Mountain Dulcimer noter and drone blog

Down with the Tyrant Carrot, or... Don't Punch Yourself in the Nose

2011-01-17T19:46:00.005-05:00

Over the years there has been something within myself that has been detrimental and negative to my playing music- the persistent feeling that I am not playing as well as others, and even worse that I’m not playing as well as I think I should be playing. These thoughts never fail to make me feel unhappy and inadequate. So why do I keep allowing myself to think this way if it only makes me unhappy?

The answer is that such thoughts become a habit. Habits, even negative habits, are within our comfort zone. It is comfortable to fall into habitual thinking because new thinking means going out on a limb and being uncertain and vulnerable.
It was pretty normal to feel inadequate about my playing when I was just starting out and couldn't play much of anything. I got into the habit of always telling everyone that I wasn’t a good player each time before I started playing. Almost everyone does this. But telling others in advance that you’re a lousy player is like punching yourself in the nose just to be sure that nobody else can do it first. It makes you feel safer in a sad kind of way...

But as the years passed and my playing slowly got better (better than I had hoped as a beginner)...well guess what?- I STILL kept feeling bad about not playing as well as others -except now there were many more 'others', and many of them were professional musicians! And I STILL kept feeling bad about not playing as well as I would like to. I can’t tell you how many people I know who have played music for years and who sound just lovely, yet they still apologize for their playing before they play a note, every time. I’ve done this myself, and despite knowing how silly and negative it was, apologies would just pop out of my mouth anyway!

This is such a pointless self defeating habit. It wouldn’t matter how accomplished my playing might ever become, I'd still be thinking I'm not good enough and may never be good enough. Like someone riding a donkey and dangling a carrot at the end of a stick in front of it as a goal- the donkey will keep moving forward to get the carrot, but the carrot always remains just out of reach- what maddening frustration!

I finally decided I didn’t need no stinking carrot. Turning away from the carrot has enabled me to really love what I get from my own music playing every single day- appreciating what I am doing NOW. Perhaps this approach is not for everyone (some folks do better by working with more competitive goals). But getting away from comparing myself unfavorably to others has given me a real sense of freedom and contentment. This positive mindset can even spill over into other parts of our lives.

This is not to say I don’t work towards personal goals to improve my music playing, I do- it's more that I have become my own friend instead of my own worst critic. We are so often our own very harshest critics- it’s so easy to take that negative path. After all, it even disguises itself as modesty, a virtue!- how convenient! ...But why not support and encourage ourselves in a loving positive way instead?
No one should ever have to apologize for their music playing.

I'm trying to keep a slightly different mindset. They say happiness is loving what you have, so I try to really appreciate my ability to make whatever pleasing music sounds I can- even when playing the very simplest tunes. I think about the endless number of little joys in playing and in making music friends and sharing the moment with them. Competing with myself is a race I cannot finish or win.

What if some poor soul was lying in a hospital dying...and they heard a dulcimer being gently strummed in another room- just open strings strummed by a total beginner....well wouldn't they think they were hearing something Heavenly? Of course they would- it would be indescribably beautiful to them. Would they feel the same way if they heard some complex fancy fast dulcimer virtuoso playing? I think not as likely. I think about this sometimes when I have a hard time playing something complicated. Does the sound of a babbling brook or a songbird or the wind in the pines have to be complex to sound beautiful? It helps get my priorities balanced in a good way for me again.
I try to laugh off mistakes, and when a tune is proving too difficult, I might just drop it for later on and go back for a while to a tune I can play better. To tell you the truth, I'd much rather play three or four simple tunes well than play twenty difficult tunes sloppily. On the other hand, if I’m in the mood to work on something challenging, well then I’ll do that- but I won’t beat myself up over it if I don’t master it. My goal is not so much to master anything now, but to enjoy the playing itself, or to simply enjoy the challenge of working on something. It becomes all too easy to feel unhappy with what we have, and unhappy about what we can't do. But if you practice something hard and wind up not being able to do it- why, your playing still improves from having practiced or attempted it, so that in itself is a positive thing!

You know, I think we sometimes need a rest from moving forward so that we can move around and breathe for a while at our level in this moment in time. Stopping and absorbing things at our current level is good for us.
I'm convinced that some of our learning process is imperceptible and happens when we aren't paying attention. Maybe when we are only seeing that our playing is not progressing, we are actually advancing in more subtle ways, gaining confidence or gaining more understanding about what is blocking us, absorbing what we have learned so far.
Sometimes moving from side to side is just as productive as moving forward.

I will never totally rid myself of discouraging inner thoughts. None of us can. But at least now I recognize them for what they are- a self-defeating habit- and know that they are working against my personal happiness. Merely recognizing this negative habit in ourselves is half the battle in defeating it. I make a determined effort to be pleased with what I can do, instead of being discouraged by what I can’t do. Since I've been doing that, I've been happier with my music and with other areas of my life. Death to Tyrannical Carrots!

What notes do I tune my strings to?....

2010-12-07T22:20:00.000-05:00

Are you totally lost as to how to tune your dulcimer strings to begin learning to play?

Most players these days start learning in the key of D, choosing either DAA tuning or DAd tuning. But you also must be in the right octave or you may break your strings by tightening them too high.
Click on THIS LINK to find a very handy online tuning aid. See the piano keyboard pictured? Click on the key marked "D3". That's a low sounding note of D that you can tune your heaviest bass string to.
Next... click on the key marked "A3" and tune your middle string to that note.
Lastly, you can tune your single or double melody string(s) to either A3 A3 as well (for a DAA tuning), or to D4 D4 if you want to tune to DAd (also known as DAdd if you have 2 melody strings).
Your melody string or pair of melody strings are closest to you when the dulcimer is in your lap. The bass string is furthest away from you with the dulcimer in your lap.
Notice the open heavy bass string has the lowest sounding note on your dulcimer, D3. Also notice on the piano keyboard how D4 sounds a whole octave higher than D3. And notice how A3 sounds somewhere in the middle between those two d's.
There is also a nice clear Youtube demonstration HERE showing step by step how to tune your dulcimer to DAA.
Now you can start playing your dulcimer in either DAA or DAd!

Limberjacks Part Two

2010-10-21T21:47:00.005-04:00

I've gotten several more interesting limberjacks since my "Limber Jack Part One" post of last year (2009).
I recently got some animal limberjacks from MaryLee Sunseri...a horse, a dog, and a frog. I'm working on singing some old fashioned children's folk songs while they dance. This will take some practice!
The limberjacks from MaryLee came as unpainted wood. I'm painting them for fun.
So far I've finished painting the frog. Here is a before and after picture of 'Mr.Froggie'... and he's eager to go a' courtin' for Miss Mousie now! ;)

Froggie before painting

Mr. Froggie painted

What ever happened to singing?

2010-10-06T12:50:00.018-04:00

When I look at older dulcimer instruction books, or watch older recordings of dulcimer players such as Jean Ritchie or Richard Farina for example, I notice something different from so many of the dulcimer method books and recordings offered today. There seems to be less singing going on these days with dulcimer players.
Instead, there is now more emphasis on playing embellished arrangements of tunes, and people seem to play in larger jamming groups and clubs where very little singing is going on.

Why is there less and less singing with the dulcimer as time goes on?
I feel this is due to various factors combined...

One reason might be because so many players now remain in the key of D almost the time. D happens to be a difficult key for many people to sing in, especially women. I have been in dulcimer jam sessions where people play beloved songs like Amazing Grace or Shady grove, etc, and I've wanted to sing out with them...but then I found it was simply impossible for me to sing the song in D, so I gave up after a line or two. I wonder if this happens a lot more than one might guess. I can usually sing more comfortably in the keys F, G, A, B, and C. The keys of D and E are the most difficult for my range. I just can't do it!
Older dulcimer instructional materials from the 1960's and 70's frequently taught dulcimer playing based in the key of C, not D. People learned in and tuned to CGC or CGG much more often than they do today. Now DAd and DAA have become the norm. Did this switch from C to D make it harder to sing along with our playing? It sure makes it harder for me to sing.

And when we do sing, we are more self-conscious and embarrassed about singing in front of others these days. Have we succumbed to the commercial recording industry's profitable view that only professional musicians should be singing and playing? Everyone's a music critic. We are made to feel we should keep quiet and buy our music to listen to rather than make our own. We're deathly afraid to sound like 'amateurs'.

Volume, usually hand and hand with faster speed, can be another factor in the falling from favor of singing with the dulcimer. In old-time music, I see a tendency towards more volume in sessions where people don't sing much. (see my posts on "A Race to the Finish", parts one and two) When I play in hardcore instrumental fiddle tune sessions and somebody suddenly starts singing, there are unfortunately times when no one in the session knows or remembers that they need to immediately tone their volume down to let the voice be heard. In contrast, bluegrass musicians (who tend to sing a lot more) seem more aware of instrument volume competing with voice or with others playing their solo break. Bluegrass musicians are skilled at lowering their volume to accommodate a singer. It's hard for dulcimer players to play in bluegrass sessions, however, because of the very frequent key changes in bluegrass songs.
I think jamming music in general has become a little faster as well over the past 15 years or so, and again there have been times I've tried to sing some of the verses in an old-time song being played in a fiddle session, but was unable to sing at the rate of speed being played.

The trend towards larger and larger jam sessions has created additional problems with volume. It's almost impossible to have ten or fifteen mountain dulcimers all playing the same thing together without it sounding just plain loud. Everyone trying to be heard over everyone else, or even just trying to hear themselves, it quickly spirals out of control. Singing can be a good volume 'regulator', just as it is in bluegrass jams. But when singing is absent we must find other volume 'regulators'...even if it's simply someone gently reminding everyone that we need to listen more and play as an ensemble rather than competing.

Another factor in the subtle decline of dulcimer singing might be the change of repertoire that is commonly played on the dulcimer. Quite naturally, people like to play the music that is familiar to them, music they either heard growing up or like to listen to today. In Jean Ritchie's childhood home, ballads and folksongs were sung, and fiddle tunes were played by fiddles. Nowadays, dulcimers are just as often likely to be playing fast fiddle tunes, Celtic /Irish tunes, or modern pop and rock music. Such music is generally faster and more complex than the old ballads , hymns, and simple folk songs, so the player is naturally less able to sing at the same time while playing. More of it is instrumental and has no lyrics at all.
The highly technical virtuoso concert style playing showcased at dulcimer festivals is of course very impressive- it is something that many new players aspire to. The typical dulcimer repertoire being taught today in workshops and festivals reflects this taste and has become more complex. Instrumental playing now seems to be favored over singing. All this is perfectly fine, but let's not allow singing with the dulcimer to become a lost art!

The dulcimer has a gentle lovely sound- perfect for singing with! In previous generations, everyday folksongs were learned first by singing, and then an instrumental accompaniment might be added to compliment it. In contrast, now we generally learn to play song arrangements first from TAB, as instrumental pieces, and later we struggle mightily to sing the words along with it. For most of us, singing has become a non-essential ornament, when it used to be the main event.

In conclusion, I feel a combination of factors such as a move towards staying in the key of D, an embarrassment about singing in public, an increase in both volume and speed, the larger size of group jams, and a more complex modern dulcimer repertoire of instrumental arrangements... all these things have contributed to a general decline in average dulcimer players who sing.

I tend to play in fiddle tune sessions with other instruments. Usually there is not a lot of singing going on. I confess that I have not spent enough time developing my own skills to sing and play dulcimer at the same time. I wish I had more hours in the day to work on all aspects of my music! But on my blog and in the tabs I offer, I do try to present songs with lyrics so that anyone who is inclined to do so can practice singing with their dulcimer playing. All my tabs are for songs, not instrumental tunes. The tab I write is rather spare, which allows for singing as well. You may notice that I often suggest a tuning for each tabbed song in a key that may be a little more 'singing friendly'. I do this after trying to sing it myself. I try to encourage people to lose their fear of re-tuning and their fear of singing.
Keep in mind that you can re-tune or capo into a more sing-able key.

There are dulcimer books out there with wonderful songs and ballads for dulcimer players that include not only the simple tab but the words to sing as well. Look for them! Meanwhile, don't be afraid to fool around on your dulcimer and try to play and sing a very simple song on your own. Why not give it a try with the simplest of songs, Go Tell Aunt Rhody?

For tips on singing with the dulcimer, please watch my four videos on the beginner song Go Tell Aunt Rhody.
And if you feel your voice is 'not good enough' to sing, please read this post.

Let's all bring singing with the dulcimer back into favor!

4 Videos... Go Tell Aunt Rhodie Redux

2010-09-19T17:46:00.004-04:00

I sat down yesterday and wanted to do a simple video about playing perhaps the most classic beginner mountain dulcimer tune known to man- Go Tell Aunt Rhody. What emerged instead was a four video min-series taking Rhody from the very start all the way to showing how to sing the melody while playing the harmony, with general beginner advice sprinkled into the mix.
If you are following this, then please do go read my first post featuring Aunt Rhody, from February 2009, HERE, and click on the tab I provided there for free. If you click on the picture of the TAB, it will enlarge to a nice size that you can then print out and use for your own practice purposes.
Then you can follow along with each of these four videos in sequence- videos #10-13, otherwise known as 'Rhody1-4'. I hope they are helpful to you!:

(Be sure to click below on "continue reading the rest of this post here..." to continue with the other 3 videos and the rest of this post)

A few of my posts about modes...

2010-09-14T11:41:00.003-04:00

In this blog I have tried to put together some workable plain language explanations of modes and modal tunings that are more easily understood by 'regular folk' and beginners, without getting heavily into music theory, which can be awfully intimidating.

The following is a handy list of links to some of the posts I have put up that specifically explain modes and modal tunings:

Most important is my series of posts (1-5) walking you through the four most common dulcimer modes and the how and whys of how it all works, written in a way that uses plain simple language and hands-on easy concepts that I think anyone can understand:
Modes aren't so scary #1
Modes aren't so scary #2
Modes aren't so scary #3
Modes aren't so scary #4
Modes aren't so scary #5

Here's the video where I demonstrate re-tuning between the four common modes, in the key of D:
Re-tuning video
(Best watched after reading the above series of 5 posts)

And two more related posts explaining more about using modal tunings:
Get out of jail free (this one has some useful visual charts that are VERY simple)
and lastly, taking it all back home: Why I like DAA tuning

I hope some of this may be helpful. None of them take very long to read. And if you actually tune your dulcimer along with each post as you go along, you will grasp the concept of modal tuning even more quickly and easily.

Why is it taking so LONG for me to strum well?!

2010-08-30T22:10:00.009-04:00

When I was just beginning to play the banjo, a girlfriend and I attended a three day banjo workshop taught by Dwight Diller of West Virginia- a master clawhammer banjo player. We were both rank beginners. After the first day, I said to my friend “I just HATE that I sound like such an amateur, I HATE sounding like a total beginner. I wish I could play like Dwight!”. My wise friend said “Well but don’t we sound like we are supposed to sound for having played just a few weeks? -We probably sound just like Dwight did when he had been playing for three weeks.” A simple concept, but it hit home for me... I saw that I should appreciate each stage of playing I am in at the moment, no matter how humble my beginner skills.

Strumming confidently on your dulcimer typically will takes months of playing. Strumming really well takes years. Don't give it a second thought when you still feel awkward after a few weeks. That's totally normal. Beginners are supposed to sound like beginners. I've been a beginner many times on various instruments or whenever I try to learn a new style. Embrace your beginnerdom...it's like the beginning phase of a great romance! Don't bang your head in frustration and feel inadequate ...rather enjoy the sweet rosy flush of new discovery.

I used to play mountain dulcimer in chord/flatpicking style, and I was pretty good at it- sounded very nice and I felt comfortable picking that way. I also had a little experience playing both mandolin and banjo.
But when I decided I wanted to start playing in traditional noter and drone style, I had to start right back at Square One again. It was a totally new thing for my right hand, and suddenly I was a brand new beginner all over again. Ackk!! The strumming was a whole different thing from all my other experiences, and I sounded very awkward, rhythm-wise. I stumbled constantly, felt embarrassed, and could not keep up or keep steady. All this while I was able to play banjo rhythm confidently!

It took me about 3 months to even get 'comfortable' on a basic level with my dulcimer strumming rhythm. Another several months to actually get decent and to be able to play at a fairly normal speed. About 3 years from starting that endeavor, I was able to sound 'good' -with a solid bounce and crisp syncopation, and I could play fairly fast. There are still some fiddle sessions these days that are simply too fast for me to keep up with. That's ok with me though, I don't feel driven to do everything well.

Now I have been learning to play the bowed psaltery for the past 10 months...and I'm starting from Square One as an awkward beginner all over again! But now I figure that learning is where much of the fun really lies. It's the journey, not the destination. It's the present moment that is most precious.

I have taught myself to enjoy the journey and the struggle more, so that I don't have to worry about the destination as much. The funny thing is, no matter how 'good' we get, our destination or ultimate goals seem to always remain just out of reach anyway, like a carrot on a stick. Meanwhile the journey, the moment, is right here in our hand to bring us delight if we only allow it to. Enjoy the romance of being a beginner, always learning and discovering ...and yes struggling too. Everything else will follow naturally in its proper time.

"Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans." -John Lennon

The Warfare Is Raging

2010-07-07T20:51:00.011-04:00

There is someone whose playing and singing I greatly admire, Ken Rice, aka "Flint Hill" of Pennsylvania. Ken is a member of Friends of the Mountain Dulcimer, and he very kindly consented to my posting his version of this old ballad.

Ken says:

Also known as The Girl Volunteer, Young Johnny, Johnny Oh Johnny, and The Warfare is Raging. There are a bunch of versions. I learned the tune from Joel Keys from Tryon, NC around 1967. It's also influenced by a banjo version that Louise Foreacre did on a 1950s Stoneman Family LP.
Played noter-drone style on a Ben Seymour Galax tuned dddd (D4, D4, D4, D4) which starts a G Ionian scale on the third fret of the paired melody strings. The tune is pentatonic, missing the 3rd and 7th scale degrees (Bronson mode π2). The tone set is DEGAB, lowest to highest, with G being the tonic.
I'm doing a fingerpicking roll that tracks the melody with the thumb and picks up 2-3 drone notes per melody note using the first two fingers.

You can listen to his wonderful picked version of The Warfare Is Raging... CLICK HERE.
Trying to accurately notate Flint Hill's very personal and rhythmic dulcimer picking style would be next to impossible, and likely confusing for beginners, so I have attempted to translate his very basic fret number suggestions into a tab that can be used as a simple jumping off point for learning to play this traditional ballad in your own way. Any ionian mode tuning will work with this tab.
Do listen to his mp3 clip over and over, it will help you get a feel for this compelling tale and its rhythmic bounce. Try to hear what Flint Hill is doing in his playing. Then make the song your own!

the Music Police

2010-03-21T19:38:00.026-04:00

This is a difficult blog post for me to write. In fact, I have put it off ever since I began this blog over a year ago. It's a subject that people often feel strongly about, and unfortunately it tends to make people angry no matter what their views are.
All I can do is write about my own thoughts and feelings on it, and hope that whoever reads this will be able to read it with an open mind and heart, at least consider what they read for a moment or two before dismissing it.
This post is about the concept of the Music Police.

I first heard the term "Music Police" when I was just starting to play music in groups. I was an insecure beginner player, and I would bring my little 1910 Wurlitzer mandolin to a local folk jam. There were lots of very friendly welcoming people there, and many were singer-songwriter guitar players eager to sing well known folk songs or their own compositions enthusiastically. This was fine by me, since I could plink along in the background and make my numerous mistakes without attracting too much attention. It was a nurturing beginning for me, and everyone there was happy to help and encourage me. Sometimes one person or another would make a comment like "I don't think the Music Police would approve of this version, but I like to play it this way..." , or "The Music Police would have you arrested if they heard you play that chord.". Comments like this always made me wonder, but I figured the Answer would reveal itself to me one day when I was ready. I didn't want to appear stupid by asking about it.

I began to play clawhammer banjo and I did a lot of reading on Banjo-L where the old-time banjo players and the Bluegrass banjo players were regularly seeing things from two different vantage points. I noticed that the two terms 'Music police' AND 'the Banjo Police' got thrown about on occasion, when the two sides were not in agreement about...whatever. I also noticed that it was usually the folks who liked older styles of playing that got called 'the Music Police' when discussions got testy.

Later, I was drawn towards old-time music and old fiddle tunes, and I met my wonderful fiddler husband. My playing and my enthusiasm really took off and I just couldn't get enough of that old style music. I began going to old-time fiddle tune gatherings, where I heard more references to the elusive and ominous "Music Police", also sometimes called the "Tradition Police". I began to understand that the term referred to anyone who thought their way of playing a tune was the right way/traditional way, and anyone else's ways of playing it was the wrong way. The other seemingly essential part of the definition of Music Police was that usually this term was applied to someone who liked to play in a traditional style.

I heard stories about obnoxious 'music police' musicians who insisted that tunes should only be played a certain way (their way or the traditional way) and who went around telling others how WRONG they were, saying rude things like "THAT'S NOT HOW IT GOES!". Interestingly, the villains in these stories invariably had no name... they were always about 'some guy' (usually from parts unknown) who joined a session and was never seen again after that. It never seemed to be about someone who anyone actually knew by name. And it wasn't unique to dulcimer circles, it was the same among banjo circles, fiddlers, guitar players, you name it.
Mind you, it is usual in old-time fiddle gatherings for folks to discuss how the various versions of a tune differ or are the same, and where the tunes came from. It's not uncommon to hear some fiddler saying "Well Rayna got that tune from the old Salyer recording but Salyer didn't play that part like she does, he played the high part more like this..." followed by a demonstration. Now a statement such as this might be overheard by a novice musician and they might easily interpret and retell this incident as the fiddler having told someone they played something THE WRONG WAY. In reality, experienced musicians with a passion for their music usually enjoy discussing different versions and talking about the old sources of tunes and how they were played, how they changed as they got passed along from one person to the next. But that sort of material never makes for interesting stories.

I am not saying I have never heard anyone say anything actually rude or obnoxious to someone else about their version of playing something...I have! There are rude people in all types and genres and levels of music, young and old, both experienced and beginner alike. But the few instances of rudeness I have observed over the years had more to do with someone just being plain rude and ego-inflated overall than with any purist quest they might have been engaged in to 'preserve tradition'. The fact is that person would just as likely be rude when ordering coffee in a diner if they were having a bad hair day. They tend to think they are right about everything and that everyone else is misguided...but their superior notions apply to things far beyond just their music. I don't really think of them as the "Music anything", much less as the 'Music Police'. They are just impolite or thoughtless people. Well enough about rude people, this post is not about them.

There is another interesting factor at work here that I think reinforces the idea that the infamous Music Police mostly consist of traditional players.
Imagine two people who love to eat ice cream. They both eat ice cream with a passion. Margaret loves any and all flavors of ice cream. Jenny only likes chocolate ice cream. One week they go to the ice cream parlor and they both get the flavors they ask for and both go home happy. The next week the parlor is out of chocolate ice cream and Margaret thinks Jenny is a difficult snob because she doesn't want to eat some other flavor. When they leave, Margaret is happily full and Jenny is disappointed. The next week, the parlor only has chocolate ice cream. They both go home happy. The last week, the parlor is out of all ice cream, and they both go home unhappy.
Maybe this sounds silly, but I think that musicians who like to play a wide variety of music are often seen as being more reasonable, more good natured, more open minded, more accepting, and just generally 'nicer', while musicians who like to focus on and play one type of music are often automatically seen as being closed minded, snobby, anal, curmudgeonly, difficult, and egoistic. Jenny is perhaps labeled a difficult snob because she only likes chocolate ice cream, while Margaret is seen as more reasonable person because she likes any flavor of ice cream. Margaret proclaims that "It's all good!" and suspects that Jenny looks down her nose at her and feels superior. Meanwhile, Jenny agrees that 'it's all good'...but she doesn't actually want to have to eat it all. lol!

