Just For Fun - sayings regarding the dulcimer or music

shanonmilan
@shanonmilan
10 months ago
67 posts

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  ROTFL


 



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

NateBuildsToys
NateBuildsToys
@nate
11 months ago
321 posts

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  ROTFL

Ken Hulme
Ken Hulme
@ken-hulme
11 months ago
2,157 posts

@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...


updated by @ken-hulme: 01/31/24 07:16:18AM
shanonmilan
@shanonmilan
11 months ago
67 posts

Ken Hulme:

How do you play the dulcimer?   String side up.

Do you play it like a reso guitar, with the dulcimer resting on your lap?

Ken Hulme
Ken Hulme
@ken-hulme
11 months ago
2,157 posts

How do you play the dulcimer?   String side up.

shanonmilan
@shanonmilan
11 months ago
67 posts

MacAodha:

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

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.

John W. McKinstry
John W. McKinstry
@john-w-mckinstry
last year
59 posts

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."

JohnR
JohnR
@johnr
last year
3 posts

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

John W. McKinstry
John W. McKinstry
@john-w-mckinstry
last year
59 posts

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

Ken Hulme
Ken Hulme
@ken-hulme
last year
2,157 posts

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

NateBuildsToys
NateBuildsToys
@nate
last year
321 posts

"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

Cindy Stammich
Cindy Stammich
@cindy-stammich
last year
69 posts

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!

Strumelia
Strumelia
@strumelia
5 years ago
2,311 posts

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

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...




--
Site Owner

Those irritated by grain of sand best avoid beach.
-Strumelia proverb c.1990
Jimmy Lamar
Jimmy Lamar
@jimmy-lamar
5 years ago
41 posts
“It is the lark that sings so out of tune. Straining harsh discords and unpleasing sharps.”

from Romeo And Juliet
MacAodha
MacAodha
@macaodha
7 years ago
33 posts

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.

Strumelia
Strumelia
@strumelia
7 years ago
2,311 posts

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."    shhh

giggle2




--
Site Owner

Those irritated by grain of sand best avoid beach.
-Strumelia proverb c.1990
Strumelia
Strumelia
@strumelia
7 years ago
2,311 posts

Val, I love both of those you posted!  Laugh

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.)




--
Site Owner

Those irritated by grain of sand best avoid beach.
-Strumelia proverb c.1990
MacAodha
MacAodha
@macaodha
7 years ago
33 posts

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

MacAodha
MacAodha
@macaodha
7 years ago
33 posts

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

Dusty Turtle
Dusty Turtle
@dusty
7 years ago
1,761 posts

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

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




--
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
Robin Thompson
Robin Thompson
@robin-thompson
7 years ago
1,461 posts

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

Strumelia
Strumelia
@strumelia
7 years ago
2,311 posts

"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)




--
Site Owner

Those irritated by grain of sand best avoid beach.
-Strumelia proverb c.1990
Ken Hulme
Ken Hulme
@ken-hulme
7 years ago
2,157 posts

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.

Strumelia
Strumelia
@strumelia
7 years ago
2,311 posts

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.  tmi




--
Site Owner

Those irritated by grain of sand best avoid beach.
-Strumelia proverb c.1990
Cindy Stammich
Cindy Stammich
@cindy-stammich
10 years ago
69 posts
It is normal to get butterflies when performing.The trick is to get them all to fly in formation!
Ken Longfield
Ken Longfield
@ken-longfield
10 years ago
1,162 posts

Thanks Dusty and Maryann.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Dusty Turtle
Dusty Turtle
@dusty
10 years ago
1,761 posts

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.24.gif 24.gif 24.gif

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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"




--
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
Ken Longfield
Ken Longfield
@ken-longfield
10 years ago
1,162 posts

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

How many dulcimers does a dulcimer player need???

Just one moreGrin.gif

Ken Longfield
Ken Longfield
@ken-longfield
10 years ago
1,162 posts

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

Pluck it and strum sing and hum it's all good!

Cindy Stammich
Cindy Stammich
@cindy-stammich
10 years ago
69 posts
Thank you Ken!!!
Ken Longfield
Ken Longfield
@ken-longfield
10 years ago
1,162 posts

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

Ken Longfield
Ken Longfield
@ken-longfield
10 years ago
1,162 posts

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 addSmile.gif

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."


updated by @ken-longfield: 09/09/23 09:44:31AM