Half a year ago I built myself a mountain dulcimer. The reason why I built it was pure curiosity, I stumbled upon some pictures of MD's on the net and got interested. The simplest and cheapest way to obtain one (as I live in Sweden) seemed to be to build one - and so I did. It's a very nice instrument and I love to play it on late nights when all other instruments would disturb family and neighbours. But of course I'm interested in using the instrument when I play with other musicians. So here's my question:
How do you use the instrument when playing ITM? Cos I know that the instrument is used for this kind of music "over there".
To me it seems impossible to play fast reels and jigs on it. The instrument is originally intended to be a solo-instrument with the drone strings accompanying the melody string. And though ITM has a lot of drone tones in the chords, it's very unusual to let one single chord ring through a whole tune. And if you chose to play the MD in a more "modern" way and making chords with the drone strings, than you're much slower and more restricted in how you can use the melody string - the eternal 'up and down' in ITM seems hard to combine with the chord settings.
So the only way I've found to use a MD in ITM so far, is as a simple chord instrument, which shurely won't be heard at all at a session.
So, if any of you has ideas or experiences about how to use it in ITM together with other musicians, I'd be glad for comments.
Lars
I have a tape of a mountain dulcimer player from the Northeast of England, Phil Ranson, who plays all sorts, From Irish and French traditional tunes to Telemann. Obviously, he has had to abandon the traditional single-string melody style, and plays it more as one would, say, a mandolin - although, by the sound of it, he still uses the traditional open tuning. The drone strings may be appropriate for certain tunes (on this recording, P. Ranson plays The Silver Spear, the Blackbird and The Ace and Deuce of Pipering, all very heavily based around D), but not all.
Aside from melody playing, I would have thought that the MD would be quite effective as an accompanying instrument - it is tuned similar to the traditional 6-string Greek Bouzouki.
I can't provide any practical advice,as I don't play the MD, but I hope I have been of some use.
Lars, I'm not quote familier will all of your terms "ITM"....I'm "over there", in the lower Appalachian Mountain region of Mississippi.
However, August 23rd I attended a DULCIMER FESTIVAL about 30 miles from here......around 60 members (all but one mountain dulcimer players). They played in unison.....reminded me a little of the drone of chamber pipes....it was amazing!
The session would be "in round"....each member leading a tune. Some of the dulcimer players would play the same cord throughout the tune....but a few seemed to play "lead" almost as if it were a guitar or banjo lead......sounded great!
There were other musicions in the session as well.
There were three fiddle players (including myself), 2 guitarists, a "bass fiddle" (viola), 2 mandolin players, a lute player and 2 flute players.
All sorts of music....traditional Irish & Scottish tunes, Delta Blues, waltzes, jigs, reels, Nashville country, and "pop" country. I couldn't believe it when one member lead "Seven Spanish Angels" (a Willie Nelson tune)! Would've never believed it could sound so good.
There seems to be a lot of difference in the sound of the different instruments....and some are single strings (like guitar) and others double strings (like mandolin). Instruments range in price from $100-$175 (U.S.) for a dulcimer "kit" that you put together yourself....to $750-$1800 (U.S.) for a "hand-crafted" model. Some are really quite beautiful.
I've been asked to join their "club" (they seemed to like my fiddle-playing)....will see if I can find out anything that will help you.
I have great album of old time fiddle playing by Gerry Milnes. OK. I know that's not IrTrad but he's accompanied in an interesting way by a dulcimer player-Lorraine Lee Hammond. Lots of time accompaniment of old time music just follows one rhythmic groove like boom-chuck guitar or clawhammer banjo. That's not the way Lorraine plays, though. Right off the bat it reminded me of a bouzouki and a little bit like Donal Lunny. The playing is rythmic (naturally) but pretty free in it's approach-not sticking to any particular patterns. It's fairly syncopated in parts. That's about as well as I can describe it. The album is on Schanachie. I can imagine this style of accompaniment being readily adaptable to Irish playing. Steve
Hi, Tak!
"ITM" is a handy little abreviation that has taken hold in this group as the short way to say "Irish traditional music".
