Dusty Turtle
Dusty Turtle
@dusty
8 years ago
1,719 posts

I think I agree with everyone. Laugh

The closest ting to a Fakebook for dulcimers are the various Join the Jam books by Stephen Seifert.  And there are several of them, the original two volumes in both DAA and DAd, one on Gospel tunes, one that plays across the strings in the "low octave," and more recently a couple of video series where you can watch him play while you play along.

And there are lots of free resources online.  On the "Resources" page of my website (don't worry; I have nothing to sell, so I'm not trying to drum up business) I have a category entitled " Free Dulcimer Tab Online ."  Follow those links and explore!

But as Strumelia says, dulcimer players do not exist in a vacuum and many of us play with other musicians.  There are lots of bluegrass and old timey fake books that might also be of interest. She describes them well.  The online versions allow you to play either fiddle versions or midi files so you can hear the basic melody.  (I have links to some of them on my website, too.)  And because certain songs are often played in a standard key, I think it's good to learn  the songs in that key.  Soldier's Joy is indeed usually played in D ("hooray" says the dulcimer chorus), but Red-Haired Boy is usually in A, Temperance Reel is usually in G, and so forth.




--
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
Strumelia
Strumelia
@strumelia
8 years ago
2,247 posts

When recommending tune/tab books for jamming, personally I think it's always a good idea the specify whether the book is intended for dulcimer-only jams ...where most all tunes are played in the key of D and most often in DAd tuning (with or without capos), and presented in dulcimer TAB form.

Many dulcimer players tend to congregate with other dulcimer players for club meetings and festival jamming....but we should keep in mind that in the music scene in general, jams typically include various instruments and jamming is in various keys.

There are many great jamming books out there- like the 'Fake book" series, or "Sing Out" for example.  Those books are standard resources in folk jamming and can actually be used by people on various instruments, since they contain the simple melody in standard notation, the lyrics, and chord change indications of popular standard jamming songs, in the keys they might typically be played in by folk musicians.

It's always good to specify the format of the music in a music jam book, so one isn't surprised when it arrives in the mail and doesn't meet the intended need.  nod




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Site Owner

Those irritated by grain of sand best avoid beach.
-Strumelia proverb c.1990
Paula Brawdy
Paula Brawdy
@paula-brawdy
8 years ago
53 posts

I like Stephen Seiferts Join the Jam 1 for a beginning player...    It is written well, the tab is easy to read, and we use it in our group... It has worked very well.  

Start with the easier songs like Bile them Cabbage down, and others...  Also if you can catch one of Stephen's 3 day intensive workshops for beginners it will help immensely.  

 

Secondly there is dulcimer school on the web.      www.dulcimerschool.com     this website is how I began my mountain dulcimer journey.  I was working full time, and did not have a lot of extra time and/or energy.  I subscribed for about 3 months and at 5 am I was on this website with my dulcimer learning all the basics!    It is very reasonable to subscribe for a month and there is no obligation to continue at any time..   He will get you started right with strumming and developing good habits, not bad habits!    You can take lessons on this site 24 hours a day as it is a series of teaching video's.   It 's the best deal out there for mountain dulcimer.

 

 

David Pedersen
David Pedersen
@david-pedersen
9 years ago
32 posts

I just received the Lets Jam book from David Haas. You will enjoy hours and hours of fun and playing from this. I've been playing for 9 months(newbie). Enjoy.


Martha E said:

Dave Haas also has a book of jam tunes called "Let's Jam!"

Martha E
Martha E
@martha-e
9 years ago
8 posts

Dave Haas also has a book of jam tunes called "Let's Jam!"

Martha E
Martha E
@martha-e
9 years ago
8 posts

Hello! One great resource for learning a lot of new jam tunes is Stephen Seifert's Join the Jam Book 1 in DAD tuning. He has a second book, Join the Jam Book 2, with even more jam tunes. They're available from his website and from the Folkcraft and McSpadden websites.

There's a lot of free tab for jam tunes on the Three Rivers Dulcimer Society website, too: http://www.threeriversdulcimersociety.net/html/ourmusic.html

Dan Goad
Dan Goad
@dan-goad
9 years ago
155 posts

Here is a link, Nancy. http://www.jerrywrightfamily.com/products.htm