I think it's kind of natural human nature to see someone who likes many flavors as a positive person, and conversely it's human nature to see someone who only likes one or two flavors as a negative person. But I happen to believe that both people are perfectly justified in liking everything, nothing, or anything in between. Some people don't like ice cream at all! Human beings are all different, we all have different likes and preferences, and no one's preferences are better than someone else's. Neither Jenny nor Margaret are better. It takes Jennys and Magarets and Lucys and Emilys and everyone else to make this world a wonderful, diverse, and positive place.

Do people who behave like actual Music police even exist at all? I believe they do. But such people are so few and far between as to be insignificant. The problem is that the term is thrown about all too frequently to include just about anyone who talks about how they like a certain way of playing something. It's being applied to those who enjoy playing music in a traditional way, always accompanied by the implication that they think their way of playing is the only 'right' way and everyone else's ways of playing is the 'wrong' way. In reality, very few people ever declare themselves right and others wrong. Such people are as rare as hens' teeth. Yet the concept of Music Police lurking in every alleyway, bullying and pouncing self-righteously on other players persists.
Using the term 'music police' at someone is an easy and thoughtless way to dismiss and demean them in a musical discussion or disagreement. It's a cheap shot that almost never has any actual basis in fact. Yet it hurts people and does damage. For me at least, it's time to take a stand against characterizing people unfairly.

My own way of dealing with this unpleasant conversational cop-out is this: every time I or anyone else gets called the 'music police', 'tradition police', 'dulcimer police', or whatever... instead of feeling annoyed or frustrated and letting the term slip by without comment, I'm just going to ask the person who used it why they used it used in that instance? I'm going to ask for a clear explanation about why that person thinks this. I believe that being open and straightforward about this will go a long way to make everyone aware of their choices of words and it will foster better understanding in discussions between music-minded people. If we understand why we all feel as we do about such issues, it will serve to bring people together rather than pushing them further apart.

It's time to blow the whistle on the overused and hurtful term "music police".

Over The River, Charlie

2010-03-09T17:41:00.009-05:00

This past weekend I attended a small dulcimer festival near me, and there were several workshops I enjoyed. One song, taught by Carolynne Langley in her 'Songs of the Mountains' workshop, stuck in my head long after I got home. It was Over The River Charlie, as played and sung by Jean Ritchie.
Now, I've seen Jean's standard notation version in her Dulcimer Book, and I've heard her lovely recorded voice singing it over the years. But sometimes a song just grabs onto you at a certain moment in time and won't let go, and I am grateful to Carolynne for bringing this song to my attention again. I decided to make a TAB in true Dorian mode tuning for it, and to also include a simple harmony part that one might wish to play while singing the melody part. Jean Ritchie has written about this pretty way of singing the melody while playing a harmony on the dulcimer's melody string. I couldn't manage to sing it in D, so I tabbed it down to C instead, which helped. You can always play a dulcimer duet with someone using the two parts as well.
A quick clip of Jean Ritchie playing and singing this pretty song can be heard here. Of course no one can sing it like Jean.

"I have no musical talent at all."

2010-02-27T19:59:00.008-05:00

Whenever I mention to some stranger that I play a musical instrument, half the time I get the same response- they say "You're so lucky, I have absolutely no musical talent at all." If I protest, they insist "No, you don't understand- believe me, I have NO talent at all!"
I believe that anyone who enjoys hearing music has some musical ability hidden dormant somewhere deep within them.

My banjo student was 8 years old when he first came to me for lessons. He had a lot of enthusiasm, but he could not sing in tune AT ALL, and at first he couldn't even tell me which note was higher or lower if I played him for example a C note and a C# sharp note. He had a very hard time time tuning his banjo on his own without an electronic tuner, and if I sang a note to him, he could not sing the same note along with me. I figured he'd never be a 'natural' musician, but I loved his energy and eagerness to learn, and I figured he'd get some fun out of it anyway...

And my, how he LOVED to play banjo! He practiced at home more than any other student I ever had except maybe one. By regularly practicing at home and listening to music more, he has actually developed and trained his ear over the past two years, with only minimal suggestions from me.

Now he is 10, and not only can he tune his whole banjo completely, by ear alone, but he can hear even the tiniest differences in pitch when a string is ever so slightly off pitch. He can sing in tune. When I sing several notes randomly, he can sing them accurately after me. He hears right away when a note is not right and he corrects it. He can tune his banjo perfectly between six different tunings and not even need to use a tuner at all, all he needs is one starting note.

All this really surprised me, because I used to use a little test with any students' first lesson- I'd sing a note and they'd try to match it. And I'd sing two notes that were close to each other and they'd tell me which was higher. At first, my little banjo student couldn't pass those tests. Now I know that that will really not tell me whether someone will become a natural musician. Yes, I said become a natural musician ...because I now believe that we can train and develop modest abilities and skills that are lying asleep within us. We can become better at hearing tones and notes.

I no longer accept it when anyone tells me "I have absolutely no musical ability." Most people are not born musical geniuses, and most people will not become professional musicians, but I now believe that everyone has some amount of natural musical ability deep within them, waiting to be brought to life. And that this little ability, if nurtured, is enough to enable those who claim to have 'no musical talent at all' to experience great joy in making simple everyday music for themselves and their loved ones.

Video: Muted strumming rhythm practice

2010-02-23T12:18:00.002-05:00

Many new players understandably concentrate so hard on not making wrong notes that they tend to overlook trying to improve their strumming rhythms.
I remember well when I was just starting out playing banjo- West Virginia clawhammer banjo player Dwight Diller first taught me in his workshop, and he said "The right hand is the meat and potatoes, the left hand is just the gravy."- I always loved that!

So here is a way to really IMPROVE your strumming rhythm without driving others crazy! Try muted rhythm strums, it's actually fun! Includes some varied strum rhythms to practice.

Video: Re-tuning between the four common modes

2010-02-17T15:08:00.005-05:00

I decided to make a brief video showing how one tunes back and forth between the four most common modes. Using the key of D for my example, and starting in DAd tuning, I demonstrate how to tune from mixolydian DAd to aeolian DAC, then to ionian DAA, and finally to dorian DAG. Then I re-tune back through each made again until I'm back in DAd. It's easier than you might think. Watch and see!
My cat Pearl makes her appearance in the start of the video- she was going to demonstrate how to play Cluck Old Hen using an archaic claw-drone style...but she chickened out at the last minute and so I had to do the video instead.

Video: Tips for beginners: Home made straps

2010-02-01T13:21:00.008-05:00

Someone recently asked if I could elaborate on the funny looking straps they saw hanging from my dulcimer. So here are some ideas for making simple home made straps from ribbon, yarn, and buttons, to keep your dulcimer from sliding off your lap.

Don't forget to 'button up for safety'! ;D

Video: Tips for beginners- Where to add the extra strums?

2010-01-29T14:47:00.002-05:00

Here is a little explanation to help you figure out where to add those extra 'ditty' strums in a tune. It's especially hard for beginners to know where to add those little extras. Where do you strum 'bump-ditty' instead of just 'bump'?

Video: Tips for beginners- Sugar Hill -part two

2010-01-19T14:35:00.001-05:00

You can find the TAB to this old-time song earlier in this blog, HERE.
Beginner video #5. Starting to play the song Sugar Hill and incorporating some strum patterns and a slide.

Video: Tips for beginners- Sugar Hill -part one

2010-01-17T16:41:00.005-05:00

You can find the TAB to this old-time song earlier in this blog, HERE.
Beginner video #4. Starting to play the song Sugar Hill and incorporating some strum patterns and a hammer-on.

Video: Tips for Beginners- more on strumming motions

2010-01-08T13:59:00.003-05:00

Here is a second video on basic strumming which goes over some of the motions you want for smooth strumming and some of the things to avoid:

Video: Tips for beginners- STRUMMING

2010-01-05T15:12:00.003-05:00

Here's a very quick video I recorded so beginners could practice a basic starting strum rhythm and strumming directions. I hope it's helpful to some folks.

Fun With Feathers- Part 2 !

2009-12-31T13:46:00.020-05:00

Oh Boy, more fun with feathers!
First, do read my FIRST post about using feathers as picks and noters-- CLICK HERE FOR Fun With Feathers part 1.

Recently on my online community website, Friends of the Mountain Dulcimer, Ken Rice of Bucks County, Pennsylvania posted some excellent photos and instructions for making traditional feather picks and noters from goose quills. I felt his information would be very useful to folks wanting to experiment on their own with making feather picks and noters, and Ken graciously gave his permission to post his photos and insructions here on my blog...
Ken gets his feathers from his three lovely geese- Maudie, Olive, and Fig:

Here are Ken's instructions and photos for making NOTERS out of goose quills. Ken writes:

I have been using a noter made from an adult goose flight feather. I like it, but I am new to dulcimer playing so don't have much of a basis for comparison.
It's about 15 cm (6 in) long, and it weighs about 1/2 gram. The feather shaft has a gentle bow, and you hold the convex face of the bow against your palm, using the large end of the shaft to fret the string.
I have better luck when I use a hot knife to cut these. The shafts tend to splinter and split otherwise. Alternatively, you could saw them very gently with a jeweler's saw and burn the end back on a hot surface.
When pulling the barbs off the shaft, try not to pick up a long curly "shaving" from the shaft itself. This weakens the shaft.
I touch it up gently with fine sandpaper, and it's done.
It's holding up well, though I've only been using it a month.

And here is how Ken makes his PICKS from goose quills...picks such as these are particularly suited to the traditional Galax, Virginia dulcimer playing style:

Picks made from flight feathers from our geese Maudie, Fig and Olive. These range from 8 1/2 to 10 inches.
Peel the barbs off gently and gradually or debarb them with a single-edge razor blade, singe them over a flame, cut to length with dog nail clippers and then sand off any remain barbs on the large end so they feel smooth when you hold them.

Thank you Ken Rice for these great quill crafting tips and photos!

Joyful Winter wishes

2009-12-24T14:40:00.006-05:00

My very best wishes to all of my friends and to the musical readers here whom I may never meet or play music with.
May you stay warm and cheerful through the cold winter snows, and may the coming year be healthful and full of opportunities to show kindness towards those less fortunate and alone.

Beginner tips on using a NOTER

2009-12-22T18:12:00.013-05:00

Many beginners are unsure of how to hold and use a noter stick when playing the mountain dulcimer in traditional noter/drone style.
I put together a very basic short beginner tutorial on different types and shapes of noters, and on holding, angling and placing the noter to obtain a clear sound. I hope it's helpful.

Oh, and
HERE is a very cool little video of luthier Michael King in the UK using a petite noter to play one the gorgeous 'epinette des Vosges' instruments that he makes. He will be making a little epinette for me in the Spring, which I am very excited about- I can hardly wait to put a noter to it!
And CLICK HERE to view another helpful video clip made by noter style player Randy Adams (as seen on the Friends of the Mountain Dulcimer site). In it, Randy talks about his own 'side by side' hand position in holding his noter. Great stuff!

Lastly, to give you a view of how the noter is used in sliding up and down from note to note, here is a video of me playing noter style, with my index finger on top, at normal fiddle tune speed. You can also see a bit of how I myself like to strum. My husband is playing fiddle:

Best wishes for Jean Ritchie's recovery

2009-12-17T09:27:00.005-05:00

Sending warmest hopeful healing wishes to Jean and her family during her recovery from her recent stroke. Jean Ritchie is the single biggest inspiration of my music life.
We have started a little group over on the Friends of the Mountain Dulcimer online community. Our little group is called Fans of Jean Ritchie. Come join us there, read the stories others are posting, and tell us about how Jean has inspired and delighted you!

the Welcome Table

2009-11-25T22:38:00.011-05:00

Here is a very appropriate song for Thanksgiving! It's an old hymn called "I'm Gonna Feast at the Welcome Table". (Sometimes known as I'm Gonna Sit at the Welcome Table). I have tabbed this hymn with a duet harmony part, which would be very pretty for two players play!

There are other more modern recordings of this popular hymn, but click here to listen to my favorite recorded version of this song:
Welcome Table, sung by Nell Hampton of Kentucky. Mrs. Hampton was a blind ballad singer, a neighbor and contemporary of famed fiddler Bill Stepp of Kentucky, and sister to Mae Puckett. This clip was recorded in Salyersville KY by Alan Lomax in 1937.
I hope you enjoy playing this lovely hymn! Try to find a friend to play the harmony part with you, and be sure to sing as well. You don't need a good voice to sing old ballads and hymns...you just need to feel it from within and yourself free...

Remember that although I indicated an ionian tuning of GGd because it was easier to sing it in the key of G, you can play the tab the same exact way in any ionian tuning, such as good old DAA as well.
But I want to mention another reason I wrote this tab for GGd and not simply for DAA- When playing this tune, I found that if I tuned one of the drone strings to the fifth of the scale and the other drone to the tonic, as in DAA tuning, that at some parts of the song the fifth (in DAA the middle A note) sounded a bit sour and I didn't like it. With both drone strings tuned to the tonic note (as is the case in GGd), there was no sour sound, it sounded sweet throughout. Now if you use the typical string gauges where the middle and bass strings are significantly heavier gauge than the melody string, then if you try to tune Dda then you might break the heavy middle string. So if you tune DDa then keep the middle string down to the same D as the bass string. This might be rather floppy, thus I chose the 1-1-5 tuning in the key of G instead, GGd. This not only was a tuning my string gauges could be happy with, but also my voice!

Golly, modes aren't so scary after all... Part Five (last), dorian mode

2009-11-16T20:13:00.014-05:00

This is the FIFTH (and last) of a five post series devoted to a VERY SIMPLE beginner level review of how to play in the most common modes.

Remember, the first mode we used in this little series of posts was the mixolydian mode. In the mixolydian mode, key of D, your Do-Re-Mi scale starts with the D tonic "1" note on the OPEN (zero fret) of the melody strings. Your strings were tuned DAD to be in mixolydian mode in the key of D.

The second mode we tried in this series of posts was the aeolian mode. In the aeolian mode, key of D, your Do-Re-Mi scale starts with the D tonic "1" note on the FIRST fret of the melody strings, not on the open string as in mixolydian. Your strings were tuned DAC to be in aeolian mode in the key of D.

The third mode we learned was the ionian mode. In the ionian mode, key of D, your Do-Re-Mi scale starts with the D tonic "1" note on the THIRD fret of the melody strings, not on the open string as in mixolydian. Your strings were tuned DAA to be in ionian mode in the key of D.

As we go through the four common modes one at a time, we are doing it in a logical order by moving our tonic "1" note, our 'home base' note, up the fingerboard a little more for each mode. We are staying in the same key of D, but are locating our 'home base' D note in different places on the fretboard, where we will have varying fret patterns in our scale.
That's why I started with mixolydian scale, where the 'home base' tonic note is on the open string, also known as the 'zero' fret...then i went to the aeolian mode where the 'home base' tonic note is on the first fret. Then we went on to the ionian mode with its home base located on the third fret.

Now we will tune to the dorian mode, where the 'home base' tonic note is on the fourth fret...

The four modes have the following places where their 'home base' tonic note is:
Mixolydian mode= 0 fret (open string)
Aeolian mode= 1st fret
Ionian mode= 3rd fret
Dorian mode= 4th fret

Talking now in the key of D where the D note is your tonic 'home note'- to make the tonic D note's location be on a higher fret, you have to lower the pitch of the string. This is an important concept- read that sentence again.

Starting in mixolydian DAD, where the melody string's D is on the open string... if we want to change to dorian mode and have the tonic D note on the fourth fret instead of the zero fret, we must LOWER the tuning of our open melody string all the way down from D to G. Use your electronic tuner, and lower your melody string several steps from D to G. See this chart for how your dulcimer will be tuned in dorian mode for the key of D:
Now you are tuned DAG (the last G being your melody string or strings). Notice again we are not changing the tuning of your other (drone) strings at all during this mode-learning series. I'll talk about why that is so at the end of this series of posts- it's easy!

Go back and read my earlier post on Cluck Old Hen in dorian mode, DAG tuning: Cluck Old Hen.
Remember, even though that tab is written for EBA tuning, both EBA and DAG are dorian tunings, and therefore if you play noter style you can play the tab fret numbers exactly the same way for either dorian tuning. Cool, huh?
EBA is simply DAG but bumped up one step higher. You might like to try EBA if it makes the song easier to sing for you, but also you might like EBA because in DAG the melody string in G can feel a bit slack or loose and might feel nicer tuned up one step higher to the A in EBA.

Once you've read the post on Cluck old Hen and played it in dorian mode, try re-reading the post on Little Sadie and play that tab in DAG dorian tuning as well! In that post I've put the song in the key of G instead of D, and presented two dorian tunings to try: GDC and 'reverse' tuning DGC (which is pretty easy to get to from DAD by the way).....BUT AGAIN- you can just play that dorian tab the very same way tuned to a basic DAG dorian tuning for the key of D.

To review-
We've now gotten through the four most common mountain dulcimer modes: mixolydian based on the zero fret, aeolian based on the 1st fret, ionian based on the third fret, and dorian based on the fourth fret. YAY!

Notice if you will that among those four modes, ionian and mixolydian sound rather cheerful, while aeolian and dorian sound haunting or mournful. So you might wonder- why would you need two cheery modes and two haunting modes, instead of just one of each?...why not just use mixolydian and aeolian and save yourself a lot of tuning back and forth? Well there's a good reason, and I'll explain that in one of the very next posts, if you haven't guessed it already. I'll also talk about how we tune the drone strings for various tunings and keys...and it's super easy, so don't worry!

For now, rejoice in your new ability to retune back and forth between all these four modes on your dulcimer! Go back to earlier blog posts here and try out your new skills...you have broken through those scary mode and tuning barriers of the mind!

IMPORTANT REMINDER:
Remember, when looking over the tabs I have written for this blog, it doesn't matter what key I wrote tabs in. If the tab says ionian mode then you can tune to DAA and play it just the way the tab is written. If the tab says it's in aeolian mode, then you can tune to aeolian DAC (or aeolian mode in any other key as well) and play the tab just as written. Same thing goes for mixolydian (DAD) and dorian (DAG).
Even if the tab is written for a 'reverse' tuning, you can still tune to the same mode's simple tuning and play the tab just as the frets numbers are written. For example: here I tabbed Black is the Color in the key of G, aeolian mode, in a DGF 'reverse aeolian' G tuning. Never fear!- see how it says aeolian?- that means you can use ANY aeolian tuning, even good old DAC, and still play the tab exactly the same way it is written on the page.
This is why playing by mode is so logical and simple once you 'get' the main concept of moving your tonic note/home base higher up or further down the fretboard. This is one of the beauties of noter style playing- we don't need to worry about changing the tab to accommodate any complex chord fingerings.

In the simplest terms:
The mode name simply tells you where your home note or 'key note' will be on your fretboard.
The key you want to play in tells you what that tonic/home note will be- a D note, or a G note, etc.
So, when playing in mixolydian mode in the key of G for instance, you know your open melody string will need to be a G note. When playing in ionian mode in the key of D, you know that your third fret on the melody string will need to be a D note.

Am I not good enough? Am I too old?

2009-09-17T22:41:00.017-04:00

ballad singer and banjo player Dellie Norton.

I often hear beginner mountain dulcimer players asking "Am I too old to learn to play the dulcimer? I don't have any natural talent for playing music! I've never played music before, it seems like so much to learn, and I'll never be good enough, so why bother?" Whenever I hear this question, I think Well, ok, say for example you are 75 now. You can either start playing and in three years you'll be a 78 year old who plays the dulcimer, OR, you can not make the effort at all and in three years you'll be a 78 year old who doesn't play the dulcimer. Um...I know which path I would choose!

Remember this: very few people who play instruments ever become good enough to be 'professional musicians'... But it is just as important and rewarding to play a simple melody that brings a smile to someone you love, or just to yourself.
Our society has for too long fostered the notion that only 'real' musicians should make music, and that they should do it up on a stage while the rest of us pay to sit and listen and buy CDs. Making music is just too much FUN to restrict to only a chosen few! In past generations, music making was a natural part of everyday life, and most communities and families had some sort of home made music going on- singing while they worked, playing simple tunes in the evening at home, or at community dances and picnics, at church and at school. If someone hit a wrong note or didn't sound perfect, they just carried on with the tune. People made their own music instead of buying it.

Music is a tonic that brings joy to all it caresses. And the mountain dulcimer is arguably the very easiest musical instrument of all to make heavenly sounds on right from the first moment you play- even just strumming across the open strings creates a celestial chorus. How can you beat that? We don't have to set ourselves the lofty goal of becoming a highly skilled player. Such a goal has prevented countless good people from ever starting to play at all...so sad! They see themselves as untalented failures even before they play a single note. To you I say: you are allowed to leave those kinds of goals and tasks to the young and ambitious if you like. Instead, why not set yourself free by making your own goal simple, enjoyable, and more realistic for yourself?- a goal of just playing a very simple tune or two for your own enjoyment. Personally, I admit to you that I have set my own musical goals to be less lofty over time, and am much the happier for it! I have stopped beating myself up for what I cannot do, and am more pleased in what I can do. That doesn't mean I have stopped trying to improve my playing- it just means I now refuse to feel inadequate about my playing limits and I try hard to no longer compare myself to better players and feel bad about it.

Life is too short to feel you can't or shouldn't attempt to learn something or do something new just for fun. Life is too short to keep thinking you are not good enough, or to end up wondering wistfully what it would have been like to play a simple tune on a simple instrument.
It's high time we all take back our right to enjoy playing simple home made music for ourselves. Even as brand new beginners, we are... 'good enough'.

What are you waiting for?

Limber Jack - Part One

2009-08-31T20:25:00.015-04:00

I purchased a marvelous 'Limber Jack'.

Originally from Europe, limberjack dancing toys were made in Appalachia and the Ozark mountains. they are a very fun percussion 'instrument', and are easy to learn to work.
Here is a wonderful clip of Jean Ritchie playing her limberjack.
Here's John Kirk and Trish Miller and 'Jack' playing with their little friend Jack too. ;)

I better get practicing on it! I know the littlest children who come to the farmer's market in town (where we play fiddle and banjo) will just love it. They are always clapping their hands and dancing to the music when we play.

You can get your very own wonderful walnut wood hand-carved Limberjack from Keith Young, mountain dulcimer maker of Virginia: Keith's Limberjacks. Keith also made a beautiful curly maple mountain dulcimer for me 12 years ago.

Time for 'Jack' to get clogging!....

Here is a little video clip of "Cloggin' Clyde" from the the other day when we were playing music at our local farmer's market. Clyde is slowly getting his 'moves' together. ;D

Ok these English guys really know how to have fun!:

Here are my other two limberjacks- a Frenchman, and Mr. Pig...

UPDATE, March 2010-

I've now had some experience playing my limberjacks at farmers' markets and such.
There are some small children who barely look at them and seem jaded and uninterested, but then you get the other children who make it all worth while. Last summer, a group of four children, ranging from age 4 to 7 or so, stopped dead in their tracks at our local farmer's market and came running over to watch my limberjack dance. You wouldn't believe how HUGE their eyes got, like dinner plates!, and then they all started laughing and pointing in delight, and the more he danced the more they laughed. I swear the little wooden man was inspired to dance his very best! Then they started trying to dance like the limberjack, and they laughed even MORE, finally collapsing right there on the ground in a heap of child glee and belly laughs. It made me so happy! I think that was the very best audience I ever had. :)
I love playing my limberjacks. I have five of them now, all different. I may wind up with more eventually, I love them so. Plus, they are way cheaper than banjos or dulcimers!

