Forum Activity for @alex-lubet

Thanks again, Robin.  You're very kind.  I hope I'm making a contribution to the dulcimer world as well.  As you can probably tell, I make some different tone colors on the instrument and I'd love to have an opportunity to share them.  You can probably also tell that I use lots of different tunings and, on the album, four equidistant strings.  Four strings was a new thing for me (I have an album called Three Stings and the Truth), but I'm hooked, althougn there are virtues in three strings as well.

The album should be streaming in a few weeks.  I'll let you all know.

Thanks again and have a great weekend,

Hi,

I hope you're all doing well.

I haven't noticed anyone mentioning being from Minnesota (like me) and I'm wondering if anyone else is.  I know there are at least a few other dulcimer players, not sure whether they're in this group.  I live in St. Paul, so I'm especially interested in Twin Cities folk.

Thanks and have a great weekend.

Thanks so very much!  You're the best, Robin.

I hope I'm humble enough to refrain from calling my work "groundbreaking," but I'm delighted that you did.  I would call it "different."  Possible reasons:

1) I'm a classically trained composer and have taught composition for almost 50 years.

2) I'm totally self-taught on dulcimer, which is now my main instrument.  I've been playing for about ten years, guitar, bass, ukulele, mandolin before.

3) I'm seriously left-handed, but have always played all my instruments right-handed.

4) I have pretty eclectic tastes, that include all manner of American, world, and classical music.

Streaming soon!  I so appreciate you, Robin, and this wonderful community.

Streaming soon on all your favorite platforms:

https://jazzweekly.com/2025/08/stories-not-for-the-faint-of-heartalex-lubet-amy-levy-songs-of-love-and-loss-professor-girlfriend-my-mother-in-love-the-summer-sessions/

Thanks, John, very insightful.

I listened to her rendition of Barbry Allan this morning and was taken by her ending every verse on scale step 2.  I kept thinking that perhaps she might resolve it in the final verse, but she did not, which was perhaps fitting, given the lyrics.

Hi,

A good week to you all.

I've been doing a deep dive into Jean Ritchie lately, for the dulcimer of course, but also for the words of the ballads.  What has struck me is that so many of these songs were even centuries old and from distant lands.  You all know this, of course.  But I find it so interesting that Kentucky folk would preserve lyrics that were so far removed from their day to day life.  We're all glad they did, but one must also wonder why.  (Needless to say, new songs were being composed as well.)

Does anyone who knows more about this than me have any insights they'd like to share?  That would be much appreciated.

Thanks in advance and have a great week.

Thanks!

Good to know, thanks so much.  I think much of what I do is grounded in being entirely self taught (on dulcimer), at some distance from the mainstream dulcimer community.  It's great to have so many really knowledgeable people like you from whom to learn.

When my vocalist friend Victoria and I were planning to do a set of songs together, I shared some Jean Ritchie recordings with her.  I've thought we might do some of her songs together.  Victoria has an operatic voice, but she's done musical theater, too, and she has great diction, expression, and rhythm.  Not all classical singers have her diction and rhythm.

I usually play with four equidistant strings these days and use many different tunings.  But I really enjoy tuning three or even all four strings to low D.  That's great for droning, obviously, but also great for bending, as the strings have different tensions.

I would say Jean Ritchie.  It's more obvious in other pieces.  

But I would say it's really the drone and not the noter that has been the influence, as I don't use a plectrum of any kind.  And, to be honest, I've been interested in drones forever.  My parents were progressives and brought me to see Ravi Shankar when I was quite young.  They (and my older brother) were folkies, so I'm pretty sure I heard Jean Ritchie even before I started guitar, about 1966.

I was also a fan of the one-chord jams that 60's rockers like Cream, the Dead, and Santana played, and still love the modal jazz of John Coltrane and others.  And I love medieval music, which only rarely has actual drones, but often has long held bass notes (which were called "tenor").

I'm a very left-handed lefty who plays right handed (was never given the opportunity to play left-handed, as I started on my brother's guitar), so no one should ever look at my right hand technique, especally young people.  I have a couple of noters, but I really struggled with them.

Thanks so much for asking.

Hi All,

A medieval instrument that looks a lot like a dulcimer but serves a very different role as accompaniment only to melodic instruments, sort of like a drone without a noter.  I think you'll enjoy this.

Have a great weekend.

I enjoy your work, too.  I really appreciate the noter-drone style.  It's been an influence.

Best,

That's so kind of you to say.  I really appreciate it.  I also appreciate the great contributions you make to this community.  This is not just a great place for music but for kindness and sharing.

Have a great weekend, Robin and all.

Hi All,

I hope everyone is well and enjoying life.

