Forum Activity for @robin-clark

Hi Whit,

From D,A,A simply raise the bass D to an E - giving E,A,A I use a reverse capo on some of my dulcimers which I just slide under the bass string next to the first fret. On other dulcimers, where I have a slightly lower gauge bass string my bass string will tune up the tone from D to E. E,A,A gives you all those mixolidian fiddle tunes (OJC, June Apple etc) and any ionian ones (Buffalo Gals, Cripple Creek) if you either have a 6+ or simply avoid using the 7th of the scale.

From D,A,d I again raise the bass D to an E (either re-tuning or with a reverse capo) giving E,A,d and can then play the A dorian tunes (Shady Grove, Elzic's Farewell, Cluck Old Hen, Cuckcoo, Frosty Morning etc). With a 6+ you can also work all the ionian and mixolidian tunes around this tuning aswell. So on 90% of modern standard dulcimers E,A,d will cover off everything the fiddlers play when they re-tune to A,E,A,E

I also use A,a,a and A,a,d depending on the sound I want.

If you want to play chord/melody then a quick way to get to the key of A is to put a capo on fret 4. As long as your dulcimer has a 6+ fret then this will give you the A scale and the chord shapes you are used to from D,A,d. Additionally, by using the 6 rather than the 6+, you can play many Am fiddle tunes in this position.

Tuning your D,A,d 1-5-8 dulcimer to the key of A - keeping the same 1-5-8 string ratio - is a little more awkward. As Ken says, you will probably need to change your string gauges.

You can play in the key of A from D,A,d using 1-0-1 as your root chord A, open strings as the D chord and 1-1-1 as the E chord (3-3-3 for G on mixolidian tunes).It is a little awkward as it is the mixolidian scale that's under your fingers. But tunes like Old Joe Clark and June Apple that are usually played in the key of A mixolidian at old time sessions can be played using this approach.

If you play melody/drone or noter/drone then your options for getting to the key of A with a standard string set are greater than with chord/melody. I regularly (make that daily!!!!) play in the key of A because the list of fiddle tunes played in that key is endless! If you can't play in A major, A minor and A mixolidian then you will never cut it at any old time sessions!!!!!!!

Thanks, Stephen, for the info. It is such a pretty, haunting song. I have the "Song Catcher" DVD and just happened to watch it again a few days ago. I have been doing the song for some time using the dulcimer. I use a different, less clunky rythm than is heard in the movie.

Stephen Addison said:

The songwriter( of When the Mountains cry) has posted a lead sheet on his web page, its fairly easy to play from it - I've used this for banjo and dulcimer versions as well as guitar versions. Here is a link to David Mansfield's lead sheet. You can make it sound just like the movie - it's also easy to make it too pretty.

Ellen Rice said:

Any chance of the TAB being posted some place ?

The songwriter( of When the Mountains cry) has posted a lead sheet on his web page, its fairly easy to play from it - I've used this for banjo and dulcimer versions as well as guitar versions. Here is a link to David Mansfield's lead sheet. You can make it sound just like the movie - it's also easy to make it too pretty.

Ellen Rice said:

Any chance of the TAB being posted some place ?

That's FOTMD member Michael Futreal of Twang Darkly (we share Shreveport, LA as home base). Great stuff!

Brian G. said:

I wouldn't call You are My Sunshine a bright and cheery song at all, especially when you consider the verses. This verse, for example, has a more melancholy feel:

"The other night, dear, as I lay sleeping
I dreamt I held you in my arms
When I awoke, dear, I was mistaken
So I hung my head, and I cried"

This one seems vaguely menacing:

"I'll always love you and make you happy
If you will only say the same
But if you leave me to love another,
You'll regret it all one day"

And this one is definitely sad:

"You told me once, dear
You really loved me
That no one else could come between.
But now you've left me
And love another,
You have shattered all my dreams."

Aura Waters said:

Just for fun, come see this guy's minor key YouTube version of "You Are My Sunshine " entitled "Not My Sunshine"

It really demonstrates what a minor key can do to an otherwise bright and cheery song!

