instruments find and fill in their complimentary roles around that...not necessarily all playing melody. The fiddler usually leads the tunes. Nobody takes breaks or solos, and it's considered impolite to drown out the fiddler. Sometimes people sing out verses to familiar tunes, but it does tend to be mostly instrumental and fiddle-tune based. Sometimes there is singing of old-time songs, as in Carter family repertoire, but not done in bluegrass style.
In a folk 'song circle' , people take turns playing/singing their own song of choice and they can either welcome others to play along as a jam, or in some instances it's a true 'song circle' in that the person does their song alone while others listen, and then it's the next person's turn. In a regular folk 'jam' you can go around with folks picking their own songs and starting them but everyone customarily playing along. Singer-songwriters who play guitar tend to gravitate towards folk jams, since 'folk music' includes both traditional and modern material of all kinds.
In a bluegrass jam , there is a huge repertoire of bluegrass (post 1935) material along with its customary etiquette such as breaks and leads. Some bluegrass songs are relatively modern (just be aware that those songs are likely copyrighted). There is a lot of singing, and not so many all-instrumental tunes like one sees in old-time sessions. Other bluegrass songs have been adapted from old-time repertoire, tunes and ballads, but are played in bluegrass style. But bluegrass and old-time are most definitely not the same even though they share many of the same tunes and ballads...they don't play or sound the same, and it's considered clueless or even inconsiderate to play in bluegrass style when joining in on an old-time session. The rhythm, timing, harmonies, chords, even sometimes the keys are distinct between the two.
All this is not to say you can't have a super fun jam by mixing up folk, bluegrass, old-time, gospel, blues, whatever- all together! You certainly can!- throw it all in a pot and see what cooks up. But my point is that calling it 'an old-time jam' or a 'bluegrass jam' or a 'folk jam' implies a certain and well defined genre and repertoire, and that will definitely limit the people who respond to your ads. My suggestion, if you don't want to focus that specifically on one music genre at first, is to simply call it an acoustic music jam. That will bring all kinds of players and you'll get a varied pool of people and styles. You can always draw people from that pool into a more focused session later on. Hope this helps!
I asked for the advice, so yes I want it. That was sort of my plan as far as just starting a regular jam session first. I just also mentioned the possibility of forming a band in case someone was already in a band or knew of a band. There really seems to be no old-time scene here other than bands who come around from elsewhere and even those seem really rare. Unless I'm looking in the wrong places that is. The people coming didn't seem to receive what I said as anything requiring them to be in a band or anything like that and that was not my aim.
I've been looking around online and search craigs regularly in the musicians section, and it's just normally all either open mic announcements seeking bands to play, current bands looking for specific instruments or vocalists (all electric stuff), or agencies selling recording time-slots in Orlando. The people who have responded to me say that there's not much going on here in the old-time stuff.
Can someone tell me how regular old-time (not necessarily just dulcimer groups) jams are done? It's my understanding that an old-time jam would basically be everyone playing the notes together with no breaks or leads. Is this correct? The ones I've been to (only a handful) weren't really OT per se, more bluegrass I guess. Everyone would play together to begin with and then each person would take a lead or break until it went around the room.
I've been trying to work on my backing skills on banjo and dulcimer (banjo backing seems harder to me for some reason). Anyway, any tips on how to run these sessions would be appreciated. I've also told them that if any of them have suggestions or ideas to feel free to speak up and we'll go from there.
Third for Lisa's advice. Start with an all acoustic instrument jam, and over time see how many others you really connect with an how they might meld in terms of forming a band.
I have a bit of advice if you want it- start just by having a weekly or monthly jam. Get to know the people who come and see what they do. I'm imagining you'd be welcoming most folks with acoustic instruments, right? Well, unless you are actually wanting to form a band that contains everyone who comes to the jam (and maybe you DO want that), I suggest you hold off talking about forming a band to the general jam group... You may find that you don't blend well musically (or personally) with everyone who comes to the jam, and it's far easier, with less bruised egos, to invite a few people later on privately in terms of forming a band rather than to tell the whole jam group from the start that you are wanting to form a band. I guess a lot also depends on how big or small you want your band to be.
Good luck and have fun!
I've never really jammed much or played in front of groups of people. I've played at parks a couple times but never more than two or three people at a time would walk by where I was. I made a goal this year to get involved in something, so I decided that it's time I found a good jam and started thinking about getting involved in a string band also. There are none that I can find close to me without a long drive.
So I placed an ad in craigslist asking for people who were interested in jamming and possibly forming a band together. I've (so far) got 3 people scheduled to come over this Sunday evening to play!!!! I'm thrilled and a little nervous at the same time. Looks like I'll be the only one with a banjo or a dulcimer. We'll have guitars, mandolin's, and harmonicas too. I can't wait! I'm actually hoping some of us will mesh well together and want to go further with it and form a band to play at small local things.
Anyone with tips or ideas for small sessions like this I'd appreciate the advice.
