Thank you for the friendly feedback, Oliver, glad you like it!

Thank you Peter I enjoy the sound of this old song. and your playing

There's nothing wrong with the picking style you use at all Peter - I have seen one or two of the pro dulcimer players using that style. I play dobro every week in a bluegrass band and so I'm just more used to thumb and two fingers.

I'm not practiced in reading TAB, so I tend to work by ear and also from standard notation sometimes. I sort of prefer the visual pattern of following standard notation rather than reading TAB numbers. Again it is just a personal preference, I just find the rise and fall and timing of the notes on the staff 'simpler' for my brain to process than reading fret numbers. But I do the same as you - I put away the music as soon as I can.

I second that, Val!

@Robin - Yes, I was reading the tabs while I recorded that one, because the song was new to me. Hence my funny looking.

But I have played it so often during the last days that I know it by heart now. And that's what I prefer: I usually work without tabs and try to figure out my arrangements by ear. There are some typical chords that usually work, so I always have a basis. Then I try to polish it to achieve smooth sequences. I could think of some parts of my tabs where you could "enrich" the harmonics by replacing some major chords with minor chords.

When I use tabs, then mostly to learn the tune, and when I have "internalized" it, I put the tab aside as I aim to know most of the songs by heart - and so always be ready to play them, even at midnight and power blackout!

When finger-picking, I alwas use ring, middle and index finger (which picks the inner of the melody strings, as I left the melody strings doubled). I find that to be easier and more convenient for me than picking the outer melody string with my thumb. Sometimes I stroke over all four strings with my index finger (not in this recording). I don't know if that is correct (maybe I just ain't right? ) - but it works fine for me!

Thanks Peter - I like your version better than mine!

Were you sight reading from that score on Wiki while you were recording? That's quite a formidible skill

I think it is really interesting how folks all have different ways of learning. Here is how I 'caught' the tune from your video:

The rhythm is nearly always my starting point when I learn a new tune. I watched your right hand first and listened for your picking pattern. Then I tried to get my pattern the same copying your 3 finger style. I struggled with getting my wrist comfortable and saw that you had your dulcimer supported on your chair arms. So I switched to thumb, index and middle for picking and could then come down on the little Ginger dulcimer directly from above when it was on my lap. I'm much more familiar with that picking method and so felt more comfortable. Then I started to learn little phrases and chords from your video with my left hand and fitted the picking pattern to them. I rehearsed the phrases and then started to link them together - working particularly on the movements I found hardest. I didn't get as far as learning the chorus that you played- I didn't know the tune had one!!!! Once I had the basic tune down (except the chorus), although not at the stage where I could play it all the way through without error,I switched on my metronome and started to work on smoothing everything out.

For me, switching on the metronome is the 'magical' part of learning a tune. It is the phase where a tune moves from me having to think about it, or conscious competence,into unconscious competence. So the metronome isn't just about helping with timing and phrasing it also helps to drive the tune into the muscle memory because the capacity within the conscious mind is taken up with tick, tock, tick, tock - there's no room left to 'think' about the tune (at least there isn't in my small brain )I have to trust thatmy fingers will do their stuff withoutme 'telling' them what to do Once I was at the stage where I could get through the tune without stumbling about 80% of the time I switched on my recorder.

My version is slightly quicker than yours and the phrasing is a little different, and I left out the chorus. The picking is a liitle different in emphasisbecause I used a different style of fingering. And the key is different because I used the Ginger tuned to G,d,g. And that is the nature of informal learning - we will all play slightly differently.However, your video was the inspiration for me to try something completely new. What I learned from you Peter was your bass-middle-bass-middle picking pattern with the middle on the off-beat - it is something that I've not played before and it has a lovely sound! And also your subtle use of the bass string within your chord shapes and on its own. There were at least3 or 4chord shapes within the piece that I'd never played before or considered as linked combinations and I ended up with very different and new chord fingerings that I'd not used before. So, many many thanks

Hi Robin - great rendition! I like the steady rhythm of your picking! Thank you for the response, Robin!
There are a few differences in melody - I guess you play the tune as it is actually sung. As I didn't know the song before, I had to follow this version I found on wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:11_Home_Sweet_Home.png

Mmmh, so who's going to hand me MY glass of beer now...

Thanks Patty, James, and Robin for taking the time to listen and to comment!

Peter, that's great!!! And thanks for the tab too!!!

Great rendition Peter! And Robin, great rendition of Peter's rendition of what you shared *Hands Robin a beer*

Hi Peter,

I've just tried out a fingerstyle version on my McSpadden Ginger. I thought that I was following your arrangement but I seem to have moved the rhythm a bit Oh well, playing with my fingers is pretty alien to me - and having a go at this style of playing certainly put me in stretch for that lastcouple of hours I think I need abeer

Like it? I'm going to try and learn it tonight

Thank you all for listening and for your friendly fedback! Glad you like it, Robin!

@Miriam: I spoke to Martin the other day, and I think there should be time and room(s) for some off-the-cuff workshops.

Lovely Peter. Please teach me nextMondayhow I can start with fingerpicking.

That was beautifully played Peter! What a lovely arrangemnt - just wonderful

Even without the yellow hat, it's nicely done!