I wouldn't call You are My Sunshine a bright and cheery song at all, especially when you consider the verses. This verse, for example, has a more melancholy feel:

"The other night, dear, as I lay sleeping
I dreamt I held you in my arms
When I awoke, dear, I was mistaken
So I hung my head, and I cried"

This one seems vaguely menacing:

"I'll always love you and make you happy
If you will only say the same
But if you leave me to love another,
You'll regret it all one day"

And this one is definitely sad:

"You told me once, dear
You really loved me
That no one else could come between.
But now you've left me
And love another,
You have shattered all my dreams."

Aura Waters said:

Just for fun, come see this guy's minor key YouTube version of "You Are My Sunshine " entitled "Not My Sunshine"

It really demonstrates what a minor key can do to an otherwise bright and cheery song!

Oh, so pretty!

Guy Babusek said:

Any chance of the TAB being posted some place ?

The funeral song from the movie "The Song Catcher" (When the Mountains Cry). It is one of the most simple, haunting songs I have ever heard. I sing and play a version of the it on the dulcimer.

Under "plaintive" more than the other choices: two hymns (I think both are from the shaped-note tradition) chorded in B minor in DAA tuning: "Wayfaring Stranger" and "What Wondrous Love Is This."

Minor keys have an unfinished quality about them, with something in them begging to be resolved. This is a perfect match to "Wayfaring Stranger," a story of a spiritual pilgrim waiting for his unsatisfying and unfinished life to be resolved by entrance into the heavenly Kingdom. "Wondrous Love," likewise, presents an unfinished story. It is a Lenten hymn which reflects upon what Christ's love for us cost Him, while awaiting the not-yet-achieved joy of Easter. These two songs, with their anxious, "not-quite-yet" quality, illustrate why people started composing in minor keys in the first place.

I really love this thread.

This might be a good place to mention "Creepalachian" music. It's contemporary, alternative Appalachian music, typically dark, moody and minor. Tom House's "Someone's Digging in the Underground" is a good dulcimable example. Except for the electric rhythm guitar, it could be something Alan Lomax recorded.

There's a badly recorded version HERE or get the studio track from Amazon for a buck.Scroll way down for the lyrics HERE .

I think of Tom House as reporting from Appalachian darkside in the amphetamine age. It ain't sweet, spiritual stuff, be advised.

See also Freakwater, another group in this genre.

I've always thought that 'My Dearest Dear' was very sad. I'ts one of those songs that won't go away and I have several tunes to it now.

I just realized you did I Moved Through the Fair. It's amazing.

These are to lovely Guy. Watching your fingers in the first one was like watching ballet.

A similar idea, but no, the one I'm looking for is definitely "October is a Gypsy Lass". I've found it in a couple spots online, but no one ever says who wrote it...either the words or the music.

Could it be this:

October is a gypsy queen
In dress of red and gold.
She sleeps beneath the silver moon
When nights are crisp and cold.
The meadows flame with color now,
which once were cool and green.
Wild asters and the goldenrod
Bow low to greet their queen.
When she is tripping through the wood
With song so clear and sweet,
The autumn leaves come sifting down
And rustle 'neath her feet.
Winifred C. Marshall

One of my fall favorites is "October is a Gypsy Lass" which was published in some magazine for children in the mid-late 50's. I have no idea who wrote it, but my sisters remember all the words and we've always remembered the tune, which can be sung spritelyor slowly and spookily--I like it both ways. If anyone could ever find the info on this, I would be forever grateful. I would also, of course, like to know if it is copyrighted!

I meant "She Moved Thro the Fair" DAaa

This tune is not haunted or scary...but I think In the Bleak Midwinter is a mournful tune. I love to play it.

Yay! Flint is stopping by!

Hey, I"m still here too! I'll follow this thread as long as I can draw breath. :)

How about Dock Boggs's "Calvary" ? It's about the grimmest Easter song I know. Lyrics are here , The Carter Family and lots of others, Ralph Stanley among the, recorded it as "On a Hill Lone and Gray" with a different and far less spooky tune.

It's also out there in an earlier and greatly lengthened version as "There's a Hill Lone and Grey". Beverly Francis Carradine published it in 1896 with a tune that resembles the one that the Carters used later.

Dock's version reads like a classical murder ballad. In the first few bars, Dock's tune resembles the one he used for "Reuben's Train". I'd love to find out more about the tune if anyone knows.

Dock's tuning is supposed to bef#CGAD (according to Don Zepp).