It's cool that you have access to some interesting concerts, such as the dulicmer festival. I'd expect them to be playing mainly southern Appalachian tunes, but they're really diverse, huh?
Speaking of, I've never considered Mississippi an Appalachian state; is it the style of music you're referring to instead of the geography?
Thanks for all advice and ideas so far. Yes Tak, please keep me informed if you start to play with those dulcimer-guys!
The problem with using the dulcimer as an accompanying-instrument, is that it's not loud enough, at least not for noisy sessions. So I'm planning to add two more strings on my dulcimer, from 4 to 6 strings, making all three courses double-stringed. Plus that I'm planning to build another one that is more constructed as a mandolin with a floating bridge lying directly on the soundboard (and not on the "neck" as it normally does).
'Cos if you can increase the volume it must be a perfect instrument for accompanying, like the zook or mandola or DADGAD-guitar. The three courses on the dulcimer are usually tuned DAD, with lots of possibilities for "modal" chords, etc.
(and 'courses' is the term for describing the number of strings that are tuned and played together, the mandolin has 8 strings and 4 courses. The dulcimer normally has 4 strings and 3 courses, with a doublestring for melody and two single strings for drones or chords).
And once again thanks for your comments. I begin to understand how fast melodies can be played by using all courses for melodies. ("...a few seemed to play "lead" almost as if it were a guitar or banjo lead...") This also suggests a solution with all courses double-stringed.
The reason why this isn't the case with the traditional dulcimers, is that you use it for BOTH melody and accompaniment (drones or chords) and you don't want the melody string to be drowned by the other strings.
Instead of building an MD why not find one of those traditional Swedish zithers, which are supposed to be among the mysterious forebearers of the American mountain dulcimer. The best book for learning is by Jean Ritchie, who grew up in the tradition when her area of Appalachia was still comparatively isolated. I will try to remember the name of that zither but I haven't done much with MD's since the wood pile fell on mine with traumatic effects. Perhaps as you live in Sweden you could find one in a dusty corner of an antique store or a flea market.
Linda - I'm in the "foothills" of Appalachia....far northeast corner of Mississippi. On the festival...I was expecting to hear "Old Tyme" Southern Appalachian tunes......but was a really diverse mix.
In researching the "Old Tyme" music of Appalachia, the majority of the tunes originated in Ireland, Scotland, France and GB. Some of the names got changed over the years...I suppose "Pa" had an old tune stuck in his head that his grandfather had taught him, but he couldn't remember the words....so he made other lyrics. It's really amazing how many tunes are shared by Irish Traditional, "Old Tyme", bluegrass, blues, and Cajun music! Everyone just puts a little different "spin" on it!
la_grotte!
I'm actually planning to do exactly what you suggest! The name of the old Swedish "ancestor" is 'Hummel', and if one compares it to the french 'epinette' or the norwegian 'langeleik', this one seems to be more like the dulcimer. I've seen a picture of an old man playing on a hourglass shaped 'hummel', but most of them seem to have had a teardrop shape.
But I still don't know how it was fretted or tuned. The older swedish folk music was often based on minor scales and/or weird scales with quarter notes and other odd notes.
The hummel is an extinct instrument wich you mainly find on the museums, so it has to be "re-invented" like the swedish bagpipe.
So parallell to my intention to learn the dulcimer and find ways to use it in ITM, I'm doing research about the hummel which probably will lead to some kind of "Neo-Hummel". But as this is a forum for ITM, I chose to leave out that part of my zither-passion.
And thanks for the 'Jean Ritchie'-advice.
I concur on referring to Jean Ritchie www.jeanritchie.com for more information on the mountain dulcimer. You can also search the forum for an old thread I posted on Jean Ritchie and the Ritchie-Pickow archive in Galway. Jean's Fulbright scholarship to record music in Ireland in the early 1950's and her a capella singing was a major impetus for the later "folk boom" of the 60's. There is a video documentary called "Mountain Born" on Jean and her family repertoire of hundreds of Appalachian songs. It was produced by a University in Kentucky and aired on US Public Television. You can purchase a copy of the video. It includes Tommy Makem telling how Jean Ritchie's visit to his mother's house to record music, when he was a teenager, was the event that made him interested in traditional music.
