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music theory

New Class for Premium Members in 2020

Christmas is coming, and you're probably thinking about what to buy your children for Christmas. What about a mountain dulcimer? If you've already gotten everyone a dulcimer, what about a 6 month membership to Dulcimer Crossing? It's time to start thinking about these things, since it's almost that time of year again!



Or you might gift yourself with a membership. 



Dulcimer Crossing will be offering something new for our Premium Members in 2020.



We'll begin with a 4-week special course taugh…

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Concise Guide to Chord Symbols

by Steve Eulberg



These questions get asked frequently so here is a guide to help you decode the chord symbols that you may often see above the musical notation:







A Chord (by definition a triad) is made up of 3 specific pitches (1-3-5 steps of the scale.)



A Chord Symbol is short hand for which steps are intended.



1. When a Single Capital letter is used, it indicates a Major chord (no alterations in the 1-3-5 plan)



e.g. C = C-E-G



2. If there is a low…

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Dulcimer Articles Archive

by Steve Eulberg

Since appearing on the cover of Dulcimer Players News in 2002 (see above), Steve has been writing articles to share what he has learned with the dulcimer community.

Dulcimersessions.com was a website hosted by Mel Bay Publications and was coordinated and edited by Lois Hornbostel.  Sadly, the website is no longer hosted and all of the resources published there are lost to the bits and bytes of time in the internet age.

Dulcimer Players News is a quarterly magazine for enthusiasts o…

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Chord Wizard Tool

by Steve Eulberg

Have you ever wondered how to find a particular chord you are looking for?  You might be familiar with a couple of fingerings for your favorite chords, but then there is that "weird" one that the music calls for and your musical chord theory is a bit rusty.

This one is for you!  Tom Strothers has created this interactive webpage as tools to help mountain dulcimer players.

Diatonic Chord Wizard This page has an interactive Fret Finder Tool, below which is a tool to find the notes on…

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Try to Make ANYthing that happens...

by Steve Eulberg

...into something of Value."

--Herbie Hancock

Jazz Pianist Herbie Hancock tells a story of something that happened when he played

[wpvideo rR2tvMIs]

a "wrong" chord during Miles Davis' solo.

This video is from Herbie's MasterClass.

This is some GOOD advice for more than just jazz music.  It is for ALL music.

And for life.

(Thanks to Lois Hornbostel for sharing this on Facebook!)

 

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Learn Something New

by Linda Ratcliff

You will learn something new everyday if you pay attention. - Ray LeBlond



Learn Something New
 
Sometimes the process of learning a new tune is sabotaged before you even begin. You allow a spirit of doom to hang over your head, because you think the piece is too difficult. You might say ...
  • Part B seems complicated, and I'm looking for something easier to learn.
  • This piece is in an odd tuning (like D-G-d), and it's a nightmare to retune.
  • This tune has hammer-ons and hammer…

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Blue Water Thinking

by Linda Ratcliff

Creativity is a wild mind and a disciplined eye. - Dorothy Parker






My husband and I moved this week, and we now live in our RV on Watts Bar Lake in Tennessee. We have a beautiful view of the lake, right out our back window. Actually, we’re parked on a peninsula, so we can see water from every window in the RV.

I began to wonder if the change in scenery would have any impact on my creativity, so I did some research. I found an article about how our surroundings impact creative think…

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Rich Chords Part 1 & 2

by Linda Ratcliff & Steve Eulberg

Your life will be richer when you use rich chords. - Steve Eulberg

Recently, we uploaded a new series of lessons about how to play Rich Chords on the hammered dulcimer. Rich chords are chords that have other notes added to them, in addition to the 3 notes that go with either the major or the minor chords. To set the stage for building rich chords, in this video Steve begins the series by explaining the basis or construction of major and minor chords.

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You Are What You Practice

by Linda Ratcliff

The effort you put into your practice time will either advance your skills quickly, or drag you down gradually. - Linda Ratcliff




We've all heard the expression, "You are what you eat." In other words - if you eat fat, you may become fat.  If you frequently indulge in sugar, you run the risk of becoming diabetic.  If you skip your fruit and vegetables, you could become deficient in minerals and vitamins.

In a survey taken in May of 2016, 75% of Americans claimed that they are eatin…

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Live Concert/Workshop This Saturday

by Linda Ratcliff

“If I were not a physicist, I would probably be a musician. I often think in music. I live my daydreams in music. I see my life in terms of music.” - Albert Einstein




Erin Mae Lewis, who teaches Chromatic Mountain Dulcimer Lessons on DulcimerCrosing is giving a special Chromatic Mountain Dulcimer Workshop!
(Erin holding her NEW Chromatic Mountain Dulcimer Chord Encyclopedia)

Chromatic Mountain Dulcimer Chord Workshop with Erin Mae Saturday, November 18th 8:00 am PST | 9:00 am MS…

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