Amazing Grace/Shady Grove - Nettie Presnell Style

Ralph Lee Smith rated Nettie Presnell as one of the best 'old school' dulcimer players he had encountered. She had a very distinct playing style, using a unison tuning (around C,c,c in the recording I have heard) and a wood strummer. She kept a steady rhythm going behind the tunes she played and tended to work from the mixolidian scale often high up the fretboard.

Here I have caught two tunes from her recordings. The first is Amazing Grace and the second SHady Grove. Both are played from the same tuning of C,c,c and across the same rhythm. I used my Prichard repro dulcimer, a reed noter and a wood strummer made by Ed Presnell. It was the attack and clip of these wood strummers that gave the essence of Nettie's playing style.

Amazing Grace is played against the mixolidian scale. It is a tune I have avoided on dulcimer to date because I simply couldn't find a version that didn't sound contemporary. Well when I heard Nettie playing this version I knew it was the one for me!!!! It is one of those tunes that sounds simple but isn't - it took me a while to get Nettie's rhythm down whilst playing the melody underneath it.

Shady Grove is even more unique. Nettie did not change tunings to play the song but instead has either placed it over 4th drones or root drones if you count her melody as, again, mixolidian starting and finishing on the 5th of the scale.

Nettie Presnell was a true 'mountain' dulcimer player and her style is quintessentially Appalachian - I hope that I have captured some of that mountain feel in these recordings!!!