This thread is timely for me. I just found a kit-made dulcimer at a thrift store for $20. I need to get new strings for it and I was wondering if I would be stoned if I took it to our local session.
I have a book called Making and Playing Musical Instruments by Botermans, Dewit and Goddefroy. Although these people are apparantly located in the Netherlands or Belgium the book is published by the University of Washington Press. Most of the instructions are for pared down and/or simple instruments. Tin can banjos, simple rhythm instruments, etc. However there are instructions for making a hurdy gurdy and bagpipe. Anyway, there is a part on hummels. It's a pretty simple design. It gives you the fret spacings but not the pitches or the scale. Like the dulcimer, the instrument is only partly fretted. There is a page of pictures of hummels-about 30 or so. Some are gorgeous. Most are roughly elongated trapezoids but some are rounded. It's fairly hard to see the frets on many of these but I suppose the astute observer would be able to figure out the scales of some. Steve
For those interested in old time dulcimer playing there's a week long worshop at Augusta Heritage Arts in Elkins WV in October. Several instruments are covered including beginning/intermediate dulcimer. I've been to Augusta many times for old time and Irish music. Lots of fun. For playing old time tunes on the dulcimer Don Pedi is yer man. An excellent player. I don't know if he has any albums though.
I went to the Musical Museum in Stockholm. Sadly they only had one hummel on display, but fortunately I was allowed to play on it. It had the shape of a half (!) teardrop dulcimer, having one straight side whith the strings attached nearby and one curved side. It had 11 strings! 4 in one melody course, 4 in a first row of drones and 3 in a second row. Nevertheless it was fretted exactly like a dulcimer (diatonic mixolydian) and it was tuned almost the same way (CGC instead DAD). The sound was delicate. I bought drawings of that very instrument and got the name and phone number for the guy who can let me in to their archives (they've got one of the biggest instrument collections in Europe).
Lars, this is birgit in Wyoming. I use a mountain dulcimer in ITM all the time, playing both chords and melodies. The thing you have to do in order to play fast melodies is dance your hand over the strings like a spider - you do a lot of hammer-ons, and just move, move, move. Its a functin of learning the phrases physically - you learn the movement in your hand like you would a dance step in your feet. I also use a capo extensively so that I don't have to retune all the time. In addition, I play a Hungarian cittera, a 16 string dulcimer with two fret boards - one the usual modal dulciemr thing, the other equivalent to the black keys on a piano (or so I'm told. I've never really checked. I just play it) which means I'm dancing over two fretboards instead of one, but you get used to it. Its a very wonderful instrument and the drones can be tuned to a minor or major chord. Very nice. I've done some research as well and can get you some more sources if you like. If you want any further advice, e-mail me directly. Have a wall eyed ball and don't let anyone ever tell you that you can't play ITM on a lap dulcimer!!!
Sorry - I do sound like an idiot. It is kind of hard to explain how playing a dulcimer is different from playing the fiddle except its a lot bigger movement and way more out of control!! And I use the word "advice" loosely...
Thanks a lot Birgit! Nice to hear from someone who actually uses the dulcimer for ITM and similar music. (But I've really appreciated all comments and suggestions in this thread). You will probably hear from directly via e-mail, but first I'll ask for a few more things "in public".
As I understand it, you use only the 'melody string' for melodies, dancing up and down with your fingers. Is that correct?
When playing melodies in ensembles, how much can you use the 'drone strings' and in what way (drones or chords)? (Having one drone tone ringing through a tune, for example a D tone in a D major tune, is often OK, but not having both a D and an A as the A will "collide" with the chords from other instruments.)
When playing solo, how much do you combine melody playing on the melody string with chords on the "drones". Why I'm asking this is because making chords that rings through a part of the melody, seem to lock the hand in certain positions (which isn't a problem with some kinds of music, but certainly in ITM with all its ups and downs!).
BTW your name sounds scandinavian. Any scandinavian ancestors?
