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mountain dulcimer
Get a Handle on It!
Are there still some licks and tricks you still can’t play on your dulcimer? You feel like you just can’t get a handle on them? Yet? Well, I have found that, if you want to get a handle on a new technique, you have to handle the dulcimer and (oh yes, I’m going to say it) practice.
- Get a handle on … the basic chords. We play most music in the Key of D, so you need to know the D chord, the G chord, and the A or A7 chord. If we’re playing in G, you need to know the G chord, the C chord, and …
Live Events at DulcimerCrossing
Live Events at DulcimerCrossing
by Steve Eulberg
Live Events Schedule
While the main focus of DulcimerCrossing has been to provide filmed video lessons that are accessible according to YOUR schedule, we also recognize the limitation of learning when we aren't able to ask questions of the instructor. To address this, we have created and curate several regular Live Events at DulcimerCrossing.
Wednesday LiveStream
Each Wednesday at 9 am MDT we host a 30 minute Livestream on our Facebook P…
Are You Doing It Backwards?
Our granddaughter sent us this photo of our first great grandbaby. Isn’t he a cutie? BUT, he’s holding his popsicle upside-down. Backwards. What’s up with that? I guess he’s still got a few things to learn. But so do we!
Have you ever felt like you are doing it all backwards? For example, have you ever done your dusting AFTER you vacuumed? What about folks who attempt the more difficult ski slopes before they’ve learned to stay upright on the beginner slopes? They’re getting a bit ahead of t…
Never Give Up
When we lived in Branson, MO, my husband and I went to see Mickey Gilley’s show several times at the Mickey Gilley Theatre, and we also saw him share his music in informal settings. We met Mickey personally and had a great admiration for him because we loved his songs. But we held him in high esteem even more because he had a “never give up” attitude. He loved to tell the story of how it took him 17 years to have a No. 1 hit. He learned to play that Louisiana rhythm and blues style on the pian…
New Feature: Sample Lessons
NEW FEATURE: Sample Lessons
We've added a new feature on our DulcimerCrossing.com website: Sample Lessons by several of our instructors for each of the instruments for which we teach Courses.
Mountain Dulcimer:
These are sample mountain dulcimer lessons from DulcimerCrossing's curriculum, one from each level we teach:
Absolute Beginning-Level 1-Steve Eulberg
Beyond Beginning-Level 2-Butch Ross
Intermediate-Level 3-Neal Hellman
Advanced-Level 4-Nina Zanetti
…Musical Etiquette
Some of us play professionally with others in a band. But most of us only have an opportunity to play along with our friends occasionally … perhaps at a jam session, at the nursing home, or on a friend’s front porch. Whatever the scenario, it is important to follow proper musical etiquette in order to enjoy a satisfying experience with other musicians and your audience. 
Musical etiquette is the practice of following the unwritten ground rules that help musicians get along and work effectively t…
So Very Thankful
There is a question everyone is asking these days. We’re checking our cupboards and cabinets and asking ourselves, “Do we have enough ____ ?” We all have memories of going to the store in 2020 and seeing the toilet paper row empty. My daughter lived in Switzerland at that time, in an apartment that straddled two grocery stores. I would text her a photo of an empty row at Walmart, and she would text back a photo showing the same situation in the stores below where she lived.
And now it seems t…
DulcimerCrossing Teachers at the QuaranTUNE Festival 5.0 in October
DulcimerCrossing.com is proud, once again, to be a Gold Sponsor for the 5th QuaranTUNE Dulcimer Festival which happens online October 7-10th this year.
We have a long history of providing sponsorship and scholarship support to festivals across the country because we know that there is no substitute for in-person learning.
We are also excited that several of our teachers are providing workshops for this festival!
Erin Mae Lewis
Butch Ross
Don Pedi
Nina Zanetti
Karen Mueller
DJ Hamouris
L…
Leap Forward with Matthew Dickerson today!
National Hammered Dulcimer Champion and DulcimerCrossing instructor, Matthew Dickerson, will share his knowledge and experience in our March Leap Forward in Your Musical Understanding Live Event for Premium Members today.
Log in with your Premium Membership to access this lesson today:
4 pm PDT | 5 pm MDT | 6 pm CDT | 7 pm EDT
That Membership also lets you view the Archive Videos of the previous lessons:
Circle of 5ths/Ionian Mode Week 1
Dorian Mode Week 2
Aeolian Mode Week 3
M…
Leap Forward Week 3
Performance Tasks/Learning Objectives from this lesson:
1. Find an E Aeolian Scale (Natural/Pure Minor) on your instrument
2. Use that knowledge to Play God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen or Wayfaring Stranger
3. Name the notes that the student used to play this scale
4. Define the Aeolian scale
5. For Mountain Dulcimer: What do I have and what Drones do I need?
A. If I use a Capo how do I tune and where do I start?
B. How can I re-tune and play Aeolian in some different Keycenters?
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