I think You are talking about the T there. That refers to the two notes there being tied together so. The line connects the two and you add the timing of each together. So you don't play it twice you just hold it for two beats. It doesnt refer to any fingerings. LB
I did not see your message before the gathering, Sorry you had to cancel -- I was wondering what happened to you. Jeff must have forgotten to inform me (I was handling the registration check in.)Please let me know if you need to have the registration fee returned and I will be sure remind him.
The Gathering was a great success. We had approx. 60 attendees – everyone seemed to enjoy themselves and so far the only complaint I heard was about the too-hard rolls at lunch. Jim Fawcett and Rob Lackey (both members of FOTMD) were excellent instructors as was Carol Walker. I learned a lot from all three of them and enjoyed meeting them for the first time – great people! Carol's workshop (Tailless Tunes) was a bit advanced for me, so although I was unable to keep up with the playing in class (hoped she did not notice!) I enjoyed it and I am now able to play some of the tunes s at home (at my slow halting pace.) I am sure we will be planning Gathering for next year.We may end up needing to find a bigger place to host it.
It’s great that you love playing that is the key to getting better at it. You sound braver than me – I rarely play for family members.(Except my daughter Sarah who takes workshops with me.She gives me pointers and is also my string changer. I can change my own strings but she makes them look neater at the wound end. Last year at different festivals I picked up 2 of Carol’s DNA books with CDs and 2 of Stephen Seifert’s Join the Jam books with CDs. If you don't already have their books I recommend them.The tunes are simple but they help with timing and rythym. My progression has been slow since I have not had much time to practice. I worked full time from home for a pharmaceutical research company (I am an electronic documents publisher) however I was laid off from my job 2 weeks ago so now I definitely have no excuses to not practice!
Speaking of festivals, have you ever attended the Pocono Winter Festival in January? It is hosted by the Pocono MD club. I went last year for the first time – it was so much fun!Shared a room with my daughter and 2 other ladies from my club.We are planning on going next winter, if you are able to get away I highly recommend going.Not sure what else I can attend this year.Most of the festivals are too far away, plus now that I am unemployed I cannot spend the money.
I understand about the priority of taking care of your mom and step-dad. That is a big responsibility to take them into your home. How kind of you to decorate for them to make them feel cozy. I know even with the care challenges you will cherish the time spent with them. My mom lives in Florida, she is turning 90 August 1. My Dad died about 9 years ago. She lives alone and has a brother who lives in her retirement village. He takes her shopping but is not well so he really cannot help her out much. Fortunately she is in good health except for the expected teeth and hearing problems of a typical 90 year old. Her only major issue is extremely lonely and unhappy. She is not the type to make friends or join clubs or venture out on her own, which is a shame since there are hundreds of options in The Villages where she lives – she would have a huge circle of supportive friends if she would open up to people. Instead she wants my sister and I to constantly visit and even move near her and does not understand that we have families and lives here in PA and cannot just pick up and move. We are driving to Florida end of July to be with her for her 90th birthday so she will be happy for a while.
Oh well, I have to do something around here – now that I am not working no excuse to not get things done!
I will private message you with my contact info so we can keep in touch outside of the FOTMD website. (Don't know what happened with the font size in this message -- cannot seem to adjust it...)
Hi Stephanie! So nice to hear from you! I finally found the time to check out the new website. Will take some time getting used to, but I am sure it is a much better site. So glad you are coming to the Dutchland Gathering, it is our first attempt at a festival and a big undertaking for our club. Should be fun! Glad you are taking Carol's workshops, I am taking the Tailess Tunes and then trying a few other instructors. I am not very good at finger picking -- I started with noter and I have been playing chords since I joined the Lancaster club 2 years agoThey are a great group of people and we are progressng together. Hopefully you can find a similar club or at least a few people to practice with-- it does make a difference. I am also shy about playing in front of others, I am just not a performer- jams scare me! But I love the MD and folk music so much I am trying to overcome my fears. I will look for you at the gathering -- See you then!
Maryann
12/21/14 01:04:11AM @linda-jo-brockinton:
Hi. I would go to you tube or on here and watch my tutorial on Chords in C. Tho you are Prob playing in DAD it will help you to understand a lot of things . I play in CGC primarily . DAD is not a tuning. It I'd a mixolydian tuning in D. I play all my "DAD" music without changing anything except I tune to CGC . I like C for several reasons, it's mellower, easier to sing with, hammer Ons and pull offs are much easier and cleaner and you don't have to press so hard so it's easy on the finger. You play the same music the same way you always did. . I also tune to B flat-f-Bflat when I sing as I have a very low voice.The video will show you all about this .I play chord shapes , and with my music if you can't fig out what fingers to use , always rem with my tab I play middle finger on the middle string 99% of the time. Send me your email and I will send you a chord shape sheet. Did you ever play the piano?Here's my cell. Just call with any questions. Easier to explain things.501-231-8212. Parting glass and Rosin the Beau are both good in the book. Listen to the CD a couple of times and pick a couple to learn. It's easier if you listen and get them in your head. Then pick the one that suits your ear. Take it a measure at a time till you can play the measure 5 times with no mistake or hesitation and move to the next. Watch your fingers and use your ears as much as possible . Good luck. Hope you love it half as much as I do.