Also- see my latest "Limberjack Part Two" post from 2010 HERE.

The rare and elusive Fotmd...

2009-08-22T21:55:00.011-04:00

Many of us here realize that "FOTMD" means 'Friends of the Mountain Dulcimer'.

However....

Few know that the Lesser Hairy Toed Fotmd is also a most rare and elusive nocturnal moth of Madagascar, last collected as a living specimen in 1888. More recently, dessicated specimens have been extracted from the dust bunnies found in the lower bout of a Civil War era Appalachian dulcimer residing in the uncatalogued basement collection of the Ladies Medicinal Vegetable Compound Museum of New Bedford MA.

Known to feed on the fermented fungal residue of 'pre-revival' hide glue, the gentle Fotmd is feared to be extinct due to the commercial move to Super and Gorilla glues.
Legend has it that the tiny male Fotmd would emit a singular humming drone-like mating call in the musical pitch of low "C" during certain phases of the moon. If no female appeared by the third night of his lonely piping, the inconsolable male would end its own life by throwing itself under the path of a moving noter.

Buy your very own FOTMD button! CLICK HERE!

Pretty Polly ...in dorian mode

2009-08-19T16:48:00.013-04:00

I have created a simple tab for the very tragic old murder ballad usually known as Pretty Polly. This is only one variation of many, but it's probably the most common melody and lyrics. It's really creepy and spooky! Such murder ballads were often sung as parables, a way to teach young girls to look out for themselves and not fall prey to sweet talkin' strangers. Such ballads often contained advise about staying well away from fresh dug holes, pen knives, 'burglar's wine', and Deep Water.

So that you can become familiar with how it sounds, I'm linking to a couple of interesting sites where you can hear old recordings of it.
Here you can hear a 1960 recording of Harrison Burnett of Arkansas singing a pure unaccompanied version of the balled. I really like his singing: Pretty Polly.
And here, you will hear an old recording of Doc Boggs singing and playing it on his banjo, while a talented graphic artist has put together a truly fascinating and marvelous animated film to go along with the ballad as you listen- this is a totally rad Pretty Polly!...
Also, I just love this modern dance version (with dulcimer!) of Pretty Polly.

Remember, when you see that it's in Dorian mode, you can use pretty much any dorian tuning and the tab can be played the same way. In this case, a most typical dorian tuning would be perhaps DAG, and you can certainly tune to DAG and play my tab the very same way it's written, with the melody and key based on the fourth fret, dorian style. (To tune to DAG from DAD or DAA, you'd tune your melody string DOWN to G, not up.) But singing this ballad in the key of D is pretty impossible (for me anyway), so I lowered it to the key of G (GDC). Then, to make re-tuning from DAD easier, I suggested a reverse tuning of DGC instead of GDC, merely switching the two drones of D & G with each other. It's still a dorian tuning, the melody is still centered around the fourth fret and it's played the same way on the melody string in the tab.
My next post will be about the Dorian mode as the last mode of my Mode Series, but you can tune and practice it with Pretty Polly first anyhow. A couple of other tabs I've already posted on this blog to play in Dorian mode are Cluck Old Hen and Little Sadie.

Golly, modes aren't so scary after all... Part Four, ionian mode

2009-08-02T19:03:00.017-04:00

This is the FOURTH of several posts devoted to a VERY SIMPLE beginner level review of how to play in the most common modes.

Remember, the first mode we used in this little series of posts was the mixolydian mode. In the mixolydian mode, key of D, your Do-Re-Mi scale starts with the D tonic "1" note on the OPEN (zero fret) of the melody strings. Your strings were tuned DAD to be in mixolydian mode in the key of D.

The second mode we tried in this little series of posts was the aeolian mode. In the aeolian mode, key of D, your Do-Re-Mi scale starts with the D tonic "1" note on the FIRST fret of the melody strings, not on the open string as in mixolydian. Your strings were tuned DAC to be in aeolian mode in the key of D.

As we go through the four common modes one at a time, we are doing it in a logical order by moving our tonic "1" note, our 'home base' note, up the fingerboard a little more for each mode. We are staying in the same key of D, but are locating our 'home base' in different places on the fretboard, where we will have varying fret patterns in our scale.
That's why I started with mixolydian scale, where the 'home base' tonic note is on the open string, also known as the 'zero' fret...then i went to the aeolian mode where the 'home base' tonic note is on the first fret.

Now we will tune to the ionian mode, where the 'home base' tonic note is on the third fret...

The four modes have the following places where their 'home base' tonic note is:
Mixolydian mode= 0 fret (open string)
Aeolian mode= 1st fret
Ionian mode= 3rd fret
Dorian mode= 4th fret

Talking now in the key of D where the D note is your tonic 'home note'- to make the tonic D note's location be on a higher fret, you have to lower the pitch of the string. This is an important concept- read that sentence again.

Starting in mixolydian DAD, where the melody string's D is on the open string... if we want to change to ionian mode and have the tonic D note on the third fret instead of the zero fret, we must LOWER the tuning of our open melody string from D to A. Use your electronic tuner, and lower your melody string from D to A. See this chart for how your dulcimer will be tuned in ionian mode for the key of D:
Now you are tuned DAA (the last A being your melody string or strings). Notice again we are not changing the tuning of your other (drone) strings at all. I'll talk about why that is at the end of this series of posts- it's easy!

Now, if you would, go back and re-read my post about playing in the ionian mode: Why I Like DAA Tuning So Much. That post pretty well explains why ionian mode tuning is probably THE most useful and easy tuning of all if you play in traditional style with a noter. Ionian is the mode that Jean Ritchie's father Balis Ritchie of Viper, Kentucky always tuned to on his dulcimer. Ionian mode gives you those extra low notes below the tonic note that mixolydian mode can't. The majority of traditional folk tunes require these several low notes, so if you are tuned in ionian mode, why then you can magically pull them out of your sleeve! ;D

Try playing Liza Jane in ionian mode, DAA tuning:

And now that you can tune to DAA ionian and play Liza Jane in ionian mode, if you want to gain a real working understanding of how the modes work, retune your dulcimer back to DAD mixolydian mode and play Liza Jane again but in mixolydian mode, as shown in this older post: Liza Jane in DAD mixolydian mode.

To review-
We've now gotten through three of the four most common modes: mixolydian based on the zero fret, aeolian based on the 1st fret, and ionian based on the third fret. Only one more mode to go!
Notice if you will that among those three modes, ionian sounds the most 'cheerful', aeolian sounds the most haunting or mournful, and mixolydian sounds fairly happy as well. The last mode we will look at will be the dorian mode, which again has a haunting sound. I'll discuss this more later.

For now, rejoice in your new ability to retune back and forth between three modes on your beautiful dulcimer! Go back to earlier blog posts here and try out your new skills...you have broken through the barriers!

IMPORTANT:
Remember, when looking over the tabs I have written, it doesn't matter what key I wrote tabs in. If the tab says ionian mode then you can tune to DAA and play it just the way the tab is written. If the tab says it's in aeolian mode, then you can tune to aeolian DAC (or aeolian mode in any other key as well) and play the tab just as written.
Even if the tab is written for a 'reverse' tuning, you can still tune to the simple same mode and play the tab just as the frets numbers are written. For example: here I tabbed Black is the Color in the key of G, aeolian mode, in a DGF 'reverse aeolian' G tuning. Never fear!- see how it says aeolian?- that means you can use ANY aeolian tuning, even good old DAC, and still play the tab exactly the same way it is written on the page!!!
This is why playing by mode is so logical and simple once you 'get' the main concept of moving your tonic note/home base higher up or further down the fretboard.
The mode name simply tells you where your home note or 'key note' will be on your fretboard.
The key you want to play in tells you what that tonic/home note will be- a D note, or a G note, etc.
So, when playing in mixolydian mode in the key of G for instance, you know your open melody string will need to be a G note. When playing in ionian mode in the key of D, you know that your third fret on the melody string will need to be a D note.
...Enough brain strain for now!

Friends of the Mountain Dulcimer

2009-07-30T11:48:00.016-04:00

Yesterday I created a new online community just for mountain dulcimer players. It's called "Friends of the Mountain Dulcimer", and is located here: http://mountaindulcimer.ning.com/

Join us as a member of Friends of the Mountain Dulcimer online community (it's easy and it's all absolutely free), then go to the "My Page" link at top and start customizing your very own personal dulcimer webpage home. You can join or start a group, add friends to your friends list, start discussions, ask questions, add your own photo albums or videos, arrange a chat time, and start your very own dulcimer BLOG journal where you can record your personal dulcimer journey and express yourself. It's EASY!
Friends of the Mountain Dulcimer is for ALL levels of players and for ALL styles of dulcimer playing. And it's a place where both beginners and longtime players can feel right at home in asking questions and getting encouragement and inspiration. It's your place, where you can easily create a unique dulcimer page that truly reflects who you are.
We're having a regular dulcimer 'block party' there- come join the fun and make new dulcimer friends!

Wedding Dress(My Little Doney Gal)

2009-07-24T21:14:00.009-04:00

As I promised in my last post, here is a dulcimer tab I created in Aeolian mode for one of my very favorite traditional songs- known as either Wedding Dress, or My Little Doney Gal. I usually play this on the banjo in modal 'sawmill' tuning. I've never seen it tabbed for dulcimer before, so it's about time someone did it! Especially since it's less easy to find aeolian tunes as it is to find ionian ones. (UPDATE: I've been told that Mark Nelson did a tab for it, in Dorian DAG mode. It really is a Dorian tune, but I'm tabbing it here in Aeolian mode because a lot more people play in Aeolian than Dorian and it's a bit more difficult to find aeolian tunes to play.)

This is a great beginner's aeolian tune, because it is actually quite simple to play, with lots of breathing spaces and very simple strums and noter moves. In this one, the drones shoulder almost the whole weight of the tune.
It's easy to get in the zone while playing this one. In the zone is how my old-time musician friends refer to the blissfully hypnotic state one can get into while playing mantric droney-modal-y tunes...
The other nice thing about this tune is that it's so open in terms of space and timing. You can feel free to strum in a soulful way as long as you like between verses or even between lines- aeolian tends to be so forgiving that way, you can linger forever and savor the magic of the drones. Pausing just makes it all the more beautiful. I never get tired of this song, though I've played it hundreds of times.
I hope you enjoy this tab. I made it just for you.

Golly, modes aren't so scary after all... Part Three, aeolian mode

2009-07-08T14:31:00.004-04:00

This is the THIRD of several posts devoted to a VERY SIMPLE beginner level review of how to play in the most common modes.

Remember, the first mode we used in this little series of posts was the mixolydian mode. In the mixolydian mode, key of D, your Do-Re-Mi scale starts with the D tonic "1" note on the OPEN (zero fret) of the melody strings. Your strings were tuned DAD to be in mixolydian mode in the key of D.
By the way- when we write the tuning such as DAD, it's most common to list the strings from bass string to melody string. Thus, the last 'D' when referring to 'DAD' means your melody string(s). Some people have one melody string, some have a pair, but the pair is tuned as though it were one string, so when we say DAD, the last D means how you tune your single or your pair of melody strings.

As we go through the four common modes one at a time, we'll be doing it in a logical order by moving our tonic "1" note, our 'home base' note, up the fingerboard a little more for each mode. We are staying in the same key of D, but are locating our 'home base' in different places on the fretboard, where we will have varying fret patterns in our scale.
That's why I started with mixolydian scale, where the 'home base' tonic note is on the open string, also known as the 'zero' fret...

So, the four modes have the following places where their 'home base' tonic note is:
Mixolydian mode= 0 fret (open string)
Aeolian mode= 1st fret
Ionian mode= 3rd fret
Dorian mode= 4th fret

Talking now in the key of D where the D note is your tonic 'home note'- to make the tonic D note's location be on a higher fret, you have to lower the pitch of the string. This is an important concept- read that sentence again.

Starting in mixolydian DAD, where the melody string's D is on the open string... if we want to change to aeolian mode and have the tonic D note on the first fret instead of the zero fret, we must LOWER the tuning of our open melody string from D to C. Use your electronic tuner, and lower your melody string from D to C. See this chart for how your dulcimer will be tuned in aeolian mode for the key of D:
Now you are tuned DAC (C being your melody string). Notice again we are not changing the tuning of your other (drone) strings at all. I'll talk about why that is at the end of this series of posts- it's easy!
Now, if you would, go back and re-read my first post about playing in the aeolian mode: The Beautiful Aeolian Mode. Try playing Shady Grove, it's really a simple tune to play! If you didn't understand much of what I wrote before, re-reading that Aeolian post might make a bit more sense to you now. If you don't 'get' some of the concepts don't worry- just the practice of going back and forth between mixolydian DAD and aeolian DAC tunings will get you where you need to go and get you more comfortable with the idea of re-tuning to various modes.

To review-
We've now gotten through two of the four most common modes: mixolydian based on the zero fret, and aeolian based on the 1st fret.
For my next post I'll take a brief break from the four mode series to write up a tab for one of my personal favorite traditional songs that can be played in the haunting aeolian mode tuning...Wedding Dress...also known as Doney Gal or Little Doney Gal (as I like to call it). This song is very simple to play and it really shines using open drones. Be sure to try it- it's quite an addictive beautiful song. I usually play it on my banjo in A modal tuning, but I'll create an aeolian dulcimer tab for it so you can play it too! After that I'll return to the mode series and move on to the Ionian mode, home-based on the 3rd fret.

Golly, modes aren't so scary after all... Part Two, mixolydian mode

2009-06-29T20:21:00.004-04:00

This is the SECOND of several posts devoted to a VERY SIMPLE beginner level review of how to play in the most common modes.

I suspect most of you are already familiar with playing in DAD mixolydian mode, so we will start from there.
So...tune your dulcimer to DAD and play any simple tune. If you hadn't realized it before, you are already tuning and playing in a mode!- the Mixolydian mode.
This is going to be EASY. I'll take things step by step, starting with mixolydian mode. I'll keep things very simple, and I'll explain each thing very clearly...

I am going to review each mode, one at a time, using the key of D as our key because most people these days are familiar with playing their dulcimer in the key of D.
Notice in the chart that your dulcimer is tuned DAD and the melody string(s) are tuned to the note of D. This D is a whole octave higher than the D your fat low bass string is tuned to, by the way. Now let's just discuss the melody strings...
In mixolydian mode, in the key of D, your melody strings play the note D when you strum them open, without fretting them.

Read the next paragraph slowly and carefully. It appears complicated but it isn't if you read it carefully:
Think of a scale as being Do Re Mi Fa Sol La Ti Do- like the song in The Sound of Music movie. The first Do is the first note of the scale, Re is second note of the scale, Sol is the fifth note of the scale, etc. The last "Do" is the eighth note of the scale, which is a whole octave higher than the first Do.
In the key of D, D is the first note of the scale. The first note of the scale is called the tonic note, also sometimes called the "1" note (1st note) of the scale. Thus, if we are in the key of D, your "Do" (tonic) note is a D, your "Re" note would be an E, and your "Sol" note would be an A note above that, going up the scale as in D,E,F#,G,A,B,C,D. Think of going up the scale like a little staircase, and the tonic note is the bottom first step.

The Mixolydian mode, practically speaking, simply means that your tonic note (the 1st note of your scale, "Do") is going to be found on your OPEN melody string(s). The open string can also be called the zero fret because it's one whole step lower than your 1st fret. The nut of your dulcimer is sometimes called the zero fret, in fact.
If you are playing in the key of D, your open (zero fret) melody string note will be a D note. (Incidentally, if you are playing in the key of G instead of D and wish to be in Mixolydian mode, then you'd tune your open melody strings to a lower G note instead. But... let's stick to the key of D for now!)

So in the mixolydian mode, key of D, your Do-Re-Mi scale starts with the D tonic "1" note on the OPEN (zero fret) of the melody strings.

If you now have your dulcimer tuned in DAD mixolydian mode, to play in the key of D, try playing Mary Had a Little Lamb, just on your melody string(s).
You'll be playing the notes on the frets like this:
2 - 1 - 0 - 1 - 2 - 2 - 2
Ma-ry had a lit-tle lamb

1 - 1 - 1
lit-tle lamb

2 - 4 - 4
lit-tle lamb

2 - 1 - 0 - 1 - 2 - 2 - 2 - 2
Ma-ry had a lit-tle lamb who's

1 - 1 - 2 - 1 - 0
fleece was white as snow.

If you can play Mary Had a Little Lamb ok, then try this other simple old-time tune from a previous post, Liza Jane:

Now I want you to notice that both these tunes end on the tonic note, the note of D, the first note of the scale. Most folk songs and most traditional songs end on the tonic note, which is usually the same note as the name of the key you are playing in. There are exceptions, of course, but 'usually' if a song ends on a G note then it's safe to bet it's in the key of G. If it ends in a D, then it's usually in the key of D, such as these two songs you've just played.

If you look at the tab for Liza Jane, it'll also tell you the song ends on the zero fret (open string). Knowing already that most folk songs end on the tonic note, we can conclude that Liza jane here has it's tonic note on the open string/zero fret. Remember, in mixolydian mode the tonic note is found on the open string/zero fret....so you can plainly see in the tab that Liza Jane must be tabbed here in the mixolydian mode. Furthermore, since the tab tells you to tune the open melody strings to D in this case, one also can safely conclude that this song is tabbed in the key of D, in mixolydian mode.

Important!:
If the song ends on the zero fret (open string), it's a clue that it is in mixolydian mode.
If the song ends on a D note, it's a clue that the song is in the key of D.

My next post will take us into Aeolian mode, which is a simple one step change from mixolydian mode. Don't get nervous! In fact, by trying out the very simple aeolian tuning, it will probably help everything to become clearer, and you'll understand mixolydian mode as well more than you do now.

For now, reread this post so you understand the very simple points I'm explaining, and just relax and enjoy playing in mixolydian mode. Try playing Go Tell Aunt Rhody by starting on the 2nd fret for the word "Go..." Notice the song will end on the open string/zero fret... so again, you are playing it in mixolydian mode!

Next...the beautiful aeolian mode...

Golly, modes aren't so scary after all... Part One

2009-06-23T21:30:00.016-04:00

This is the first of several posts devoted to a VERY SIMPLE beginner level review of how to play in the most common modes.

Up to now, I have tried to introduce the four commonly used dulcimer modes one at a time, each paired with a tune, in order to keep from scaring people away by having them feel that it's all too much to learn at once.

I think it may be a good time now to step back and present a little review of the four modes I use in this blog in a way that might help you visualize the differences between them by seeing them plainly, side by side together rather than separately. Being able to play in the four different modes is truly not that complicated or scary once you understand the basic simple concept. Tuning to the four modes is the key to being able to play all kinds of interesting and varied tunes and songs in traditional noter and drone style.

I'd like to try to get you comfortable with the four common dulcimer modes in a very simple way that anyone will be able to put in to action on their own dulcimer. I'm going to skip over all the brain-wringing explanations about modal scales having bunches of whole steps and half steps. I remember trying to learn that stuff when I was just starting out, and wow, it would scare off almost anybody!
So the HECK with that! Let's approach it from a much simpler angle instead... starting with picture charts that show you exactly how to tune for the four modes, in the key of D.

For now, I want you to know two simple things:
First, please note that your two drone strings remain tuned the same in all four modes. Thus, to change modes, you are only going to be re-tuning your melody string(s). We will not be re-tuning the drone strings (middle and bass strings) at all. Simple enough? I knew you'd like that.
Secondly, you need to know that if starting in mixolydian mode, in DAD, that when you re-tune to the other three modes you are going to be tuning your melody strings DOWN from the original D, not up! Thus, when re-tuning from DAD (mixolydian mode) to DAC (aeolian mode), for example, you will be tuning your melody strings DOWN one step from D to C. You need to know this so that you don't start breaking your melody strings by trying to crank them w-a-y up from your starting DAD point. (And like I said already, your other strings will remain the same and will not be re-tuned at all.)

Click on each chart picture and it will get larger in its own window, and you can print it out. Print out all four charts and in my next post I will further explain how to use the modes easily, in simple terms. I suspect most of you are already familiar with playing in DAD mixolydian mode, so we will go from there.
So...tune your dulcimer to DAD and play any simple tune. If you hadn't realized it before, you are already tuning and playing in a mode!- the Mixolydian mode.
This is going to be EASY. I'll take things step by step, starting with mixolydian mode. I'll keep things very simple, and I'll explain each thing very clearly.

Cindy

2009-06-20T21:19:00.008-04:00

Cindy is a favorite old-time song that is often sung in the key of G.

It has great fun lyrics. I especially love the imagery of honey bees swarming around her sweet mouth, her 'feet all over the floor', and of Cindy shaking her stockings down in a fit of Glorious Fervor!...

I have tabbed it in G, in reverse ionian tuning of DGD. Personally, I can sing it more comfortably in A, and I would choose the reverse ionian tuning of EAE for myself. Then again, if you don't plan to sing it at all, then feel free to play it in D, in a regular DAA ionian tuning. Any of these ionian tunings will use the exact same tab numbers, as I've written, so feel free to experiment! As is often the case with very quaint old songs, it also sounds nice without the 5th in the drones, in a more 'unison' sounding ionian tuning of say GGD (for G) or DDA (for D).

Now, if you want a real treat, watch this absolutely marvelous clip of Pete Seeger on banjo and Buffy Sainte-Marie on the mouth bow playing and singing Cindy. Don'cha just love it?? Notice how the mouth bow adds a single tonic drone note that plays continuously through the whole song. Ahhh....drones are such a total turn on! Buffy, you 'slay' me...what a woman!

When singing Cindy, it can get a little busy sounding going from verse to chorus to verse to chorus etc without a pause, so I'd recommend doing a verse, then sing the chorus, then play the chorus again but without singing, then on to the next verse, repeating this pattern. That would sound very pretty and add some needed 'air space'. As with almost all old-time and traditional songs, lyrics will vary in different versions.

Why I ditched my 'bass' and 'middle' strings

2009-06-13T16:40:00.020-04:00

This is going to be a little tricky to explain, but to really understand the logic and background behind my particular tuning methods and my personal old-time playing style, this issue must be elaborated upon a bit and clarified.

First, I must remind those who have not read my blog from the beginning, that years ago when I first started playing the mountain dulcimer, I learned to play it in the manner that is currently so pervasive and popular - playing flatpick/chord-based style and tuned mostly in DAD. Seems everyone I observed back then was playing that way, most of the learning materials, dulcimer clubs, and workshops were geared towards it, and honestly it didn't even occur to me to learn any other way. Nobody mentioned there was any other way to play the dulcimer. I actually became pretty good at playing the dulcimer chord/melody style, with a flatpick. It sounded very pretty to me, and I enjoyed it.

However, when I fell in love with old-time ballads and old-time fiddle tunes and began trying to play those, my chord based dulcimer playing just didn't sound right with it.
I thought my dulcimer playing sounded too modern and 'folk guitar-ish'. To my ear, it did not blend well at all with the more archaic ballads and fiddle tunes. Something sounded wrong to me, but I just assumed it was just the nature of the dulcimer's sound and was something that couldn't be changed.

Thus it was that I hung my dulcimer on the wall and let it gather dust for seven long years...
I took up old-time clawhammer banjo and was thrilled by how perfectly it blended with the old-time music I was growing to love so well. I became a passably decent old-time banjo player and slowly forgot my old dulcimer playing skills.