If the gears are exposed, check the screws in each gear, and snug them up if they are loose. The gears should stay in close contact. If the gears are worn, the tuners may have to be replaced. Stewart MacDonald shows dimensions for the mounting holes on their 3 on a plate tuners, there is no universal hole spacing. The distance between the shafts, and the diameter of the shafts, also varies. If possible, you want to match all the dimensions so no old holes need to be filled, and no new holes need to be drilled. If there is a makers name on your dulcimer, that might be a good place to check for tuners and the brand of tuners that probably was used on your dulcimer. Searching for dulcimer tuners may not turn up what you need simply because most dulcimers use tuners that were developed for other instruments. There are few tuners sold as "dulcimer tuners", but a large variety of "guitar tuners." The friction pegs used on dulcimers were first used on ukulele, the 3 on a plate tuners were guitar tuners, as were most of the individual tuners used by dulcimer builders. The planetary gear tuners were developed for banjos. Dulcimers represent a small market, by any standard you use to compare it to guitar or banjo production. A lot of dulcimer makers use separate tuners as they can buy them in quantity and not have a problem getting odd numbers to build a 4 or 5 string dulcimer. 3 on a plate tuners don't divide well for 4 or 5 string instruments.
Paul
Seems to be some discussion, explanation missing above from Darwin....
Stewart Macdonald carrie economy Classic Guitar tuners, 3 on a strip, for $17.97 here:
http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Tuners/Classical_guitar/Lyra-style_Gotoh_Classical_Guitar_Tuners.html
Luthiers Merchantile International also caries them for about the same price.
There is a wide variety available on Ebay as well; and, as Bill says, you can find them in most larger music stores for around $19-$20.
Some of those tuners may require you to pull off the plastic over sleeve on the tuning shafts, to use them on a dulcimer.
Are these tuning machines, friction pegs, or wooden violin pegs? If they are friction pegs, you may just need to snug the screw in the end of the knob with a small screwdriver. Over time, wear and use loosen them a bit, and they start slipping.
If they are carved wooden pegs, like a violin uses, they may need to be replaced, but there is also a peg compound violinists use to stop them from slipping. A music store that understands violin-speak should have this. If they are tuning machines, the gears may be worn. Finding a set that has the same dimensions can be a little tricky, but try Stewart-MacDonald, http://www.stewmac.com/ or Luthiers Mercantile http://www.lmii.com/
Paul
Hey Paul
looking all the way from scotland the semitone interval count looks normal to 10th fret [2212212221] but then goes 2,3,1,2 or thereabouts?
I thought that was unusual but dulcimers are a minority sport over here and I would be fascinated to find out why it would be normal!
I plan to file and sand the bridge and nut down to an acceptable height. That is , as soon as I get up the courage to start. 
I am not very experienced in these matters.
When I had the temporary bridge in I was able to play it and it sounded nice. The higher bridge really distorts the sound. Makes it very metallic sounding, not to mention out of tune. With the temporary bridge the sound was much warmer.
Since the fret board is only one inch wide and the middle and bass strings are set very close together, I plan on saving this Dulcimer for noter/drone playing. I think it was meant to be played that way. Can't wait to start.
Dave,I don't see anything wrong with the fret spacing. It's hard to judge from a small picture, but it looks OK to me. Bill, try to get the strings to a reasonable height and see what you get. I bet that dulcimer has songs waiting to get out!
Paul
Bill, try moving your bridge back about 1 1/2 ' and check it again. See what the distance is from the nut to the 7th fret,and double that measurement that is where your bridge should be to start.
Maybe I will have to play songs with just the low notes
I am glad you tried the stuff that Paul and I suggested and it seems you are close to a solution.
What still intrigues me is what is happening 'Down the Dusty End' from 10th fret onward.
Visually everything looks fine until you get past 10 then the fret spacing looks all wrong!
The intonation up that end is often suspect due to high fetted tension and short vsl so the frets may have been set to achieve some more regularly used notes but to me they just look wrong!
If you find the time while you are testing it would be ineresting to know what notes you get from 10 on when your scale is correct elsewhere.
Keep up the good work!
Get that puppy down to "nickel & dime" action height!
Thanks but there has been another setback. When I moved the bridge back for the VSL to be 27 inches, tuned it up and it held a normal scale, I was using a temporary lower bridge. When I put the original bridge back, even at 27 inches I was getting a distorted scale. I think the string action definitely has to be lowered. I am going to experiment some more with the temporary bridge before filing down the original bridge but I think that is what I am going to have to do.
It's good to hear progress was made. It's even better since no major surgery or cash outlay was needed. I love it when a plan comes together! When do we get to hear a song?
Paul
Great news!
Now you can let everyone hear it !
As Paul said it seems your bridge is out!
I agree with all he says but describe things a little differently.
Your scale looks at fist glance to be [Counting in semi tone spacing] .....
2212212221 but afterthe 10th fret it goes awry! [There is no 6 1/2 fret]
Assuming the frets are in the correct relative positions then the bridge position should be set so that the 7th fret is exactly half the vsl [distance between nut and bridge] Then check intonation as string height will cause intonation to go out as you move up the fretboard and increase tension when you depress the string a greater amount. Speaking roughly the harmonic bell note at the 7th fret and the depressed note should sound the same if intonation is correct.
Most dulcimers use a low string height however the gauge of string /tension/ pitch of note determine the physical size of the vibration at the mid point and so string height is a compromise to avoid fret buzz and maintain intonation. If you wish to experiment make a temporary single string bridge slightly lower than the original and find the best intonation /string[bridge height] for your melody string. Old credit cards cd cases video boxes etc provide temporary plasic packers to vary bridge height.
Adjusting at the nut is good but is hard to undo!
Mark your desired bridge position with tape and then you can position the existing bridge once you have altered the height if necessary.
If you are going to reduce the bridge height remove material very gradually from the bottom using sand paper on a flat surface such as an old mirror glass.
Good luck and have patience!