Stephanie, thanks for letting me know that you will be at Winterfest in January. I will look for you and Frank. My wife and I are staying at the Hampton Inn, although my wife does not participate in the festival. It will be a fun time.
Hi Stephanie , nice to hear back from you...I Just take it slow and enjoy the process . You can email me anytime with questions . Enjoy the process!
12/13/14 04:18:50PM @nina-zanetti:
Thanks, Stephanie. If you can make it to Poconos , I'll be teaching the master class, which will have a segment on fingerpicking, also a lot on playing expressively and with variation. Hope things work out that you can make it. It would be great to meet you.Nina
12/07/14 03:12:57PM @karen-keane:
Hello and welcome to the site. This is a great place to listen to music and share ideas. I hope you enjoy!
Just be patient, the site will be updated for the festival. I know what you mean about weather. Last year it snowed on Saturday morning. It made traveling from the hotel to the festival site a little treacherous. I was slipping and sliding on the road. My family stays at the Hampton Inn. My wife babysits our grandsons while our daughter and son-in-law go skiing during my time at the festival. It should be updated soon as the festival is about six weeks away.
Welcome, Stephanie, to this little corner of dulcimer heaven. I'll be at least 65% of us heard our 1st dulcimer in or around Mt View. A McSpadden is a great 1st instrument which will last a lifetime. Hope you enjoy it here.
Hi Stephanie, and welcome to the wonderful world of the Friends of the Mountain Dulcimer. It's a good place to come, spend some time, learn and exchange ideas about the dulcimer, and to meet some good people. Wonderful story about getting involved with your dulcimer.
Welcome to FOTMD Stephanie. It's always good to have another Pennsylvanian here. Hope you will consider coming to the Pocono Dulcimer Club's Winterfest in East Stroudsburg in January.
Hey Steph,
I think You are talking about the T there. That refers to the two notes there being tied together so. The line connects the two and you add the timing of each together. So you don't play it twice you just hold it for two beats. It doesnt refer to any fingerings. LB
Hi Stephanie:
I did not see your message before the gathering, Sorry you had to cancel -- I was wondering what happened to you. Jeff must have forgotten to inform me (I was handling the registration check in.) Please let me know if you need to have the registration fee returned and I will be sure remind him.
The Gathering was a great success. We had approx. 60 attendees – everyone seemed to enjoy themselves and so far the only complaint I heard was about the too-hard rolls at lunch. Jim Fawcett and Rob Lackey (both members of FOTMD) were excellent instructors as was Carol Walker. I learned a lot from all three of them and enjoyed meeting them for the first time – great people! Carol's workshop (Tailless Tunes) was a bit advanced for me, so although I was unable to keep up with the playing in class (hoped she did not notice!) I enjoyed it and I am now able to play some of the tunes s at home (at my slow halting pace.) I am sure we will be planning Gathering for next year. We may end up needing to find a bigger place to host it.
It’s great that you love playing that is the key to getting better at it. You sound braver than me – I rarely play for family members. (Except my daughter Sarah who takes workshops with me. She gives me pointers and is also my string changer. I can change my own strings but she makes them look neater at the wound end. Last year at different festivals I picked up 2 of Carol’s DNA books with CDs and 2 of Stephen Seifert’s Join the Jam books with CDs. If you don't already have their books I recommend them. The tunes are simple but they help with timing and rythym. My progression has been slow since I have not had much time to practice. I worked full time from home for a pharmaceutical research company (I am an electronic documents publisher) however I was laid off from my job 2 weeks ago so now I definitely have no excuses to not practice!
Speaking of festivals, have you ever attended the Pocono Winter Festival in January? It is hosted by the Pocono MD club. I went last year for the first time – it was so much fun! Shared a room with my daughter and 2 other ladies from my club. We are planning on going next winter, if you are able to get away I highly recommend going. Not sure what else I can attend this year. Most of the festivals are too far away, plus now that I am unemployed I cannot spend the money.
