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mountain dulcimer
Invest in Yourself
I’m just 4 weeks from retiring (again) and moving, and I’m makin’ plans! It’s been years since I’ve taken music lessons from a real teacher. I’m more of a self-taught musician. So I was wondering, is that something I should do now that I have the time? Should I invest the time and money into a more formal strategy of getting my musical mojo back?
Well, I’m undecided about taking lessons in this new season of my life. But I DO know that I plan to invest in myself musically via many other avenues…
Could 20 Minutes Be Enough?
As most of you know by now, I have played the piano all my life. I practiced about 2 hours a day in high school. Later, as a piano major in college, I practiced at least 3-4 hours a day, and then accompanied choir and voice lessons for tuition credit another 2 hours a day. When I think about how long I should practice every day, prior experience tells me I won’t make any progress unless I practice at least 1 hour a day.
However, I recently read something that might give me some freedom from thi…
How to Maintain Repertoire
Does this scenario sound familiar?
- You work really, really hard on learning a new piece.
- You spend tons of time getting everything as polished as you can.
- You start the next piece.
- A month later you think about the first piece, go to play it, and realize that it’s not there anymore.
Back “in the day,” I worked at the Butterfly Palace in Branson, MO, and played Christmas tunes in the butterfly room for hours every day. I had built my repertoire up to over 30 tunes and, by the end of the …
How Do You Identify Yourself?
When you introduce yourself, what do you say? In other words, after you tell them your name, what do you say to describe yourself? Most of us identify ourselves according to our occupation. For the past 3 years, I’ve been saying, “I’m Linda Ratcliff, and I'm the sales manager for a senior community.” This has been on my mind lately, because I’m just a few short months away from retiring again, and people are asking what I’m going to do next.
My daughter asked this question yesterday, and I resp…
Music Will Never DUMP You
Last June, my husband was unexpectedly scheduled for open-heart surgery. But the morning of the expected surgery, the doctor met us in Mike's room and postponed the procedure. Last minute blood work revealed an infection that would have spread through his entire body during surgery. Since we had already planned (and paid for) a 4-week vacation, the doc told us to go ahead with the trip but not to let Mike exert himself. At all.
So, our children bought him a light-weight wheelchair that I coul…
Go SLOW to Go Fast
Last weekend, I watched the movie “Second Chances,” an uplifting tale of a little girl's physical and emotional reawakening after a car crash claims the life of her father, and leaves her unable to walk without crutches. In the movie, Sunny bonds with a crippled horse, and together they begin to walk, even run, together again.
However, throughout the film, the horse trainer and her coach warned Sunny and another young girl about the importance of warming up their horses, starting them out slowl…
It's ALL Inclusive
Music is an integral element of everyday life. People spend hours listening to it and billions of dollars buying it. Music plays a role in almost every area of a person’s life. The music you choose to listen to probably reflects your emotions – whether troubled or happy. Music can stir up your imagination and fill your mind with positive thoughts. Some people consider music as a way to escape from the pains of life, offering stress relief to others. In today’s world, music has become an “all-inc…
4 Equidistant Dulcimer Day
DulcimerCrossing is pleased to host a day-long event that focuses on playing Mountain Dulcimer in a 4 Equi-distant string set up.
6 Teachers will gather at the beginning of the day with Ashley Ernst, editor and publisher of Dulcimer Players News.
They will each provide a workshop and then join together at the end for a round-robin concert.
All events are held on Saturday, March 11th and take place on Zoom.
Visit the website for more details.
Behind Every Performance
One of the privileges we have, living in today’s world, is access to pristine, note-perfect recordings on YouTube, the radio, CDs. But this privilege comes at a cost. Performers, as well as our audiences, have developed the mind-set that such perfection should be possible every time we play for others – whether we are hanging out with friends on the front porch or attending a performance in a concert hall. And, Lord knows, we performers try our best. I’ve spent most of my adult life feeling like…
The Humpty Dumpty Dilemma
Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall,
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.
All the king's horses and all the king's men
Couldn't put Humpty together again.
Humpty Dumpty was in bad shape physically. Who knows how many bones were broken with such a great fall. His shell was shattered, pieces scattered all over the ground. He knew it would be impossible to get back up and fix himself - all by himself. So he went for help. Mr. Dumpty went straight to the top - booked a flight to the White House and was granted…
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