After 'seven years of ringing the banjo', mostly accompanying fiddlers (primarily my husband who is an excellent old-time fiddler), more and more I explored the older Southern Appalachian ballads, avidly listening to field recordings of singers such as Almeda Riddle, Texas Gladden, Nimrod Workman, Dillard Chandler, Dellie Norton, Jean Ritchie, and many others.
At some point it registered in my mind that Jean Ritchie's dulcimer playing didn't sound so modern, that it blended perfectly with the very old ballads she was singing. This got me to thinking (finally! DUH!) about how perhaps playing the dulcimer a different way might produce the older sound I was looking for- a sound that would stand on its own but would also sound right with fiddles and banjos or with traditional sung ballads.

This revelation triggered me to learn more about the older more traditional styles of playing the Appalachian dulcimer. By this time, I was quite familiar with the concepts, beauty, and use of drones and open or modal tunings on my banjo. As I read, listened, and learned more, it dawned on me that I must start over with my dulcimer from square one and re-learn how to play it in a more traditional drone based manner. I learned about noter playing, I listened to many recordings, and I fell hard under the spell of the quicksilver liquid sliding noter dancing alongside the steady open powerful drones. What an intoxicating sound it was! I was totally hooked, and I felt the door to a whole new world had been suddenly flung open before me.

I began to play with a noter and open drones. I felt so awkward and hopelessly lame! I had to start all over again! The results were embarrassingly bad, but I kept at it relentlessly. The noter hand and the strumming hand were both equally difficult! I practiced s-l-o-w-l-y and repeated the same babyish moves over and over for weeks, and eventually I began to improve. I realized just how vastly different this playing method was from my old DAD chording/picking style.
I quickly found that when playing melody notes only on the melody string, I often needed several notes that were lower than the tonic '1' note- so I began to tune more often to DAA (ionian mode) instead of DAD (mixolydian mode), which then made those lower notes available on my melody string.

As I listened to more recordings of fiddle tunes played on mountain dulcimers, I then discovered the playing of Bonnie Russell, Phyllis Gaskins, and Jacob Ray Melton, all of whom played 'Galax Style'. This style originated in the area of Galax, Virginia, and the dulcimers they used from that area were of a certain build and were strung all in the same gauge strings, usually tuned dddd. They played them with long flexible whip-like picks, in a sort of egg-scrambling motion. The sound was described by others as a 'swarm of angry bees'. The intense droning sound all in the same octave really appealed to me, and I imagined this was a good way for me to bring my fiddle tune accompaniment style up to speed!

By this time it had been been around nine years since I had first picked up a dulcimer, and I still had just my one very beautiful curly maple teardrop dulcimer. I felt it was time to get myself a Galax style dulcimer and really cut loose. I had Ben Seymour of North Carolina make me a beautiful cherry Galax dulcimer:

What a lovely inspiration this cherry dulcimer was!
It was strung all in .010 strings, all in the same high octave. No heavier low bass string, no heavier low middle string. It had a 26" scale length, so I was planning to use it mostly for playing in the keys of A and G in ionian tunings. the 26" scale would allow me to tune up to ionian aeee (or eaee) without breaking strings, as had been happening sometimes on my 28" scale teardrop dulcimer.

As I played it over the first few weeks, I realized that the sound of having all the strings in the same high octave was very appealing to me. It dawned on me that part of the reason I found my old chording style to be more modern and guitar-like sounding was in fact that lower bass string/middle sound, combined with playing full chords...the low strings did indeed remind me of guitar playing! Not only that, but the low bass octave sound also reminded me of the sound of a bass fiddle thumping along in bluegrass string bands. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but it was not jiving with the older drone based feeling I was seeking for my own music. I found the all-high-octave sound meshed very nicely with both old-time southern Appalachian fiddle tunes and ballads...it sounded 'right' to me somehow.

So there I was, playing my Galax dulcimer but not exactly playing it in strict Galax style: I was tuning it mostly in ionian rather than bagpipe/mixolydian, I was using various modes and retuning to them as opposed to capoing. I was not using the usual Galax long quill style pick or that egg scrambling picking technique either. What's more, I was using my own unique brand of percussive picking in a sort of syncopated flatfooting rhythm, sort of what a banjo player uses in their 'cluck/chuck' strum. This I believe evolved from my banjo playing. I have never seen or heard anyone else use this strumming technique on the dulcimer, so I like to think of this as the one thing I can proudly say I have actually invented for myself. :)
But though it is not strictly Galax, the style and method I developed for myself is working for me, and it is working very well for me. I eventually changed my teardrop dulcimer over to the same all-high-octave stringing as well. Once recently I strung a wound bass string back on it again to try it and I hated it and went back to all .010's again immediately.

If you want to hear a more 'pure' Galax style in action, listen to the amazing clip here of Phyllis Gaskins playing full speed on the DulcimerSessions.com website. Also, listen to the two lovely clips of Kimberly playing true Galax style that I have linked on the right column of the home page of this blog.

Now, I have posted often enough about the importance or retuning into different modes if you want to play in various keys when playing the dulcimer noter/drone style. Please go back through this blog and read about some of the reverse tunings I have recommend that would make your life easier when tuning into different keys and modes. Now I must explain something- many people do not like to use 'reverse tunings' (such as GCG instead of CGG for ionian mode in the key of C) for a perfectly good reason: they don't like the bass string to be sounding a fifth interval note instead of the tonic "1" note. Yes!-Now it all becomes quite obvious why this doesn't make a bit of difference to me at all....because I have no lower 'bass string' or 'middle string'!
All my strings are the same gauge and the same octave! Thus, I don't give a rat's ass whether I tune my drones GC or CG! Ha ha ha ha hah!! I have freed myself to use whatever tuning will be easier to get to from the tuning I am already in, one that requires the least amount of distance to travel for each string. I can't emphasize enough how convenient this is! It not only enables me to retune much more quickly and easily, but I also wind up hardly ever breaking strings.

Now ye who still maintain their heavy wound bass string and heavy middle string and don't wish to make the 'bizarre' transition to all high-octave bee swarm stringing- you can STILL use the 'reverse tunings' I describe throughout this blog. You just have to get a little used to the sound of having your tonic drone be on your middle string and your 'fifth' interval drone being on your low bass string. I actually did this for a while before I was willing to give up my heavy strings altogether, and I got used to it just fine. But some people strongly dislike the sound of the bass string being a fifth instead of a tonic note, so you'll just have to try it for yourself and see!

Then again, lots of people are repelled by the unison/bagpipe/Galax type 'angry bee swarm' sound altogether. Hey, there's no accounting for people's taste! I can assure you there was a time when I would have found it simply awful to listen to as well.
A few years ago I played a recording of the late great Jacob Ray Melton playing Galax dulcimer for a musician friend of mine. He was such a good musician that I figured surely he would be impressed and would, like me, find Melton's playing entrancing. He listened for a minute or so, then said simply "That's incredibly annoying." =8-o

Cluck Old Hen

2009-06-03T18:32:00.008-04:00

Cluck Old Hen is one of the most enduring and endearing old-time songs around. Everyone loves it and everyone wants to play it. It has a wonderful quirky bluesy sound to it, and it has great lyrics.

But because of its bluesy notes, Cluck Old Hen simply cannot be played on the melody string only (noter style) on a typical diatonically fretted dulcimer in the modes of mixolydian, ionian, or even in lonesome sounding aeolian mode. You just won't have all the notes you need on the fingerboard.
Here is where the DORIAN mode comes to the rescue!
Now, before you FREAK OUT and go back to aimlessly twittering on your computer lest you might have to {{{shudder}}} go into some scary tuning Devil's Triangle of No Return, just listen for second and give me a chance!...
Does DAG sound like an 'impossible' tuning to you? I thought not...it's not that alien from DAD or DAA. DAG is Dorian tuning, where the song ends and is centered around the fourth fret. You can quickly review my easy beginner helper notes for Dorian mode tuning here in my previous post: "Little Sadie and the Dorian mode"

Now... I tried playing and singing Cluck Old Hen in dorian DAG, which would be the key of D, and it was a bit too low for me to sing the low B part chorus. So I simply raised everything up one step to make it the key of E instead of D, and found I could sing it better. BUT- you can try D first (DAG) and see if D suits you before going up to E (EBA). I tabbed it in EBA (dorian tuning key of E). The tab numbers would all be the SAME in DAG since you are in the same dorian mode.

Here is how you can easily tune to DAG from DAA:
Tune your melody string(s) DOWN one step from A to G. That's it!

Here is how you can easily tune to DAG from DAD:
Tune your melody string(s) DOWN to G (not UP, or you'll break your string). That's it!

Wasn't that scary?? ha ha ha

Now that you are in DAG, you can try playing and singing Cluck Old Hen in DAG dorian mode key of D. If you have trouble singing the low B part, try tuning all your strings UP more more whole step from DAG to EBA. Try singing it there in the key of E. You'll notice the B chorus part is sung much lower than the verses. For my voice, singing it in EBA key of E makes the high part not too high to sing and the low part not too low to sing.

Here is a short MP3 clip of Cluck Old Hen just to give you an idea of how it goes: Cluck Old Hen. I usually like mine a bit slower and more relaxed and bluesy, but this clip just gives you a quicky example to hear.

And here is a wonderful Youtube clip made by Terry, he actually learned it from my TAB right here in this post, and sent me a link to show me how his version came out. Click here to see it: Cluck Old Hen played by Terry. This is a great sample because he plays it just like the tab here. I love how he uses a quill for his pick too, and the charming box dulcimer- what a great traditional sound Terry has going!

Remember to not tune any string higher than an E on a typical 28" scale dulcimer or you might break a string ...but E should be perfectly do-able on most dulcimers, which usually fall between 26"-28 1/2" scale lengths. Scale length is the length in inches between the nut and the bridge.

I think if Cluck Old Hen were the only song in Dorian mode, it would still be worth going in and out of Dorian mode just to play that one single fabulous old-time song.
See if you can make up your very own new funny verse for Cluck Old Hen- it's not too hard if you let yourself be silly!

Got Tunes?

2009-05-28T17:15:00.019-04:00

People often get confused between 'having' a lot of tunes on paper to play, and being able to play a lot of tunes.
Many players, (and I have done this as well) both beginners and intermediate alike, display big fat looseleaf binders full of TAB they have collected, and say things like "I have 400 tunes!"....or even "I can play 400 tunes!"....old-time fiddlers have boasted to me: "I have over 3000 old-time tunes on my ipod!". This is impressive, even if only logistically! I myself used to feel that the mere fact of 'having' these tunes is somehow an accomplishment akin to being able to play the tunes. This is particularly true with TAB- since obviously if you can read the TAB numbers then you can pick out the tune on your instrument. I used to think that if I could slowly pick out 300 tunes from my tab sheets, note by note, then I was a musician who could play 300 tunes.
But laboriously picking out the TAB numbers note by note on your instrument is not necessarily knowing the tune, in the sense that the tune is coming from the numbers on a page, the 'instruction sheet', so to speak. In a way it's like walking around with a French dictionary in your pocket and telling people that you can speak French.

Playing from TAB is not wrong. TAB is very useful and helpful! TAB is certainly one of the several good ways for beginners to start playing, it's a good way to figure out how to play a tune you haven't heard yet, or to jog your memory when you forget a tune, and a good way to organize your repertoire. I use tab all the time in my practice sessions or in learning new tunes or trying to remember old ones. And I give my tab away here on my blog. Many people get quite nimble and fast while playing exclusively from TAB, and can play beautifully while reading TAB. If you feel happy with voluminous collections of tab and sheet music, then great! But collecting tab and tab books can also become a fever that eventually leaves some people feeling overwhelmed and inadequate. They 'have' hundreds of tunes, but they may get the feeling that they are just playing through them, rather than playing them.

Attempting something scary and new by playing a simple tune without reading tab is a good thing to work on. I encourage everyone to play at least a couple of the very simplest tunes without tab- tunes such as Twinkle Twinkle Little Star or Go Tell Aunt Rhody or Frere Jacques. If you can do that, if you can play just three simple, simple tunes without reading numbers for the notes, why then you can truly say that you know those tunes by heart and that you 'can' play music without looking at TAB. If you can do that one thing without reading the tab, you can be proud in your accomplishment. :) ....No cheating now, by choosing your three simple tunes as Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, Baa Baa Black Sheep, and the Alphabet Song....because those are actually all the exact same tune!!!!! LOL!

Some people hit a plateau once they have accumulated lots of TAB. They may feel frustrated because they thought that having all these tunes means that they can play them all, and being able to play so many tunes should make them feel accomplished...yet inside they don't feel like they've mastered those reams of tunes and they maybe can't pinpoint why they feel frustrated with their progress. Maybe it's because they are still afraid to play in groups with other instruments, or in public. Maybe they just feel vaguely depressed when they see the massive notebooks full of tab they know they will never work through despite their best intentioins (I can sure relate to that sinking feeling myself). Some people then feel like they have hit a wall and can't get beyond it. And they have hit a wall, yet it's not necessarily the barrier they think it is. If you feel you have hit a wall, then to get beyond this wall you can't just keep bashing against it...you have to back up, turn around and find a new path around it. You have to go back to a simpler place that you perhaps skipped over the first time around.

I would say that if you feel overwhelmed by your volumes of tab you may never get to, if you feel you are drowning hopelessly under the piles and notebooks...then the answer lies in narrowing your focus, not in acquiring more and more tunes and books and tabs.
It's quite possible to collect 500 tunes written in tab, and play through them all note by note, yet still never be able to know those tunes at all, because you might never have played any of those tunes more than maybe once, months ago or even years ago. This happened to me. You maybe can't even hum most of them, or even hear them in your head. When one has 500 tunes to work through, it's hard to really connect with a tune on a personal or intimate level.

You may gain more precious inner musical satisfaction by narrowing down your learning focus. Try getting 2 or 3 cds of your favorite players or singers and LISTENING to them over and over ....and over. Let them sink in and get to know them profoundly. These hours of listening will be time well spent- it's really subconscious brain/ear/spirit training. It's also enjoyable.

Then pick a tune that is very very SIMPLE on one of those recordings, one that you really like and are familiar with. Perhaps one like Little Maggie or Little Birdie, or Shady Grove, or Cindy, or Sugar Hill.... not a complicated one like Redwing or Summertime, but rather a very simple tune or simple song. Pick a tune you can hum or can at least hear in your head. That's the one you will work on and pour all your efforts into, rather than trying to gather up more and more tunes. This is the backtracking part of your new focus.

Play ONE tune. Learn it on your own by listening to a recording or a live player you like. Keep listening until it's a part of you, until it runs through your head all day, and slowly start to pick out notes for it on the dulcimer. Perhaps get another player to help you initially to figure out the key and the tuning if you are having trouble with that- then go from there on your own. Find the first note, then the second note. If you get lost, go back to the first note again. Try to hear just the single melody line of the tune, and don't worry about adding pretty chords or the harmonies yet. It helps to pick a tune that you already know and can hum- since we usually just hum the plain melody line of a song, we don't hum chords. Then play it until you feel it expresses all the feeling you heard in it. Keep it simple.

One result will be ONE tune that is now truly your own. Far better to play three tunes well than 100 tunes choppily. The other result will be that you have learned a skill of how to create music on your own. Being able to hear music and then absorb it into you and then let it flow out of you directly into your dulcimer is a magical and valuable thing to encourage in yourself. This does not mean you should give up playing from your tab books! It just means that you are expanding your abilities, adding to your musical toolbox, and training your ear and your brain to better listen, solve challenges, and connect.

It'll be worth the time and effort because from then on each new one will get just a little bit easier. It's not unlike learning to ride a bike, or learning to swim. I have done it. I've seen many others do it. None of us were geniuses or musical prodigies.

The other most effective way to learn to play aside from intensive listening, is to sit down with others and just stumble along with what they are playing, trying to pick out notes here and there. This requires you to listen intently too. Play rhythm strums along with what others are playing, mute all your strings with your left hand if necessary! I did this. It's scary at first, but it works. We have too much fear of wrong notes and making mistakes, that's one reason why we sometimes get dependent on TAB and books and classes- to try to ensure we don't make 'mistakes'. But mistakes are really our friends, because we really do learn from them.

Tab and books and classes are all helpers. But let us not allow our helpers to restrict us from other fun things we'd like to explore! Learning new things is what life is all about, even while making mistakes.
Exploring, struggling, making mistakes, being afraid, and learning new things are all GOOD. Feeling uninspired, overwhelmed, inadequate, or frustrated is not good.

If you play only by TAB and you feel happy and inspired and like what you are learning- then you must be doing something right! Keep doing what you are doing and have fun. But -if you feel stuck, frustrated, or overwhelmed then consider exploring a new pathway even if it means you might have to backtrack to a much simpler place or step outside your usual comfort zone.

The Blackest Crow

2009-05-17T22:32:00.010-04:00

painting by Pablo Picasso

I made this tab because some dulcimer players on the EverythingDulcimer online forum were asking for it. I figured I would do a version for them which included a harmony part so that two dulcimers could play a duet. It's a very pretty ballad. I generally followed the version sung by the great Bruce Molsky with Julie Fowlis- it can be heard here on YouTube and that will give you an idea of how it sounds... (Bruce mixes up the second verse in the YouTube clip but you can just follow the more usual tab lyrics I wrote here.)

It should be noted that some older versions are much plainer than this rather 'orchestrated' one. Personally I like a fewer instruments on the old ballads. For me Bruce's fiddle would have been just perfect all by itself with the two voices. Another note is that Jean Ritchie's Blackest Crow is pretty much a different ballad altogether- but pretty as well! I imagine this ballad would be lovely finger-picked too.

I stayed in the key of G just as Bruce Molsky sang it- much better than trying to sing it in D (yikes). For noter style, it kind of needed to be in ionian tuning, thus the tuning here is GGd. Notice that I don't use DGd, which would be the 'usual' G ionian tuning. That's because when you get to the minor sounding note 1st fret note such as where the word "part" is in the first line- well the fifth of the scale (which would be the bass string D) sounds rather sour there, and it's an important part of the tune. It's perhaps even the most important note, so we don't want it sounding nasty. I found that keeping the bass and melody strings on the tonic 'one' note of G produced a much sweeter effect that went smoothly through the whole ballad. This happens sometimes with tunes like this one that don't follow the usual pattern, and you have to be open to the idea of tuning bass and middle strings both to the tonic to resolve the unhappy dissonance even though it may strike you as oddly bagpipe-y at first. Believe me, it grows on you. I'm a big fan of dissonances, however there are a few that even I can't stomach!

Please note that if you are tuning to GGd from DAd, you tune your middle and bass strings DOWN to G, not up. If you try to tune them up to the next G they will break. Your melody string stays in the d that is is already. If you are in DAA and wanting to tune here to GGD, then you will indeed tune your melody string up from A to d (while the other strings still will go down to G). This ballad is is 3/4 time, like a waltz. That makes it a nice rhythm variation to help break things up during a set of the usual 4/4 tunes.

Now, It occurs to me that perhaps I am not being sensitive enough to die-hard "D-heads" out there by trying to force them to tune to G.
So, if you don't care about singing the ballad and just want to play it in D, simply tune to DDa. You [i]can[/i] tune to DAa and play it, but again you will get a somewhat sour sound on that pretty note as I mention above. Sticking to DDa will keep it sounding sweet when that minor part comes up. Since you are staying in the same ionian mode, the TAB numbers will not change. (Oh, the beauty of noter style tab!)
To tune to DDa from DAd, leave bass string alone, tune middle string UP to D, and tune melody string(s) DOWN to 'a' or aa.

Remember, if you click on the pictures of the tab, they will open in a larger window and you can easily print them out full size from there.
So, I hope you enjoy it. The Blackest Crow....

Keep My Skillet Good and Greasy

2009-05-10T19:15:00.007-04:00

Recorded by Uncle Dave Macon in 1924, and again by Woodie Guthrie, listen to a clip here, this fun song can be played and sung in various ways because it's so basic you can fool around with your own version. Here is another simple sound clip of it in a very simplified version. Try making up a new silly verse to it!...

I worked up a simple tab that blends in well with typical dulcimer strum rhythm and skips a bit of the blues effect some versions have. It was a little too low for me to sing in G, so I put it in the key of A. I chose the reverse ionian tuning of EAE to make it way easier to tune to if you are starting from DAD. (the 'normal' ionian tuning for the key of A would be AEE). To get to EAE from DAD all you have to do is tune both your melody string(s) and your bass string UP ONE STEP from D to E...and leave your middle string at A.
Be sure to get a nice greasy slide from the 4-5 frets when you're playing "time, time, time...".

The photo is actually of my own two greasy skillets, when I made a skillet bread filled with fruit last week called "Dutch Baby"...they came out pretty good!

Jamming Etiquette- part three

2009-05-05T20:26:00.008-04:00

My last post talked about good manners and thoughfulness when joining or starting up jam sessions.
If you already read the lists of jamming etiquette I posted in Part One of this subject, then you get the general idea.
I want to briefly reiterate a few of the items that I personally encounter frequently during gatherings and festivals. I speak mostly as an old-time banjo and dulcimer player. I happen to be married to an excellent old-time fiddler, so that in itself brings up additional 'etiquette situations' for both of us during jamming or session situations.

We're going on the assumption that you have already been welcomed to join the jam session, and let's assume there are maybe 5 players playing already, including a fiddler and a singer or two.

In no particular order then, some jam manners to practice...
---Please tune your instrument before joining the ongoing session especially if you are not in the same key as is currently being played. Stand way off to the side, use your electronic tuner if needed, and tune softly so as not to disturb those playing. Don't force them all to wait while you change keys or tune endlessly. Join in after you have gotten into tune with them.

---If you don't know the tune that's being played, please LISTEN to it once or twice through before playing along. This is especially important with old-time music, which has a goodly number of crooked or irregular tunes. Also if you are playing chords, old-time tunes often have unexpected chord changes that don't follow the usual folk pattern. LISTEN first! Play after! Old-time tunes typically get played many times through anyway, so there is plenty of time to listen once or twice through first. When in doubt, it is safest to stay on the tonic note or the tonic chord rather than take a chance with some other chord or note. Or better yet, stop playing and LISTEN until you 'get' it.

---If someone starts singing a verse- play VERY QUIETLY while they are singing.

---Do not doodle around on your instrument between songs! This is incredibly annoying to others, most of whom are trying to tune while you are cluelessly showing off all the tunes you know. This one really gets me steamed when I'm quietly trying to tune between songs and somebody starts strumming and doodling around. Another good reason not to doodle between tunes is that if there is a fiddler leading the session, they are likely trying to decide on what tune to play next and are trying to remember how it starts.

---Don't play louder than the other instruments (often a fault with bajo players, not so much with dulcimer players). If you are not sure whether you are playing too loudly or not, ASK the group! Just say between tunes "Hey, is my instrument too loud for anyone?" If you are too loud, someone will politely say "Yeah, it might be good to tone down your volume a little."...thank them! It's not always easy to gauge your own volume when you are not directly in front of, or 'on the receiving end' of your instrument's sound projection path. Especially true of banjos and guitars. Another solution to a volume problem is to change seats with someone in the circle- this often works well. Never be hurt by those who are trying to help you be more aware of what you are doing. They are trying to help you, and they have been in your shoes, they understand.

---It's considered very bad manners to go up to an ongoing jam and ask a particular person if they want to come and play in a session somewhere else. This is like kidnapping and is very impolite to the others already playing together.

---If the session is in someone's campsite, please be especially courteous about that and don't presume to ask for drinks and don't invite others over yourself. You are a guest in their camp.

---Be aware and sensitive to the fact that if there is already one or more of a particular instrument in a jam, they may not want additional instruments of the same type. It can get too overpowering to have three guitars, for example, or sometimes too much to have more than just one banjo! Be aware that there is a happy balance of instruments that will produce the most enjoyable results in a session. More and more is usually not better. Remember...it is seldom the goal of those present to have their session turn into a big mega-jam.