This is,  A Farewell , a song I composed for my friend and colleague, mezzo soprano Victoria Vargas.  The poem is by Amy Levy, a Victoria era Anglo-Jewish writer, well known in her brief life (she died by suicide at 27) and admired by Oscar Wilde.

https://soundcloud.com/user-356765105/07-a-prayer-7

I'm on dulcimer, of course.  I'm unaware of any other dulcimer recordings or performances that feature an opera singer.  Please check it out if you have the time and inclination.

Have a great weekend and thanks.

Hi All,

This is the ad for my new album on Neuma Records.  I'm not trying to sell it (although I wouldn't object), I just like the ad a lot.  It should start streaming sometime next month.

https://neumarecords.org/home/ols/products/alex-lubet-amy-levy---songs-of-love-and-loss

It's quite different from anything else I've heard for dulcimer.  As I've said before, I've been a classically trained composer and professor for over fifty years, but have also always played folk and popular music instruments and taught the history of rock music.  The album consists of songs with texts by Victoria era, Anglo-Jewish poet Amy Levy, beautifully sung by my colleague, operatic mezzo soprano Victoria Vargas.  It's an unusual combination, borne first out of our friendship and then our musical instruments.  I could have written for a more conventional accompanying instrument, but Victoria really liked the dulcimer and the idea of performing together.

Thanks and have a great day.

Hi All,

Greetings from Minnesota and a good week to you.

Mostly for curiosity, I'm asking those of you who teach dulcimer whether it's generally easier to teach someone with prior string instrument or none.  Although I don't teach dulcimer, as a teacher of music composition, I often assign students to write for it, as it's a challenging instrument to learn in that capacity.  On occasion, I've noticed that guitarists struggle with the "reverse" order of the strings, while non-string players don't have that issue.

In an analogous way, I have a colleague from Ghana who teaches West African music, both non-music and music majors, the latter mostly classical musicians.  He often finds the former take to African rhythms more readily, not being nearly as acclimated to the very different rhythms of classical music.

Thoughts?

Many thanks in advance,

Very interesting contributions, thanks so much.

For the most part, we declare ourselves right or left handed depending on how we write.  The only other such declarations that come to mind as being in common parlance are how we play string instruments and baseball (or, I suppose, cricket).  Notably, Ringo Starr was forced to write right handed but calls himself left handed and says that it informs his playing.

I read an interesting article some years ago that refers to "mixed handedness" when folk do different tasks different ways.  Besides playing right handed, I (used to) bat right handed.  Another article I read on the subject reported that there's no relationship between the hand we use to write and how we hold a shovel, rake, or similar implements.

On guitar, many players who fret mostly with their left hand also fret or "tap" with the right.  I occasionally do this on dulcimer 1) for certain harmonics 2) for effect, if I do it really hard, or 3) to play a pitch while I'm holding down another string with my left.

Have a great day!

Thanks, Nate.  I couldn't agree more.  It's one of the things I love about the dulcimer world is a sense of choice that differs so much from the classical music world where I've made my living all these years (while mostly playing folk instruments).  Even guitar feels to me like there are more fixed ideas about technique.

Things I do that I think might be easier for a lefty include bends (especially before I play a note, getting a chromatic pitch just right), harmonics (ones I've never heard anyone else play), and making big jumps all over the fingerboard.  OTOH (pun intended), I'm often blown away by right hand stuff other folk do that's way beyond me.

Have a great day.

According to published research I've read, when the right hand plucks and/or bows, it's doing the more difficult task.  That may well seem counter-intuitive, but it also explains why it's the norm on every instrument everywhere.  That seems particularly remarkable on instruments without frets, although manipulating a bow with finesse is tricky.

That being said, as a very lefty lefty, I've struggled all my playing life with developing a facile right hand on quite a few instruments (this despite having earned my living in music all my life).  But I also agree that that are really interesting things one can do playing right handed while having a particularly deft left hand.  I'm pretty sure this is what led me to composing my own music (or my own parts) that allows me to use my left hand to its best advantage.  It's also why I wouldn't think of teaching any of my instruments, since my technique is pretty idiosyncratic.  (I've taught classical composition and related courses for almost fifty years.)

I've shared a few pieces, but you can hear a bunch on nearly all the major streaming services, including YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Music.  New album dropping any day now.

Thanks!

Everyone,

I think I now understand how to post to the General Forum.  My apologies for the confusion.

Thanks.  Forgive me, but I'm fairly new to this group and confused about how to post on the General Forum.  Please advise, thanks.

Hi All,

I'm curious about folk who, like me, are lefties who play right handed.  Do you think it's affected your style?  Has it held you back in any way?