Lars,
Here’s another site you might try. It includes a discussion group along with many other dulcimer resources, so you might want to post this question there as well.
Hi Lars. O yah, my grandfather is from Oland. I had a distant relative in the States who was actually doing Scandavaian folk stuff and played some dulcimer family instrument, but she died when I was young. Lousy timing on my part. Ok, to answer the other questions: I play in Ionian most of the time, and mostly use the melody strings. I do, however, use the bass drone a lot in fingering melodies. Its remarkably easy. No, the drone noise doesn't interfere with changing chords. Its not a collision so much as it is - well, just do it and trust me, ok? It works even tho technically, it doesn't sound like it should. If you feel the need to change the drone noise, do some nice two finger chord (see Neal Hellman's dulcimer chord book for ideas on how to make chords, and then just go for it) that will fill the musical space best. Lots of ITM sounds cooler (MHO!) with a modal instrument in it, because it changes the sound color of the music. The other thing I do is play Mixolydian (I keep two dulcimers with me when I'm at sessions, one tuned to DAA and the other CGC and I capo lots) and use all the strings for melody. You can do some really lovely rhythmic things using all three (in my case, since I only have three strings on my Mix dulcimer) strings. Because right now I am playing with a hammered dulcimer and a guy who switches off from banjo to guitar, and because all three of us play melody a lot, we take turns playing chords, laying back for one instrument to shine out for a bit, or sometimes, even though I know its techincally illegal, we do descants or harmonies, or general goofing off. Play nothing but percussion, sometimes. The beauty of the dulcimer is that it is the perfect back-up instrument. I have to use a stiff pick to really pound out a break ( I also play in bluegrass circles sometimes. ITM is more fun, MHO) because the dulcimer is so unobtrusive. Anyway - I've been playing this stuff lots of years. It works. Good luck, and I do look forward to hearing from you!
OK, I'll trust you, Birgit! Though right now I have a lot of bruises on my finger tips, as I've done a lot of wood working, so I'm not practising on any string instrument at the moment.
I've actually lived in (or on) Öland for almost two years, and all my childhood I lived in the two nearet "counties" Småland and Blekinge. Öland is the next biggest island in the Baltic Sea, it's very flat and very beautiful, lots of rare flowers and birds, small villages, almost only countryside. I studied art for two years at a school on Öland, almost 20 years ago.
I was there once when I was 14 - bit more than 20 years ago - and I agree, it is lovely. Weird thing - it reminds me a lot of Wyoming. I was playing last night and thinking about what it is I do, and decided that the way I hold my hand is more like someone playing piano than the usual way people play dulcimer. Flat across the fretboard, fingers curved. I know this should go off-line, but I'm curious, what kind of art? I make books among other things. I've been thinking about making books of music - either binding sets of tunes, or making a blank music book to write tunes down in..
How to use Mountain Dulcimer in ITM?
How to use Mountain Dulcimer in ITM?
Half a year ago I built myself a mountain dulcimer. The reason why I built it was pure curiosity, I stumbled upon some pictures of MD's on the net and got interested. The simplest and cheapest way to obtain one (as I live in Sweden) seemed to be to build one - and so I did. It's a very nice instrument and I love to play it on late nights when all other instruments would disturb family and neighbours. But of course I'm interested in using the instrument when I play with other musicians. So here's my question:
How do you use the instrument when playing ITM? Cos I know that the instrument is used for this kind of music "over there".
To me it seems impossible to play fast reels and jigs on it. The instrument is originally intended to be a solo-instrument with the drone strings accompanying the melody string. And though ITM has a lot of drone tones in the chords, it's very unusual to let one single chord ring through a whole tune. And if you chose to play the MD in a more "modern" way and making chords with the drone strings, than you're much slower and more restricted in how you can use the melody string - the eternal 'up and down' in ITM seems hard to combine with the chord settings.
So the only way I've found to use a MD in ITM so far, is as a simple chord instrument, which shurely won't be heard at all at a session.
So, if any of you has ideas or experiences about how to use it in ITM together with other musicians, I'd be glad for comments.
Lars
# Posted on August 30th 2002 by lars
Re: How to use Mountain Dulcimer in ITM?
