Earth, Wind & Dulcimer: "Shining Star"

Sam Edelston
03/28/15 09:02:11AM
@sam-edelston

You don't often hear funk or soul music on dulcimer, but it's fun, too. Here's a chromatic instrumental version of Earth, Wind & Fire's "Shining Star."

This arrangement has an interesting commonality with traditional dulcimer styles: Almost every line of the melody is done on just a single string, with the other strings being used as drones (or in some cases, just not being strummed). However, any of the three strings might be that single string for a particular line.

The chorus uses what a hammered dulcimer player might call "hand independence": The melody and the chords have different rhythms, so each strum is selectively sounding either the melody string or the two chord strings, or both.

Enjoy!

Sam