dulcimer / music questions

[GREENCOUNTYPETE]

my wife got a mountain dulcimer about a week ago , it came with one book it has some basic instruction and some songs ranging from marry had a little lamb and twinkle twinkle to silient night and o danny boy

so she has been practicing

i have also been playing it some

what books have you found helpfull , what dulcimer books do you like
where do you find music written for dulcimer or the dulcimer peices of old time tunes
what old time tunes are good to know for jams i love to sit and listen i don't know what tunes they play i am relitivly new to blue grass and old time
i can search an find plenty of books and dvd's and cd's i am looking for what may have helped you , so i can do this on a very limited budget


question part 2
i may just be a technical person but i am looking for more info i have unawsered questions about some many things like circle of fiths

i took up the guitar a few years ago , i took a few lessons and then ran out of time and money i realy liked that my instructor had a very technical approch to music almost like somthing you could draw out in a blue print with rules to what and why and how it was all interconected , but he didn't use a book he just wrote things in my spiral note book , this left me with a bunch of scales and other stuff i realy can't make sence of anymore does anyone know of a good book or books to teach this strcture i have the thought i may be wrong but that once you know the structure or music learning an insturment is really just a process of finding the cords , notes and technique to put them together on that particular instrument

i belive this is why people who "get " music can go from one istrument to the other with relitive ease they know the rules , notes and structure ,

to many people come at it from the other direction learning tab is fine but it is abit like learning to build a circuit by disecting others in the end it may get you what you are wanting but you still won't know why and you will have gone way out of your way to reverse engineer it


i used to play the tuba this way in school band i got beats , measures and could play my notes when i was supposed to but , never knew why
i dropped that in 8th grade i wasn't getting it or enjoying it anymore

i can play notes but i want to know more like tuning up tuning down adjusting for play in different keys all these terms i hear i want to put real deffinitions and reasons with them as well as how and when to do them

so any books you can rcomend


just file this under homestead entertainment actualy i have seen a few people out here talk about music specificaly blue grass and old time may be an idea for a new forum homsteading music

[ronbre]

maybe you could attend a dulcimer festival and get some info from the folks that perform

[GREENCOUNTYPETE]

yeah i see there is one in midland mischigain , maybe next year we can make it over there , but august is very full this year

[EDDIE BUCK]

Do a google search for more info http://www.viewdo.com/now_viewing.php?id=1216 ....eb

[Old John]

Music is Mathematical. Each major scale is built up of 8 tones, in sucessive octaves, or eights. Each major scale has 6 full steps and 2 half steps, located at 3rd to 4th and 7th to 8th tones. the others are full steps.
All Western music starts with this simple theory and goes from there.

One of the difficulties with the Mountain Dulcimer is that, it is normally tuned according to the old Modal style, used in Plain Song and Gregorian Chant (Church Music).
There are I think 6 or either 8 Modes. I think the most common Modal tuning used on the M.Dulcimer is the Ionian Mode wherein the two melody strings are tuned in unison,to the Tonal,(in C major or D Major)and the drone strings are tuned to fifths. Myxolidian Mode is like tuning to a "G major" scale(one sharp). There's Dorian Mode too.....That's far as I can remember Dulcimer

Me, I do know or remember the Music theory, still play guitar. I mostly played the M.Dilcimer by ear.
Whew.......Been more than 20 years since I used any of that. I once was Pres. of the Central Indiana Folk Music & Mountain Dulcimer Society, back in 1971 or 72..
I'm a guitar/bass player....I played folky & bluegrass music around Indy, with a Fiddle band and a Trio, back in the 70's & 80's. I still have a 6 string & a 12-string around the house. I also have 2 or 3 home-built M.Dulcimers.
I can tune the Dulcimer by ear and play a few tunes, with the Grandkids

I'm sorry, if I rambled. I know this is TMI....I do love Folk Music. It's Fun.
Have Fun!

[pheasantplucker]

I have a friend who got really good at playing the dulcimer. He's on vacation, (church camp), but when he returns, I'll ask him and perhaps I can give you some suggestions. In the mean time if you go to You tube and search for dulcimer vids, I think you might be surprised at how beautiful the instrument can be. Many people discount it as not so complex, but the sounds (esp. with the drone notes) I find compelling. Good luck

[GREENCOUNTYPETE]

Old John , not to much info , very cool
usualy i am the person giving to much info
yes i am the parking and camping coordinator for a local traditional music festival with things that range fom old time and blue grass to old time blues , gospel ,cajun, celtic ,and folk witch really coveers folk music of many cultures and regions not just modern amarican folk music basicaly if our music commitie likes it and it is played accosticaly for the most part " a paino would not survive the conditions under the main tent very well so a keyboard takes it's place and they can get it booked it is played.


i am very interested in the mathmatical end of the music math usualy makes sence to me no polinomials please.


pleasantplucker , yes it is very beautifull , i can already play a nice amazing grace on just the melody strings tonight i need to play with the rest of the strings i was just getting it down on the aa melody strings i was playing twinkle twinkle littel star the other night i had all the strings going and the strum pattern

it is very cool to pick up and insturment and after basicaly a week play the tabliture and have the hole song sounding nice in an hour or so then switch songs the next night and another hour and you have another song you can play.

when you realy think about the dulcimer it is a lap guitar simplified for major scales so that you can spend your time on the melody line and not constanly shifting you fingers for the cord to fill it in altho if you stay in the major scale on the guitar it simplifies the cords considerably.