I have a tape of a mountain dulcimer player from the Northeast of England, Phil Ranson, who plays all sorts, From Irish and French traditional tunes to Telemann. Obviously, he has had to abandon the traditional single-string melody style, and plays it more as one would, say, a mandolin - although, by the sound of it, he still uses the traditional open tuning. The drone strings may be appropriate for certain tunes (on this recording, P. Ranson plays The Silver Spear, the Blackbird and The Ace and Deuce of Pipering, all very heavily based around D), but not all.
Aside from melody playing, I would have thought that the MD would be quite effective as an accompanying instrument - it is tuned similar to the traditional 6-string Greek Bouzouki.
I can't provide any practical advice,as I don't play the MD, but I hope I have been of some use.
# Posted on August 30th 2002 by granama
Re: How to use Mountain Dulcimer in ITM?
Lars, I'm not quote familier will all of your terms "ITM"....I'm "over there", in the lower Appalachian Mountain region of Mississippi.
However, August 23rd I attended a DULCIMER FESTIVAL about 30 miles from here......around 60 members (all but one mountain dulcimer players). They played in unison.....reminded me a little of the drone of chamber pipes....it was amazing!
The session would be "in round"....each member leading a tune. Some of the dulcimer players would play the same cord throughout the tune....but a few seemed to play "lead" almost as if it were a guitar or banjo lead......sounded great!
There were other musicions in the session as well.
There were three fiddle players (including myself), 2 guitarists, a "bass fiddle" (viola), 2 mandolin players, a lute player and 2 flute players.
All sorts of music....traditional Irish & Scottish tunes, Delta Blues, waltzes, jigs, reels, Nashville country, and "pop" country. I couldn't believe it when one member lead "Seven Spanish Angels" (a Willie Nelson tune)! Would've never believed it could sound so good.
There seems to be a lot of difference in the sound of the different instruments....and some are single strings (like guitar) and others double strings (like mandolin). Instruments range in price from $100-$175 (U.S.) for a dulcimer "kit" that you put together yourself....to $750-$1800 (U.S.) for a "hand-crafted" model. Some are really quite beautiful.
I've been asked to join their "club" (they seemed to like my fiddle-playing)....will see if I can find out anything that will help you.
# Posted on August 30th 2002 by takntyme
Re: How to use Mountain Dulcimer in ITM?
I have great album of old time fiddle playing by Gerry Milnes. OK. I know that's not IrTrad but he's accompanied in an interesting way by a dulcimer player-Lorraine Lee Hammond. Lots of time accompaniment of old time music just follows one rhythmic groove like boom-chuck guitar or clawhammer banjo. That's not the way Lorraine plays, though. Right off the bat it reminded me of a bouzouki and a little bit like Donal Lunny. The playing is rythmic (naturally) but pretty free in it's approach-not sticking to any particular patterns. It's fairly syncopated in parts. That's about as well as I can describe it. The album is on Schanachie. I can imagine this style of accompaniment being readily adaptable to Irish playing. Steve
# Posted on August 30th 2002 by SteveKendall
Re: How to use Mountain Dulcimer in ITM?
Hi, Tak!
"ITM" is a handy little abreviation that has taken hold in this group as the short way to say "Irish traditional music".
It's cool that you have access to some interesting concerts, such as the dulicmer festival. I'd expect them to be playing mainly southern Appalachian tunes, but they're really diverse, huh?
Speaking of, I've never considered Mississippi an Appalachian state; is it the style of music you're referring to instead of the geography?
# Posted on August 31st 2002 by linda
Re: How to use Mountain Dulcimer in ITM?
Thanks for all advice and ideas so far. Yes Tak, please keep me informed if you start to play with those dulcimer-guys!
The problem with using the dulcimer as an accompanying-instrument, is that it's not loud enough, at least not for noisy sessions. So I'm planning to add two more strings on my dulcimer, from 4 to 6 strings, making all three courses double-stringed. Plus that I'm planning to build another one that is more constructed as a mandolin with a floating bridge lying directly on the soundboard (and not on the "neck" as it normally does).
