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hammered dulcimer
The Value of Journaling
Throughout high school and college, I filled scrapbooks with souvenirs from the fun times I had. It held pictures, tickets, programs, and mementoes from my adventures. It was a treasure trove showing not only my exploits, but also the milestones in my life as I grew into adulthood. My scrapbooks served as tangible reminders of my favorite experiences and the joy I derived from them.
I don’t do scrapbooks any more. But I believe in journaling. It’s a fantastic way of documenting progress and r…
Why Don't I Practice More???
Weren't you totally excited the day you brought home your first dulcimer? I imagine you practiced 'til your fingertips were sore, or your arms felt like they were falling off from wielding those two hammers. But then, as days or weeks went by, the time you invested in practicing decreased ... maybe even stopped altogether. You found excuses to push practice time to the back burner. I wonder why this has happened to so many of us.
Well, I have some thoughts about this (of course). Let's …
How to Memorize
As I’ve gotten older, I’m finding it more difficult to memorize music. And I need to memorize the music, because my eyes don’t work like they used to … and it slows me down when I'm trying to read the music. So I began to search online for techniques that would help me memorize music more quickly and easily. Here are some suggestions I found.
- Stop telling yourself you can’t memorize music. Our brains are an incredible machine that have the equivalent of 2.5 million gigabytes of digital me…
WHY Are We Doing This?
I have spent all of my entire life encouraging people to take up learning an instrument. When I was an elementary teacher, I also had several piano students that I taught in my garage after school. I told parents that learning to play an instrument also helps with memory, cognition, motor skill, and attention span.
When my own children got to junior high and high school, they played in the band. I found high school students in band stayed busy and out of trouble. They understood teamwork, they…
Starve Your Distractions
by Linda Ratcliff
Why do some people advance quickly in their dulcimer skills, while others just get stuck? The difference may NOT be in the quantity of time that they practice. The difference just might be a deviation from focus and consistency.
For example, I have been retired for 3 weeks now. I had told myself for the last year, as we prepared for the move and this next season of our lives, that when I didn’t have to go to work anymore I was going to practice every single day. Has that ha…
It's Not WHAT You Practice!
It's not WHAT you practice that makes you better ... it's HOW you practice! This statement holds a profound truth when it comes to learning to play your dulcimer. Simply going through the motions of practice without a deliberate and thoughtful approach will yield limited progress.
Practicing with intention and focus is what sets apart exceptional musicians from the rest. It's not enough to mindlessly repeat scales, chords, or tunes without a clear purpose. Instead, effective practice involves…
Connect to Get Motivated
Do you know what is the most common excuse people give for not following their dreams, for not reaching their goals. You may have already guessed it. They say, “I’m too busy,” followed by, “I just don’t have enough time.” Sounds familiar, right? If you’re like me, you’re a list-maker. But I don’t usually write “practice dulcimer” on my to-do list. It’s more like an after-thought. Mentally I’m saying something like, “If I have time after I finish this list, I’ll pick up my hammers and practice t…
Look B4 You Leap!
Look Before You LEAP! This expression has been found in old manuscripts as far back as 1350 and appeared in a collection of proverbs by John Heywood in 1546. Its first use in the U.S. was in 1677 in the History of Indian Wars in New England. It’s all about thinking, paying attention, and taking on the world in such a way that you don’t fall flat on your face because you forged ahead too fast.
I think this is good advice for approaching a new tune as well. I admit, sometimes I charge right in ……
Don't Be a Dulcimer Hermit
So you want to get better at playing your dulcimer. Well, to do that, you need to spend a lot of one-on-one time with your dulcimer. But that doesn’t mean you need to become a hermit! We’re all connected online. You are getting this email. If you’re like me, you belong to a few dulcimer groups on FaceBook. You may even have attended so me of the online dulcimer festivals. That’s grrrrrreat! But do you ever pack up your dulcimer and put it in the car and go places with it? If not, it’s time yo…
No More U-Word
Did you know that “um” is actually a word in the dictionary? It is defined as, “… expressing hesitation or a pause in speech, a natural utterance first recorded in English in the early 17th century.” Wow! That word’s been around for a while. But it’s an automatic response I use when someone asks me to do something outside my comfort zone, and I’m struggling to find a really good excuse to get out of doing it.
For many years, I’ve been an UM-ing kind of person. There have been ums in my marria…
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