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hammered dulcimer
Mind Mapping
There’s a new (to me) buzzword … mind map. A musical mind map is a diagram that represents the aspects of a tune you are learning. It can include the structure (Parts A & B), chords, melody line, lyrics, history of the tune, and the composer by using colors, symbols, pictures and words.
Simply put, a mind map is a flow chart that can help you learn a tune. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve been finding it more difficult to see my music … neither my reading glasses nor my driving glasses help. Rather t…
The Positive Impact of Reflection
Some of you meet with a dulcimer teacher face to face every week or perhaps monthly. Others of you have a subscription to an online dulcimer video-teaching program, like the one we offer at Dulcimer Crossing. Many of us gather at jam sessions, travel to workshops, and attend virtual festivals online. And you may think that’s enough. You have what you need to progress.
Well, it’s true you have the advantage over people who don’t participate in any of the activities above. But I think there’s one…
Mindset Matters
According to psychologists, there are two types of mindsets … the fixed mindset and the growth mindset.
People with the fixed mindset believe that the level they are at in their musical development is exactly where they are going stay. Such people hold themselves back from learning new things and actually stop trying. They believe their skills and abilities are unchangeable, unable to be improved upon, and there’s no need to try.
On the other hand, people with a growth mindset think they…
Find a Music Mentor
FIND A MUSIC MENTOR
by Linda Ratcliff
I would love for every person who wants to learn to play the dulcimer to have a private teacher … someone they meet with every week or at least twice a month. But that just isn’t possible for many (most?) of us. But here’s another option. Find a music mentor.
So you might be saying, “What on earth is a music mentor?” Well, here are some basics.
- A musician who lives or plays near where you live
- Someone whose skills and techniques you admire
- A person w…
Is EGO Holding You Back?
When I think about “ego,” I imagine a person who is arrogant, and thinks he/she is better than the rest of us. We tend to think of a person with a big ego is someone who feels superior to us in some way. However, in my case (and maybe in yours as well), my ego tells me I’m inadequate, that I’m not good enough, and I’ll never be good enough. And that kind of attitude can hold a person back, keep them from where they want to go in their musical journey.
Here’s a few ways the negative side of ego …
How to Fix "I CAN'T"
I think I’ve told you before, I get pretty nervous when I perform. Now I did OK at the craft mall and the Butterfly Palace in Branson where I played 6 to 8 hours a day. While I was playing, people were walking around, and only a few sat down and really focused their undivided attention on what I was doing. But put me in front of a crowd to do a solo and my hammers start shaking.
This goes back to my childhood. My grandmother was a concert pianist who even played for Queen Elizabeth. My mother…
Sandouri (Greek Hammered Dulcimer)
Thanks to Jim Frye for finding this rare treasure!
Panayiotis Sousamlis (Karkougous) was the Santouri player for the soundtrack of the early 1960s movie Zorba the Greek
Nikos Theodosakis found this video with commentary of him playing.
Santuri from Nikos Theodosakis on Vimeo.
"Found footage of Panayiotis Sousamlis (Karkougous) playing the santuri, that I recorded in 1982 in his shop in the village of Agiasos, Lesbos.
With some thoughts.
It was that scene in the movie Zorba the Greek that…
Loose Change
Did you know that the total amount of loose change scooped up by TSA officials at airports in 2019, before the pandemic, was an impressive $926,030.44. Unclaimed money is deposited into a special account where it can be tracked easily and Section 44945 of title 49, United States Code, grants the TSA budget authority to spend it. On September 30, 2019, the TSA had $3,618,696 available from loose change alone! (I could use some of that!)
I like loose change, and I’m not too proud to pick up coi…
Deadlines Work
Nothing motivates me more than a deadline. If there is an upcoming performance, I get to work. When I was taking piano lessons, over the last couple of days before my next lesson … I’d get to work for real. When I am preparing to go to a jam session or workshop, I tune my instruments and … yep, start limbering up the fingers.
It’s just a true fact of life, deadlines motivate musicians to practice. So how can we make deadlines work FOR us instead of AGAINST us?
- Break down your musical proj…
What Can I Learn from a Concert?
It is an interesting phenomenon.
Public performance is how many of us "discover" dulcimers, or the style of music that catches our fancy. Sometimes this sows the seeds of "I've gotta learn how to do this for myself!" or "I've got to get an instrument" or "I've got to get a teacher" and "I've got to share this music, this instrument, what I've learned, with other people."
Yes I hear this observation from many people who host and organize dulcimer festivals:
"We are so surprised at the number …
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