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Why use the DAA tuning?
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:
Technique or Repertoire?
Here is the chicken-or-egg question, regardless of whether one is a student or a teacher.
Which is more important in learning to play an instrument: Technique or Repertoire?
Both are necessary, of course, but how would you answer the question?
Perhaps one of these phrases describes you as a Student, whether you are working with a private instructor, or making workshop decisions when you attend a festival:
Student A: "Tunes! There are so many tunes! I want to learn to play them al…
Playing Authentic and Plagal Tunes
Here are two words that may be unfamiliar to you, but which I find most helpful for determining where to look to play tunes on both mountain and hammered dulcimers: Authentic and Plagal. (for more on Plagal, see below)
Authentic Tunes are those whose notes are generally found between Do and the octave do.
Plagal Tunes (in a use of the term by ethnomusicicologists) are those which are centered on Do, from Sol below Do to sol above Do. This is illustrated by the chart below:
Now ho…
Give the Gift of Dulcimer Lessons!
Finding just the right gift for someone who plays dulcimers can be difficult because the preferred instruments and accessories are so personal. My father-in-law once said that about camera lenses when I asked to have one as a gift; and he was right! They can't be picked off of the rack—they have to be tailored to each individual.So here is the perfect gift: support and challenge that nurtures each individual's growing skill-set and helps them play the music they want to play, i…
String-Side Up/Absolute Beginner Lesson Series
by Steve Eulberg Congratulations! You've got a dulcimer and now you're ready to play it. And we've got a brand-new series of lessons to help you successfully meet that goal.
This String-Side Up/Absolute Beginner Hammered Dulcimer and String-Side Up/Absolute Beginner Mountain Dulcimer lessons on www.dulcimercrossing.com is designed to take you from square one in a step-by-step fashion, through sequential lessons designed to answer your questions, demonstrate and encourage best practices and …
Learning the notes on hammered dulcimer (Tuning Game)
by Steve Eulberg 
People always ask me if it is necessary to read music in order to play the hammered dulcimer. My answer is always the same, "No, it is not necessary. But it can be good tool." It IS necessary to know which notes you have on your instrument in order to tune it, however. And learning that is a LOT more fun if you have a game to play to help you learn! 
When I first started playing hammered dulcimer, I used a vocal pitch pipe to match pitches with the strings and I found it a lo…
Lance Frodsham Plays Epinette
by Steve Eulberg On my recent tour of the Pacific Northwest, I was able to finally meet Lance Frodsham of Vancouver, Washington. Lance is a teacher and performer of the mountain dulcimer with several recordings and books of music for dulcimers published by Mel Bay. He is also one of the coordinators of the annual Kindred Gathering (which celebrated its 37th gathering in the Pacific Northwest this past August!) 
Lance and I have corresponded but had never met face to face, or had the opportunit…
Cimbalom Player Sighting!
by Steve Eulberg Author Annie Dillard counsels that things come to the one who is observant. (warning--non-dulcimer content: She's a terrific author--I highly recommend Pilgrim at Tinker's Creek, An American Childhood, and Teaching a Stone to Talk. Now, back to dulcimer content:) There was an open door at the end of the hall on the floor where the Private Guerilla Showcases were being held and I peeked inside to see what kind of music was happening there (I was at the FarWest Regional gatheri…
Hammered Dulcimer Player Sighting!
by Steve Eulberg At the FarWest Regional meeting of the Folk Alliance in Eugene, Oregon, Oct 20-23, 2011, I was able to hear this lyrical hammered dulcimer player for the first time.
Carolyn Cruso, from Orcas, Washington, plays in a spirited way bringing music from mystical places. As we talked, I realized that my workshops at Dusty Strings (Seattle) the previous weekend, included one of her new beginner students. Let her know you appreciate her playing! www.carolyncruso.com
Mountain Dulcimer: "1/2 the frets, 1/2 the strings but All the Music!"
The mountain dulcimer has "Half the strings, and half the frets, but ALL the music," so quipped my friend and colleague, Joe Collins at the Western Carolina Dulcimer Week this summer in Cullowhee, NC.
He was comparing a 3-string, diatonic mountain dulcimer to a 6-string, chromatic guitar.
Many people like ask me if a dulcimer is "easy to play."In my experience there are no instruments that are "easy to play." But, there are some instruments which are more accessible than others.
A devout appreciat…
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