Hey, I"m still here too! I'll follow this thread as long as I can draw breath. :)

How about Dock Boggs's "Calvary" ? It's about the grimmest Easter song I know. Lyrics are here , The Carter Family and lots of others, Ralph Stanley among the, recorded it as "On a Hill Lone and Gray" with a different and far less spooky tune.

It's also out there in an earlier and greatly lengthened version as "There's a Hill Lone and Grey". Beverly Francis Carradine published it in 1896 with a tune that resembles the one that the Carters used later.

Dock's version reads like a classical murder ballad. In the first few bars, Dock's tune resembles the one he used for "Reuben's Train". I'd love to find out more about the tune if anyone knows.

Dock's tuning is supposed to bef#CGAD (according to Don Zepp).

too funny

Richard Venneman said:

Every song I play is mournful and spooky, at least according to my wife. :-)

I think you got your wish, Flint. Here we are three years later.

Well, it's not a traditional ballad or anything, but David Schnaufer's version of the Hank Williams tune "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cryhas moved me ever since I discovered the dulcimer. Elvis called it the "saddest song I've ever heard in my life."

Did you ever see the Robin weep

When leaves begin to die

That means he's lost the will to live

I'm so lonesome I could cry

You football fans might like to hear Terry Bradshaw sing the song , too. Weren't the seventies great?

Flint Hill said:

I sure am enjoying this thread. Hope it has a long and productive life

Tim and Ken,

Those are great suggestions! I have found the SMN for these and can't wait to try them. I have been listening to some Youtube verions also of all of the suggestions. I am sure others reading this thread appreciate these ideas for haunting tunes too.

Ken, I have played a few tune in Aeolian mode after reading Strumlia's blog about it and really like it. That would be perfect for these types of tunes.

a ballad called "the letter edged in black." evidently years ago a letter informing of the death of a loved one would

have a black border around the envelope to warn of sad and shocking news.

also "the little rosewood casket" as aclose second.

The Border Scots ballad called Lament of the Border Widow, in Aeolian Mode (DAC if you like the key of D). Aeolian Moe is great for all those eerie, 'fingernails on chalkboard' mournful songs.

My love, he built me a bonny bower
And clad it o'er with lily flower
A bonnier bower you ne'er did see
Than my true love he built for me

There came a man by middle day
He spied his sport and went away
And brought the King that very night,
Who broke my bower and slew my knight

He slew my knight to me so dear
He slew my knight and seized his gear
My servants all for life did flee
And left me in extremity

I sewed his shroud, making my moan
I watched his corpse, myself alone
I watched his body night and day
No living creature came that way

I took his body on my back
And whiles I walked and whiles I sat
I digged a grave and laid him in,
And happed him with the turf so green

Oh, don't you think my heart was sore,
As I laid the earth on his yellow hair
Oh, don't you think my heart was woe,
As I turned about, away to go

No living man I'll love again
Since that my lovely knight is slain
With just one lock of his yellow hair
I'll chain my heart forevermore

Thanks John! I will try to get a copy of that!

Hello Gale, I used to take the dulcimer into schools a while back, and often used a simple song from Jean Ritchie's book ' Singing Family of The Cumberlands'. It can be found on pages 11/12 , "There was an Old Woman, all skin and bones', simple tune, nicely minor, easy to tailor to suit your audience, with a great 'punch line' ending ?

good luck in your search

JohnH

That one sounds like fun, Shawn. I will give that a try.

Janita Baker teaches Three Blinde Mice by Ravenscroft in her Rounds and Canons workshop. This original version is in a minor key and it's dirge-like and quite creepy. I can't offer up Janita's tab, but here's an article which contains standard musical notation for the minor key version, about halfway down. If you know the notes on your fretboard you can easily tab it out:

http://strangewayes.wordpress.com/2013/05/04/late-period-english-rounds/

I found this old thread as it is now October and Halloween is approaching.Anyone have some additional tabs, links, or ideasof spooky songs to play on the dulcimer? I can pick some of the easier, contemporary ones that come to mind - "Addams Family" that are just for but I am sure others out there can think of others? Tubular Bellsused in the Exorcistwould be interesting....

Sorry Bob, should have mentioned that I posted it under another name commonly given to this tune, "Velentia Harbour" (posted oct 12 th, 2010)

John