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Location: Berkeley, CA
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Country: United States
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I grew up in Indiana where I first saw a dulcimer. I moved to California decades ago and I miss the bluegrass culture where people play music everywhere - even in the middle of a harvested cornfield. In my life, I tried to learn flute, piano, guitar and banjo, but always got discouraged very quickly. It was just too hard - with very little result. It wasn't until recently that I got a dulcimer from a neighbor, and I felt I could finally learn to play an instrument. Without a book or lesson, the first day I brought it home, I was able to play one of my favorite southern ballads.
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How to deal with stiff tuning pegs?
I have one tuning peg that is very hard to turn. Is there some kind of...
@kateharp 5 years ago - Comments: 4
About 1500 Free Tabs you can Download all at once.
Forgive if this has already been posted - but I'm a beginner and just...
@kateharp 5 years ago - Comments: 3
How to Flatpick from guitar books?
I have some guitar books with chord names (but no dulcimer tabs). I'm...
@kateharp 5 years ago - Comments: 6
How to find easiest tuning for different key scales
I want to play songs in different keys scales. I made a chart...
@kateharp 5 years ago - Comments: 7
Often like guitar chords the notes are in the chord.
When im doing a new song I find the melody notes first. Then by matching the chords you already know what the chords should be.
The last step is finding the correct chord to put there. The chord shapes help with that. The 5 chord shapes are bar , c-shape, slant, reverse slant and stretch ...
for instance let’s say the melody note is
4 and you need a D chord there .....
a Bar 4 is an A chord
4-2-2 ( 4 on melody) is F#) 4 cshape
4-2-1 ( 4 on melody) is A 4stretch
4-5-6+ (4 on melody) is F#m slant
4-3-2 ( 4 on melody) is the D reverse slant
4-3-0 is also a D you can always drop the bass note on any slant
once you put the chords in where they are in the guitar tab then you can play the tune don’t forget that this is a modal instruments we can’t get complicated 7or 9 chords . Like
Bm9 and things like that. We do have 2 7th chords however starting at melody string 423 is an A7 and 7-5-6 is D7 tuned to DAD.
For picking just play the melody With the chords holding the chords down till you have to move. When you come to a half or any kind of holding note you pick the strings picking thru the chord either with fingers, finger picks or a pick. The most important thing in playing this style is holding down the chords till either they change or until you can’t reach the next chord
In strumming we keep the beat strumming,
picking is just counting with single strings and also strumming sometimes do not too repetitive.
Hope you can understand this I didn’t know how long you’ve been playing if you have questions let me know. Linda
Thanks for making everything so less mysterious. I always thought there must be some pattern to learn how to do this - so that a person could apply the concept in different situations.
I've only been playing a short time - but am getting a clearer and clearer idea of what I want to learn. I love this instrument. Without a book or video, the first day I brought it home and figured out how play one of my favorite songs! And then later realized the tuning was off (LOL) but it still sounded good to me!
Often like guitar chords the notes are in the chord.
When im doing a new song I find the melody notes first. Then by matching the chords you already know what the chords should be.
The last step is finding the correct chord to put there. The chord shapes help with that. The 5 chord shapes are bar , c-shape, slant, reverse slant and stretch ...
for instance let’s say the melody note is
4 and you need a D chord there .....
a Bar 4 is an A chord
4-2-2 ( 4 on melody) is F#) 4 cshape
4-2-1 ( 4 on melody) is A 4stretch
4-5-6+ (4 on melody) is F#m slant
4-3-2 ( 4 on melody) is the D reverse slant
4-3-0 is also a D you can always drop the bass note on any slant
once you put the chords in where they are in the guitar tab then you can play the tune don’t forget that this is a modal instruments we can’t get complicated 7or 9 chords . Like
Bm9 and things like that. We do have 2 7th chords however starting at melody string 423 is an A7 and 7-5-6 is D7 tuned to DAD.
For picking just play the melody With the chords holding the chords down till you have to move. When you come to a half or any kind of holding note you pick the strings picking thru the chord either with fingers, finger picks or a pick. The most important thing in playing this style is holding down the chords till either they change or until you can’t reach the next chord
In strumming we keep the beat strumming,
picking is just counting with single strings and also strumming sometimes do not too repetitive.
Hope you can understand this I didn’t know how long you’ve been playing if you have questions let me know. Linda
Welcome to FOTMD, Kate. It is good to have you aboard.
Ken
"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."
Hi Kate, and welcome to the wonderful world of the Friends of the Mountain Dulcimer. It's a good place to come, spend some time, learn about the dulcimer, and to meet some good people.
Ben
Hey Kate, welcome aboard. Glad ya found us.
Welcome Kateharp to Friends of the Mountain Dulcimer. So glad to have you join. Best wishes on your dulcimer journey.