Thought I'd throw in this additional link for where to find free dulcimer tab:
https://dulcimertab.com/click-here-for-tablature-list/

(btw I think a lot of their tab is actually taken from the original Bruce Ford's Everything Dulcimer site, which is no longer existing.)

Thanks Dusty! I got it, and the notation is not a problem. So thanks again!

@dusty, thanks a bunch for the information!  

@lorilee and @robin-thompson, Neal is only charging $5 for a download of that Richard Fariña book, but the version of "A Swallow Song" there does not contain tab. It's just the melody in standard music notation and chord names to strum while you sing.  Most of the book is tab, but there are 2-3 songs like this where the melody is not provided in tab.

@lorilee The Richard Fariña Dulcimer Book is available for purchase as download from Gourd Music here: https://www.gourd.com/Books.html

Does anyone have tablature that they are willing to share for RIchard Farina's A Swallow Song?

Just to clear up an old comment (I wasn't a member at that time and didn'tsee it), the WNCDC taband midi files areuploaded toEverythingDulcimer about once a year. I think I may be a year or so behind, besides...

But the Western North Carolina Dulcimer Collective tab page is always up to date as of the current newsletter, and also includes mp3 recordings of each tune. They're the ones we used to send out on CD, but this is easier! One version is always the melody, the second isas-shown on the tab, andoften there's a third that is either finger-picked or playedat full-speed if it's a faster tune. (No tab for the fingerpicked versions, because I make them up as I record them!) And all of our tunes can be played on just the melody string with drones or with full chords, in either D-A-dd or D-A-AA.

The midi files are on both websites, although I really wonderwhether anyone uses them. But they're so tiny and so quick to produce with the notation software I use that they're no problem to provide, too. That software, by the way, is a DOS program I bought in 1989!

Ken Hulme said:

Howdy, all

I've uploaded some YouTube lessons to my channel , all of which have free tab available on my website .

I'll be doing more of this as time permits, so stay tuned.

You are welcome, Phil. That's a Blue Lion Dulcimer!

Linda

thanks Linda. Love the in-lay on the neck of the Dulcimer on your front page.

I have a few free TABs on my website, and more will be added.

www.cabinhillmusic.com

Best to all,

Linda

Lots of new folks joining and looking for tab. I thought I would give this thread a little bump and assist our new members a little bit

I know others have listed free TAB sites in these discussions but I thought it wouldn't hurt to add my current list. Some are well known, but others might be new to some people (I removed any duplicates already posted in this discussion):

http://wncdc.org/Tab_Index.php
http://barbfeick.com/vaudeville/Tabs/Dulcimer/DAD/
http://www.hsvmda.com/tab
http://www.threeriversdulcimersociety.net/html/ourmusic.html
http://www.coloradodulcimerfestival.com/jamtunes/
http://athensdulcimerclub.wordpress.com/free-tabs/ (LINKS)
http://www.gilamountaindulcimers.com/tab.htm (LINKS)
http://home.usit.net/~sandyc/dulcimertab.html (LINKS)
http://www.tindlemusic.com/tablature.htm
http://www.gulfweb.net/rlwalker/dogwood/dogwood.html
http://dulcimersessions.com/?cat=10

thanks so much

I'm techno-challenged sometimes. To me "midi" files are soundfiles. But Wayne's right. They aren't a real instrument playing, more like a synthesizer. Not every soundfile at ED Tab is a midi, most are quite good in fact.

Beginners should also be aware of the fact that mtn dulcimer tabs can be intended either for chord playing style (melody notes are fretted on all strings), or for noter/drone playing style (entire melody fretted on the melody string only). The two kinds of tab can be quite different, so keep that in mind.

Jessica - we can certainly share sites that contain music or tabs. There are restrictions here about sharing recordings of music not your own and not known to be public domain...

freetabs.org has an interesting "dulcimer" collection, but a great deal of it is tab for the Hammered Dulcimer, not Mountain Dulcimer. To use any of that site you also need to download the free program called TEFView if you do not own TableEdit.

Gila Mountain - my dear friend Kerry Coates - has not kept up with changes on her website for several years, so her links may or may not be valid. I think, for example, she still lists me as running a dulcimer club in Prescott, AZ, when in fact I haven't live there since 2002 and she was at my going away party. Kerry no longer makes her fabulous dulcimers, either.

You guys ROCK!!!! This is great stuff!

folkfan said:

Ron Beardslee has recently begun putting a bunch of beginner tab up on the Redwood Dulcimer Day website: http://redwooddulcimerday.com/resources.html . Ron teaches the beginner class at RDD every year and usesthis tab for that class. If you are just starting out, this material is perfect.

Mark Tindle has made available a lot of tablature of common dulcimer tunes (especially hymns) in arrangements mainly for intermediate players: http://www.tindlemusic.com/tablature.htm .

Gary Gallier has posted a bunch of tab on the Gallier Brothers website, though I would not recommend it for beginners. Some of it is pretty difficult stuff: http://dulcimercentral.com/?page_id=6 .

The same is true of Neal Hellman, who hides an ecclectic assortment tab in the deep recesses of the Gourd Music website: http://www.gourd.com/dulcimertabs.html .

There is, in short, lots of tab available for every level of MD player. Make use of it. I do. But I would also urge you all not to be a slave to tab. Learn songs by ear. Make your own arrangements. Use your instrument to express yourself.

that would have been way to easy, If there is a hard way to do something you can bet I will find it

Phil, next time, just type in something like "free tab" into our FOTMD handy SEARCH BOX at the top right of any page here. It will pull up various threads showing links to free tab, and this thread is right on the second page of the search results. It's really easier to find stuff here by using the FOTMD search box!

phil said:

it took me all night to find this page again I so glade it still here. A few weeks ago my old laptop with all my links up and died on me. I have been going nuts trying to find some of the links I had and here are most of them, Thanks Folkfan and Vivian.

www.contemplator.com for Anglo-American folk music midis including most of the Child Ballads

Tull Glazener's website:

http://www.tullglazener.com/Current%20Free%20Tab%20offered%20by%20Tull%20Glazener-mountain%20dulcimer%20performer%20and%20workshop%20instructor.htm

it took me all night to find this page again I so glade it still here. A few weeks ago my old laptop with all my links up and died on me. I have been going nuts trying to find some of the links I had and here are most of them, Thanks Folkfan and Vivian.

Vivian, I think anyone who looks in this DulcimerResources/Tab/Books forum will see the title of this thread and be able to see your post and links.

I'm just wondering, is there a way to post these links to free tab sites in a way that would be easy for people to find? As it is they seem to get buried in pages of other posts, unless there is a way already and I just haven't found it..I thought I saw some of these links once before, but could not relocate them, which is one reason I reposted the ones that I was familiar with. If there is already a permanent place to access certain links please let me know! Thanks

Wow, those are nice sites. I had used Prussie Valley before, but had not the others. I forgot about using image search. Thanks!

Another tip for TAB and SMN is to use Google IMAGE search instead of the general search.

Helps eliminate some of the dross.

john p

http://www.shelleystevens.com/

http://www.jcdulcimer.com/

http://www.gulfweb.net/rlwalker/jamnfolk/jamnfolk.html

http://www.prussiavalley.com/

http://www.mountaindulcimer-1-3-5.com/

Here are a few other sites for tab

I see that lots of people who are beginners like me and new to this are asking for tabs, or how to find tabs, and I thought I would post this...I have found lots of songs I am looking for on these sites. sniff.numachi.com has a very good database and tons of tab...I generally start by just doing a Google search ..."free dulcimer tab for____"and find tons of links that have the tabs.

http://sniff.numachi.com