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,
