NateBuildsToys:

Ken Hulme:

@shanonmilan --the vast majority of us (traditionalists and moderns) play dulcimer horizontally -- "string side up" on our laps or on a table or stand.  There are a few who play it more vertically -- like a guitar...

 
I play behind my back, Like Stevie Ray Vaughn.
I like to leave my best performances behind me 

Hahahaha. You got me laughing and rolling on the floor on that one.

@shanonmilan --the vast majority of us (traditionalists and moderns) play dulcimer horizontally -- "string side up" on our laps or on a table or stand.  There are a few who play it more vertically -- like a guitar...

How do you play the dulcimer?   String side up.

The idea of spilling porter on a fiddle but not on a violin adds a charming and down-to-earth touch to the age-old debate.

A  poet-friend, Val Coleman,  once sent me these lines:

"There is no storm

When the dulcimer sings.

Hatred and hurricanes

Wait in the wings."

I'm an uncurable punster (just ask my wife) but when I play my dulcimer I don't fret about it.

As a dulcimer player I always have an appetite for something new. My latest is called: "Ala-Mode" !

"There's no right way or wrong way to play the dulcimer".  -- Tom & Missy Strothers

"Folk music is high-class music. There's a lotta low-class people singin' it. Matter of fact, most so-called folk singers don't even look like folk." -Abner Jay

Hi everyone!

There are a lot of new folks on board, so I thought it would be fun to dig up this old discussion to share and see if maybe we could add some new “Just for fun” phrases!

Thank you and have fun!

Ah, the scene where they part after their wedding night! 

Juliet hates that the cursed lark is singing- because it means the break of dawn and Romeo must leave before he is discovered with her...

At a session one night a fellow took out a pair of bones to play along, after a few sets of tunes I heard someone say"Tis a pity  there isn't a bit more meat on those bones.

Here's something I sometimes say(privately) to Brian when people in a jam play one of our favorite tunes at 100 mph so we can't savor it or play all the little musical things we like to do in it:  "Well at least it was over with a lot faster."    

Val, I love both of those you posted!  

Here's one along the same lines.  A professional musician I know once said this (I don't know if he made it up or not):

"If you're playing in a jam and you can't hear yourself playing... then you're playing too loud."

(implying of course that if everyone followed this, the whole jam would get quieter and everyone would again be able to hear themselves.)

What's the difference between a fiddle and a violin, you can spill porter on a fiddle you can't on a violin.

If you remember the names of your tunes, you don't have too many.

"All music is folk music.  I ain't never heard a horse sing a song."

-- Louis Armstrong (. . . or maybe Leadbelly . . . or Big Bill Broonzy . . .)

I like the saying about how old-time music isn't as bad as it sounds.  :)

"People think I take some sort of masochistic pleasure out of putting out music that's gonna be unpopular."

- Billy Corgan

(lead singer Smashing Pumpkins)

Jean Ritchie is supposed to have said something to the effect that  "...if it's got extra frets, somehow it's not a dulcimer anymore..."  But I can't find who told me that quote originally a year or so back.

Sometimes between songs at a gig, I'll say to the audience:  "We've had a request from the audience... but we're going to keep playing anyway."   Always gets a laugh.  

Thanks Dusty and Maryann.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Q: How many dulcimer players does it take to screw in a lightbulb?

A: We'll never know; they keep arguing about modes even in the dark.

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When tyrants tremble thick with fear

And hear their death knells ringing

When friends rejoice both far and near

How can I keep from singing?

-- traditional American hymn

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"And when one person taps out a beat, while another leads into the melody, or when three people discover a harmony they never knew existed, or a crowd joins in on a chorus as though to raise the ceiling a few feet higher, then they also know there is hope for the world.

-- Pete Seeger

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And I have this one on my home page:

New arts shall bloom of loftier mould,

And mightier music thrill the skies,

And every life shall be a song,

When all the earth is paradise.

-- John Addington Symonds from "These Things Shall Be"

Reply by Cindy Stammich on March 1, 2014 at 11:09pm

Reply by Regina Bartlett on February 28, 2014 at 11:03pm

It has been said "We may live without music, but not so well"
There is so much truth in this!

Chris Stammich posted this in the Drifting Thread:

Just for fun.....

Once upon a time I wanted to start a collection of "favorite sayings" regarding the dulcimer, or music in general.

Tull Glazener was gracious enough to get me started with "String Side Up".

I loved it! However, I didn't keep at it, so I thought now would be a good time to see if anyone here has something fun to add

So, I decided to create a discussion just for this topic.

My favorite saying: "The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Another one I've seen on a poster is: "There ain't no notes on a dulcimer. You just play it."

I'll try to copy the other responses for the Drifting Thread and post them here.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."