---Good steady rhythm is more important than playing all the right notes. A few wrong notes or a wrong chord once in a while are far less disruptive than bad rhythm. If you have trouble keeping a steady rhythm, then you'd best play softly and keep your eye on the fiddler's or the guitar player's right hand so you can see their rhythm. There is nothing worse while playing music than sitting near someone who drifts off the beat regularly. Far better to sit near someone who plays wrong notes! If you have trouble keeping to the beat then you need to seriously work on this before you continue to mess up other people's sessions. I can't emphasize this strongly enough. Playing off the beat is the ultimate crime.

---Lastly, when a session starts to become larger, consider moving on and giving up your seat to someone else for a while. Go have a snack, or go find some others to start a new jam! Mixing things up and shifting around are excellent ways of making new friends and of honing your music skills. You will learn some amazing new things just by playing with some people you might not have normally considered playing with before. There have been times when I've sat down to play with a beginner and had a fairly disastrous time musically speaking, but perhaps I have learned something truly wonderful about that person- something they shared with me that enriched my life in some way. I have met many surprising and amazing people this way. Music is more than a bunch of notes- music is about the connection with and celebration of the human spirit.

After making this 'mixing up' a habit for a while, you will be seen as a positive force and people will start to seek YOU out and want you to play with them! At that point you will seldom be at a loss for friends of various playing levels to play with.

Jamming etiquette- part two

2009-05-03T18:29:00.004-04:00

In continuing this subject, I'd like to suggest you first re-read my post titled "A Race to the Finish, Part Two" from April 9, 2009. That post gives the background on how the way in which we learn music has radically changed over the past several decades. Most of us now learn to play music in larger groups as opposed to learning from nearby family or community members in a one-on-one method. Now we pay money and travel to camps and workshops and clubs, or attend local jam sessions filled with others like ourselves, all striving to hone our playing skills and get better. We learn in big classroom type settings and in big beginner jam sessions.
When people are used to paying for music camps and workshops, they naturally expect to join in on the large group jam sessions these events usually offer. In these big sessions, all levels are welcome and everyone is expected to pull up a chair and join in the fun. There is a general agreement that the bigger the jam, the more fun it is and the more beginners can feel safe in playing along. This is a good and encouraging thing for beginners at these learning camps and workshops. it helps remove that initial fear of joining in and of having your first scary notes heard by others.
However- the consequence of this 'training' and removal of joining-in fear is that you wind up with legions of beginner players going out into the real world and attending festivals and gatherings who just naturally assume they are welcome in any ongoing session and that the more the merrier in jam sessions... This naive innocence is rudely dashed when the beginner begins to sense resentment from people in a small intense session when they walk up, plunk their folding chair down, and start to play along. They don't understand the negative vibes they are sensing, and they conclude that those people are simply a rude, arrogant, and non-welcoming bunch. If this happens several times they begin to think that most musicians who play better than they do are unfriendly snobs.

What they are failing to realize is that in those workshops, clubs, and music camps where they learned this automatic join-in behavior, they were PAYING for all those jam sessions as part of the overall music learning package they signed up for.
How can I clarify this further?- well, it's sort of like paying for a Caribbean cruise where you belly up to the buffet table several times a day and eat whatever and as much as you want ...and then going home, walking in the public park and going up to any family having a picnic, grabbing a chair and wordlessly helping yourself to a drumstick and a beer.

On the other side of the fence, the people who were having a nice jam session with a few friends have mixed feelings about this problem. You can rest assured that it comes up often these days. On one hand, they sincerely want to encourage new players and they want to help them have a positive experience with their early jamming attempts. On the other hand, they may well have arranged in advance to sit down and play with 2 or 3 favorite friends that they might see only perhaps once a year, and once they start playing first one, then two, then before you know it 6 or 7 beginner players have all set up their chairs around them, effectively completely changing the tone of the session and making it pretty impossible to hear well or have an intimate musical conversation with the people they had made special arrangements to play with.
They don't want to appear rude by saying anything to prevent the beginner from sitting down, so instead they just keep playing and secretly getting peeved as more and more jam joiners pull up chairs.
This scene occurs over and over at festivals I go to. It used to be that beginners would stand aside politely and listen to the session of more advanced players, and sometimes one of the players would invite them to sit and play to the side. If no invitation came, the beginner correctly assumed they wanted to keep their session small and moved on after a while or continued to learn by listening. But I have watched this standard change over the past ten years. Nowadays, the beginner is much more likely to simply set up their chair, listen for a while (fake-out move!), and then pull out their instrument during the middle of a tune and start playing along. I'm convinced the music camp/workshop environment has caused this change in behavior.

I don't wish to make it seem like beginners are inconsiderate- usually they are simply clueless....or else willing to bet that no one will be rude enough to ask them to stop playing if they just pull out their instruments rather than ask. And most of the more experienced players choose to secretly put up with this 'jam busting' rather than have to say anything that might hurt someone's feelings. In that case once 4 or 5 beginners start crowding in, the original friends may feel compelled to just slowly leave their own session (!), to reform elsewhere in order to try again. This is particularly annoying when you are in your own campsite and your own session gets 'taken over' by total strangers! I have actually had to be politely frank with some people who start setting themselves up in my campsite to play in my session without asking- one guy even had the nerve to ask for a beer! A campsite is like someone's 'house' at a festival and you really shouldn't just walk in and plop yourself on their couch without a word or help yourself to their fridge.

Sometimes beginners will actually ask first if they might join in the session. This presents another interesting etiquette 'situation'. Then the original session playing friends can either welcome them in (which does happen frequently) or one of them might say something like "Well actually we are practicing for a gig right now, but maybe later we can get together and play." or...."Well please don't take it the wrong way, but we've been looking forward to just us four old friends getting to play together for a whole year now, so we'd rather keep it with just us playing for now- but maybe catch one of us later and we could play a couple of tunes with you!"
It is important for the beginner to not allow their feelings to be hurt by these responses, and it's important for them to show the courtesy of asking before joining in a smallish session.

So are there any other choices for beginners when they are wandering about a festival looking to play with others? The answer is YES! There are two excellent ways of getting jamming experience without 'hijacking' someone else's intimate music session.
First- look for a mega-jam that's already going on. A mega, or monster jam will have 10 or more people already playing- they tend to be playing rather boisterously as well, and there can be seen several hesitant beginners already playing around the fringe of the center. If people all look like they are having a great time and are playing exuberantly, then you can bet this is a perfect mixed level jam to join up with. People will join in or wander away freely without necessarily needing to ask, and nobody thinks anything of it. It's sort of similar to a music camp jam in tone.
The second choice is for the beginner to take the initiative and seek out one or two other players who are on a somewhat similar musical level as themselves and just ASK them if they'd like to sit down together and play a tune or two. Wow, what a concept! I can't tell you how often I have seen beginner or hesitant intermediate players just standing around forlornly with their instrument cases, obviously yearning to play but too afraid to ask...when they could easily and successfully start their own little session together if they simply asked!
Unfortunately many beginners feel they can only learn to play well if they are following along with a group of skilled players. This is simply not true. Players of any level can learn all kinds of things from playing together! Again, this idea that advanced players should be deliriously happy to lead a group of beginners is a result of the abundance of music camps and workshops churning out beginners at a high rate. Though it certainly IS true on occasion that advanced players enjoy playing with beginners, it is not the standard norm. People tend to want to play with others they can best interact with musically.
I remember when I was starting out, forcing myself to ask other beginners if they wanted to play with me. It was scary, but OH WELL. Asking strangers if they would like to play with you opens up the possibility of rejection, and it brings up all our old childhood playground hurts and fears. Oh, the HORROR!
But you know what?- we must get over that and take responsibility for ourselves. We can't expect others to always humor and baby us. If we want to play music with strangers of any level, we have to be open and honest and thoughtful. Learning the consideration/thoughtfulness part of playing with others is just as important as the 'getting' of musical experience under our belts.
As an intermediate player now, I make it a point to sit down and play with at least a couple of beginners at some point during any festival I attend. We all need to help educate each other, pass around the good vibes, not feel hurt or overly sensitive about hearing a 'No thanks' once in a while, and think more about others', not only about ourselves. That applies to everyone on every level, from beginners to advanced.

Sad week....

2009-05-02T19:05:00.005-04:00

Sorry I am not posting right now. I seem to have a dying beloved kitty here, it's emotionally difficult right now and I'm just not able write much about music this weekend. Will post as soon as I feel a bit better- thanks.

Update...
Our beautiful Lydia passed away peacefully at home with us on May 7th, in our bed. At 8 years old, her life was not nearly long enough. She was a truly wonderful cat in every way and we'll deeply miss her cheerful loving sweetness. Thank you, my dulcimer friends, for your kind and thoughtful comments.

Jamming etiquette- part one

2009-04-30T22:05:00.014-04:00

I want to write a couple of posts about jamming etiquette- guidelines that help us smoothly navigate through the often intimidating world of playing with groups of other people at gatherings of one sort or another. This is an important subject, and is more often than not a significant source of doubt and even fear among beginners. It can be a terrible barrier to get past... Jamming etiquette and learning to play well in groups without offending others deserves some in depth discussion and clarifications.

So I am going to suggest that anyone reading this blog who is interested in this subject first read through this brief collection of jamming etiquette lists I have collected below, and in my next post I will attempt to explain the reasoning behind some of the things on these lists, why I might either agree with each suggestion or disagree, and how it all effects us mountain dulcimers players. Keep in mind as you are reading that my own experience is mostly in old-time jam sessions, not bluegrass- but in the end I don't think that will matter too much.

Some worthwhile lists of jamming etiquette as compiled by various authors:

Jam etiquette List 1

Jam etiquette List 2

Jam etiquette List 3

Jam etiquette List 4

Jam etiquette List 5

Jam etiquette List 6

Oh, Groundhog!

2009-04-27T21:33:00.005-04:00

Now here is a song I first used to hear from time to time in folk music jam sessions. You know, the sessions with seemingly too many guys playing guitars and singing about gold watches and trains and hobos? That's how I first heard Groundhog- with lots of full and cheerful guitar backup. So much backup and chords in fact that it made Groundhog sound kinda like a number from an old tv rerun of Up, Up With People...
I decided early on that it was a dopey song that maybe only children would like 'cause it had animals in it.

All that changed when I finally heard Groundhog played by some old-time clawhammer banjo player. WOW. Groundhog was no wimpy kiddy song- NO SIR, ...it was spooky, quirky, and just plain wonderful!
Without the army of folky guitars miring it in gooey treacle, the minor tone of the song and the drones on the banjo sounded powerful and untamed. And what truly twisted lyrics! Granny shuffling up to scarf down the brains?!? HAH!

I think you will agree that this simpler older version of Groundhog sounds fabulous. Heck, it even sounds great without any singing at all!

Try it first without singing, and notice how I indicated good places to s-l-i-d-e from one note to the next right before the beat. I do this often to try to get you sliding instead of just playing one clean note after another. Part of the beauty of noter playing is this very liquid sliding between notes. The slides I put in Groundhog here are little one-step 'baby slides', like the ones going from 6-7 and from 10-11. But if you put them in, they really 'make' the tune...they add the spice!
If the beginning of the second line of tab seems too difficult for you as yet, then instead of playing it "9 7-8 8 6-7, 7 6 4 4"- try a simpler version instead for that part: "9 9 8 8, 7 6 4 4". But do come back to it later and try getting those little slides!
You wouldn't want to slide all the time- that would sound a little weird- but sliding once every few notes is a big juicy part of the traditional Appalachian dulcimer sound.
Do you know how I began to slide with my noter? I just kept playing very SIMPLE and lovely tunes, at a moderate pace, over and over and over. After months of this, the sliding just sort of starts to happen naturally. It feels like when you are a kid and you're having fun sliding across a smooth wood floor in your socks. You can't slide on every step- it's far better when you take a few little running steps like a pitcher's windup, and then s-l-i-d-e. So cool. But despite what one might guess, sliding doesn't happen when you speed up and rush through tunes and load the song up with fancy moves everywhere. The magic of the slide happens when you take your sweet time and really let the music flow through you. I'll be writing more about slides later on. Meanwhile...pass the woodchuck brains!

Oh My Little Darlin'

2009-04-22T15:03:00.007-04:00

Here is a fun song that is quite easy and fun to play and sing. It's in mixolydian mode... You can tell it's mixolydian because it ends on the open string (zero fret) which is the key/tonic note, in this case a G. I've tabbed it here in the key of G, the key in which it is commonly played. I used the reverse mixolydian tuning of DGG instead of a more usual mixolydian GDG....because it is way easier to tune to this reverse DGG tuning if you are starting from DAA or DAD.
If it's too low for you to sing in G, then just bring it up everywhere one whole step to EAA and play it in the key of A instead.
I like the lyrics with the man complaining about his wife always crying. Heck, if my husband was telling some girl that someday they'd get married, I'd be cryin' too!

TAB...a blessing or an evil?

2009-04-20T11:35:00.010-04:00

If you read online forums about mountain dulcimer playing, it won't be long before you stumble into yet another go-round of the endless debate between people who play from TAB and people who play by ear. Each side tends to think the other is misguided, or that they are being unfairly treated, and the discussion can typically get pretty heated...

What I usually hear from the two sides is-

Those who promote playing and learning tunes by ear are suggesting that anyone can learn tunes by ear and those who claim they can't simply aren't trying hard enough. They look down on groups of dulcimer players who are dependent on TAB and they say that using TAB results in a dry mechanical sounding music that lacks the subtle personal touches of music learned by ear directly from another player or from an audio recording.

Then those who play only from TAB defend their stance by saying that not everyone can learn to play tunes by ear, and that if it weren't for TAB many of them probably wouldn't be playing at all, and why are these other people looking down their noses at them and trying to spoil the joy and fun they get from playing their TAB in a social/club type dulcimer group?

In reality, both sides are right in how they view TAB. There is no all right or all wrong here. Like most things in this world, TAB is both good in some ways and not good in other ways. We should view TAB objectively, without our emotional pre-judging baggage attached.

Personally, I think it is possible for anyone to learn to play a simple tune by ear....if it is presented in a very understandable way, and if they approach it with sincere effort and not give up too easily. Sadly, most people give up on anything that they cannot accomplish in two or three attempts, or they do not have a good teacher or mentor to learn from. They have no idea how to go about doing this on their own.

I also agree with the pro-ear group when they lament the lack of creativity in music that is learned and played only from tabbed versions. I myself find it impossible to include the many subtle nuances in a tune if I am trying to write it into a TAB that can be fairly easily followed. Tabbed versions of tunes 'can' sound mechanical unless the person playing them has also heard the tune actually played by living breathing feeling musicians.

When people play by TAB in a group there is an unfortunate tendency for the group to discourage any individual from adding personal touches to the tune, from deviating from the written TAB. "That's not how it goes." might be heard. Clearly this is not a situation that encourages personal growth in playing music. But when people say that, I don't think they say it in a mean-spirited way- they genuinely believe the 'renegade' is making mistakes or accidentally playing the notes not 'right' ('right' being exactly how it is tabbed out).

Another problem in being totally dependent on your TAB collection is that it pretty much means that you can't play with anyone who doesn't play the same tunes from the same TAB as you do. This means you can't even think about trying to play in fun jams with other types of musicians. I've even seen instances where two dulcimer players who both play only from tab were overjoyed to find each other at a festival and wanted to 'jam' together but they were completely unable since they both were only familiar with their own TAB sheets and had none in common, and they were unable to improvise at all. Now that is indeed a sad situation, and can hardly be called a 'jam'. They wound up taking turns playing their TABs for each other. (!)

On the 'pro TAB' side of the debate...
It is indeed true that many people would not be playing dulcimer today (or any instrument) if it weren't for TAB. Especially in today's society where learning from other local musicians in our community is becoming very uncommon- for isolated beginners there are few choices when it comes to learning to play music, particularly when they have had no muscical background at all. TAB becomes a welcome and non-threatening method of getting a start. It's sort of like those old paint-by-number kits for people who would never be taking 'real' art classes with an artist instructor.
Dulcimer clubs that get together in big groups to all play their TAB books together in unison offer a wonderful welcoming and non-judgmental environment for beginners who would otherwise have no direction and no encouragement at all. In this sense TAB really is a wonderful thing that brings isolated beginners together with a clear purpose, in an accepting environment.
There are players in these clubs and groups who will steadfastly insist that they could never learn to play by ear or to improvise. Perhaps this is really so, perhaps not. In either case, I feel it's unfair to criticize these people- if playing from TAB makes them happy, then why try to make them feel bad about that? That would be both arrogant and negative. They are getting joy from their playing. Yet it should also be remembered that there are many people out there who used to insist they could never learn to play by ear or improvise, but who actually DID wind up starting to play by ear and loving it- they were able to learn new things when the time was right for them, and when they had the right help to guide them.
Respect others' ways of playing. But also, never say never.

I myself have found TAB to be a wonderful way to learn new tunes, both in my dulcimer playing and my banjo playing. I do know how to read standard music notation, but I find TAB to be a great sort of 'shorthand' to help me get a new tune started, to help my students be able to take something home with them to work on, or to jog my own memory when I've forgotten a tune. I use TAB abundantly in this blog on purpose, because I feel TAB as a learning tool really helps make the music immediately accessible to beginners who have no real live mentors nearby to learn from, knee to knee.

I think of books full of TAB as cookbooks with recipes for tunes written in them. Sometimes you can't figure out how to make a dish by yourself, so you read the recipe and it guides you. Once you've made the same dish 25 times you might not need to look at the recipe anymore. And sometimes you can invent a little variation in the recipe and come up with something new. Other times you might figure out what ingredient you can substitute for one you don't have in the pantry. A successful cook slowly gets know how to adjust the recipe when they need to. The cookbook recipe is a tool too.

But perhaps most importantly, we must remember that the 'feeling' of music is just not found in the TAB- you have to put that in. And feeling in a song or tune is maybe the most important ingredient of all. I have seen my share of dry flat 'typist' dulcimer players who play like court stenographers. Some of them have been playing for many years and can play fast, too...but I find it not much fun listening to them. Far more than right or wrong notes, it is feeling and emotion from the player that make the music come alive. When we take that chance and let our emotion out into what we play, it is returned to us many times over as JOY. You get back what you put in.

Tabs are good and very useful to help one get the bare bones of the tune. Then once you can play it, add the feeling, add the spice, make the tune your own. If that seems too hard to do, then try it with a simpler tune. Use whatever methods available to get playing, including tab... but then don't be afraid to experiment and try new things as well!

Single Girl, Married Girl

2009-04-16T13:04:00.004-04:00

Here is a fairly simple and fun song for beginners in DAA ionian tuning. I am dedicating this TAB to Kelly, a lady who is, as I write, just beginning to play mountain dulcimer in traditional noter style, much to the delight of her adoring husband. Kelly, I assume your married life is more fun than the one described in this song. If not, then follow the example of the lady in the picture above!
This TAB version of "Single Girl, Married Girl" is mostly inspired by the well known Carter Family recording of it. However, I have evened out the parts where... they eliminate or add a couple of beats, simply to make it a little easier for beginners to follow. It still remains quirky and interesting enough, what with the repeated last line of each verse. If you ever get really good at this one, you can always go back to the funky Carter Family timing, which is even better.

I have always loved this song! You can hear a snippet of the Carter Family's version here on Amazon, (or download the whole MP3 of the tune there for 99 cents).

If you find yourself feeling like the poor married girl in this song, then go jump on your bike or buy yourself a new dress immediately!

A face from the past

2009-04-14T19:57:00.006-04:00

Dulcimer musician Stephen Seifert recently asked me about the picture I had used on my second blog entry that I posted on Feb. 14, 2009. Stephen wondered why he had never seen the image before and asked me where I got it. It is a tintype of a bearded man holding a lap zither or scheitholt and a bow:Well this little picture has an interesting story...

Several years ago, I was searching the term 'zither' on Ebay, and this tintype popped up in the antique tintype category. I realized it was an important and marvelous image that looked to be from the first half of the 1800's, important especially because the fellow is holding a bow. New photographic proof that lap zithers were sometimes bowed does not pop up often. This was a rare image and appeared to be in very good shape.

I would have loved to try to buy it, but I figured it would sell for well over $100 to tintype collectors, and I really couldn't justify spending that on an image as opposed to something more 'useful'. No other dulcimer collectors were likely to find it since it was not in the Ebay 'instrument' category at all, and it didn't have the terms scheitholt or dulcimer anywhere in the auction either.
So I contacted Ralph Lee Smith about it, because I thought he might view it as something worth trying to get, from the dulcimer history standpoint. Ralph was very excited by the tintype zither man, and said it was indeed a wonderful image with historic value, and that he could certainly use for an upcoming museum exhibit he was planning. We both estimated its date to be likely somewhere between 1860 and 1880.
Unfortunately, Ralph was not an Ebay member and had no clue how to go about bidding on anything, and had no idea how much to bid. I offered to bid for him, and we then figured out a logical maximum price for the tintype that would give us a decent chance of winning it.
So I bid on the tintype at the last few moments of the auction and happily I won it for us. I had it shipped to me, where I would scan it in high resolution before sending it on to Ralph.

It arrived and it was truly marvelous! It was on a tiny piece of tin, only about 1 1/2" x 2 1/2", and the image was CRYSTAL CLEAR. The bearded scheitholt player's piercing eyes stared out at me from a time long past. I so wondered what his name had been, and where he was from, what language had he spoken?
I scanned it at very high resolution and further brought out it's details in PhotoShop, so that I would have a nice image of it and so I could send the scan to Ralph as well, for his reproduction purposes.

I hated having to part with it and ship it off to Ralph, but it was to have a great home and be 'safe' with him. Ralph reimbursed me the Ebay price, I remained with a beautiful photo image to remind me of it, and Ralph used a large poster print of the scan in his recent Mercer museum exhibition .

Ralph still has the little jewel, and he told me he didn't mind at all if I told the story of the tintype here.

The Bravest Cowboy

2009-04-12T21:20:00.014-04:00

I had to sleep for three days after that last post to recuperate.
Today I actually cleaned up my office, which was getting drowned in accumulated piles of junk that I thought were really important but which didn't actually need to be piled around everywhere at my fingertips. A good fresh start for Spring! I got rid of some things that were emotionally difficult to sort through, as well. I feel unburdened, and I love the visual shock now when i walk into my office and wonder if I'm in the right place.

Well I've been promising myself to post another relatively simple mixolydian mode tune again soon for the benefit of all you mix-heads out there (I know you're out there lurking and going through withdrawal)...so here is a good ol' western cowboy song for you- The Bravest Cowboy.

But wait! Before you get too comfortable, I pulled a little trick on you... I made it in mixolydian all right (tonic D note on the open melody string) but I put it in BAGPIPE TUNING! Ha ha. Actually, I started playing it in old reliable DAD tuning, but I found it had that odd sour feeling to it that I dislike in some D tunes. I have mentioned this before, in this post where I might have to kill you. The sour feeling comes from the interval of the 5th- the middle string tuned to A. (remember, in the musical scale abcdefgabcd-etc, an interval of a 5th is 5 steps or intervals up from the tonic key note, the key note being 1. For key of D then: D=1, E=2, F=3, G=4, A=5) Now usually I just LOVE that 5th interval in tunes. But in some happy type D songs, that 5th interval just doesn't sound quite right to me, and when that happens I simply tune all my strings to D and then it sounds great. Try playing it both ways and you'll see what I mean! It's also called a unison tuning. So for bagpipe mixolydian D tuning, your bass string will be a low D and all your other strings will be the higher octave D, all the same note. (For myself, I just tune all my strings to the high D for bagpipe tuning, since I don't use heavier bass and middle strings at all, I just use .010 strings everywhere because I don't care for the bass string sound...but that's for another post altogether!)
There are some slightly interesting strum patterns in this one that are good to practice as well- I worked them to not conflict with the rhythm of the lyrics. This is actually a good one to practice singing along with your dulcimer player on, since both the dulcimer melody line and the lyrics are relatively plain and simple, and there is only one part to the tune. Try it by practicing with just the first verse a few times! Plus, you needn't worry about how 'good' your voice is, since cowboys are supposed to have cruddy voices! (unless they are cowboy movie stars of course, but those are fake cowboys)

So now you have a cowboy mixolydian tune. You could play it while watching Tom Mix.