'Cos if you can increase the volume it must be a perfect instrument for accompanying, like the zook or mandola or DADGAD-guitar. The three courses on the dulcimer are usually tuned DAD, with lots of possibilities for "modal" chords, etc.
(and 'courses' is the term for describing the number of strings that are tuned and played together, the mandolin has 8 strings and 4 courses. The dulcimer normally has 4 strings and 3 courses, with a doublestring for melody and two single strings for drones or chords).
And once again thanks for your comments. I begin to understand how fast melodies can be played by using all courses for melodies. ("...a few seemed to play "lead" almost as if it were a guitar or banjo lead...") This also suggests a solution with all courses double-stringed.
The reason why this isn't the case with the traditional dulcimers, is that you use it for BOTH melody and accompaniment (drones or chords) and you don't want the melody string to be drowned by the other strings.
# Posted on August 31st 2002 by lars
Re: How to use Mountain Dulcimer in ITM?
Instead of building an MD why not find one of those traditional Swedish zithers, which are supposed to be among the mysterious forebearers of the American mountain dulcimer. The best book for learning is by Jean Ritchie, who grew up in the tradition when her area of Appalachia was still comparatively isolated. I will try to remember the name of that zither but I haven't done much with MD's since the wood pile fell on mine with traumatic effects. Perhaps as you live in Sweden you could find one in a dusty corner of an antique store or a flea market.
# Posted on September 2nd 2002 by La_grotte
Re: How to use Mountain Dulcimer in ITM?
Linda - I'm in the "foothills" of Appalachia....far northeast corner of Mississippi. On the festival...I was expecting to hear "Old Tyme" Southern Appalachian tunes......but was a really diverse mix.
In researching the "Old Tyme" music of Appalachia, the majority of the tunes originated in Ireland, Scotland, France and GB. Some of the names got changed over the years...I suppose "Pa" had an old tune stuck in his head that his grandfather had taught him, but he couldn't remember the words....so he made other lyrics. It's really amazing how many tunes are shared by Irish Traditional, "Old Tyme", bluegrass, blues, and Cajun music! Everyone just puts a little different "spin" on it!
# Posted on September 2nd 2002 by takntyme
Re: How to use Mountain Dulcimer in ITM?
la_grotte!
I'm actually planning to do exactly what you suggest! The name of the old Swedish "ancestor" is 'Hummel', and if one compares it to the french 'epinette' or the norwegian 'langeleik', this one seems to be more like the dulcimer. I've seen a picture of an old man playing on a hourglass shaped 'hummel', but most of them seem to have had a teardrop shape.
But I still don't know how it was fretted or tuned. The older swedish folk music was often based on minor scales and/or weird scales with quarter notes and other odd notes.
The hummel is an extinct instrument wich you mainly find on the museums, so it has to be "re-invented" like the swedish bagpipe.
So parallell to my intention to learn the dulcimer and find ways to use it in ITM, I'm doing research about the hummel which probably will lead to some kind of "Neo-Hummel". But as this is a forum for ITM, I chose to leave out that part of my zither-passion.
And thanks for the 'Jean Ritchie'-advice.
# Posted on September 2nd 2002 by lars
Re: How to use Mountain Dulcimer in ITM?
I concur on referring to Jean Ritchie www.jeanritchie.com for more information on the mountain dulcimer. You can also search the forum for an old thread I posted on Jean Ritchie and the Ritchie-Pickow archive in Galway. Jean's Fulbright scholarship to record music in Ireland in the early 1950's and her a capella singing was a major impetus for the later "folk boom" of the 60's. There is a video documentary called "Mountain Born" on Jean and her family repertoire of hundreds of Appalachian songs. It was produced by a University in Kentucky and aired on US Public Television. You can purchase a copy of the video. It includes Tommy Makem telling how Jean Ritchie's visit to his mother's house to record music, when he was a teenager, was the event that made him interested in traditional music.
This thread is timely for me. I just found a kit-made dulcimer at a thrift store for $20. I need to get new strings for it and I was wondering if I would be stoned if I took it to our local session.
