Vi Wickam has provided us with a new lesson on DulcimerCrossing.com for the Fiddle Series. He and Steve play the tune at the Swingfingers studio above while recording for their duo, Fiddle Whamdiddle’s debut CD Old School Old-Time
Cold Frosty Morning is a wonderful old tune in a minor mode. Take a look at Vi’s Demonstration here.
Subscribe to DulcimerCrossing to have complete access to this and all of our lessons!
We see the trophies, not the sweat.
We see the diplomas, not the years of study and homework.
We see outstanding performances, not the hours and hours of practice.
by Linda Ratcliff
The Iceberg Illusion
I came across this illustration and it really resonated in my heart. There is this glamour around success that seems to appear when you have “made it.” Although I work behind the scenes – writing newsletters, uploading lessons, and answering student inquiries, the rest of our Dulcimer Crossing teachers are “out there” in the public eye – teaching workshops, leading jams at festivals, or performing in concerts. We all look up to them, admire their skill, and dream of the day we can play as well as they do.
Our teachers performing at the Colorado Dulcimer Festival The iceberg illusion would have you believe our teachers never went through failure, never struggled, never felt discouraged. They seem to play with ease, flying through sections of tunes we STILL haven’t mastered at top speed. And they appear to be totally relaxed, not at all nervous, actually very comfortable when playing in front of a crowd.
How do they do that???
The truth is, their success has probably only come after challenges, days of discouragement, and even failures. They have learned the hard way that there are no short cuts, and there is no such thing as an overnight success. Our teachers have spent years developing their skills, practicing for hours, staying up nights developing material for workshops or private lessons. They have put in a lot of time and hard work, with dedication and self-discipline. This is the glue that holds it all together.
If you’re struggling, feeling discouraged, perhaps thinking you’re never going to succeed in playing through a tune without mistakes, don’t give up. Think of the iceberg! And keep building your repertoire – one tune at a time.
Now, enjoy this video with some of our dulcimer Dulcimer Crossing teachers jammin’ on stage at the Colorado Dulcimer Festival this month.
As always, we invite you to subscribe to DulcimerCrossing.com to take advantage of all of our lessons. And if you have a question, just ask!
If you practice correctly from the beginning, you will save yourself a lot
of time and frustration later on. Don’t practice bad habits. — MusicNotes
30 Days of Dulcimer Joy with Steve Eulberg
We are excited to let you know about a new Master Class thatSteve Eulberg developed for Mountain Dulcimer players.
30 Days of Dulcimer Joy is a systematic approach, using progressive fingering patterns, in exercises to develop:
and comfort for the picking hand (demonstrated by the right) … while the fingering hand (demonstrated by the left) moves in a predictable pattern between chords.
We will be using Beethoven’s familiar Ode to Joy as our Theme.
It is said that it takes 21 days to ingrain a new habit, and there are 30 days in the month of April.
We’ll EMBED this habit for good in 30!
What do you get?
How do you access these lessons?
Continue your New Year’s Resolution and use this class to keep it!
Is this Class for me?
It IS for if you are frustrated with your stop-and-start, or 1-step-forward, 2-steps-back “progress.”
It IS for you if you are ready to dedicate 10-20 minutes a day, EACH day in April, to develop the skills that have been eluding you.
There is a Limit of 25 Students so that I can give each student the attention they need and deserve.
It is only offered in April, so the successful student will be able to dedicate the time and attention to invest in their fingering skill development for just ONE MONTH, with results that continue for years. There is a Limit of 25 Students so that I can give each student the attention they need and deserve.
How do I learn more and sign up?
Enrollment is from March 20-31st. (Click here)
by Steve Eulberg
We are excited to announce that we have a new Fiddle Lesson posted on DulcimerCrossing.com. The 8th of January is a tune that was written to celebrate and commemorate Andrew Jackson’s victory over the British in the Battle of New Orleans in the War of 1812.
This tune appears on Steve & Vi’s Fiddle Whamdiddle recording Not My Monkey. (The mountain dulcimer lesson is on the production list for recording.)
In the 1936 Jimmy Driftwood was teaching high school in the Ozark mountains of his home state of Arkansas and he wrote lyrics and set them to this tune in order to interest his students in learning history. The Battle of New Orleans won the 1960 Grammy Award for Song of the Year.
Jimmy Driftwood’s commercial success helped to bring resources to the northeast corner of the state of Arkansas and established the Ozark Folk Center with its Ozark Opry Stage in Mountain View, AR. (Steve has performed on that stage and taught for several festivals there.)
Watch Vi’s introduction above and subscribe to DulcimerCrossing.com to have access to all of the episodes in this lesson set.
A New Year is like a blank book, and your dulcimer is in your hands.
It is your chance to write a beautiful story for yourself.
By Linda Ratcliff
New Year’s Resolutions for Dulcimerists
The New Year is coming up in just a few days, and now is the perfect time to make some musical resolutions! As usual, I’ve made a list of resolutions that are fun, and they will support any practical music goals you’ve set for yourself.
The sky is the limit when it comes to learning to play your dulcimer. Whatever resolutions you decide to make, the hardest part will be sticking to them. We believe in you! Happy resolution making, and Happy New Year!
by Steve Eulberg
Hi folks! This post is music-related but not dulcimer-specific.
I have had a Patreon Project going since January of 2015.
This fall I decided that I wanted to put together some one-month class offerings that would let people take a single class with daily lessons to work on a specific skill, figuring that if it takes 21 days to set a habit, in 31 days we galvanize it!
So, today I launched my first class: 31 Days to Fingerstyle Mastery (this focuses on 6-String Guitar, but the same principles apply to any plucked, stringed instrument. I have already begun putting together the plans and resources for a mountain dulcimer class along these lines, so keep you eyes peeled for that.
If you are like many of us who play many instruments and have always wanted to play Fingerstyle Guitar, there is still time for you to join the class. Click here for all the information. It is not too late for you to join (But all the back-row seats are taken, don’t you know?!)
by Linda Racliff & Steve Eulberg
As we’ve been watching all the dulcimer groups on Facebook, we have noticed the same question keeps popping up everywhere.
People who are new to playing the dulcimer, and those who have just moved to a new community, are looking for a dulcimer club to join. Since EverythingDulcimer.com is no longer active, our handy list for finding clubs has gone away.
And so we have made it our personal mission to create a complete and up-to-date list of all the dulcimer clubs in existence – not only in the United States, but also worldwide.
As a beginning, we purchased the domain name www.dulcimerclubs.com, and that domain is linked to our Dulcimer Crossing website.
You will see that we have listed as many clubs as we know about so far, but hesitate to also post the contact details as the information we have may not be current.
To publish accurate contact information, we have included a form on the Dulcimer Clubs page so you can send us the correct information for your group.
It is best if you have a public “face” to which we can link. If you could provide the link to your webpage or Facebook page, that would most suitable. However, if you don’t currently have this set up for your club, we are requesting your permission to upload an updated name, phone number, and email address as the contact information for your club.
We have already made great progress with the page for Texas (since Linda lives there), so you could click on that state to see our vision for how the finished pages will look.
Any help you can give us with getting this worthwhile project off the ground surely will be appreciated.
