Thank's Babs

Thanks Sharon and Dusty !

I really enjoyed sitting down yesterday evening with that short clip of Willie Nelson and seeing what I could come up with on that old Tignor dulcimer.

I still feel that I'm just scratching the surface of what's possible on an old dulcimer with a noter. The more I play these early dulcimer designs the more admiration and respect I gain for those traditional players and builders of these 'boxes of possibilities'

Wow, Robin. That is a haunting version of the song. It's putting shivers up my spine. Your commandand ability to get nuanced sound out of the noter is just remarkable.

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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

Thank you so much Robin! I LOVE your version and I'm going to give it a try!

Hi Sharon,

I found a short clip of the Willie Nelson version of Amazing Grace from Songbird on Amazon. He is singing it in Em and using accidentals. I've had a quick go at the tune and tried to capture the same sort of feel. I used E,B,A tuning on my old Tignor staple fretted dulcimer and a hardwood noter to capture the accidentals. As I'm playing noter drone I don't have the chord changes that are on the Nelson version but I've tried to get the same sort of lilt in the melody. I've added some pick up notes to each phrase so the sound is not quite so sparse.

Thank you Dusty. They are awesome.... Love that version!I can't find a clip of Willie's version to upload, but you can listen to it on itunes. It's on his "Songbird" album.

I've heard Willie do a couple of versions, but I would say they were mostly in the traditional major key with a couple of minor chords thrown in. I think I don't know the version you are referring to.

Here is a minor version of the song by the Blind Boys of Alabama to the tune we usually associate with House of the Rising Son:

--
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

I love Willie Nelson's minor version of Amazing Grace on his Songbird album. To me it is hauntingly beautiful. Anyway I tried to tab it in DAC and it's "sort of close, but no cigar" as they say. Is anyone familiar with this version?
updated by @sharon-hall: 08/02/23 03:33:26AM