I started guitar about sixty years ago and at the time, at least for me, playing left handed was not an option, although I suspect I would have if I could have.  (My wife is also a lefty, but not as much as me, and she says it's never been an issue.  She plays drums, guitar, and flute.)

Have a great day.

I have looked at and joined groups, thanks, and I'll check out Joellen Lapidus.

I'm interested in the idea of "advantage" that Lapidus brings up.  Igor Stravinsky said that he could not create without having limitations.  I think limitations are one of the things that attracts many of us to the dulcimer and that having less strings and less frets than, for example, a guitar can be what inspires us.  And having more resources doesn't necessarily make music or anything else better.  I don't necessarily agree with those who very much preferred Bob Dylan with just his guitar and harmonica to Bob Dylan with an amplified band, but, as anyone who's seen "A Complete Unknown" knows, there were -= and remain -- plenty of folk whose musical preferences run that way.

I'm just one of those folk who are inspired by the limitations of my 6.5 fret dulcimers, but also the "advantages" of four equidistant strings.  To each one's own and all are welcome. 

Have a great week.

Happy Sunday, all.

May I respectfully and in friendship request more posts on chromatic vs. not chromatic?  There has been a great deal of interesting discussion of "what is a dulcimer?" and "is the duclimer on the verge of extinction?" here, but the original topic is, I hope, still of interest and deserving of your thoughtful contributions.

Thanks,

My musical background and approach to the instrument are, I think, pretty different from others in this group.  One thing I find impressive is how nice and welcoming (almost) everyone is.  This is quite different from other types of musical communities in which I live and work, where competition and differences of opinion and values can get pretty nasty and even harmful.

As far as the instrument's future, you might find the following interesting.  For the preliminary exams my doctoral students in music composition take, I always have them compose a work for dulcimer.  The reason for this is because I think a professional composer should be able to learn to write for a new and unfamiliar instrument.  I choose dulcimer because it's especially challenging as a new instrument (and because I'm a pretty good judge of what is and isn't playable).

One doesn't need to be able to play an instrument to write for it.  (Such a requirement would make composing music for orchestra impossible for all but a few.). But, in the years I've given this assignment, four of my students have obtained dulcimers and taught themselves to play.  In part, I'm pretty sure it's just because they wanted to do a good job on their exam, but they were also so interested that they just had to have one.

I would also note that many Asian musicians (and audiences) I've worked with (including my wife) really like the instrument and find it works with their musical traditions.  There's reason to hope for the instrument's future.

Have a great rest of the weekend and a great week.

Thanks, Randy.  That's actually one of the easier listening pieces in the set.  There are some that folks may find scary, as I use some tunings that invite dissonance.

But please elaborate.  What is it about my playing that argues against buying a chromatic?  I hope folk realize that this is a strictly personal decision.  I've heard folk do things on chromatic instruments that impressed me.  I'm just not interested in doing them myself.

I try to listen to something unfamiliar every day.  (I'm semi-retired, so I can make the time.). They're mostly things I'd never dream of doing or couldn't do, but there's always something to learn and enjoy.

Again, have a great weekend, all, and appreciate each others' company in this wonderful community.

It seems we can all agree that the etymology of the word "dulcimer" relates to sweetness, but etymological origins have only a limited relationship to the evolution of words' meanings.  Take for example, the names of many of our states that have Native American origins.  How many of us even know the original meanings?

I'm happy to grant that sweetness one way many/most of us hear the dulcimer when played in familiar ways.  But we even have a group on this page for folk who like and use amplifiers, pedals, and other gear that produce sounds that are certainly something other than sweet.  Some of that sweetness may also owe to standard tunings and the music they inspire.

As a composer, I like the idea that sweetness is one possibility, but that the dulcimer is capable of quite a range of colors and that these yield many modes of expression.

Here's a piece that I think expresses that range of color and expression.  Three strings, no gadgets, but beautifully recorded to make me sound far better than I really am:

Have a great weekend.  This is a wonderful community.

Hi All,

I hope you're doing well.

I'm personally more interested in the chromatic dulcimer question than the "what is a dulcimer?" question.  I would observe though, that the etymology of a word and its evolved meaning over time are someimes quite different (and sometimes not).

Writing only for myself, I've chosen not to get a chromatic dulcimer.  The following may sound like hubris, but that's absolutely not my intention.  I'm a classically trained composer.  I have a PhD in composition, which I've taught at the University of Minnesota for nearly fifty years.  I pretty much only play my own compositions and pieces written for me by others.  I mention this only because I'm fully acquainted with highly chromatic music.