Alice
# Posted on September 3rd 2002 by aliceflynn
Re: How to use Mountain Dulcimer in ITM?
I have a book called Making and Playing Musical Instruments by Botermans, Dewit and Goddefroy. Although these people are apparantly located in the Netherlands or Belgium the book is published by the University of Washington Press. Most of the instructions are for pared down and/or simple instruments. Tin can banjos, simple rhythm instruments, etc. However there are instructions for making a hurdy gurdy and bagpipe. Anyway, there is a part on hummels. It's a pretty simple design. It gives you the fret spacings but not the pitches or the scale. Like the dulcimer, the instrument is only partly fretted. There is a page of pictures of hummels-about 30 or so. Some are gorgeous. Most are roughly elongated trapezoids but some are rounded. It's fairly hard to see the frets on many of these but I suppose the astute observer would be able to figure out the scales of some. Steve
# Posted on September 3rd 2002 by SteveKendall
Old time dulcimer
For those interested in old time dulcimer playing there's a week long worshop at Augusta Heritage Arts in Elkins WV in October. Several instruments are covered including beginning/intermediate dulcimer. I've been to Augusta many times for old time and Irish music. Lots of fun. For playing old time tunes on the dulcimer Don Pedi is yer man. An excellent player. I don't know if he has any albums though.
http://www.augustaheritage.com/
# Posted on September 3rd 2002 by SteveKendall
Re: How to use Mountain Dulcimer in ITM?
Dang! you guys got me looking into mountain dulcimer Web sites and now it sucks not to have one around to play with.
# Posted on September 3rd 2002 by glauber
Re: How to use Mountain Dulcimer in ITM?
I went to the Musical Museum in Stockholm. Sadly they only had one hummel on display, but fortunately I was allowed to play on it. It had the shape of a half (!) teardrop dulcimer, having one straight side whith the strings attached nearby and one curved side. It had 11 strings! 4 in one melody course, 4 in a first row of drones and 3 in a second row. Nevertheless it was fretted exactly like a dulcimer (diatonic mixolydian) and it was tuned almost the same way (CGC instead DAD). The sound was delicate. I bought drawings of that very instrument and got the name and phone number for the guy who can let me in to their archives (they've got one of the biggest instrument collections in Europe).
# Posted on September 4th 2002 by lars
Re: How to use Mountain Dulcimer in ITM?
Lars, this is birgit in Wyoming. I use a mountain dulcimer in ITM all the time, playing both chords and melodies. The thing you have to do in order to play fast melodies is dance your hand over the strings like a spider - you do a lot of hammer-ons, and just move, move, move. Its a functin of learning the phrases physically - you learn the movement in your hand like you would a dance step in your feet. I also use a capo extensively so that I don't have to retune all the time. In addition, I play a Hungarian cittera, a 16 string dulcimer with two fret boards - one the usual modal dulciemr thing, the other equivalent to the black keys on a piano (or so I'm told. I've never really checked. I just play it) which means I'm dancing over two fretboards instead of one, but you get used to it. Its a very wonderful instrument and the drones can be tuned to a minor or major chord. Very nice. I've done some research as well and can get you some more sources if you like. If you want any further advice, e-mail me directly. Have a wall eyed ball and don't let anyone ever tell you that you can't play ITM on a lap dulcimer!!!
# Posted on September 4th 2002 by burek
Huge stupid
Sorry - I do sound like an idiot. It is kind of hard to explain how playing a dulcimer is different from playing the fiddle except its a lot bigger movement and way more out of control!! And I use the word "advice" loosely...
birgit
# Posted on September 4th 2002 by burek
Re: How to use Mountain Dulcimer in ITM?
Birgit,
you don't sound like an idiot; it makes total sense.
# Posted on September 4th 2002 by glauber
Re: How to use Mountain Dulcimer in ITM?
Thanks a lot Birgit! Nice to hear from someone who actually uses the dulcimer for ITM and similar music. (But I've really appreciated all comments and suggestions in this thread). You will probably hear from directly via e-mail, but first I'll ask for a few more things "in public".
As I understand it, you use only the 'melody string' for melodies, dancing up and down with your fingers. Is that correct?
