(no subject)

[catsittingstill]

My back is getting better, I think. Yesterday Don and I rode 15.7 miles. I got home just in time to shower and change for the dulcimer workshop at the Appalachian Center at Carson Newman. Much to my surprise most of the dulcimers there were hammer dulcimers rather than lap (Appalachian) dulcimers. It turned out that was a chance result of which members of the Knoxville Area Dulcimer Club were available that night--most of the club plays Appalachian dulcimer.

They started with about 45 minutes of performance (and a hammer dulcimer choir has to be heard to be believed), then had a workshop after that where people could try out various instruments. I wound up in the lap-dulcimer workshop, and Shannon let me borrow her dulcimer and even take it home last night. I could get to like the dulcimer, but I think I probably have enough instruments already :-)

Comments

re Appalachian Dulcimer

[tnatj.livejournal.com]

Cat --

Did the Appalachian Dulcimer you see have a 6-1/2 fret? (That is F# for a C tuned instrument, allowing G-major scale to be played)? Or was it a strictly (single) diatonic scale version?

I started out with the strictly diatonic version and have a devil of a time with the versions with the extra fret. Apparently, according to my brother Pete, the type I'm used to have become scarce.

I've handled chromatic Appy Dulcimers also, but they're unusual.

-- Dave Alway

Re: re Appalachian Dulcimer

[catsittingstill.livejournal.com]

Shannon's dulcimer has a 6 1/2 fret, which was a little confusing for a moment until I got used to it. It lets you play D mixolydian (or G major--same pitches, different starting note) as well as D ionian (D major). So, no, not the strictly diatonic version.

I think you could get used to the version with the extra fret. Just play it every day for a week :-) In my experience (swapping to a new guitar for instance--since Feather's spacing is noticeably different from that of every other guitar I've played--or swapping from guitar to mandolin to (now) dulcimer) you stumble over things like that for a while and then the stumbles get rarer and rarer and then they go away completely.

I bet a fully chromatic Appalachian Dulcimer probably needs more in the way of those little marks set into the fretboard to help you keep your place, though.

Re: re Appalachian Dulcimer

[tnatj.livejournal.com]

Oh, as you're a stringed instrument player, you'll likely find the Appalachian dulcimer pretty straightforward to pick up.

That said, the dulcimer traditionally is used a little differently than the main use for the guitar. Although you can do chords on it, it is primarily a melody instrument, and likes to sing plain, descant or counter melodies against the drone background.

Its limitations are (1) a somewhat limited tonal range or "sweet spot" due to it having only one string used for melody, and (2) that of all diatonic instruments: no key changes allowed without retuning.