Blog

mountain dulcimer

The Blues Lessons are Live!

PlayingtheBluesGraphicThe awaited blues lessons are now live at dulcimercrossing.com!

Hammered Dulcimer and the Blues Mountain Dulcimer and the Blues Dulci-Bro and the Blues

 

Subscribe to www.dulcimercrossing.com for

all-the-time-

-all-the-teachers-

-all-the-lessons-

access!

Read more…

Playing Blues on Dulcimer

Someone once told me that I couldn't play blues on the dulcimer.  "The dulcimer is too pretty for the blues."  I disagree. If you can have the blues, you can play the blues on whatever you want! Look at these introductions to playing blues on hammered and mountain dulcimer and dulci-bro.

Mountain Dulcimer

Hammered Dulcimer

Dulci-Bro

Subscribe to www.dulcimercrossing for all-the-time-all-the-teachers-all-the-lessons access!

Read more…

Dulcimercrossing.wordpress.com Blog Year 2014 in review

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2014 annual report for this blog. Here's an excerpt:

The concert hall at the Sydney Opera House holds 2,700 people. This blog was viewed about 11,000 times in 2014. If it were a concert at Sydney Opera House, it would take about 4 sold-out performances for that many people to see it.

Click here to see the complete report. Thanks for reading and commenting and sharing this blog with others who love dulcimers! Let us know  if there is something …

Read more…

Got a New Mountain Dulcimer for Christmas?

We have just the thing to help you play it! The String-Side Up Lesson Series is for Absolute Beginning mountain dulcimer players and assumes you have no prior experience with dulcimers.  This 31-episode series starts with the parts of the dulcimer, takes you through what is happening with your right and left hands, including strumming, picking (right hand), fingering or using a noter (left hand), playing chords, noodling for harmonies, learning tunes, playing in a linear fashion (up and down the…

Read more…

Jingle Bells for Mountain Dulcimer in 3 Different Tunings

This winter-time tune by James H. Pierpont has long been associated with Christmas, but actually is about riding in a fast sleigh through (and sometimes IN) the snow! Steve first demonstrates and teaches how to play this song in the key of G from three (3) different tunings! First we have chords to accompany singing in DAA tuning and then the melody in the lower octave:

Secondly we have both chords and melody in DAd tuning, making use of the capo at the 3rd fret:

Finally we re-…

Read more…

I Wonder As I Wander

by Steve Eulberg This Appalachian tune, collected and added to by John Jacob Niles, is a lovely, haunting Aeolian melody that fits so well on the mountain dulcimer in DAC tuning.

Steve's mountain dulcimer lesson series explores playing this tune in traditional drone-style, as well as in a flatpicked melody across the strings, and with chords for singing and a chord-melody version. There is a lot to explore that will help your wandering be filled with wondering.

Subscribe so that you ca…

Read more…

Mission: Take the Dulcimer Pledge

by Steve Eulberg I have a mission: I am seeking to equip, support, challenge and encourage musicians who play dulcimer. As I teach across the US in clubs, festivals and workshops, I ask my mountain dulcimer students to raise their right hands and take this pledge. So, stop whatever you are doing right now, raise your right hand and take this pledge with me. It will make a difference in your life! 

Read more…

Playing Expressively

Nina Zanetti's 12 episode lesson set on playing expressively has all kinds of nuggets in it for musicians of every kind. Her specific instructions and suggestions apply to the mountain dulcimer, but are applicable if one is a singer, or hammered dulcimer or harmonica player. Check out the introduction to the series:

The rest of the series is available at dulcimercrossing.com. Just sign up and you can see them all!

Read more…

Harmonics Lesson by Nina Zanetti

You know those beautiful chiming sounds that you hear on recordings or watch people play on the mountain dulcimer?  Those are called harmonics and, when you know where and how to play them, they can be part of your toolkit for playing the mountain dulcimer, too.

Nina Zanetti, 2008 National Mountain Dulcimer Champion and DulcimerCrossing Instructor, is known for her lyrical instrumental finger-style arrangements of classical and celtic tunes. In this 20-episode lesson set, Nina explains …

Read more…

Categories