Sleep In Heavenly Peace Rod
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Every Christmas day I envision Rod playing his dulcimers and sharing his knowledge and wonderful enthusiasm with others. 'Deputy Mo', we will always remember you so fondly!
Forum Activity for @strumelia
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Sleep In Heavenly Peace Rod
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Rod was the first to welcome me to FOTMD and he embraced me as though we were old friends.
Merry Christmas, Rod.
Sleep In Heavenly Peace Rod
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I hope Rod's family feels comfort today.
Rest in peace, Rod. We miss you, friend.
Sleep In Heavenly Peace Rod
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The older I get the faster they get.I didn't know Rod for very long either, but I started learning aboutSacred Harp tunes from him in the short time I knew him.I learned one of the Sacred Harpsongs he used to play and I'm working on some others. Time flies.
Dana R. McCall said:
So hard to believe it has been a year already. For the short time I knew him he was such a sweet man.
Sleep In Heavenly Peace Rod
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Dave,
Thank you so much, this is beautiful.He was such a great Christian first, parent second and musician 3rd. How many of us can say the same. Perfect thanks. LB
Sleep In Heavenly Peace Rod
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So hard to believe it has been a year already. For the short time I knew him he was such a sweet man.
Sleep In Heavenly Peace Rod
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Thanks Wayne
Rod was very much active in the dulcimer community but provided good example for us all to follow.
Merry Christmas
Dave
Sleep In Heavenly Peace Rod
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Thanks Lisa
I have been thinking about posting something for Rod for the last couple of weeks but nothing was coming to me. Some of the players on Paltalk this last Tuesday played something for Rod but I didn't have anything prepared. I had some time this morning and after I found the video I had a creative moment. I felt I should post it tomorrow but ...
Merry Christmas
Dave
Sleep In Heavenly Peace Rod
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Nice tribute to Rod. I can't believe it's been a year.
Peace to one and all.
Sleep In Heavenly Peace Rod
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Dave, thank you so much for posting this wonderful tribute thread. What a beautiful tune you play for him.
Many of us have been thinking of Rod these past few days especially. He poured so much love into 'the family' here on fotmd. I feel like "Depity Mo" will be watching over our site of Friends tomorrow on Christmas day, with his silver bullet in his pocket... just in case. 
Sleep In Heavenly Peace Rod
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Thanks Robin
After watching the video this morning, I picked up my dulcimer and that's what happened. Rod was also one of the main players on our Tuesday Paltalk sessions. The Tuesday before Christmas last year he and I were doing most of the playing and it seemed nothing was out of place with him.
Merry Christmas
Dave
Sleep In Heavenly Peace Rod
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Dave,
Thanks for your lovely musical tribute to Rod. I'm also glad you posted the YouTube link to his daughter's tribute-- it's so touching. It surely was a shock last Christmas Day to learn of Rod's death. I remember Rod with great fondness. And he was our own dear Deputy Mo.
Blessings to you & yours!
Robin
Sleep In Heavenly Peace Rod
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Merry Christmas Rod
We miss you
We remember you
Dave
updated by @dave-holeton: 01/13/19 05:09:18PM
And as an even further complication, neither can I count! The bouzouki has two (that's 2) courses tuned an octave apart, namely those that I tune as G and D in GDAE that's the twocourses which have wound strings. It's the heat that does it, we haven't had rain here in England for at least a day, my brain is turning to mush!
Ben Ramage said:
At risk of oversimplification, an octave mandolin is a big bodied mandolin (called a mandola in the UK) that is tuned an octave below a mandolin, all courses being in unison. I tune mine GDAe. An Irish bouzouki is an offshoot of the Greek bouzouki, it may, but need not be round bowled. Mine is guitar bodied. Scale length may vary between 580 mm and 600mm. It has the bass courses tuned an octave apart, not in unison. My bouzouki is gG DD AAee (if you take my drift), others tune theirs GDAd or ADAd. To complicate matters some Irish bouzouki players tune all string courses in unison the same as a mandola. I am not an expert on it I tend to use it as the mandolin equivalent of a 12 string guitar (hence the guitar body).
And to complicate things even further, yes that is a 5 string banjo I am holding in the photo!
At risk of oversimplification, an octave mandolin is a big bodied mandolin (called a mandola in the UK) that is tuned an octave below a mandolin, all courses being in unison. I tune mine GDAe. An Irish bouzouki is an offshoot of the Greek bouzouki, it may, but need not be round bowled. Mine is guitar bodied. Scale length may vary between 580 mm and 600mm. It has the bass courses tuned an octave apart, not in unison. My bouzouki is gG DD AAee (if you take my drift), others tune theirs GDAd or ADAd. To complicate matters some Irish bouzouki players tune all string courses in unison the same as a mandola. I am not an expert on it I tend to use it as the mandolin equivalent of a 12 string guitar (hence the guitar body).