I understand about the priority of taking care of your mom and step-dad. That is a big responsibility to take them into your home. How kind of you to decorate for them to make them feel cozy. I know even with the care challenges you will cherish the time spent with them. My mom lives in Florida, she is turning 90 August 1. My Dad died about 9 years ago. She lives alone and has a brother who lives in her retirement village. He takes her shopping but is not well so he really cannot help her out much. Fortunately she is in good health except for the expected teeth and hearing problems of a typical 90 year old. Her only major issue is extremely lonely and unhappy. She is not the type to make friends or join clubs or venture out on her own, which is a shame since there are hundreds of options in The Villages where she lives – she would have a huge circle of supportive friends if she would open up to people. Instead she wants my sister and I to constantly visit and even move near her and does not understand that we have families and lives here in PA and cannot just pick up and move. We are driving to Florida end of July to be with her for her 90th birthday so she will be happy for a while.
Oh well, I have to do something around here – now that I am not working no excuse to not get things done!
I will private message you with my contact info so we can keep in touch outside of the FOTMD website. (Don't know what happened with the font size in this message -- cannot seem to adjust it...)
Take care,
Maryann
Hi Stephanie! So nice to hear from you! I finally found the time to check out the new website. Will take some time getting used to, but I am sure it is a much better site. So glad you are coming to the Dutchland Gathering, it is our first attempt at a festival and a big undertaking for our club. Should be fun! Glad you are taking Carol's workshops, I am taking the Tailess Tunes and then trying a few other instructors. I am not very good at finger picking -- I started with noter and I have been playing chords since I joined the Lancaster club 2 years agoThey are a great group of people and we are progressng together. Hopefully you can find a similar club or at least a few people to practice with-- it does make a difference. I am also shy about playing in front of others, I am just not a performer- jams scare me! But I love the MD and folk music so much I am trying to overcome my fears. I will look for you at the gathering -- See you then!
Maryann
Hi. I would go to you tube or on here and watch my tutorial on Chords in C. Tho you are Prob playing in DAD it will help you to understand a lot of things . I play in CGC primarily . DAD is not a tuning. It I'd a mixolydian tuning in D. I play all my "DAD" music without changing anything except I tune to CGC . I like C for several reasons, it's mellower, easier to sing with, hammer Ons and pull offs are much easier and cleaner and you don't have to press so hard so it's easy on the finger. You play the same music the same way you always did. . I also tune to B flat-f-Bflat when I sing as I have a very low voice.The video will show you all about this .I play chord shapes , and with my music if you can't fig out what fingers to use , always rem with my tab I play middle finger on the middle string 99% of the time. Send me your email and I will send you a chord shape sheet. Did you ever play the piano?Here's my cell. Just call with any questions. Easier to explain things.501-231-8212. Parting glass and Rosin the Beau are both good in the book. Listen to the CD a couple of times and pick a couple to learn. It's easier if you listen and get them in your head. Then pick the one that suits your ear. Take it a measure at a time till you can play the measure 5 times with no mistake or hesitation and move to the next. Watch your fingers and use your ears as much as possible . Good luck. Hope you love it half as much as I do.
Stephanie, thanks for letting me know that you will be at Winterfest in January. I will look for you and Frank. My wife and I are staying at the Hampton Inn, although my wife does not participate in the festival. It will be a fun time.
Ken
"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."
Hi Stephanie , nice to hear back from you...I Just take it slow and enjoy the process . You can email me anytime with questions . Enjoy the process!
Thanks, Stephanie. If you can make it to Poconos , I'll be teaching the master class, which will have a segment on fingerpicking, also a lot on playing expressively and with variation. Hope things work out that you can make it. It would be great to meet you.Nina
Hello and welcome to the site. This is a great place to listen to music and share ideas. I hope you enjoy!
Thank you!
Hi Stephanie,
Just be patient, the site will be updated for the festival. I know what you mean about weather. Last year it snowed on Saturday morning. It made traveling from the hotel to the festival site a little treacherous. I was slipping and sliding on the road. My family stays at the Hampton Inn. My wife babysits our grandsons while our daughter and son-in-law go skiing during my time at the festival. It should be updated soon as the festival is about six weeks away.
Ken
"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."
Howdy and welcome to FOTMD!
Welcome, Stephanie, to this little corner of dulcimer heaven. I'll be at least 65% of us heard our 1st dulcimer in or around Mt View. A McSpadden is a great 1st instrument which will last a lifetime. Hope you enjoy it here.
Rob
Hi Stephanie, and welcome to the wonderful world of the Friends of the Mountain Dulcimer. It's a good place to come, spend some time, learn and exchange ideas about the dulcimer, and to meet some good people. Wonderful story about getting involved with your dulcimer.
Ben
Hey Stephanie, welcome aboard. Glad ya found us. From one PA'er to another.
Welcome to FOTMD Stephanie. It's always good to have another Pennsylvanian here. Hope you will consider coming to the Pocono Dulcimer Club's Winterfest in East Stroudsburg in January.
Ken
"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."