A Race to the Finish, Part Two

2009-04-09T20:00:00.012-04:00

This is the second part to my previous post from April 5th titled A Race to the Finish, Part One. I ended that post by saying:

What does this all mean to the rest of us? To those of us who are not professional musicians, who do not put out CDs or book concerts or appear at festivals, who merely play at home for enjoyment and perhaps hope to find other kindred souls to learn from and to play with in pleasant settings? What does all this mean to those of us who seek in our music to find rejuvenation and intimacy, a life tonic to help balance the daily life onslaught of relentless racket and frantic rushing about?

Clearly this trend towards speed and volume is not something that only occurs in the world of mountain dulcimer players. How then has the average dulcimer player been affected by this musical movement towards faster speed, louder and 'bigger' playing?
Well, to find the answer we must look at the settings in which we learn and play traditional music nowadays...
In the 'old days' (say, before the folk revival of the 1940's) dulcimer players were mostly rural people living in close knit communities with extended family. It was not uncommon for various family members to play an instrument, and for people to go to community dances where local people played music to dance to. Anyone interested in learning music would seek out some local person whose music they admired and try to learn from them. Learning consisted of a lot of listening, and picking up tunes and songs bit by bit from those you listened to and watched. It was common for even good musicians to have a personal repertoire of only a few dozen tunes and songs that they liked to play and played well. Personal tunes they were known for.

If you read my post from February 25, 2009 entitled "What Happened?", you will understand some background of what I am getting at here.

Things have changed a great deal since the 'old days', and of course many of these musical changes are good and exciting. It's wonderful to be able to hear rare old field recordings of old-time musicians from long ago. It's great to be able to record something that you want to go home and learn later. And great to be able to learn about music in books and on the internet- a whole wonderful world of information is at our fingertips!
But how do we now learn to play our music? Well, we usually don't live in large extended families or close knit communities where many people play home made music in their daily lives anymore. Instead, we go to classes and workshops, and buy books and DVDs to learn our music. We listen to CDs, but find it hard to learn by ear from them since there is no live person playing it for us in person, slowly, knee to knee. Instead, we learn tunes and songs from TAB, sometimes without ever even hearing how a tune sounds. We learn the bones without the flesh.
We have no idea how to go about playing in various keys with other instruments such as fiddles, guitars, or banjos, yet we yearn to play music with others, such a very natural human desire.
So we form dulcimer-only clubs and meet at specific times to all play together. To prevent total pandemonium and enable the learning of more tunes, large books of TAB are distributed and that is what it played, in a large circle. Everyone plays the same notes from the book at the same time on the same instrument in the same key and the same tuning. It sort of has to be that way for such a large group of non-professionals to be able to play together successfully.
I notice that most tunes speed up a great deal while being played in large sessions- usually due to two or three 'lead' players who like to play fast and push the tunes ever faster. This tends to leave true beginners behind, feeling inadequate. Some people even say right out that they want to play the tunes fast and only twice through because that way many more tunes can be played during a session. They don't want to spend very much time on any one tune. Is this a goal, then, to play as many short fast tunes as possible? Where is there a chance then to learn from or savor a tune or song? Playing lots of tunes quickly is sort of like collecting vast reams of TAB- you can say you 'have' that song, or you 'did' that song....but can you really play the song with meaning and feeling? Is it coming from you or are you just playing fret numbers?

Naturally, there is a happy camaraderie involved with attending these large dulcimer jams or club meetings. A geographically isolated beginning dulcimer player would be lonely, bewildered, and discouraged without this club spirit of encouragement. I loved 'goin' to meetin' when I was starting out. It's a wonderful and supportive thing for when people live scattered about. Without dulcimer clubs and tab books I think maybe half the people now playing dulcimer would not have been able to start playing any music at all. In that sense it is very good.

Added to the clubs are dulcimer festivals and 'camps'- sort of like old-time music gatherings but mainly catering to dulcimer players wanting to be taught by professionals and wanting to meet new dulcimer friends. Some people go to the same camps and festivals over and over every year, like a vacation. Many festivals offer dulcimer workshops, and the camps can run from a day or a weekend to as long as a week or more, packed with classes and workshops. Both offer concerts as well, showcasing the exceptional talent of the hired instructors. In the evenings, there is usually plenty of feverish 'jamming' going on, where dulcimer players of all levels form large circles and play one tune after another. Most of the people leading these jams play pretty fast. The meek beginners usually remain on the outer fringes, content to gingerly pick out a few notes as they are able. They would be mortified if anyone heard them trying to play music or making a mistake. They've told me so many a time.
People go home loaded up with new books, CDs, recorded lessons, more TAB, and are happy.

Again, dulcimer clubs, festivals, camps, and workshops are a very good thing in that they now fill a terrible vacuum that was left behind when people stopped playing music as part of their daily lives with family and friends in their communities. When people scattered and moved away from families and home towns, and became Too Busy to play music. Now it takes a determined bit of planning and often some traveling to get together with anyone to play or learn music.

But the result of learning to play music in this type of setting is a double-edged sword. There is both good and not so good to it.

First, you have to spend money (sometimes hundreds of dollars) and travel long distances to attend these events. Naturally once you get there you want to try to cram in as much learning as you can in the very limited time you have. People rush from workshop to workshop (as I have done on numerous occasions) and by the end of the day their head is spinning. You stay up late to 'jam' and get up early to get to classes. I'm long past my twenties, and I don't know about you, but by the end of the week or weekend, I would often feel like it was an unreal dream.
Because of the investment of time and money and the limited time factor of the event, one can feel rushed and desperate to get it all in before it's time to go home. Something that long ago was a delight to absorb slowly and intimately from person to person now from necessity in our frantic schedules has become more of a product, something consumed rather than absorbed.

The end result is also a sort of packaging of dulcimer playing into something that promotes playing fast and fancy, and that encourages playing in BIG all-dulcimer groups, in unison, generally encouraging one key, one playing style, and one tuning over others. This inevitably isolates dulcimer players from other mixed musicians, makes them dependent on each other to provide 'dulcimer safe' playing environments, and it makes it more difficult for a dulcimer novice to play with people who play other kinds of instruments, in various keys. I feel a little sad when I see how isolated beginner dulcimer players can become from other music players who enjoy mixed sessions. I have heard some dulcimer players say that they feel the rest of the music playing world is just not open to them. And even though it's not really true, dulcimer players now have a reputation for not being able to play in anything but the key of D. Indeed, I know several who can't play in any key other than D even though they've been playing for many years more than I have. Yikes.

At first I never thought much about all this- about the modern ways of learning of our music from books and CDs and workshops and clubs and TAB and classes and internet forums (and blogs!). I'm still pretty busy learning the dulcimer myself, and often utilizing these very methods myself.

But as I look back now over my own limited experiences and see them from the standpoint of having myself been a total beginner not that very long ago, I realize that of all the musical learning experiences in my journey so far, the moments and realizations that were most intense and profound were not learned through those methods. Rather they were quiet slow small moments of personal musical sharing and realizations.
Perhaps I happened upon a beginner fiddler sitting alone under a tree scratching out a tune at some festival, and I stopped to play for just a minute with them- and wound up figuring out something amazing and simple in trying to play with them, something that I had never thought of before. In trying to solve a problem on my own, I learned in a meaningful way...even if I couldn't solve the problem! Perhaps I played a few tunes with someone who was just learning banjo, with a very old or very young player, and they gave me some fascinating story that forever effected the way I think about music for myself. Perhaps I heard some drones in a concertina being played by someone on a street corner, drones that I recognized in my own playing and thus learned to hear the interval of a particular tuning. Perhaps I made someone in a nursing home experience happy memories when I went to play for my mother there as she was failing, or perhaps I said something silly about music that really impressed my 9 year old banjo student. And perhaps it was just these small moments of wonder that made me feel like the best musician in the whole wide world.

When I think about it, all the most memorable and enriching learning experiences in my life, even aside from music, have been during quiet moments of listening or reflection or experimentation, or through non-rushed personal interaction with another person or with my surroundings. I think of music as a living thing- it needs to be lovingly nourished, and it needs to breathe.
How will you grow and nurture your music?

Little Sadie and the Dorian mode

2009-04-07T14:55:00.012-04:00

I am going to introduce you to the Dorian mode now. You know how the Aeolian mode has a sort of spooky or lonesome sound to it? Well think of the Dorian mode as the 'other' lonesome blues-y spooky mode. Most spooky/blues-y/lonesome songs can be played nicely in either the Aeolian or Dorian mode.
Remember- the Mixolydian mode has your key note ("Do" of do re mi) or tonic note on your zero fret (open string). The Aeolian mode puts your tonic note on the first fret. The Ionian mode puts your "Do" tonic note on the third fret. The Dorian mode puts your tonic note on the fourth fret. And guess what?- that's as high as we are ever going to go on this blog! Once you can play a couple of tunes in those four modes, you can get by pretty well without learning any of the other modes if you prefer. Mixolydian(0 fret), Aeolian(1 fret), Ionian(3 fret), and Dorian(4 fret).

Now, you may ask- why can't I just play Little Sadie in the lonesome Aeolian mode instead of having to learn the Dorian mode too?... The answer is that the Dorian mode, which starts higher up (on the fourth fret instead of the first), will then give you some of the real LOW notes that you'll need in order to play Little Sadie. Good answer, huh?

Now I found that I could not sing Little Sadie at ALL in the key of D, or even C...I had to go down to G to sing it well. Thus, I'm tabbing this version of Little Sadie for you in G in the hopes that you too will find it easier to sing than if it were in D.
Look at this chart to see the Dorian G tuning.

Here is another important note:
Usually, when we tune to a key, we put our bass string to that key/tonic note, and we tune our middle string to a 'fifth' above that, which is five steps up in the alphabet if you count the tonic note as your first note when counting up 5. Thus for the key of G I'd be tuning my bass string to G and my middle string to (count on your fingers up g-a-b-c-D) ...to D. Then for dorian, my melody strings would need to be tuned so that the tonic G is found on the fourth fret. To get a G note on the fourth fret I'll need to tune the open melody strings down to C. C=open, D=1st fret, E=2nd fret, F=3rd fret, and G=4th fret. So a regular Dorian tuning for G would be GDC. (You'll tune the melody strings DOWN one step to C if you are starting in DAD, or UP two steps to C if you are starting in DAA.)
BUT...if you use a REVERSE tuning here, you will be re-tuning your bass and middle strings over a much shorter distance if you are starting from DAA or DAD. Look at the second chart in the picture, the REVERSE Dorian tuning. Reverse tuning is a sort of cheat method which sometimes can result in re-tuning your bass and middle strings only a short distance, it winds up being much easier to re-tune and much easier on your strings. Look at the reverse Dorian tuning on the chart to see how this would work. The reverse Dorian G tuning is DGC- much easier to get to from both DAD and DAA!
So I have tabbed Little Sadie to sing in the key of G, and tuned in reverse Dorian mode.

Once you tune to DGC (which is not that hard) you will see that it's quite easy to play Little Sadie, no big deal.
You just needed to locate the tune to a place on the fretboard where you'll have all the notes you need for playing it. And that's what modes are helpful for!

Enjoy playing the outlaw song Little Sadie!

A Race to the Finish, Part One

2009-04-05T18:44:00.025-04:00

I'm not sure exactly how this feverish race began. It seems that life in general has become more and more frantic over the past several decades- people want instant gratification, instant results, instant endings. They talk faster, prepare food faster, eat faster, have relationships faster, drive faster, sleep less. People get impatient if you don't explain everything really quickly. They skip the middle parts of books and want to know the endings of movies. When you talk to kids these days, they look into your eyes for about half a sentence before the eyes start darting all over the room, looking for new stimulation. People walk around or drive while eating and yakking into their cell phones every minute, multi-tasking their brains out. They all seem to be constantly slurping water from plastic bottles with caps that snap and pop incessantly, and listening to music on their ipods no matter what else they are also doing. There is no quiet, no stillness. Sometimes it seems to me that life has become one long Road-runner cartoon...
I stopped watching TV altogether 11 years ago, but when I catch a glimpse of it at someone's house, I see how it has changed even in the short since when I used to watch it. Now on TV, images flash by at ever more alarming speed, music gets cut up into tiny indigestible snippets that come and go in a way that makes your head spin, and people talk LOUD on TV, practically hollering. People on TV seem way too excited. Are they on drugs? I don't think I would have even noticed this change if I had been steadily watching TV all along these past ten years.
This hyper-acceleration trend has infiltrated everyday life pretty thoroughly, and music is no exception. How we obtain music, how we learn it, dance to it, listen to it, and how we play it, all these processes have been speeded up and made louder.

Over the past dozen years or so I have observed a distinct increase in the speed at which old-time and traditional music is played. I'm sure this trend has been going on far longer than 12 years, but that's just how long I've been paying attention to it (maybe my attention span is only 12 years). Not only is old-time and traditional music being played FASTER, but it's being played BIGGER...meaning in larger jam sessions, more often amplified, more types of instruments being added, more mixing of styles, more harmonies...and much more often in a highly energized stringband setting.
New stringbands seem to form, name themselves, get a few festival gigs, churn out several CDs in rapid succession, then disband to form new combinations with new band names. Nothing seems to last long. One thing they all seem to have in common is to describe themselves as having a "hard driving" and "cutting edge" sound, and also throwing in pretty much any genre of music that is novel, sort of a New Age/Old-time Fusion. They like to use the terms traditional and archaic a lot when describing themselves, but hard driving seems to be the overriding goal. The term hard driving used to mean something else, something steady and powerful. Now hard driving seems to merely mean fast with a heavy beat.
CDs are raining down upon us all in frightening quantities to the point where some people are pretty much just taping their sessions with friends and throwing them onto cds to sell on their websites or post on the web. I don't even want people's new CDs so much anymore when they are offered to me during music gatherings. "Hey, our band just came out with a great new CD, check it out!"...um, thanks anyway! (as I move away trying to look busy). Because burning CDs is now so very easy and cheap to do, every Tom Dick and Harry is cranking out CDs to the point where they have become about as valuable to barter at music gatherings as yesterday's Mardi Gras beads. People have literally hundreds of tunes loaded on their ipods at any given time...some have thousands of tunes loaded on their hard drives. How can anyone even listen to thousands of tunes? 'CD release parties' have become so commonplace at old-time festivals that they've become meaningless. There is just no longer any way to keep up with it all. But- is there really a lot going on in this frantic music machine that is worth keeping up with?

In old-time music circles, there is a ravenous appetite for 'newly discovered' traditional music fodder- people scour archival field recordings of fiddlers and ballad singers in a race to see who can first score an obscure old tune or song to record on their new CD, or play at a session. Inevitably these old ballads and fiddle tunes which were originally recorded sung unaccompanied in a striking individual manner or being fiddled solo in a lonesome quirky way, are given the Full Monty hard driving/cutting edge treatment. What I often hear on new CDs and at festival jam sessions is a virtual frenzy of banging and sawing, executed with full bluegrass 3 and 4 part harmonies, thumping bass, popcorn style banjo, packed with new chords and chord changes, twin fiddling, etc., much of it played at the Speed of Light. After the first two or three tracks it becomes somehow exhausting, like walking in a crowded mall during the Christmas shopping season. The one good thing about it being so fast is that it's over with quicker.

Don't get me wrong. I enjoy a healthy dose of real high energy music. I love to play a fast zingy dulcimer back up to a fiddler. High energy spirited music and dance can provide a happy and welcome release from daily stress and a fun connection between friends. Some of my fellow musician friends seem to like their music fast and upbeat all the time. Good for them! But fast is frequently more fun when there is slow to balance it out and provide a contrast. Spring gets boring if there is no Autumn. Over the years, average tempo seems to have been recalibrated. What is called slow today was a moderate speed long ago. Whenever I ask anyone to play something slowly, the response is always a briskly moderate speed, never what I'd consider slow, and never as slow or as full of nuances as many field recordings where I may have first heard that particular tune or song.
Old-time music is now played so that even in sessions among friends, when I know some wonderful verses to a song being played and could actually contribute something nice, I simply cannot sing at that speed. Nor would I want to even try, because I'd have to sing like Alvin and the Chipmunks, like playing a 33 1/2 rpm LP record at 45 rpms. I often have to cut out any pleasant instrumental variations as well. No time for subtleties, no breathing spaces.

Playing traditional music BIGGER and FASTER can be fun, but should not be the norm or the goal. Like those changes over time that I noticed in TV programming, people seem not to notice that music is being played faster and louder and bigger every year. I am positive this is not all a figment of my imagination, nor a matter of my becoming senile.
Is there to be a swing of the pendulum at some point back to smaller and more intimate music? Or will the world of traditional music eventually implode upon itself like a black hole, crushed by it's own frantic density, wildly churning itself into musical butter?

What does this all mean to the rest of us? To those of us who are not professional musicians, who do not put out CDs or book concerts or appear at festivals, who merely play at home for enjoyment and perhaps hope to find other kindred souls to learn from and to play with in pleasant settings? What does all this mean to those of us who seek in our music to find rejuvenation and intimacy, a life tonic to help balance the daily life onslaught of relentless racket and frantic rushing about?
More about that in a coming post: A Race to the Finish, Part Two.

Froggy Went a' Courtin'

2009-04-04T16:07:00.010-04:00

Here is a very fun song that is especially liked by children. I love envisioning all the little animals coming to wedding! There are many versions of Froggy, and I chose one that did not have the long nonsense rhyme in the verse, since we already have the dulcimer playing along too. Sometimes it's best to keeps things from getting too complicated.
Here is a link to a lovely sound clip where you can get an idea of how this version might sound as it's sung: Froggy...
I found I could sing it pretty well in G, but it was still just a bit low for me, so I tabbed it in the key of A, ionian mode, tuning AEE. (incidentally, those two E's are about as high as you'd want to tune your dulcimer strings if you have a scale length of 28" or more- tuning up to F or high G might well break you a string.)
If you prefer singing it a little lower in G, just tune GDD instead and follow the same tab. It's simply ionian mode tuning, so you could even tune it back to D ionian as well (DAA) if you find you can sing it well in the key of D. Remember, once we get the mode, we can change tuning to go up or down to suit our voice yet still follow the same tab numbers, as long as we stay in the same mode...in this case ionian, with the tonic key note being on the third fret.

Don't be afraid to play around with the timing a bit, especially as you listen to that clip and get a feel for the song. You may like to add an extra beat or two of additional 'resting' space after each "uh-huh", just like the unaccompanied ballad singer typically does. That actually makes it sound more natural and interesting. It becomes a slight logistical problem to write extra beats into TAB, and the extra beats can vary from verse to verse, so I tabbed it 'straight' for basic learning purposes. Tab is just a basic blueprint for learning a song anyway, and tab shouldn't be followed religiously. So after you get the song basics down, you should make the song your own!

Incidentally, this song is very very old, having been already referred to in 1549 and was published again in the 1600's and 1700's...
From Andrew Kuntz's Fiddlers Companion:
http://www.ibiblio.org/fiddlers/FROG_FY.htm
FROG AND THE MOUSE. English, Country Dance Tune (2/4 time). G Major. Standard tuning. AABB. Kidson's tune is from Thompson's Pocket Companion for the German Flute (1797), and is the same as that used for the old song "Amo Amas I love a lass" (from the "Agreeable Surprise," 1781). He points out the nursery song "A frog he would a wooing go" is quite ancient and is mentioned in the 1549 work Complaint of Scotland under the title "The frog cam to the myl dur {mill-door}." A ballad "Of a most strange wedding of a frog and mouse" was entered at Stationer's Hall in 1584, according to Chappell. It can be found in Melismata (1611) and in Thomas D'Urfey's Pills to Purge Melancholy (1719) as a political song. American versions go under the title “Froggie went a-courtin’” while in Ireland it can be found as “Cousin frog went out to ride (fa lee linkin’ laddy oh).” Kidson (Old English Country Dances), 1890; pg. 3.

Fun with Feathers

2009-03-31T12:41:00.010-04:00

People often ask about the old tradition of using feather quills in playing mountain dulcimers, so I thought I'd do a post about it. I also thought it would be helpful to consolidate into one place some of the useful quill pick information that is currently scattered about in various places online.

Feather quills can be used in several ways, and it's a wonderful old tradition to try out.
You need large heavy feathers, such as flight feathers or tail feathers from a turkey or a goose or eagle.
There are two very different ways of using a feather quill for a pick...

One way is using the long thin flexible end in a 'scrambling eggs' motion, parallel to the strings.
See Kimberly Burnett-Dean demonstrate it here in playing: "Galax style"
Here also is Don Graves demonstrating this same method, and showing how to prepare a quill for this kind of playing: Don Graves preparing a quill. This whisking strumming technique is often associated with the playing style from Galax, Virginia.

The other method is to use the thicker end of the quill and cut the tip at an angle like a quill pen (the thinner you whittle it the more flexible it becomes), and hold it more upright- no scrambling/whipping eggs motion at all, but striking the strings straight across vertically in a very strong way with the stiff part of the quill.
Here: Jean Ritchie demonstrates the technique in playing the ballad Shady Grove, recorded about 50 years ago on the Pete Seeger tv show.

Incidentally, here is a fascinating comparison where we can see Jean some 50 years after the first clip, playing the very same Shady Grove ballad with a very similar strum stroke, but this time using a flexible piece of plastic instead of a feather- in this particular case a plastic hotel key card. Jean has said that she now sometimes uses a large triangular pick cut from the lid of a Cool-Whip container instead of a quill because it it easier to hold due to arthritis. Adventurous experimentation in using various materials at hand to make picks from is a very traditional practice!
Jean recently wrote:

"On the frontier (of my Youth) we didn't have plastic containers yet,nor any other materials mentioned here, so that's why my Dad used goose or turkey wingfeathers, whittled down as explained in my old, THE DULCIMER BOOK (published in 1952 and still going strong). They still work, but I'm often explaining to audiences as to why I'm using a coffee-can-lid pick, "Well, they don't make turkey-wings like they used to."

For myself, I tend to use a strum motion that is similar to Jean Ritchie's strum technique but with a touch of Galax side-whipping motion thrown in, and I use a medium-long narrow very flexible plastic pick, not a stiff pick.
In this article, Jim Baldwin gives some more helpful information about using feather quills in traditional Appalachian dulcimer playing.

An additional use for heavy feather quills is to cut off the heavy end and use it not for strumming or picking, but as a noter. I hear it slides up and down the strings quite nicely.
Turkey and goose quills can also be utilized in making old fashioned quill pens, arrow shafts, and even fashion apparel!

...Don't miss reading the post
"Fun With Feathers- Part 2!"

Black is the color...

2009-03-30T00:40:00.018-04:00

Here is a ballad that likely has a different melody than the melody you are familiar with. Black Is The Color (of my true love's hair) is a very old American ballad- Cecil Sharp notated it in North Carolina in 1915. It was passed along in the same area until ballad singer Evelyn Ramsey was recorded singing it. Current N.C. ballad singer Sheila Kay Adams learned it from Evelyn, though Sheila's version is slightly evolved and is 'her own'...