And to complicate things even further, yes that is a 5 string banjo I am holding in the photo!
I think Susan Trump has a fretless banjo made by Stanley Hicks, and i believe she knew him personally. You coudl try to contact her via her website.
Nina
updated by @nina-zanetti: 02/17/16 04:09:30AM
Hi Cindi - type of strings has nothing to do with make or tone of dulcimer. You need to know the VSL(25", 27", 29") and the keynote you want to tune to (C, D,G etc), Buy dulcimer strings unless you can't find them, In general any set of strings with .010 to .012 melody and middle drones and a .020 to .024 wound bass string will do just fine for most average VSLs and tunings.
Playing in a Jam....
Playing and jamming difficulties...HELP ME!
I actually went to a concert of Aubrey and Elwood's a couple of weeks ago (very fortunate that they were playing only 30 minutes away!) and I bought yet another limberjack from her for my limberjack 'collection' of about a dozen.
They are such fun... especially when everyone at the jam is playing in a key that you don't want to touch with a ten foot pole!....lol! Just take out yer little dancing man and watch the fun begin. 
Playing in a Jam....
Playing and jamming difficulties...HELP ME!
Thanks Wayne. I have seen Aubrey Atwater play one a couple of times, but didn't know what it was called.
Ben
Playing in a Jam....
Playing and jamming difficulties...HELP ME!
Once again, thanks to all of your replies...it really helps, although, it's going to take this musically challenged dulcimer player a while to learn some of the valuable information that you have provided.
I have discovered that part of my problem is that I am playing in a country jam and they tend to play in a particular rhythm that throws me totally off. I go up to take my turn and even though I know my song well, I hear their rhythm and I can't shake it out of my head.
I did have the good fortune to play this past week and it did happen yet once again. But a gentleman who has often encountered the same thing recognized that it was happening to me while I was playing "Blowin' in the Wind" and he came to within earshot of me and got me into the right rhythm with his mandolin.
I will have to display my ignorance here Strumelia as I haven't heard of a "limberjack".
Playing in a Jam....
Playing and jamming difficulties...HELP ME!
Ben, it's challenging to play in a large group with lots of different instruments, especially when there are singer-songwriter guitar players singing songs in different keys every time. Diane had some particularly useful advice I think.
I play more often in old-time fiddle jams with banjos and that makes a big difference- they stay in one key for a good half hour or an hour or sometimes even longer. That gives plenty of time to retune when a key change is announced. Even then, i like to bring two dulcimers- one for C and D, the other for G and A. They fit in a double dulcimer gigbag.
Occasionally we go to places where I know it's going to be really difficult for me to play along, for one reason or another. That's when I bring a limberjack and it's always fun to 'play' ...and just about everyone likes limberjacks.
Playing in a Jam....
Playing and jamming difficulties...HELP ME!
Benjamin,
If you happen to have a dulcimer with a 6-1/2 fret, you can tune the strings all to D-- either Ddd or go with all light strings and tune ddd-- and you're set for the key of D (tonic open) and the key of G (tonic at 3) without re-tuning.
Some tuners that clip on work well in a noisy setting.
Playing in a Jam....
Playing and jamming difficulties...HELP ME!
Perhaps the one thing that I failed to mention is that in this particular setting, it would be nigh impossible for me to change my tuning as there is too much noise (well, music and sound is probably a better description) going on and my tuner won't know what to tune the strings to.
Playing in a Jam....
Playing and jamming difficulties...HELP ME!
Benjamin,
My main dulcimer has no 6-1/2 fret. I use DAA as my home base tuning. For A tunes, I put a false nut under the bass string at the first fret-- a quick way to change tuning to EAA. For G tunes, I go to DGG. Some tunes won't lay-out right in these tunings, so I can either sit them out or just play some basic back-up rhythms.
Playing in a Jam....
Playing and jamming difficulties...HELP ME!
Thanks to all of you who have responded to my question. It is helpful. The particular dulcimer that I have been bringing to the jam doesn't have the 6 1/2 fret. I bring this one for two reasons: It is the one that I seem to play the most (my first one) and it has a case. I like your responses and will have to see if I can improve my playing in the jam while experimenting with your suggestions. Thanks again. Ben
Playing in a Jam....
Playing and jamming difficulties...HELP ME!
