Love the Traditional Music site! Looks like lots of possibilities there. Thanks!

Ken Hulme said:

Barbara - this site won't give you tab, but it does give lyrics and sound files so you can learn by ear. Arguably the best ballad site on the Internet: www.contemplator.com

Here's another that's good for ballad and other music, lyrics and more:

http://www.traditionalmusic.co.uk/traditional-music/

Thanks for the tips. I am really excited about trying some favorite songs, altho I like the folk tunes too. I really enjoy the ballads most.

Rich said:

Thanks for the help. I printed out Battle of New Orleans and can't wait to try it. I'll also check out your article.

Ken Hulme said:

SMN = Standard Musical Notation -- sheet music with lines and blobs with/out tails. Not Tabulature. I worked the tune out myself, but have never sat down and actually tabbed it out. I learn songs by ear rather than from Tab or SMN - after I can sing/hum/whistle a tune I can pick it out. As I pick out the tune I generally write down the fret numbers and create a tab for the song. But All I ever really keep is the first few measures as a memory aid.

A lot os shet music can be found on line, free. Also some dulcimer tab. You just have to google the tune name with 'dulcimer tab' included.

Have you read my beginner's article here called I Just Got A Dulcimer, Now What? It's here:

http://mountaindulcimer.ning.com/profiles/blogs/i-just-got-a-dulcimer-now-what

Battle of New Orleans dulcimer tab (DAA tuning) is here:

http://sniff.numachi.com/lookup.cgi?ds1=A&ds2=A&ds3=D&ti=BATNEWOR&tt=BATNEWOR&tab=d

Thanks for your input. I always loved "The Wreck . . ." used to sing it to my son who was born the same year the ship went down. I think seeing the anniversary in the news made me wonder if I could play it. Sorry, "SMN?" Think kindergarden here, I am really a beginner. Did you purchase the music or tab it yourself? Do you have a source where I might find some of these songs? I can read enough music to convert the sheet music, I took a (very brief) class and we learned how. "The Ballad of New Orleans" is another song I like -- seems like it would lend itself to being played on the dulcimer. Thanks again. I will post my progress on this front.

"Newer"songs are often still under copyright, and you probably won't find dulcimer tab for them, as paying the rights fees to publish them can be costly. You can tab such songs out from 'sheet music' for your personal use, if you can read SMN. Interesting that you mention Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald, as Nov 10th was the anniversary of her sinking. I play it in Dorian Modal tuning - DAG or CGF

For starters, I would avoid music written for any of the Bb instruments. This would include Trumpet, trombone and tuba, and maybe a few more.

Music for any C instrument will work, which is a lot of leeway. Guitar, mandolin, banjo, fiddle/violin, piano/keyboard, and I think all the woodwinds are C instruments. In some cases you may need to shift up or down an octave to reach the lowest or highest notes in the sheet. For instance, a guitar in standard tuning can play notes almost an octave below the dulcimer tuned to DAD. To play these sheets, you may have to shift everything up an octave on the dulcimer. Not really a problem. The fiddle may have more high notes, and less low notes than the dulcimer. You may find some songs require you to play an octave below the fiddle. Mandolin has the same tuning as fiddle, and the same range. This is really not an issue, you can adjust the octave. Music for the 5 string banjo may be closest to the normal range of a DAD or DAA dulcimer, but the 2nd, 3rd & 4th strings of a guitar are right there as well.

Finding dulcimer books is easy, if you are close to a festival, or a store that sells dulcimers. If not, try online. There are several places doing online/phone sales. Prussia Valley Dulcimers ,in Waverly, Ohio; Elderly Music in Lansing Michigan; and Amazon.com all carry dulcimer books. Also, the major music publishers have web sites you can check for music. Hal Leonard and Mel Bay are probably the two biggest in the US, I'm not sure who covers other countries. Looking for specific types of music can be tricky, though. Many books are written as instruction books, teaching how to play. They usually contain older folk songs, as most of these are in the public domain, meaning the author/publisher can use them without paying royalties. With modern songs,royalties must be paid. There are books focusing on some modern songs, but you pretty much have to see the table of contents to decide which books you want to buy. There are books on swing, blues, classical, rock, and probably more. A festival is a good place to look for books, as vendors will bring a lot of books on a lot of musical styles. And will probably know what is available that they haven't got on hand.

Also, maybe FIRST, try the tablature section at Everything Dulcimer. You may be able to download or print some of the songs you are looking for. http://everythingdulcimer.com/index.php Again, copyright and royalty issues may make modern songs harder to find.Tablature is in some ways better for a dulcimer player, as we sometimes require different tunings. You can learn where all the notes are, but once we change the tuning, the notes move. And some notes are lost and gained with each tuning change.

Paul

Try any dulcimer sales store for the books. If they don't have what you want they may be able to point you in the right direction [Mel Bay is a music book publisher]. The folks in the 'Rockin' in the free world' group may also have some suggestions. As far as the second question, try a search here for translation or transposing. You can use any sheet music but you are going to have a big learning curve. The easiest way is to get a music notation such as TablEdit or Finale, etc., and enter the notation as shown in the sheet music and follow the program's directions to transpose it to the key you are going to use. You could also pick it out by ear but that may prove to have somedifficultiesalso. If you're planning on singing the melody and chording, you may find the chords/words [only?] online.

Really a beginner here. I have some favorite songs I would like to be able to play. I've bought a couple of beginner books that have some of the old time songs, which is fine, but there are some newer songs I'd like to learn. Is there anyplace I can find newer music for the dulcimer? Also, if I can find sheet music to translate myself, should I be looking for a certain kind of arrangement like stringed instruments, or is any sheet music for the song okay? I like "story" songs such as "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitgerald," and "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down" Thanks for your help.