It should be noted that John Jacob Niles wrote a newer melody for this ballad long ago- a very pretty one, and it's the popular melody that most of us grew up hearing associated with this song. However, his is a modern composed melody and the one I'm tabbing here is much more spare and quite distinct from Niles' prettied version. I personally don't much care for Niles' version of this ballad, but if you like it I'm sure you can locate dulcimer tabs of his version a'plenty elsewhere on the web. This one I put together for you is decidedly less "folky"...but that's why I like it! It has that older lonesome mountain sound to it.

I mostly used Evelyn Ramsey's version to create a dulcimer part, but you can hear an MP3 of Sheila Adams' breathtaking unaccompanied singing recorded here: on the Digital Library of Appalachia website - just click on the button that says "Access this item" and hopefully the MP3 will take a couple of minutes to load and begin playing for you with one of your computer's music listening programs. Sheila is a wonderful ballad singer, story teller, and banjo player, and I've had the privilege of taking several workshops under her in both ballad singing and clawhammer banjo. Evelyn Ramsey's recording of this ballad can be found on the CD that comes with this outstanding book: Sodom Laurel Album - the book includes a marvelous traditional music CD of the Madison County NC region.

I must tell you that it is virtually impossible to translate all the subtle rhythm and phrasing variations used by either Sheila or Evelyn into dulcimer tab. What I'd really suggest is to listen to recordings of the song you want to play from tab and listen again and again, until you are able to 'get' some of the beautiful little variations these ballad singers use when they sing every verse ever so slightly differently- a pause here, a little roll of notes there, an extra beat here, etc. I have just laid out a basic structure of the ballad that is fairly easy to follow. As Sheila tells how her "Grannie" Dellie Norton used to say- First learn the ballad as you hear it, and then go out and make it your own. So I say to you as always, don't be afraid to make traditional tunes and songs your own...put your own personal style into them and play them as you like them! Notice I threw in an extra verse that I found from another old version of this ballad, because I liked it. After all, that's what all these traditional music makers have done over the generations- they have each made the music their own. But also don't be afraid to seek out older recordings and play them that way too, if that's how you like them.

I tabbed this ballad in Aeolian mode (you might think of aeolian tuning as DAC, which is indeed aeolian "D" tuning- but that was way too high for me to sing it, so I re-tuned my strings to DGF, which is "reverse aeolian" G tuning. (See my previous post on the concept of reverse tuning) It's rather like tuning to regular G aeolian GDF, except that it's way easier on the bass and middle strings to go from DAC to DGF, as opposed to going from DAC to GDF. Remember, when you tune your melody string(s) from D or C to F- you must tune them DOWN to F, not up, because anything higher than that high E might break your strings. Don't be afraid to try new tunings, especially if it enables you to be able to sing along with your playing!
As with all these dulcimer tabs, if you tune your dulcimer higher or lower but remain in the same mode, you can still play it the very same way as in the tab- same fret numbers and all. Thus, you could tune your dulcimer here to DAC ('regular' D aeolian) and play it too, with or without singing along.

P.S. Just for fun- here is a link to a clip of a lady from Arkansas singing this ballad in 1958 which absolutely makes me want to HURL! (gee, I hope her relatives are not reading this)

Sugar Hill

2009-03-26T14:32:00.008-04:00

Here's a fun old-time song, Sugar Hill. I've put it in the key of C, in ionian tuning. I can sing it better in C than in D. Maybe I'll try to do another version in the key of G for other singers' voice ranges, what do you think?

My 9 year old banjo student loves this song because everyone is knocking each other upside the head and being all rowdy like... It should be played and sung with gusto...no funeral procession renditions, please!

Click here to listen to a peppy little version of Sugar Hill played by two good friends of ours, Beth and Woody from New Hampshire.

Top Secret (don't make me have to kill you)

2009-03-24T16:06:00.010-04:00

I want to add a note to my last post, but I felt it was interesting enough to deserve its own separate little post, so as not to confuse people.
In my last post about the tunings I use most frequently in mixed old-time music sessions, I wrote...

My longer scaled dulcimer will be usually tuned to DAA or DDA to play in the key of D, ionian mode, and can be lowered one step down to CGG or CCG to play in the key of C.
My shorter scale dulcimer will be often tuned to AEE to play in the key of A, ionian mode, and lowered one step down to GDD to play in the key of G, ionian.

Now, do you notice how for the keys of A and G I give just ONE tuning each? That tuning consists of a bass string tuned to the tonic note (G or A) and then the middle string tuned to a "fifth" above that (five steps up from the "1" tonic note). The fifth in the key of A is E, and the fifth in the key of G is D.
Now notice that for playing in the keys of D and C, I give not one but TWO choices of tunings for each key. First I give the equivalent of the same thing I suggested for the keys of A and G- in other words, the tonic "1" note on the bass string and the "fifth" for the middle string. (DAA tuning for D, and CGG tuning for C)

Now here's where the difference comes in- why did I also give a second tuning choice for the keys of D and C? The second choice I gave consisted of tuning the bass string to the "1" tonic note and also tuning the middle string to the tonic 1 note, thus eliminating a 'fifth' in the the open drone strings. In keys of D and C, this is a DDA tuning and the CCG tuning. With this type of tuning, when you fret the tonic '1' note on the melody string in ionian tuning at the third fret, what you hear will be DDD or CCC. This sounds like what people call a 'bagpipe tuning'.

I actually prefer this tuning for the keys of D and C- without the middle drone string sounding a 'fifth'. Why?...
Because when I play with fiddlers in the keys of D and C, the tunings they use sound a bit more resolved and cheerful than what I hear when I use a fifth in my open drone. My 'fifth' note in a drone sometimes sounds a little sour to me in old-time D and C tunes, especially when banjos and guitars are involved as well.

Don't ask me why this is...I honestly don't know! I just know what does and what doesn't sound good to me. But I do know that my 1-5-5 tunings sound really good in the keys of A and G (especially when the fiddler is using a 'cross tuning' such as AEae), and that a 1-1-5 tuning sounds more consistently agreeable with D and C tunes.

I didn't want to emphasize this in my last post because things were hard enough to explain in a simple way as it was! ;) But now you know the whole story...and
here I now reveal to you my personal most used and useful tunings in the four most common old-time music keys:
Key of A: AEE
Key of G: GDD
Key of D: DDA
Key of C: CCG

(note- these tunings are not for what most folk musicians call "modal tunes"- those lonesome spooky sounding ones...for that you'll need to be tuned in either Aeolian mode or Dorian mode, not Ionian mode like those I list above, but we'll get more into that issue later on)

Hey, this is Top Secret Information that took me several years to figure out on my own, and I hope that my revealing this information will help enable more dulcimer players to break free of the unfortunate artificial chains that prevent them from playing in all kinds of fun jam sessions with other instruments! YAY! If you divulge this valuable information to undeserving, rude, or unpleasant dulcimer players...I might have to kill you.

Do give these tunings a try when you find yourself itching to change keys!

The tunings I use most often in old-time sessions

2009-03-22T18:42:00.013-04:00

People often ask me what tunings I use in order to be able to play fiddle tunes in mixed old-time music sessions. I will try to give a simple basic answer here that is easily understood.

As we all know, mountain dulcimers have a reputation of being only played in the key of D. This was not always the case... Before 1960 most dulcimer players were more adept at changing keys and tunings than they are today. If you read my previous post titled "What happened?" you will understand how the dulcimer evolved into its current state where it has earned a reputation of being an instrument forever stuck in the key of D. But I am assuming that anyone reading this blog will want to at least experiment in playing in other keys as well.
Since this blog is about noter/drone style playing, we don't have to worry about chord shapes and chord fingerings when considering various tunings. We only have to consider where the melody falls on the melody string(s), and how to tune the open drone strings to go with it.

Now- I see traditional and old-time dulcimer tunes as falling into basically two categories: 1) ballads and songs which may be sung to, and 2) old-time tunes which tend to include a lot of fiddle tunes and dance tunes (not songs or ballads) and are often played in groups of musicians. The ballads seem to have a slightly higher proportion of Aeolian and Dorian melodies, and the fiddle tunes seem to have more Ionian and Mixolydian tunes. They do overlap a great deal, and so let's keep in mind that this is a generalization just to help us get our bearings.

When I play ballads and songs, I most often play them without other instruments playing along, and I try to tune my dulcimer to a key that I can sing in. The key of D is usually the very worst key for me to sing in. Men seem to find D a bit less difficult. So finding a key I can sing in and can tune my dulcimer to can be tricky. In addition, I am still struggling in my ability to sing and play at the same time. It's something I have to work hard at and Iam not very accomplished at it! For me it's like patting your head and rubbing your tummy at the same time. Add to that this challenge of trying to find a tuning I can sing in well on the dulcimer, and you can understand why this skill is a constant 'work in progress' for me. I truly need to work on this more and can never seem to find enough time to devout to improving my dulcimer/singing skills.

But let's put aside the issue of singing with the dulcimer for now, and instead let's discuss the tunings I most often use for playing old-time music in group sessions with other musicians....
As you may or may not know, I am very lucky to be married to a wonderful old-time fiddler. We have lots of friends who play old-time music as well, on fiddles, guitars, banjos, etc. We often play with these people at gatherings and potlucks and such. Of course some singing is always done in these sessions, but most of the music we play together consists of American fiddle tunes from the 1800's to today. There are enough old fiddle tunes to keep us plenty busy!
Most of these fiddle tunes are played in four different keys: G, A, C, and D. There are quite a few 'modal/minor' tunes too, but for simplicity let's not discuss those now. In old-time sessions, the musicians often will play many tunes in a row in one key, then re-tune and switch to another key for a long while. This is because the banjo player is tuned to a particular key and would find it hard to keep re-tuning all their strings every other song or so. Also, many old-time fiddlers are in "cross tunings" as opposed to "standard tuning" and thus would have to re-tune to change keys as well, just like the banjo player. This works to the dulcimer player's advantage, since we too tend to have to re-tune to change keys, especially if we are not using capos. Indeed, the tunings I use most often are quite similar to the 'cross tunings' that old-time fiddlers sometimes use, such as AEae.

Now we get to the meat of the matter.... Notice how the keys of G and A are only one step apart in the musical alphabet. (The musical scale notes go: abcdefgabcdefgabc...etc.) Also notice how the keys of C and D are only one step apart as well.

I have found that the most practical solution for me when playing in long old-time sessions is to have TWO dulcimers with me- one for the keys of G and A, and one for the keys of C and D. I have also found that the most practical all-around mode for me to play fiddle tune sessions in is ionian mode.

I have one dulcimer with a scale (VSL) of 28" to 28 1/2", and one dulcimer with a slightly shorter scale of 26" to 27" long. The scale length is the length in inches from nut to bridge- the part of the string that vibrates freely.
If you have a (+/-) 28" scale instrument AND a (+/-) 25-27" instrument, then you will be able to tune and play easily in pretty much any key.

My longer scaled dulcimer will be usually tuned to DAA or DDA to play in the key of D, ionian mode, and can be lowered one step down to CGG or CCG to play in the key of C.
My shorter scale dulcimer will be often tuned to AEE to play in the key of A, ionian mode, and lowered one step down to GDD to play in the key of G, ionian. A shorter scale of 26"-27" enables you to tune up to E easily without breaking strings, to play in the key of A. I used to break too many when tuning up to E on my 28 1/2" scale dulcimer, that's why I had my slightly shorter one built (26 1/2").
While certainly possible to tune back and forth on one dulcimer between the keys of A, D, G, and C, I did this for a year and found that I was breaking strings enough to make it annoying for me (like once or twice a month maybe). I think it was not so much from tuning up to high E as it was the accumulated stress on the string caused by tuning up and down and up and down so often between notes like from G to the E five steps higher and back down again. Thus, keeping two dulcimers for the two close 'pairs' of keys (G/A and C/D) led to my very seldom breaking strings and made my life a lot easier. I bought this lightweight padded double dulcimer case which is very handy to cart my pair of dulcimers around in. It might seem like a hassle to haul two dulcimers around at group gatherings, but actually it's not so bad when they are in a double case, and dulcimers weigh less than guitars and MUCH less than banjos. For me, the convenience of having the two dulcimers for the four most common keys far outweighs the extra bit of weight to carry.

I chose my shorter scale length dulcimer (26 1/2") for tuning to A and G, since a high EE was the highest note of all that I'd be tuning to in the four keys I'd be playing, so the shorter length kept less stress on the strings tuned up that high.
And I chose my longer scaled dulcimer (28 1/2") for tuning to C and D, since GG was the lowest note of all that I'd be tuning to in the four keys, and a shorter scale would help avoid those low G's from feeling too floppy.

Yes there are times when I tune both my dulcimers to keys and modes other than the ones I'm describing above, but these are my practical "working tunings" that I play in most often with others, so I wanted to tell you about the tuning layout I worked out for myself after a couple of years of trial and error. You may well find a better plan that works for your particular playing situation!

The 4-key tuning plan I use works quite well when playing old-time tunes with other instruments in group sessions in the keys of A, D, G, and C. If I need to play in minor keys there are other solutions which I'll discuss later on.
When I play alone at home or when I am working on singing ballads with my dulcimer I can tune to anything I feel like trying out, of course.

I hope this outline of my own practical tuning habits helps someone somewhere to find some good solutions for themselves when playing with others. Perhaps it will give you some good ideas for experimenting in tunings.

Blood of the Old Red Rooster

2009-03-20T20:09:00.013-04:00

This is a very old murder ballad with lots of blood in it! Its better known title is "Edward", the story of a young man who kills his own brother in a foolish argument and lies to his mother about the blood on his sleeve. The version I am presenting here is only one of many different versions. I based mine mostly on the singing of Miss Irmadine Finch of Arkansas, 12 years old...the niece of famed ballad singer Almeda Riddle. Click here for a wonderful 1953 recording of Irmadine singing this ballad...

I find I can sing this nicely in the key of C. In noter style playing, it needs to be in ionian mode on the dulcimer rather than mixolydian mode, because it has several lower notes that dip below the tonic note of C, notably the G note that the song begins with. Thus I tuned my dulcimer in C ionian tuning of CGG...the very same traditional tuning that Jean Ritchie's father Balis Ritchie always tuned his dulcimer to. Whenever I tune to CGG I always think of the Ritchies of Kentucky and their musical family and neighbors. Their mountain area of Viper, Kentucky was a rich cradle of dulcimer making and ballad singing.
I put a few really fun noter slides in this tab that you can practice. See if you can get all the sliding notes to sound clear- then you can start adding yummy slippery noter slides in other tunes you play! Half the fun of noter playing is sliding up and down, like a kid in stocking feet on a newly waxed wood floor.

One more fascinating tidbit about this ballad. Irmadine sings a verse about the "Guinea goodle pig" and I wondered what that could be- a guinea pig, perhaps?? Then I wrote to an old-time musician friend of mine who grew up in West Virginia. He said his grandfather used to raise hogs and talked about a breed of hog supposedly brought from French Guinea in West Africa- the Guinea hog. He said this type of pig was known to be small and hardy, with black hair, and could withstand the hot weather better than the English breeds. Thus the hog farmers would try to breed a Guinea hog with their farm pigs occasionally. After some further investigation, I found that the American Guinea hog is a currently endangered breed of pig that is very useful for small family farms... read more here for example.

That's some banjo

2009-03-19T12:56:00.026-04:00

In addition to dulcimer, I play old-time banjo. After playing banjo for a year or two, I had a desire to play fretless banjo. I felt it might make a better match with some of the more archaic old-time fiddling I was trying to play along with. I had initially succumbed to a case of the deadly Banjo Acquisition Syndrome, and by this time I already had a handful of lovely fretted banjos. They were quite pretty, some with very elaborate and beautiful pearl inlays of various designs. I was proud of my banjos, but I kept searching for a fretless banjo. I bought one, a delicate and lovely antique English fretless from the 1800's...but like many antique instruments, it was difficult to play smoothly... I continued my search for a smooth playing fretless banjo.

One day while perusing Ebay in my fretless banjo quest, I stumbled upon an unusual auction. It was for a fretless banjo that was a recently made reproduction of the famous formica-necked banjo played by old-time banjo player Fred Cockerham (now departed but revered by many).

Fred's original formica banjo now resides in a museum, click here to see it. But a knowledgeable banjo playing friend of ours, Ray Alden, had designed and sold a few reproductions of Fred's white banjo years ago. This Ebay banjo was one of those very banjos, and indeed I also knew the current owner who was selling it on Ebay because he was now more interested in playing Irish music. His wife was even planning on attending the same party we were going to in a couple of weeks! I spotted the auction within a half hour of it being put up on Ebay.

Now, here was my dilemma:
This was about the ugliest banjo I had ever laid eyes on. The slotted peg head was shaped like Gumby's head, it had cheesy guitar geared tuners (just like Fred's original). The neck and peg head were overlaid with white kitchen counter formica with little gold flecks sprinkled throughout. Aggggghhhh! All I could think of when looking at it was making egg salad sandwiches. DAMN but it was ugly!
HOWEVER.....

It was one of those banjos that I knew would be easy to re-sell, since it was a perfect reproduction of Cockerham's famed banjo and you very seldom saw something like this up for sale. It was made by people with excellent reputations in the banjo world, so I knew it would be quite playable and well made. The "Buy It Now" price was such that I knew I could probably re-sell it easily if I didn't like how it played. And I could pick it up at the party in two weeks and not even have to pay shipping! Who knows, I might even be able to use it at home for practice.
It was too good a deal to pass up. I bought the monstrosity, thinking I might wind up re-selling it.

I went to the party two weeks later and the Ugly Banjo was handed over. I was almost afraid to open the gigbag to look. Well, there it was, mocking me with its luncheon counter top, crap tuners, and dopey Gumby head. I sure as hell wasn't about to be seen playing it there at the party though. I played my beautiful inlaid banjo instead.
Back home again, I tuned up the thing and picked it up to check it out.
That's when everything changed.
It turns out this escapee-from-a-greasy-spoon-diner banjo played like butter. The neck felt wonderful in my hands and everything fit me like a dream...so easy to play! The formica felt so good under my fingers! ...And it sounded terrific! It was everything I had hoped for in a fretless banjo. I was awed. DOH!- now I couldn't possibly think of re-selling it! No, I had to play it!
I began to play it all the time, and my gorgeous elaborately inlaid expensive banjos lay forlornly in their cases like gilded embalmed Egyptian mummies.
In my crazed state, I played it in front of my friends, who at first thought I had lost my mind. But my infectious enthusiasm for the Moby Dick of banjos seemed to produce some sort of mass-hypnosis effect, and soon all my friends began to view the white formica banjo with kind tolerance, even puzzled admiration. I took it to old-time music gatherings, where it attracted attention of course, standing out like some glittery billboard, and several high ranking banjo players asked to play it out of pure curiosity. After playing it, each one told me privately that if I ever wanted to sell it I should please let them know first, because they wanted it badly. I began to take pride in my 'spectacular' banjo. I named it Casper after the handsome and stately pure white cat owned by our friend Ray who designed the banjo, had it made, made the bridge for it himself, and set the banjo up perfectly years before I bought it.

It reminded me of the episode of Seinfeld where Jerry and Elaine visit friends who just had a baby, and the baby was frankly 'unattractive'. As the parents proudly showed Elaine their little bundle of joy gurgling in its crib, they asked her "Isn't he just gorgeous?!"...and Elaine, thinking quickly, said enthusiastically "That's SOME BABY!".

Thus, I grew to see my white formica banjo as a thing of great beauty because of how it played and sounded and felt to me. It gave me everything and asked for nothing in return. It didn't fuss, I didn't need to be careful of the finish like my other banjos. It already had a nick in the peg head. It's unassuming presence, playability, and great sound was it's appeal- and isn't that really what musical instruments are all about? Just as over the years I came to find more and more beauty in music played a simpler way, without all the fancy notes and excess musical 'decoration' I sought in the beginning, in the same way my Ugly Banjo showed me that beauty comes more from within. There is beauty and elegance in functional perfection that is completely independent of artificially valued superficial appearance.

Anyone for egg salad?

Handsome Molly

2009-03-16T15:10:00.009-04:00

Here is a fun old-time song. This is just one of its many versions, some are sung in a sad way, this one is peppy like a dance tune. It has some "floating verses" -verses that are commonly found in other ballads as well, borrowed back and forth between traditional ballads. The same or similar melody is used in a couple other ballads as well...

I've put it in CGG instead of DAA, so I could sing it better. I want you to notice that although the tuning appears to be for C ionian (CGG), the song begins and ends on a G note on the open string, and generally sounds as though it is in the key of G. So we are playing the song as though it was in G reverse-mixolydian tuning. Maybe it really is in G?...yet it also sounds to my ear as though it's in C. (doh!) In my years of playing clawhammer banjo, I noticed that there are some old-time tunes that you play out of one key even though you are tuned for a different key. Even the fiddlers sometimes aren't sure whether they are in the one key or the other- the tune Rye Straw is one example. I've never been able to exactly figure out the actual reasons for all this, so if anyone has any helpful information or corrections on this, please feel free to jump in!

In any case, even without understanding what's going on with the keys here, I simply found that this song works well for me in this tuning. It's easy enough to tune to (just get into DAA and tune all strings DOWN one step to CGG) and then follow the tab.
It's a fun song. It was a sung ballad first documented by Cecil Sharp in Virginia in 1918, then made popular by Grayson and Whitter's energetic 1927 stringband recording. Enjoy!

One of my personal favorite dulcimer players, Ken Rice ("FlintHill") of Pennsylvania, has worked out a slightly different and very beautiful version of Handsome Molly using his fingerpicking technique. He explains his picking method clearly on his YouTube clip of Handsome Molly, HERE- be sure to watch it! To play either Ken's version or my tabbed version, you simply need to be in any typical ionian tuning, such as DAA or CGG.

scoundrels... The Butcher's Boy

2009-03-14T21:07:00.007-04:00

Here is another old ballad in Aeolian mode... (Hey Ellemmbee!) I've put it in DAC key of D, and it's on the low side for singing- fine for me though. Remember, if you want to raise it a bit for your voice, try tuning up all strings one step to E aeolian: EBD. Don't tune higher than E or you may break a string unless you have a shorter dulcimer than the normal +/- 28" scale length.

This melody version of Butcher's Boy is a bit different from the usual versions. It's got a couple of quirky notes in it that I find appealing. I adapted it partially from Buell Kazee's recording of it in the Harry Smith Anthology. Notice that later in the ballad the villain becomes 'that railroad boy'...well this switching around of lyrics is common in older traditional folk music, feel free to switch it back to 'butcher's boy' if you want.
There are two extra lines of verse at the end, about the dove. If you repeat the last part of the melody you can sing them- start the dove lyrics right at the part in the tab where the first verse says "He courted me....". It'll sound like doing the ending twice at the end of the ballad. A pretty thing to do in a song, even without any singing.
And as always, you can always just play the ballads I post without singing them if you prefer. It's your music!

Girls, let this sad tale of woe be a warning to you...(to be safe, you'd better watch out for both butcher boys and railroad boys!)

Lost at sea

2009-03-13T15:42:00.014-04:00

I turned my back on my beautiful curly maple dulcimer for seven years, after having learned to play quite prettily in modern chording/flatpicking style. I had become disillusioned with it. During those seven years that my dulcimer gathered dust, I fell in love with the raw and archaic lure of drones... I finally became newly determined to re-learn to play my dulcimer in traditional noter/drone style. Having been very active during that interim in listening to older field recordings, playing old-time banjo, and singing Appalachian ballads, I was now familiar enough with this older music to finally have a real sense of direction for my dulcimer playing.

