Joyful Winter wishes

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.

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Beginner tips on using a NOTER

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 with noter tips, made by player Robin Clark (as seen on the Friends of the Mountain Dulcimer site).  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:

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