But I choose not to own/play a chromatic dulcimer.  After fifty years of guitar, I added dulcimer to my instruments and it's by far my favorite now.  For me, a chromatic fretboard doesn't present particular challenges or inspirations, including discovering chromatic melodies and harmonies.  I have three principle means of deriving chromatic pitches:

1) Tunings:  I've found about 75 (on 3 and 4 equidistant strings) that I like.

2) Note bending:  Both sliding, blues style, and bending the note before I play it.

3) Harmonics that aren't available by stopping the strings.

I've come up with all kinds of, to me, interesting things that would never have occurred to me on a chromatic dulcimer or guitar.  It's one of the reasons I love it so.  I may discuss others in the future.

If any of this sounds interesting, I have channels on all the major streaming services and several albums, but I really only wanted to join this very interesting discussion, not to self-promote.

Have a great rest of the week.  It's no longer scorching here in MN, but we're having several days of heavy rain..

Thanks again, Nate.  The tunes I've posted actually use pretty standard tunings, DAc and DAD with a first fret capo.  I'll be sending some others with more unusual tunings.  Everything is streamable on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Music, Bandcamp, and other platforms.

Have a great day.

Thanks again, Nate.  I have three dulcimers, one of which cost me $20, is on loan, and I may never see again.  I keep three strings on one, four on the other.

I can adapt to a new tuning pretty quickly.  I'm not sure why, because ukulele essentially being a transposition of guitar (long my main instrument) drives me up a wall.  I have to pretend it's a guitar and not think of the pitches I'm actually playing.  If I was reading tab, of course this wouldn't be a problem.

At least on four strings, I haven't found many tunings that I didn't think work at all.  For me, it's a question of working with a tuning until I find something interesting.  If I were more concerned with playing familiar chords, I'd probably reject more tunings.

Have a great day.

Thanks, Nate.  With only one exception, all the tunings I've used go low to high, which would eliminate some of those possibilities.  The only exception was Eb D F# A.  One of my former students wrote me a piece with many Eb4's.  When I originally played it, I bent the D up to Eb (with three strings), which obviously wasn't ideal, so I went to four equidistant strings, with an Eb on bottom, below the D, and only used it to play those low Eb's.  Never used that tuning again.

I haven't worked much with tuning the D string lower.  I almost always keep it on D.  I'm sure I'll get around to it.

Best,

I had to look up Galax tuning.  I use all-unison tuning sometimes on both 3 and 4 strings and it's indeed powerful.

I spend a lot of time exploring different tunings.  I've come up with about 75 and I think they're more interesting on a 7+1 fret dulcimer than a chromatic dulcimer, although I've never played the latter (and have yet to get interested in buying one).  My interest may stem from a background in classical music and jazz.  I admire and enjoy more traditional repertoires, but I don't play them.  I'm sure the folk who do are better at it than I'd ever be.

If you're interested, I've got channels on most of the major streaming services and three albums (on dulcimer), with another dropping soon.

Have a great week!

I spent some time this morning trying out your suggestions.  They offer some new possibilities.  I've been playing 4 equidistant strings for over a year.  I wonder how much difference that makes regarding fingers and thumb.

Thanks for your answers.  My answers to yours:

1) I knew about Stephen Seifert.  I wonder if he started on guitar, like me.

2) There's a whole literature about string instruments that says, contrary to what may seem like conventional wisdom, that the right hand does the harder work.  I'm very left handed, but was never given the option of playing lefty.  It's been limiting in some ways, but I can do some things with my left hand that righties would find challenging.  Check my stuff out on YouTube, Spotify, or Apple Music (or other streams) and see if you agree.

3) I'm passionate about alternate tunings, on 3 or 4 strings.  I think I've found about 70 and they open up worlds of possibilities.  But I have no interest in a chromatic dulcimer.  (I have a guitar for that.)

4) Staff notation is probably not very useful for learning other people's repertoire, unless it's for vocal melodies.  But I compose a lot and I've been reading staff notation forever, so I use it.

Thanks so much.  Such a great community.

Hi All,

I hope you're having a great weekend with better weather than here in MN.

I'm relatively new here.  I'm completely self-taught on dulcimer.  I've played for about ten years, after about fifty years of guitar and I'm a classically trained composer and music professor.  Dulcimer has become my main instrument.  My questions:

1) Because of my background in guitar, I mostly use all four left hand fingers and only occasionally my thumb.  Anyone else out there use this technique?

2) Anyone else left handed, but play right handed?  If so, do you think this affects your playing and if so how?  (I play fingerstyle, but I think my technique is unorthodox.)

3) Does anyone else spend a lot of time exploring alternate tunings?

4) Does anyone else use/like staff notation?

Thanks so much,