By Steve Eulber for the Galax Mountain Dulcimer
Played
in the Key of G with d-d-d-d tuning
Video 1
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About the Lessons
| 1. | Introduction | This lesson is played on a Galax Mountain Dulcimer. Most hammered dulcimer players like to play Golden Slippers in the key of G. By tuning his Galax dulcimer to d-d-d-d, Steve shows how he is also able to play in the key of G. |
| 2. | Demonstration | Steve plays completely through the tune, and you will notice the drone accompaniment throughout. Because he is playing in the key of G, he has the lower notes he needs. This is a "plagal" tune, centered on Do, moving from Sol below Do to sol above Do. Check out our Dulcimer Crossing blog, explaining the different between plagal and authentic tunes. |
| 3. | A Part | The pick-up note starts on the 3rd fret. Note the sequence, the similarity of the first phrase and the second phrase of the A Part. |
| 4. | The Work of the Hands | Sometimes the hand that's holding the noter wants to be in control. But the strumming hand is busy all the time too. The noter hand tells us what the melody is, and the strumming hand keeps the beat and the rhythm going. |
| 5. | Filling in Gaps | Steve demonstrates the extra notes a fiddler would play in the A part. |
| 6. | B Part | Steve calls the B Part a "jumping part" because the melody line jumps across a few frets. |
| 7. | Simplify | In this video, Steve only strums when the melody moves. Then he just can't help himself - he goes back to playing with an energetic strum on the second time through. |
| 8. | No Galax? | If you don't have a Galax dulcimer, but have the right slots on your bridge and nut, you can separate the two melody strings and make the 4 strings equidistant. Then you can retune all the strings to D and play in this style. |
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