Someone once said about the dulcimer "There ain't no notes on the thing, you just play it!

Thanks much for the help. I think I get it. I'm going to just play and quit trying to figure it all out. I'll let my ears do the figuring.

Brad, the short answer is that in traditional drone play, there are no chords.  The first and fifth notes of the scale of whatever key you are in ring out throughout (or drone) on the bass and middle strings and you play the melody on the melody string.

Take a look at Robin Clark playing "Coleman's March" .  In DAA tuning, he starts the song going from the 3rd fret to the 5th fret.  At that point he is actually playing a D major chord (D on the bass, A on the middle, F# on the melody).  But then he moves to the 6th fret (G note).  If you were chording, you would switch to a G major chord there, but in drone style, there is no chord change.  The bass and middle are still D and A even though there is no A in a G major chord, and yet the song sounds sweet, doesn't it?

--
Dusty T., Northern California
Site Moderator

As a musician, you have to keep one foot back in the past and one foot forward into the future.
-- Dizzy Gillespie
updated by @dusty: 10/31/23 02:40:27PM

 

You don't have chords in the usual sense.  You have "drone chords" -- the desired note on the melody string plus whatever the drones are tuned to...for example:

Dulcimer tuned to DAA, major scale starts on melody string 3rd fret:  D4, E4,F4, G4, A4, B4, c5, d5.  If you also strum the drone strings you get the following "drone chords":

D3..E4..F4..G4..A4..B4..c5..d5
A3..A3..A3..A3..A3..A3..A3..A3
D4..D4..D4..D4..D4..D4..D4..D4

Thanks for all your replies. Dusty, that's kind of how I've been doing it. I think I've got most of the chords I need mapped out.

Ken - I'm still a little confused. I understand about letting the other strings hummm along, but what happens when you change to a different chord in a progression, like G-C-D-G?

Brad, I have a six-string dulcimer that I only play with three strings now.  I much prefer the clarity of sound with the single courses. And certain techniques (like bending strings) just can't be done with those double courses.

If you are used to other chromatic instruments, you may get frustrated with the way chord shapes work on the dulcimer since they switch from major to minor depending on where on the fretboard you are.

They way I taught myself chords, and the way I encourage students to do so now, is to find some 3-chord songs.  Don't worry about playing the melody, but just strum to accompany yourself singing or humming or whistling.  Figure out those 3 chords by the nut, perhaps sticking to the first 3 frets.  When you have those down and can play them without having to concentrate on where to put you fingers, find different versions of those chords around frets 2-5 or so.  Do the same thing, strumming chords there until you get them down. When you fingers are comfortable there, find those same three chords around frets 5-8.

In the end, you've just been strumming chords and singing songs, but you've learned where to find the main chords you need up and down the first octave of the fretboard.

--
Dusty T., Northern California
Site Moderator

As a musician, you have to keep one foot back in the past and one foot forward into the future.
-- Dizzy Gillespie

Good start, Brad.  If you ever get tired of trying to figure out those chord shapes, you can simply play the melody on the melody string(s) and just let the others hummm along.

Well, I've been fooling around with my 6 string. It is now a 4 string and may very well become a 3 string!

There is a difference in sound, but not enough for me to add back strings. It still sounds great. In fact I can't even remember how it sounded before (one of the few benefits of old age) so I'm good. My plan is to play it in a BG jam I go to so I've been working on chord shapes (DGD tuning). It's difficult because I'm finding the dulcimer so different from any other instrument I've had. But I'm pressing on as a jam is coming up that I hope to be ready for.

Brad