and like the cajuns would tell you "we just don't play those notes" when you ask about an A minor nor do they write them in

i recently attended an accordian workshop no i don't play the accordian but it was very interesting Mark Savwau (yes i am sure that is not spelled correct but about how it sounds to a non cajun) and his family band put it on at our festival he builds cajun accordians and was explaining that they play them they way they want and write for them , that it is realy a simplified accordian usualy tuned to C or D a single row button accordian but it does whay they want it to and keeps it simple.
that yes you could play cajun music on a double row or even piano accordian but why they made it easier on thier accordians.
it was also very interesting that the cajun accordian that we think of as the main stay of cajun music is relitivley new historicaly , that it didn't realy arive till aprox the turn of the century and cajuns didn't really build them till the 1950s

[halfpint]

Welcome to the world of Dulcimers!

The best place to go for dulcimer information is a website aptly named: www.everythingdulcimer.com
Right now it is in the process of being moved from one server to another, so the dulcimer music is not up yet, but the discussion forum is up and running. Hopefully the rest of the website will be back up in a week or two, and you should be able to find lots of dulcimer music, most of it is tabbed out for both Ionian (usually DAA) and mixolydian (usually DAD) tuning.

Before you look for books, you need to know which tuning you will be using, as most books teach in either Ionian or Mixolydian.

The everything dulcimer site listed above also normally has a listing of festivals/events, however that has not been moved to the new server yet.

Another good site to get dulcimer music from is the Jam N Folk website:
http://gulfweb.net:34043/~rlwalker/j.../jamnfolk.html
Click on the link for "Tab/Music sheets", then on the "Book 1" link and the songs will come up in alphabetical order.

Another website that lists events is:
http://www.gilamountaindulcimers.com/aug.htm
I've linked to August's events, so to look at other months you just need to click on the name of the month at the top of the page.

Music played at dulcimer jams tends to be pretty regional, although I believe Boil Them Cabbage is played everywhere.

Dulcimers are typically played in the key of D, but many in our club use capo's and we occasionally play in G. Some of the DAD players will retune their middle string to G when we play in G.

Once the www.everythingdulcimer.com website gets the dulcimer club listing up, you may wish to check it to find clubs in your area.

Sounds like you'll need to get another dulcimer soon so that both you and your wife can play them together.
Dawn

[Corky]

I also play the mountain/apalatian dulcimer.

I got my book and cd from Riverlark Music in TN.
Larken Bryant wrote this book and she is a sweetheart that used to teach dulcimer at a college in TN I believe.

It would be good to learn from that and then find a dulcimer club in your area.

I am now learning to jam whitch is something else totally.
Very good for me though.
a great way to learn chords.

The thing that will make you a better player is to learn from many different people.
The dulcimer, like the banjo is played in many different styles.

there are many modes for playing the dulcimer.
Do NOT limit yourself to DAA or DAD tunning.
Larkin teaches four I think and there are lots more.

Many think the dulcimer can only be played in the key of D.
That is not true at all.

The main thing I will tell you is play it often even if it is twinkle twinkle little star.
I play every day at least a little.

[thequeensblessing]

I'm a member of the Cincinnati Dulcimer Society. They give beginner lessons, have monthly meetings, and monthly jam sessions that are open to the public. The members also play at various festivals in the area. It's a fantastic resource. Look into the possible existance of a dulcimer society near you. This site lists a couple or three. I don't know how far from you they are though.
http://www.gilamountaindulcimers.com....htm#Wisconsin

[GREENCOUNTYPETE]

thanks for the book recomendation Cory
halfpint i checked out everything dulciimer , very cool good refrence and forum
queensblessing thanks i did find there is a club not to far away and they have a class in september we emailed and are waiting to hear back.

[MOgal]

I found my first dulcimer at a junk shop in Cameron MO. I've been told it's an early McSpaddin kit. I took it to a music store in Kansas City for new strings and "tuning." Sadly, that man didn't know beans about dulcimers. Well, I never was able to keep it tuned properly--I can tell when it's really out of tune but not when it's "in." Anyway, I was very frustrated until my friend Starr who knew how to play one tune and play mine. So sweet that music. By then I had moved to within a 90 min drive from Mountain View AR and took my dulcimer to McSpaddin's shop for the new owners to rework as it needed a new bridge and nut. I also bought an electronic tuner which made all the difference in the world. My advice after finding the books, etc., and a club is to buy yourself an electronic tuner.

P.S. Did you notice I said my FIRST dulcimer. DH bought me a cherry wood dulcimer for Christmas '95 and then another bookmatched walnut one at an auction after we moved back to Missouri. I still love my junk shop model the best but play them all.

[GREENCOUNTYPETE]

i use a korg electronic tuner , i have it for my guitar but works grate for dulcimer also so long as the room is quite , otherwise i to would have a very hard time tuning up

some day it is on my list just not very high to get a clamp on tuner that tunes on insturment vibration and is back lit It is a must for those after the festical back at camping jams were as it is you have one group playing old time and the other picking grass and then you might even have a group of fiddlers paying somthing else but i am not that good yet so that tuner waits for another day.

i can see needing another dulcimer in the future

[m39fan]

Our favorite book is Cripple Creek Dulcimer. We got it and a dulcimer when we went to Dollywood in TN. They used to have a link to the shop (and others) on the Dollywood site.

HTH,
Mike