Good first video man. Very relaxed. Hey, think about a strap. Gotta have a strap. I've been playing 20 months now and have had one in person lesson. Before I drove the 100 miles south for that lesson, the teacher told me to please make sure my dulcimer had a strap. Now 20 months later, I totally agree with her. "Her" happened to be the 2003 Florida state dulcimer champion. So "her" is telling you to install a strap, not this sophomore.
Thank y'all for the comments and suggestions. That'll give me stuff to work on for week two.
I'm going through the videos in the site, but I've not seen any "help" videos--thank you for the link, Carrie. I made it to page 8--there are so many great songs I want to try! "Old Man Stink," who doesn't want that in their repertoire. Is there a "help" section or an easy way to search?
Mark: You're doing great, really. In terms of comfort, play for 1-2 hours every day and you will become comfortable. You may want to try playing on a table from time to time. There are many great videos on strumming both on this site and on YouTube. Have fun.
The cats don't hate it- major thing there! lolol...
Sounds GREAT for first week, Mark.
Tips?- ok, well since you asked for tips.....
---For best results, try sitting in a normal straight chair, with feet on floor, sitting up straight. (yeah I know, Squaresville...but you look a bit uncomfortable trying to balance a lap dulcimer without a lap ) Having your elbows below the fretboard like that restricts your hand and arm motions- your hands need to come down onto the fretboard to fret and strum, not curling up to it from low down on the sides.
---Try using your various fingers for fretting up and down - not just one finger. You'll get a less choppy sound when you get used to 'walking' your fingers from fret to fret.
---Also experiment with sliding your finger from one fret to another instead of lifting it up off the strings for every fret change. Every time you lift your finger UP to go to a new fret, you are cutting that note short by muting it and creating an abrupt silence between notes. Remember, it's not the same movement as typing, or even as piano. You are not making the note sound by fretting down on the string like punching a key- you are making the note sound by the right hand strum, while the string is already being held down on the correct fret. It's a subtle difference, but well worth thinking about. With your left hand, practice both sliding from fret to fret to make note changes, and also walking your fingers from fret to fret. You can make up fun little exercises to practice this kind of thing.
---And yes, practice strumming in both directions, even if you have to practice that separately at first.
Thank y'all for the links and the encouragement. I've misappropriated a strap from my wife--how many guitars does a girl need, anyway?
I'm practicing away, and I cannot wait to post a video for week two!
Big smiles to all!
Mark, here are some of my basic strumming instruction videos:
http://dulcimer-noter-drone.blogspot.com/2010/01/video-tips-for-beginners-strumming.html
http://dulcimer-noter-drone.blogspot.com/2010/01/video-tips-for-beginners-strumming_08.html
http://dulcimer-noter-drone.blogspot.com/2010/01/video-tips-for-beginners-where-to-add.html
http://dulcimer-noter-drone.blogspot.com/2010/02/many-new-players-understandably.html
Hi Mark,
Good first video man. Very relaxed. Hey, think about a strap. Gotta have a strap. I've been playing 20 months now and have had one in person lesson. Before I drove the 100 miles south for that lesson, the teacher told me to please make sure my dulcimer had a strap. Now 20 months later, I totally agree with her. "Her" happened to be the 2003 Florida state dulcimer champion. So "her" is telling you to install a strap, not this sophomore.
Thank y'all for the comments and suggestions. That'll give me stuff to work on for week two.
I'm going through the videos in the site, but I've not seen any "help" videos--thank you for the link, Carrie. I made it to page 8--there are so many great songs I want to try! "Old Man Stink," who doesn't want that in their repertoire. Is there a "help" section or an easy way to search?
Wayne, I don't even know what 8F means.
Big smiles to y'all!
Mark: You're doing great, really. In terms of comfort, play for 1-2 hours every day and you will become comfortable. You may want to try playing on a table from time to time. There are many great videos on strumming both on this site and on YouTube. Have fun.
The cats don't hate it- major thing there! lolol...
Sounds GREAT for first week, Mark.
Tips?- ok, well since you asked for tips.....
---For best results, try sitting in a normal straight chair, with feet on floor, sitting up straight. (yeah I know, Squaresville...but you look a bit uncomfortable trying to balance a lap dulcimer without a lap
) Having your elbows below the fretboard like that restricts your hand and arm motions- your hands need to come down onto the fretboard to fret and strum, not curling up to it from low down on the sides.
---Try using your various fingers for fretting up and down - not just one finger. You'll get a less choppy sound when you get used to 'walking' your fingers from fret to fret.
---Also experiment with sliding your finger from one fret to another instead of lifting it up off the strings for every fret change. Every time you lift your finger UP to go to a new fret, you are cutting that note short by muting it and creating an abrupt silence between notes. Remember, it's not the same movement as typing, or even as piano. You are not making the note sound by fretting down on the string like punching a key- you are making the note sound by the right hand strum, while the string is already being held down on the correct fret. It's a subtle difference, but well worth thinking about.
With your left hand, practice both sliding from fret to fret to make note changes, and also walking your fingers from fret to fret. You can make up fun little exercises to practice this kind of thing.
---And yes, practice strumming in both directions, even if you have to practice that separately at first.
Mark, I'd say that you are having a great first week!