Blog
mountain dulcimer
What is Drone Style?
by Steve Eulberg
Once we have learned the melody of a tune we can begin adding notes in order "fill out" the sound of the tune. The easiest way to do this is to play "drone style". This is actually the traditional way to play the old mountain dulcimers which did not have frets that extended all the way across the fretboard, but only were present under the melody strings.
On the mountain dulcimer, the player plays the melody on the string(s) which are required for the melody and simply strums all…
Once we have learned the melody of a tune we can begin adding notes in order "fill out" the sound of the tune. The easiest way to do this is to play "drone style". This is actually the traditional way to play the old mountain dulcimers which did not have frets that extended all the way across the fretboard, but only were present under the melody strings.
On the mountain dulcimer, the player plays the melody on the string(s) which are required for the melody and simply strums all…
Koto--the Japanese Cousin of the Mountain Dulcimer
by Steve Eulberg
I thought I had caught a glimpse of this long, distinctive instrument while passing by one of the Private (Guerilla) Showcases on the music floor of the Delta Chelsea Hotel in Toronto, but it wasn't until I was rewarded by meeting its owner in the hall in the early evening (before all the craziness of the late-night schedule of "concertettes" begins) that I was certain.
It WAS a Japanese Koto, in the hands of (and nearly as tall as) a Londoner who, after exploring his music degree…
I thought I had caught a glimpse of this long, distinctive instrument while passing by one of the Private (Guerilla) Showcases on the music floor of the Delta Chelsea Hotel in Toronto, but it wasn't until I was rewarded by meeting its owner in the hall in the early evening (before all the craziness of the late-night schedule of "concertettes" begins) that I was certain.It WAS a Japanese Koto, in the hands of (and nearly as tall as) a Londoner who, after exploring his music degree…
What is Melody-Only Style?
by Steve Eulberg
When we are playing the melody of a tune, without adding any chords, bass notes, harmony notes or drones, this is playing our dulcimers like they are melody-only instruments like flutes, trumpets, clarinets or trombones. This way of playing focuses on the melody and doesn't have the distraction of other notes.
On the hammered dulcimer, the player is playing only the melody of the tune.
On the mountain dulcimer, the player is playing on the string(s) which are required for the me…
When we are playing the melody of a tune, without adding any chords, bass notes, harmony notes or drones, this is playing our dulcimers like they are melody-only instruments like flutes, trumpets, clarinets or trombones. This way of playing focuses on the melody and doesn't have the distraction of other notes.
On the hammered dulcimer, the player is playing only the melody of the tune.
On the mountain dulcimer, the player is playing on the string(s) which are required for the me…
Fiddle Whamdiddle CD Old School Old-Time
Psst...Here is part 1 of the update I promised you.
Vi and I recorded and released a recording of some of our favorite Old-Time tunes in December. Old School Old-Time is what we call it...and we even got to do our photo shoot in the oldest one-room schoolhouse in Larimer County, Colorado--the Upper Box Elder School!
We had a foot-stomping, hootin and hollerin' good time at Avogadro's Number in Fort Collins as a CD Release party, and now we're getting the word out about the CD.
Some people like it b…
Fiddle-Tune-A-Day
Late in 2011, my fiddling pardner, Vi Wickam, committed to filming a Fiddle-Tune-A-Day throughout the year of 2012. 366 days...(it was a leap year!). That's a lot of fiddle tunes! You can see the entire collection on his Youtube Channel (which can be overwhelming)--OR, you can sign up on his email list to get one emailed to you once a day--for a whole year!He played some old chestnuts, he solicited suggestions from people, he paged through Coleman's, he chose some he'd written, he found new e…
Introduction to New Fingerstyle Lessons
Nina Zanetti, the 2008 National Dulcimer Champion, has provided us with a very clear and inspiring lessons on how to get started playing Fingerstyle Mountain Dulcimer.
Here is the Introduction to her Lesson Series on DulcimerCrossing.com:
Here is the Introduction to her Lesson Series on DulcimerCrossing.com:
Don't Miss the Bus! Back to School Special
SAVE! You don't need new school clothes if you are choosing our homeschool method of dulcimer learning at www.dulcimercrossing.com! And with our Back to School Special (Aug 24-Sept 2), you can save even more AND build your dulcimer skills!
Bridging the Gap between
what you know
and where you want
Your Music to go!
Introduction to Dulci-Bro Lessons
by Steve Eulberg Here is the introduction to the Lesson Series for Dulci-Bro at www.DulcimerCrossing.com, and several lessons have already been posted there!
Dulci-Bro: Where can I get one?
by Steve Eulberg We have begun a Lesson series on learning to play the Dulci-Bro and the natural question arises: where can I get one? Homer Ledford is credited by at least one observer as being the originator of a resonator dulcimer.
(Alvey, R. Gerald. Dulcimer Maker: the craft of Homer Ledford. University Press of Kentucky, 2003.)
I ordered mine (many years ago) from Don Neuhauser, who quite simply, is an amazing dulcimer builder! Don is in Charlestown, Indiana. My dulci-bro is built with a…
Why use the DAA tuning?
by Steve Eulberg
With mountain dulcimer, every tuning has benefits to recommend it. Every tuning also has limitations.
Someone wrote to me recently to ask why we include lessons on the DulcimerCrossing website in the DAA tuning. Here are the 4 reasons that I wrote back in response:
With mountain dulcimer, every tuning has benefits to recommend it. Every tuning also has limitations.
Someone wrote to me recently to ask why we include lessons on the DulcimerCrossing website in the DAA tuning. Here are the 4 reasons that I wrote back in response:
1) Do-sol-sol or 1-5-5- (e.g. DAA) Tuning
1-5-5 is the most common original tuning for mountain dulcimers in the USA, and, on instruments with no 6+ or 6-1/2 fret, it is the only way to play the Ionian (Major) sca…
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