I searched out material to learn from. What I discovered is that yes, there was indeed some very good teaching material out there concerning drone style and traditional playing...but it was scattered all about, often comprising a page or two in this book, a small chapter in that book, an article, an isolated web page on dulcimer history, etc. Much of the more helpful material was in older books. There were not many comprehensive recordings to be had either- a handful of good ones from a handful of traditional players, but even those consisted of varied styles between players. And often on a CD there would be one or two traditionally played tracks buried in with a dozen modern playing style tracks. It was frustrating. It was a challenge to gather a cohesive body of information to learn from. I wound up skipping all around from place to place, trying to fill in the blanks- of which there were many. I picked up a tidbit here, a tidbit there. Sometimes the tidbits didn't fit together well, and I had to figure that out too.

In stark contrast to this, during my search I encountered a seemingly endless sea of learning material geared towards helping beginners learn to play in chording/DAD/capo/flatpick style, the playing style so popular for the past several decades.
I began to wonder how on Earth any musical beginner with less experience than I in gathering traditional music information could ever manage to get started in traditional dulcimer playing on their own.

As I sought information in first one place and then another, I slowly began to find my own path through the teaching material and information maze. I am certainly no expert, and I'm not a professional musician either...but somehow I've managed to steer my way along, kept afloat by my strong interest and admiration for the logic and beauty of the older simpler ways of the dulcimer. I've had to overcome some puzzling musical obstacles, and lately I've had a steadily growing sense that others might benefit from and enjoy hearing about some of what I have learned (and continue learning), and my experiences along the way. Thus, on Valentine's Day I started this blog. Instead of writing books, an online blog seemed to me a more logical and efficient open-ended vehicle for freely sharing what I can offer, and for me to learn from you as well.

We all have our own musical journey to travel, but if we can share a little of what we've found with others, then each of our unique journeys will be that much richer. I still have a lot to learn- there are so many gaps in what I know. I hope to continue learning from others for the rest of my life.

a dreadful wind and rain...

2009-03-12T16:24:00.008-04:00

Let's play one of those great old spooky ballads from Appalachia. You know, the kind where someone kills someone, usually in a gruesome manner!

Wind and Rain, often called The Two Sisters, or Twa' Sisters, is a very old ballad from across the sea, from Britain, Scotland, or thereabouts. The oldest surviving printed example, a 'broadside', is from 1656, so it likely originated even before that... Over the generations it has evolved and branched out into many versions with many different verses and even several different melodies. Here I've chosen a simple but lovely version with only a few of the key verses included. You can search the web and find other traditional verses for it if you like and add them into the version you sing. That's one of the wonderful things about traditional songs and tunes- there are so many versions and you can feel free to play one you especially like. There is no official 'right' version and no one can tell you how to play your version. Make it your very own!

Now when you look at this tab you are going to gasp when you see the tuning: CGG.
Don't panic. This is SUPER EASY! CGG is merely DAA but tuning all the strings one step down (in the alphabet, C is one step before, or 'lower' than D). You are re-tuning from D ionian mode to C ionian mode.
Why am I doing this? For two good reasons:
One, when I sing it in the key of D the high part is a strain on my voice so bringing it down a step to C makes it way easier for me to sing. You too may find this useful when you sing with your dulcimer...and
Two, I'm trying to get you used to the idea of re-tuning to play in several different keys. You already play in D, and you've learned how to tune to play in G. Now you can tune to C just by tuning whatever D tuning you are in down one step on all strings. So now you can play in D, G, and C! This works for all modes, so if you happened to be in D mixolydian tuning DAD, to play in C mixolydian you'd just tune all strings down one step and you'd be in CGC. See, it's not that hard! Don't chicken out....try tuning down from DAA to CGG...it's thrilling when you see how easy it is!
(Note: this is one of those unusual folk songs that does not end on its tonic/key note, in this case C. Instead it ends on a spooky G. Don't let that throw you, it's still in C ionian.)

And so....a dreadful wind and rain.

All the Good Times

2009-03-11T17:31:00.010-04:00

Here is a very nice simple traditional song- All the Good Times Are Past and Gone. It's especially good for beginners (are you with me, "papabill"?). I've presented it in the key of G, because that's the key I usually see it written out in. Also because you don't want to get stuck in the rut of only being able to play in the key of D... I've tabbed it for G ionian tuning (GDD), so make sure your bass string is tuned down to G. You can either tune your dulcimer in regular ionian G tuning (GDD) or what we call "reverse ionian tuning" (DGD) if it makes it easier to get to from whatever tuning you are in already. I presented a chart a few posts ago showing how to make the change from D 'regular' ionian into G 'reverse' ionian. Using the reverse ionian tuning sometimes can make the re-tuning process a little easier by changing the strings a bit less than going from regular D ionian to regular G ionian. I know that statement might be confusing- I am going to explain that a little further one day very soon. But do notice again that the song ends on fret 3, which gives us a hint that it's in ionian mode.
I know you probably are loathe to retune your dulcimer into the key of G from your 'comfort area' of being in D...but getting over the natural tendency to want to avoid re-tuning is going to allow you much greater freedom to play all kinds of songs and tunes later, and will give you the ability to play in fun jams of other music playing people... people who play in several different keys on other instruments. It's only hard and scary to change tunings the first few times you do it. After that it becomes much less of a big deal.

By the way- did you know the difference between a 'tune' and a 'song'? A tune is a piece of music usually with a melody, and a song is the same thing but with words/lyrics added to sing it. You sing a song, you play a tune. If you play a tune and then add words to it, it becomes a song!

"All the Good Times..." is a very good song to try to singing to while you play, since the first verse is pretty easy to memorize and sing on 'autopilot' while you play. Being able to sing a song while you play it is an immensely helpful skill to practice. It doesn't matter if you don't sing well at all, you can just sing by yourself all alone if you prefer. Having a slightly crude and rustic voice is actually something that's admired in old-time music! You'd sound pretty lame if you sang these old country songs in a trained operatic voice.
Practicing singing something simple while playing actually helps cement the song into your brain so that you can better play it without tab, and it helps you to keep rhythm better. Think of how easy it is to remember little children's songs from your youth- this is much the same thing. Plus, there may well come a time as you get to be a better player when you will actually want to sing songs with others, and if you practice this here and there during your early learning stages it won't be so hard to pick up the skill later.

As will all things, my advice is the same- start simple and slow, and don't get more complex until you feel comfortable. Remember this: it's far better to play 3 simple slow tunes well than to stumble awkwardly through 8 fancier tunes.
In this case, I'd suggest singing just the first few words with your dulcimer playing over and over: 'all the good times have past and gone'. Once you can play and sing that phrase comfortably, add the 'all the good times are o'er' to it. And so on. If you never get past the first verse, that's fine too!- at least you have shown yourself that you can do it.
Here is the song, in the key of G, ionian mode (but remember you can play the tab exactly the same way if you are tuned to D ionian tuning, DAA, as well):

Why is it?

2009-03-10T22:55:00.003-04:00

Ok, so why is it?....

...that when i was just starting out, played gently, and was so afraid of breaking a string, I would break strings about three times as often as I do now? I don't get that.

...that I never seem to be in right key when a playing session starts?- you'd think the odds would favor already being in the right key at least sometimes!...

...that I tend to bring my dulcimer to larger gatherings since I figure there'll be more than enough banjo players already there...but then every session has at least two loud banjos and I can't hear my dulcimer at all then and wish I had brought my banjo so I could at least hear what I'm playing?

...that as soon as I put my dulcimer away and take my banjo out, they start playing all my favorite dulcimer tunes? (and vice versa)

...that I seem to be able to remember how to play a fiddle tune ok, but can never remember it's name?

...that people seem to think that dulcimer players can only play in the key of D? (well actually we do know why, don't we?- but let's pretend we can't imagine why anyone would think such a thing!)

Wish I had time for a longer post, but I've been extra busy and now I'm too sleepy and just want to go to bed!

The beautiful aeolian mode

2009-03-08T19:06:00.022-04:00

If you've been following along with this blog, you have already tried playing in two different modes: the mixolydian mode (such a DAD) where you tune so that the base/tonic note is located on the zero fret (open string)....and the ionian mode (such as DAA) where you tune so that the base/tonic note is found on the third fret.
Now I'd like to get you playing in the truly beautiful and haunting aeolian mode. The base/tonic note of the aeolian mode is found not on the open string or the third fret, but on the first fret. Remember how I said most songs end on their base note or tonic note? Notice that the tab below for Shady Grove in aeolian mode ends on the first fret then.
The aeolian mode has a minor sound to it, often mournful, sad, or spooky. It's probably my favorite mode. Many of the loveliest and oldest ballads of them all are in aeolian mode... Some modern guitar players don't quite know how to accompany aeolian mode tunes, and as a result they sometimes play non-modal-y minor chords to them that are close, but don't 'quite' match, and they wreck the delicately mysterious aeolian sound of special intervals and dissonance, instead making it sound rather peppy and cheerful. Ugh. Try this tuning on your dulcimer and see how very special and wonderful the aeolian mode is just by itself. I bet you'll get hooked on it like I did.

Here is a simple tuning chart to help you get into aeolian mode. It is in the key of D because you are probably already familiar with tuning and playing in DAD, key of D.To get into aeolian mode from DAD mixolydian mode, all you have to do is tune your melody string(s) DOWN one whole step from D to C.
To get into aeolian mode from DAA ionian mode, all you have to do is tune your melody string(s) UP two whole steps from A to C.
Your end result either way will be DAC. DAC is an aeolian tuning for the key of D.

If you are now in DAC aeolian mode, you can play Shady Grove, one of the most beloved old-time ballads from the hills of Appalachia where the dulcimer itself was born. Shady Grove has various versions of lyrics that have been passed down, and I have collected a few of my favorite traditional verses here for you to enjoy. See if you can sing a verse while you play. See if you can play it after a while without looking at the tab anymore.
The beauty of noter style playing is that it is less complicated than constant chord fingering, thus it is easier to learn to play a tune without reading the tab. This is worth repeating:
We are giving up 3-finger chording here in favor of using open drone strings- but to use drones effectively we have to be able to tune into 2 or 3 different modes. After the first little learning hump, it is a much simpler method of playing. Is it not a ballad that somehow touches the very soul in a lonesome way? I could play it for years and never get tired of it.

Now I'll point a few things of interest...
You may ask Why should I have to learn to play in different modes? Why can't I just play Shady Grove in DAD or DAA anyway? Well, if you try to play the same ballad Shady Grove in mixolydian DAD tuning or ionian DAA tuning, you will quickly discover that it's impossible- you are missing some of the frets you need to play the tune, as though it were a piano with some of the keys missing. This is what they mean when they say the dulcimer has a diatonic fretboard. It is missing certain notes on the fretboard and was intended to be played in open tuned modes. If the dulcimer had no missing frets, in other words if it had a fret for every note and every half note on the fretboard, then it would have a chromatic fretboard instead of a diatonic one. A piano is a chromatic instrument, so is a guitar. They have 'all' the notes. That's why you can play them so easily in all the different keys with minimal fussing.
Some people have additional frets installed on their dulcimers to enable playing in various keys and modes without re-tuning so much. The most famous additional fret to the diatonic dulcimer is the six and a half fret (and it's corresponding 13 1/2 fret one octave higher). Most mountain dulcimers made today do have the 6 1/2 fret, but before 1965 or so it was almost never seen. We'll look more at why it's so popular and how it's used later on in this blog.
Other people have a couple more frets added, such as a one and a half fret (and it's corresponding 8 1/2 fret one octave higher). I myself have dulcimers with these added frets. I'll discuss their use much later on as well. We can get along just fine without them, so don't get all worried. ;)
Going to the end extreme we have the fully chromatic dulcimer, with no missing frets at all. Some people like them, especially people who like to play more complex modern music on their dulcimers, such as blues, jazz, klezmer, etc.

Besides having extra frets, another way to avoid retuning to play in different modes is to use a capo. A capo is a little clamp that raises the string pitches across all the strings at once without re-tuning them. Capos can be convenient, and we'll discuss them in the future as well, but for now we are learning simple basic things and we don't really need to mess with capos yet. Besides, capos really change the sound of the dulcimer- making it less resonant and more 'shut' sounding, so let's enjoy learning to do things without capos for a while. I actually never use a capo, so don't get all worried about capos either. ;)

So far on this blog we have been playing only simple folk music that can be played on traditional diatonic fretted dulcimers having no extra frets. We've been playing only in three modes: mixolydian, ionian, and aeolian. We won't be complicating our lives with having to learn any more than just these three modes until quite a bit later in this blog!
We've learned that we can re-tune from D ionian down to G ionian for instance, and then play a song using the very same tab/fret numbers...because we are in the same mode, just a different key. Thus, we have begun to understand that we can re-tune to play in a key other than D while still playing in the same mode (more on that later on).

The good news is that ...you've already gotten past the most difficult part of playing your dulcimer in the traditional way! If you can re-tune your dulcimer into ionian, mixolydian, and aeolian modes, then you can play most common tunes easily on your melody string, and you will find there are more than enough beautiful and exciting traditional dulcimer tunes and songs played in these three modes to keep you thrilled and busy for a long time to come!

Although there are several other interesting and useful modes you could learn, just knowing these first three that we've tried so far is enough to cover most typical playing circumstances. The fourth mode that you'll probably discover you need eventually is the beautiful Dorian mode, but for now, using just these first three modes is fine. Another reassuring fact is that in old-time traditional music, you can usually get by just fine if you can play in only four keys: D, G, A, and C. And most old-time so-called "modal songs" or "minor songs" can probably be played in your aeolian mode tuning, if you can get into the key that's called for. Now, remember, if you find yourself in a jam with singer-songwriter guitar players with big egos who like to sing songs they wrote in keys like F sharp and E flat, then run like the wind. I tell you this for your own good. Just stay away from them and play your Shady Grove until it erases the strains of their whiny frou-frou songs from your brain.

Now, lest you start thinking I'm a stuffy old poop, I feel compelled to include here one of my favorite versions of Shady Grove....but it has almost nothing in common with the Aeolian beauty we are talking about in this post. But I still think it's darned cute! Here it is- Charlene Darling from the old Andy Griffith show, singing Shady Grove. Has anyone else ever been as impossibly perky as this??

Take your pick

2009-03-07T16:37:00.026-05:00

Picks are a funny thing. One day you find what you think is the perfect pick, and then a few months later it just doesn't seem to be so great after all, and you suddenly find a different perfect pick. This simply means that the way we play is changing and evolving over time. This is a good thing, even though it means we may have to repeat our hunt for the right pick over and over. Funny how we seem to grow out of this ongoing search for perfection when it comes to searching for a mate...but not for a pick...

As I mentioned previously, when I started out playing the mountain dulcimer years ago I didn't really have any teachers and I wound up getting instruction books that taught flat-picking chord style playing, mostly in DAD mixolydian tuning. I first bought large thin flexible triangular picks made by Fender and Jean Schilling. I was strumming across all my strings and picking out melodies on the various strings as well. I kept breaking corners off these picks in my strumming enthusiasm, so I ordered a whole slew of them! Then I joined a dulcimer club where most of the tunes were played in that style as well. I quickly picked up on the fact that a lot of these people preferred much harder and smaller triangular Herdim picks with pointy corners. This seemed to be the way to go, and they were unbreakable, so I began to use them instead of my large thin triangles.
I found the small hard guitar-like Herdim pick to be practical for what we were doing- flatpicking melodies and chords on the various strings, often picking one string at a time and alternating quickly between strings. I remember it occurred to me at the time that we were all using flat picking patterns much like folk guitar players do, and indeed we were using similar picks as well. Bluegrass mandolin players also use such picks for picking out melodies over the various alternating strings. It just works well for this kind of playing. I played for about two years this way, and I became pretty good if I do say so myself.

That's when I discovered the banjo and my life changed.

My dulcimer hung on the wall unloved while I fell under the spell of the banjo's ancient untamed drones. I was tired of all the elaborate picking and chording I had been doing on the dulcimer. It had become ever more difficult to play without reading a complex tab 'code map' on a stand in front of me. It all suddenly seemed to me to be a fruitless march towards ever more tediously elaborate ornamentation. I wanted out.

I wanted to sweep the table clean of all the prettiness and instead connect with some mysterious raw inner resonance inside me. I imagined what it would be like to retreat to some mountaintop and blow on a grass reed, contemplating its single pure note for a few months. I abandoned my beautiful maple dulcimer and happily immersed myself in drones on my banjo for about seven years. I learned to play banjo with fiddlers who cross-tuned and played the drones I craved, I learned to sing old unaccompanied ballads and it was all wonderful and intoxicating. I became drunk on drones and archaic intervals.

As you may already know, eventually it occurred to me (duh) that I could play the dulcimer in a different way than I used to...in an older drone-based way that did not require flat picking melodies and fingering full chord changes across all the strings.
It was very hard for me to make this switch, but I was determined. I felt like a baby just learning to walk. I couldn't get the strumming rhythm right. I couldn't get the noter to work right or sound right. I was awful, and my misery lasted through weeks of trying. I truly hated sounding so awful and clumsy, but I kept at it. The key to my success was that I kept it simple. I played baby tunes like Go Tell Aunt Rhody and Hot Cross Buns. I didn't try to rush ahead of myself.
There came a day when I realized I was starting to enjoy sliding the noter up and down, my notes were beginning to ring clearer, and my rhythm had begun to improve. I asked my fiddler husband to play a simple fiddle tune (one that I could play well on banjo) and to play it v-e-r-y s-l-o-w-l-y so I could try to play along with him. It was really hard for him to play THAT slowly, but he did and was extremely patient with my musical fumblings. We played more, and I got better little by little. As the weeks went by, I became faster. Still not able to keep up with most old-time sessions, mind you, but faster than I was before. I discovered recordings of Galax style dulcimer playing, and this inspired me greatly! I too wanted to sound like 'a swarm of bees'...how incredibly exciting! They played so fast that their drones never stopped ringing! I too could fill the universe with my eternal/infernal drones!

The funny thing was that as I became faster, I found that my familiar little hard triangle guitar-ish pick was proving to be problematic for fast noter/drone strumming. It created a lot of resistance and held my speed back. Whenever it hit the strings it wanted to go flying across the room and resulted in my having to keep a tight grip on it. This would obviously cause hand cramping problems. But the problem with the hard little pick is that I didn't like the sound it was producing. It sounded too harsh, too loud, and too guitar-like... not delicately graceful like Jean Ritchie and her goose feather quill, and not bee-ish like the Galax players with their long flexible quill 'dominatrix eggwhippers'. Clearly I had to ditch the little guitar pick and go longer and more flexible.

Being a fan of things old-fashioned and traditional, I attempted to use a turkey feather. I had a bunch of them to experiment on. I tried preparing them in various ways I had read about, and I tried using each end in the prescribed way. What I found was that for me, they were not up to any sustained usage, and they tended to shred rapidly. This was frustrating. I had read about the resourcefulness of early dulcimer players, and about how they often experimented with various "plectrum" (pick) materials...bundled electrical wires, collar stays, leather, felt, wood, bone...they tried whatever they found at hand around them. I tried some of these materials as well (hmmm...not easy to find collar stays these days) and I came to the conclusion that maybe plastic would be most like feather quill material, yet perhaps more flexible and more durable than quills. I had read where others had used cut up credit cards as picks, for example. Not a very picturesque solution, but certainly practical! And thrifty, in more ways than one.

I began to experiment with cutting my own picks from plastic items. Credit cards were first. I found them way too hard. My old stash of thin flexible triangle picks was dug up and tried, but again they kept breaking. I tried heavy felt and leather, but the sound was too muffled for my liking. I tried bundling various wires together, but it sounded to fuzzy. I finally got hold of a collar stay, but it was too flexible and limp, as were some plastic tops from supermarket deli containers.

I was beginning to feel like Goldilocks.

I tried cutting up plastic milk jugs, that was getting closer, as were yogurt containers.
In the end, I found that using a small range of different plastic materials was just fine. I could use a slightly heavier one in a big jam situation and be heard a bit better, and I could use a thinner one when in a singing jam so that my strumming wouldn't drown out anyone's voice (including my own). Effects could also be varied according to how long/narrow/wide/pointy/rounded I cut them. Hey, this was fun!
Again I had to try to fight my tendency to become too fixated on the idea of finding the elusive Holy Grail perfect pick. The important thing for me was that I realized that longer more flexible picks were what I needed to get the sound I wanted for myself. You will seek the sound that pleases you.
Don't be afraid to have fun and experiment with making your own picks from interesting materials. You just might like the resulting sound better than the sound you have been getting from the pick you've been used to for a long time. Or not. But it's fun to cut up credit cards anyway.

Picky, picky, picky

2009-03-06T16:55:00.017-05:00

Every time I have started playing any new kind of instrument, I seem to go through the same evolution. During my first learning stages, every detail concerning the 'trappings' of playing had to be just a certain way if I was to play...

I recall feeling I had to have exactly a certain height of foot rest in order to play the mandolin... Any tiny variation in height was disastrous! Exactly a certain hardness of pick. With the banjo, I had to have perfect finger picks precisely molded to my fingertips in hot water, or else carefully applied fake fingernails filed just a certain way.
In my early dulcimer days, again I had to have exactly a certain type pick, a certain kind of strap, my music stand set at a particular angle, only certain strings, the right kind of chair...or else I just couldn't play well at all!

With all these instruments, after I had been playing any of them for a couple of years or more, these excessive details simply began to not matter to me so much. I became less obsessed with detail and more adaptable. I made do, and tried to not pander to my obsessive compulsions. I like to think that my fussiness was getting on my own nerves. Laziness played its part as well- I might be sitting at my desk in my office at home and suddenly want to check on a note in some tune, so I'd grab my dulcimer from the wall here and pick out the tune without bothering to go get a pick or a noter and even without bothering to get out of my office chair with its aggressively anti-musician arms. {{{shudder}}}

In my previous post about noters, I told the story of losing my 'special' green noter and how I enlisted the help of others to desperately search for it in the grass for what seemed an eternity. (note to self: Don't use your green noter when playing outdoors in the grass)
It's a good example of how something as simple as a little stick can take on way too much importance if you let it.

Having become aware of this tendency in myself to obsess about the superficial trappings associated with playing an instrument, I now make a game of it. When I suspect that I am becoming too dependent upon some accessory or brand of something, I now purposely remove it or use something else for a while.

I have come to see this restrictively dependent behavior as a barrier between myself and my music. All it does is create a slew of imaginary reasons why I might think I don't sound good or play well. I am not a professional musician, nor is it my goal to become one. So in the end, it's not how well I play or how 'good' I sound that is most important to me- rather it's the joy and pleasure that playing music brings to me and to others who might enjoy playing with me or listening. The one most important truth I have come to feel about music is that joy overrules perfection.

And speaking of being picky...I want to discuss picks in my next post!

Four Marys

2009-03-05T23:08:00.008-05:00

Sometimes I am in the mood for writing about how I feel about music, sometimes I like to write about playing techniques, and sometimes I like to work out a song on my dulcimer and share it with others.
I felt like playing instead of writing this evening, so I hope you don't mind that I just post this version of Four Marys (also called Mary Hamilton) that I worked out on paper today... It's a wonderful very old ballad that has been around for generations. Jean Ritchie's family used to sing it as well, in fact here is a Youtube clip of Jean and her sister Edna singing it unaccompanied: Jean and Edna Ritchie singing Four Marys. As with most old ballads, there are many versions to be found.
Here is some interesting background on the ballad: Four Marys/Mary Hamilton
I transcribed it into the key of D, ionian tuning (DAA), for no particular reason. You could easily re-tune to C, G, or A (if that's better for your voice range) and play it in those keys as well, even using the same tab numbering if you make sure to remain in the ionian mode when you re-tune. I love the words to this ballad...so tragic and sad! I hope you enjoy it.