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Koto--the Japanese Cousin of the Mountain Dulcimer

by Steve Eulberg

Koto1I thought I had caught a glimpse of this long, distinctive instrument while passing by one of the Private (Guerilla) Showcases on the music floor of the Delta Chelsea Hotel in Toronto, but it wasn't until I was rewarded by meeting its owner in the hall in the early evening (before all the craziness of the late-night schedule of "concertettes" begins) that I was certain.

It WAS a Japanese Koto, in the hands of (and nearly as tall as) a Londoner who, after exploring his music degree…

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What is Melody-Only Style?

by Steve Eulberg

When we are playing the melody of a tune, without adding any chords, bass notes, harmony notes or drones, this is playing our dulcimers like they are melody-only instruments like flutes, trumpets, clarinets or trombones.  This way of playing focuses on the melody and doesn't have the distraction of other notes.

HD Drawing

 

On the hammered dulcimer, the player is playing only the melody of the tune.

 

Md DrawingAngle

On the mountain dulcimer, the player is playing on the string(s) which are required for the me…

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Teaching the Old-Time Tunes...for fiddle!

Part 2 of the Update OSOTFWcoverCDbabyNow you already KNOW that DulcimerCrossing teaches lessons for both kinds of dulcimer, but did you know that the tunes on the Old School Old-Time FiddleWhamdiddle CD are being taught for fiddle players on Vi Wickman and Matthew Hartz's MyTalentForge.com? If you don't play fiddle, please pass this on to your friends who do!

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Fiddle Whamdiddle CD Old School Old-Time

OSOTFWcoverCDbaby

Psst...Here is part 1 of the update I promised you.

Vi and I recorded and released a recording of some of our favorite Old-Time tunes in December. Old School Old-Time is what we call it...and we even got to do our photo shoot in the oldest one-room schoolhouse in Larimer County, Colorado--the Upper Box Elder School!

We had a foot-stomping, hootin and hollerin' good time at Avogadro's Number in Fort Collins as a CD Release party, and now we're getting the word out about the CD.

Some people like it b…

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Fiddle-Tune-A-Day

IMG_5561Late in 2011, my fiddling pardner, Vi Wickam, committed to filming a Fiddle-Tune-A-Day throughout the year of 2012.  366 days...(it was a leap year!).  That's a lot of fiddle tunes!  You can see the entire collection on his Youtube Channel (which can be overwhelming)--OR, you can sign up on his email list to get one emailed to you once a day--for a whole year!

He played some old chestnuts, he solicited suggestions from people, he paged through Coleman's, he chose some he'd written, he found new e…

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Introduction to New Fingerstyle Lessons

Nina Zanetti, the 2008 National Dulcimer Champion, has provided us with a very clear and inspiring lessons on how to get started playing Fingerstyle Mountain Dulcimer.

Here is the Introduction to her Lesson Series on DulcimerCrossing.com:

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Don't Miss the Bus! Back to School Special

SAVE! You don't need new school clothes if you are choosing our homeschool method of dulcimer learning at www.dulcimercrossing.com! And with our Back to School Special (Aug 24-Sept 2), you can save even more AND build your dulcimer skills! 

Bridging the Gap between

what you know

and where you want

Your Music to go!

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Dulci-Bro: Where can I get one?

by Steve Eulberg We have begun a Lesson series on learning to play the Dulci-Bro and the natural question arises:  where can I get one? Homer Ledford is credited by at least one observer as being the originator of a resonator dulcimer.

(Alvey, R. Gerald. Dulcimer Maker: the craft of Homer Ledford. University Press of Kentucky, 2003.)

I ordered mine (many years ago) from Don Neuhauser, who quite simply, is an amazing dulcimer builder! Don is in Charlestown, Indiana. My dulci-bro is built with a…

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