When playing melodies in ensembles, how much can you use the 'drone strings' and in what way (drones or chords)? (Having one drone tone ringing through a tune, for example a D tone in a D major tune, is often OK, but not having both a D and an A as the A will "collide" with the chords from other instruments.)
When playing solo, how much do you combine melody playing on the melody string with chords on the "drones". Why I'm asking this is because making chords that rings through a part of the melody, seem to lock the hand in certain positions (which isn't a problem with some kinds of music, but certainly in ITM with all its ups and downs!).
BTW your name sounds scandinavian. Any scandinavian ancestors?
# Posted on September 4th 2002 by lars
Re: How to use Mountain Dulcimer in ITM?
Lars,
Here’s another site you might try. It includes a discussion group along with many other dulcimer resources, so you might want to post this question there as well.
http://everythingdulcimer.com/discussion/board.php?FID=2
# Posted on September 5th 2002 by Zhenya
Re: How to use Mountain Dulcimer in ITM?
And here's the home page for that site:
http://www.everythingdulcimer.com/
# Posted on September 5th 2002 by Zhenya
Re: How to use Mountain Dulcimer in ITM?
Hi Lars. O yah, my grandfather is from Oland. I had a distant relative in the States who was actually doing Scandavaian folk stuff and played some dulcimer family instrument, but she died when I was young. Lousy timing on my part. Ok, to answer the other questions: I play in Ionian most of the time, and mostly use the melody strings. I do, however, use the bass drone a lot in fingering melodies. Its remarkably easy. No, the drone noise doesn't interfere with changing chords. Its not a collision so much as it is - well, just do it and trust me, ok? It works even tho technically, it doesn't sound like it should. If you feel the need to change the drone noise, do some nice two finger chord (see Neal Hellman's dulcimer chord book for ideas on how to make chords, and then just go for it) that will fill the musical space best. Lots of ITM sounds cooler (MHO!) with a modal instrument in it, because it changes the sound color of the music. The other thing I do is play Mixolydian (I keep two dulcimers with me when I'm at sessions, one tuned to DAA and the other CGC and I capo lots) and use all the strings for melody. You can do some really lovely rhythmic things using all three (in my case, since I only have three strings on my Mix dulcimer) strings. Because right now I am playing with a hammered dulcimer and a guy who switches off from banjo to guitar, and because all three of us play melody a lot, we take turns playing chords, laying back for one instrument to shine out for a bit, or sometimes, even though I know its techincally illegal, we do descants or harmonies, or general goofing off. Play nothing but percussion, sometimes. The beauty of the dulcimer is that it is the perfect back-up instrument. I have to use a stiff pick to really pound out a break ( I also play in bluegrass circles sometimes. ITM is more fun, MHO) because the dulcimer is so unobtrusive. Anyway - I've been playing this stuff lots of years. It works. Good luck, and I do look forward to hearing from you!
# Posted on September 5th 2002 by burek
Re: How to use Mountain Dulcimer in ITM?
OK, I'll trust you, Birgit! Though right now I have a lot of bruises on my finger tips, as I've done a lot of wood working, so I'm not practising on any string instrument at the moment.
I've actually lived in (or on) Öland for almost two years, and all my childhood I lived in the two nearet "counties" Småland and Blekinge. Öland is the next biggest island in the Baltic Sea, it's very flat and very beautiful, lots of rare flowers and birds, small villages, almost only countryside. I studied art for two years at a school on Öland, almost 20 years ago.
# Posted on September 7th 2002 by lars
Re: How to use Mountain Dulcimer in ITM?
I was there once when I was 14 - bit more than 20 years ago - and I agree, it is lovely. Weird thing - it reminds me a lot of Wyoming. I was playing last night and thinking about what it is I do, and decided that the way I hold my hand is more like someone playing piano than the usual way people play dulcimer. Flat across the fretboard, fingers curved. I know this should go off-line, but I'm curious, what kind of art? I make books among other things. I've been thinking about making books of music - either binding sets of tunes, or making a blank music book to write tunes down in..
# Posted on September 8th 2002 by burek