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.
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 Since EverythingDulcimer.com is no longer active, our handy list for finding clubs has gone away.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.
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.
A Chord (by definition a triad) is made up of 3 specific pitches (1-3-5 steps of the scale.)
A Chord Symbol is short hand for which steps are intended.
1. When a Single Capital letter is used, it indicates a Major chord (no alterations in the 1-3-5 plan)
e.g. C = C-E-G
2. If there is a lower case “m” next to the Capital letter, that indicates a minor chord (1-b3-5) with the 3rdstep of the scale lowered a half step.
e.g. Cm = C-Eb-G
Any combination of these notes, grouped as close together as possible (close voicing) or as far apart as possible (dispersed voicing) still produce these chords.
3. If there is a number added to the chord symbol it indicates an additional note added to the triad:
The most common is the dominant 7(b7 step of the scale) which is so dominant we don’t even call it dominant. The next most common is 6.
e.g. C7 = C-E-G-Bb (1-3-5-b7)
e.g. C6 = C-E-G-A (1-3-5-6)
Amajor 7 chord has the regular 7thstep of the scale (also called a “leading tone”) added to the triad:
e.g.
CMaj7 or CM7 or C∆7 =
C-E-G-B (1-3-5-7)
4. These numbers can also be added to the minor chords as well to indicate minor 7chords:
e.g. Cm7= C-Eb-G-Bb (1-b3-5-b7)
e.g.
Cm6= C-Eb-G-A (1-b3-5-6)
e.g. Cm∆7 or CmMaj7= C-Eb-G-B (1-b3-5-7)
5.
Sometimes a 2 is
added:
e.g. C2 = C-D-E-G (1-2-3-5)
6. Sometimes a 9 is added:
e.g. Cadd9 = C-E-G-D (1-3-5-9)
7. A ninth chord builds on the Dominant 7thChord:
e.g. C9 = C-E-G-Bb-D (1-3-5-b7-9)
8.
Suspended Chords
means that the 3rd
step has been replaced either by a 4 or a 2:
e.g. Csus4 = C-F-G (1-4-5)
e.g. Csus2 = C-D-G (1-2-5)
9.
Diminished Chords
means that the 5th
step of a minor chord has been lowered a half step:
e.g. C° or Cdim= C-Eb-Gb (1-b3-b5)
10.
Augmented Chords
mean that the 5th
step has been raised a half step:
e.g. C+ or Caug= C-E-G# (1-3-#5)
11. Slash Chords indicate a different bass note than expected. This is particularly important for Bass Players (instrument) or players of Bass parts in an ensemble:
e.g. C/D = C Chord with a D in the Bass (non-chord tone)
e.g. C/E = C Chord with an E in the Bass (chord tone, but not the
tonic)
e.g.
C/G= C Chord with a G in the Bass (chord tone, but not the
tonic)
The Arkansas Traveler is one of Vi’s favorite old-time tunes, and crosses several different genres from old-timey Ozark style to Texas style, and even to bluegrass.
The version in this lesson is on the beginner level. This is also a tune that was featured on Fiddle Whamdiddle’s Not My Monkey recording.
Your Thanksgiving dinner will not be complete without sharing these jokes!
What kind of music did the Pilgrims like? Plymouth Rock! Why did the guys let the sweet potato join the band? So they could have a yam session! What is the most musical part of the turkey? The drumsticks!
Have a Blessed Thanksgiving
This Thanksgiving, I have almost too many blessings to count. Being able to work with all of you who love dulcimers, and having the opportunity to share my thoughts about dulcimering every week, are definitely two of them. We appreciate the friendship and confidence you have shown in us by connecting with Dulcimer Crossing. Steve and I send our heartfelt Thanksgiving wishes across the miles from our houses to yours. May your homes be filled with laughter, happiness, and (of course) lots of dulcimer music.
How to Care for Your Instrument in Cold Weather
With the weather turning colder, have you noticed a dramatic change in your dulcimer’s tuning? Well, a stringed instrument is a living thing. Since it is made out of organic materials, the woods, strings, and glues used when it was built interact with the atmosphere around them. And while these materials certainly work together to create beautiful music, they are also responsible for the reason that stringed instruments go out of tune, especially with sudden temperature changes. Try to keep the temperature constant in the room(s) where you store your instruments.
Likewise, humidity will affect your dulcimers. Wood gains and loses moisture until it’s in sync with the air around it. When the air is humid, a piece of wood will swell as it gains moisture. When the air is dry, the wood will shrink as it loses moisture. This process happens fairly quickly with thin pieces of wood, such as dulcimer soundboards and backs, and if they get too dry, they can crack.
If you have started running the furnace already, the climate in the house may have become very dry. The widely accepted safe range for wooden musical instruments is between about 40% and 60% relative humidity. The only way to know if you’re in that range is to measure it by keeping a hygrometer near your instrument. (I found inexpensive ones on Amazon.) Also, I suggest that you consider purchasing a room and/or case humidifier for the good health of your precious instruments.
As always, if you have any questions, please feel free to ask Steve or myself.
Vi Wickam has created a new Fiddle Lesson for the Scottish tune Miss McLeod’s Reel. that he and I like to play in our duo Fiddle Whamdiddle. I have already created a mountain dulcimer lesson in the Galax style for this tune on DulcimerCrossing here.
You can also watch a couple of versions of this tune below:
Steve & Vi playing a hammered dulcimer and fiddle duet at the former Caffe Olé in Fort Collins, Colorado: (under the title “Have You Ever Gone to Meeting, Uncle Joe?” filmed for Vi’s Fiddle-Tune-A-Day project in 2012.)
And Steve playing Galax style with Vi and another DulcimerCrossing teacher, Don Pedi, at a house concert at Steve’s former home in Fort Collins, Colorado.
As always, you can become a subscriber at DulcimerCrossing.com and have complete 24/7 access to all of our lessons!
“Hi, this is Steve Eulberg with another Habit for Your….
….well, it’s not exactly a Habit, it’s an announcement:
For people who are developing their Habits for a Healthy Music Habitat.
My patrons, on Patreon, have been able to support me so that I can finish this collection in a digitized fashion. Southern Harmony shape-note tunes arranged for Mountain Dulcimer Trios.
And what I’m excited about is they were able to do that, and THAT let’s me get to work on the NEXT one, which is shape-note Fuguing tunes, from the Sacred Harp collection.
As a way of just thanking patrons and inviting YOU to be one of those patrons also, I want to give you a chance to get your name into the THANK-YOU PAGE of the digital book! Of THIS one…AND…the NEXT ONE.
This is a special offer that only lasts until the end of September and I want YOU to have the chance to get in on it.
Patrons are also what help to support the creation of the Habits videos [for Your Healthy Music Habitat] and regular emails. [Habits from the Muse]
So, thank you for listening, for watching, for commenting, for suggesting ideas, and thank-you for your support.”
