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mountain dulcimer

How to Maintain Repertoire

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Does this scenario sound familiar?

  1. You work really, really hard on learning a new piece.
  2. You spend tons of time getting everything as polished as you can.
  3. You start the next piece.
  4. A month later you think about the first piece, go to play it, and realize that it’s not there anymore.

Back “in the day,” I worked at the Butterfly Palace in Branson, MO, and played Christmas tunes in the butterfly room for hours every day. I had built my repertoire up to over 30 tunes and, by the end of th…

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How Do You Identify Yourself?

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When you introduce yourself, what do you say? In other words, after you tell them your name, what do you say to describe yourself? Most of us identify ourselves according to our occupation. For the past 3 years, I’ve been saying, “I’m Linda Ratcliff, and I'm the sales manager for a senior community.” This has been on my mind lately, because I’m just a few short months away from retiring again, and people are asking what I’m going to do next.

My daughter asked this question yesterday, and I resp…

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Music Will Never DUMP You

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by Linda Ratcliff

Last June, my husband was unexpectedly scheduled for open-heart surgery. But the morning of the expected surgery, the doctor met us in Mike's room and postponed the procedure. Last minute blood work revealed an infection that would have spread through his entire body during surgery. Since we had already planned (and paid for) a 4-week vacation, the doc told us to go ahead with the trip but not to let Mike exert himself. At all.


So, our children bought him a light-weight whe…

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Go SLOW to Go Fast


Last weekend, I watched the movie “Second Chances,” an uplifting tale of a little girl's physical and emotional reawakening after a car crash claims the life of her father, and leaves her unable to walk without crutches. In the movie, Sunny bonds with a crippled horse, and together they begin to walk, even run, together again.

However, throughout the film, the horse trainer and her coach warned Sunny and another young girl about the importance of warming up their horses, starting them out slowl…

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It's ALL Inclusive

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by Linda Ratcliff

Music is an integral element of everyday life. People spend hours listening to it and billions of dollars buying it. Music plays a role in almost every area of a person’s life. The music you choose to listen to probably reflects your emotions – whether troubled or happy. Music can stir up your imagination and fill your mind with positive thoughts. Some people consider music as a way to escape from the pains of life, offering stress relief to others. In today’s world, music has…

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4 Equidistant Dulcimer Day

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DulcimerCrossing is pleased to host a day-long event that focuses on playing Mountain Dulcimer in  a 4 Equi-distant string set up.

6 Teachers will gather at the beginning of the day with Ashley Ernst, editor and publisher of Dulcimer Players News.

They will each provide a workshop and then join together at the end for a round-robin concert.

All events are held on Saturday, March 11th and take place on Zoom.

Visit the website for more details.

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Behind Every Performance

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One of the privileges we have, living in today’s world, is access to pristine, note-perfect recordings on YouTube, the radio, CDs. But this privilege comes at a cost. Performers, as well as our audiences, have developed the mind-set that such perfection should be possible every time we play for others – whether we are hanging out with friends on the front porch or attending a performance in a concert hall. And, Lord knows, we performers try our best. I’ve spent most of my adult life feeling like…

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The Humpty Dumpty Dilemma

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Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall,
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.
All the king's horses and all the king's men
Couldn't put Humpty together again.

Humpty Dumpty was in bad shape physically. Who knows how many bones were broken with such a great fall. His shell was shattered, pieces scattered all over the ground. He knew it would be impossible to get back up and fix himself - all by himself. So he went for help. Mr. Dumpty went straight to the top - booked a flight to the White House and was grant…

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Get Plugged In

I live in DEEP south Texas, just 10 minutes from the border wall, the Rio Grande River, and Mexico. I am far, far away from any other dulcimer players. I frequently cross the bridge over the Rio Grande River to enjoy all Mexico has to offer – the ambiance, the food, the inexpensive gift items. But as for the music, never have I ever heard another dulcimer player busking on the street. I am more likely to encounter Mariachi bands playing on the street corners, and live music in the restaurants.…

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My New Year's Resolution

There is a keyboard in my home as well as a hammered dulcimer set up on its stand, a mountain dulcimer, a guitar, a ukulele, and a pickin’ stick. None of these are packed up in their bags. They’re out on their stands because I always preach that you won’t practice unless your instrument is out and standing at attention, ready to be played.

The problem with this system is that, when someone comes into our home, they see all the instruments and expect a concert on demand. Aaaaaaarrrrrgh. I neve…

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