Benjamin,
You can play rhythm when playing back-up. I love to do this in a jam! And it's fun to get creative with rhythms. Since the dulcimer isn't loud, you can experiment. . .
Playing in a Jam....
Playing and jamming difficulties...HELP ME!
Yes Dana, but you would also be in different modes by using a capo- you'd be in E minor with the capo on 1, and you'd be in A Dorian (another minor-sounding mode) if you capo on 4. So if the jam is playing in the 'normal' key of A (not in A minor for example), you can't just slap a capo on the 4th fret and play along in A- you'd sound too minor, your fret pattern would be laid out for Dorian mode there at the 4th fret. Same thing happens when you put the capo on fret 1 for key of E- it will be E aeolian, a minor sound. That may clash badly with (chromatic) guitar players capoed to E and playing in a major sound.
The capo solution works well for going to G by capoing DAd on the 3rd fret- only because you were likely playing in ionian from DAd anyway, by using the 6.5 fret for most tunes. Placing the capo on 3 again produces the ionian mode, for G. So there is no noticeable mode change in that instance.
Playing in a Jam....
Playing and jamming difficulties...HELP ME!
You can use a capo and capo on the 3rd fret and you would be playing in the key of G capo on 4th fret and you are playing in A. capo on the 1st fret and your in the key of E If i'm wrong someone correct me please.
Playing in a Jam....
Playing and jamming difficulties...HELP ME!
I have been playing in a jam session which happens on an every other week venue. Most of the participants play the guitar, a couple may play a harmonica, one plays drums, maybe a mandolin and a fiddle or two. All play and one at a time each one gets to the microphone to do his or her song while the group plays back up.
The question is always, "what key are you playing in?" Responses will vary, but Key of G, D or A, etc. Seldom is the title of the song given, but sometimes it is.
I take my turn and say what key (usually D) and tell them the song.
I guess, the question that I have is how does one play the Key of A, for example, and often not even know the song until it is started by the performer?
And what do I do or play when I'm playing back up? Not that I'm heard over 20-30 instruments....
updated by @benjamin-w-barr-jr: 01/17/16 07:19:42AM
I guess the mood is in the ear of the listener, as I do hear a change. As I hear a mood change in the following from the first part "Erev Shel Shoshanim" which is a lyrical love song frequently sung at weddings, to the joy of "Siman Tov and Mazel Tov" a song frequently done at the end of the wedding ceremony.
But the music I have for them both in Aeolian with minor chords with the sheet music for "Simon Tov" instructing it to be played "Joyously" as it is.
But as I said, it's probably in the ear more than the music as "Shady Grove" strikes me as quite a happy, bouncy tune too.
I don't hear the mood change, the fast section is every bit as brooding as the slow section. Perhaps the lyric is gay and carefree, I have no idea there,but the music doesn't reflect gaiety. A faster tempo cannot always be equated with a lighter mood. Contrast the Storm and the Pastorale sections from The William Tell Overture. This is not the full overture, but it begins with The Storm, continues with The Pastorale, and concludes with the triumphant Finale. The Storm starts slower, but builds tension as it speeds up, while the slow Pastorale is light and happy. This is done partly with the mood of the different mode used, and also with the chord progressions used to harmonize each section. But bear in mind that the chords are tied to the mode used-the location of the half steps that creates each mode dictates the chords that come from each mode. Dad had a recording of William Tell, and I grew up with it. Uncle Carl had a very different arrangement of it: As a kid, I liked them both, but Spike probably had the upper hand at that time.
Paul
Pop, What frets are you using to play the second verse? I can't figure it out just hearing it. There is enough of Amazing Grace left that to me it's not entirely a new tune, but rather it sounds simply as if you are miss hitting some of the frets correctly. This is especially true when hearing the verses together, if you hadn't played the first and last verse, I'd probably be trying to put words to the tune and sing it, but not able to do so. But this frequently happens to me when someone is playing a tune that I know as a song, and has added a great deal of ornamentation and embellishment to the original melody.
Paul, Here's an example of what I meant by a mode not necessarily a emotion such as happy, sad, light, dark. This is Shlomo Carlebach's song "Am Yisrael Chai", it is in the Aeolian mode and is in C minor, key signature with 3 flats and ending on a C or 1 (to me) and Cm is the final chord. I'm looking at Sholmo's musical notation for it and I can't say hearing it played what key he is actually doing it in. You can hear the mode start out slowly and perhaps you can say somberly at first, but about 1:14 the mood changes as the tempo changes. This happier mood is how most people sing and dance the tune.