Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Richard Sanabia on June 15, 2009 at 2:46pm

I build a lot of dulcimer based instruments, mostly for folks who want to get away from lap dulcimers. Dad tuning for strum sticks is probably the most popular, because most of the music out there is Dad. I prefer Aad myself because of the stronger drone sound. Dad for lap dulcimers works so well because of the great chords folks build rather easily. The beautiful Dad based "L" shaped chords are hard to manage if you are holding your dulcimer in the guitar position.

Permalink Reply by Diane in Chicago on June 16, 2009 at 8:33am

I like DAd (or GDg, or AEa, or any of those power chord 5ths) because you can run the melody up either the high string or the low string (and then onto the middle string) This inadvertently makes lots of nice chords while you are playing. After noodling around, you also figure out where you can add a second finger on another string and make other chord shapes during a song.

Richard, I've never played lap. Can you tell more about L-shaped chords?

Permalink Reply by Dave Alexander on June 16, 2009 at 2:05pm

Diane: 2/3 of that went right over my skull, but it all sounds interesting. I finished my CB strummer (can't bear to call it a dulcimer until it sounds like one.) I don't have the right strings -- only some leftover guitar strings, and two of them are too heavy. I have to admit, I've never played a dulcimer...but have seen it played. My wife dropped it on the counter and proceded to play "Doe a deer..." from Sound of Music just by ear.

I gather that when properly tuned (either DAd or other tunings) that struming while noodling out a melody on the high string will sound cool. The Strumstick people call it "no wrong notes."

Permalink Reply by Diane in Chicago on June 16, 2009 at 3:48pm

Your wife can play "Doe a Deer" on the high string, or she can also play it on the lowest string. And when she gets to "name" as in "mi a name I call myself" she can either stay on the low string, or she can shift to the middle string. That's all!

I loved my Strumstick, that's what got me started on this whole thing. No wrong notes is right! There is a downloadable chord chart at the McNally strumstick site that shows you a few basic chords so you can strum instead of melody.

Dave Alexander said:

Diane: 2/3 of that went right over my skull, but it all sounds interesting. I finished my CB strummer (can't bear to call it a dulcimer until it sounds like one.) I don't have the right strings -- only some leftover guitar strings, and two of them are too heavy. I have to admit, I've never played a dulcimer...but have seen it played. My wife dropped it on the counter and proceded to play "Doe a deer..." from Sound of Music just by ear.

I gather that when properly tuned (either DAd or other tunings) that struming while noodling out a melody on the high string will sound cool. The Strumstick people call it "no wrong notes."

Permalink Reply by Dave Alexander on June 19, 2009 at 4:40am

The Strumstick is awesome. The melody string is so simple. I'd be more successful if I wasn't tone deaf. ( I really struggle to figure out what is a "lower note." no kidding. I want to build some other versions with cigar boxes. What do you think about putting two melody strings? I seem to remember seeing that on somebodies dulcimer.

I'm using long nails for fret wire -- superglued into tiny slots. Bolts or hardwood for nut and bridge material and cast-off guitar tuners. I like the strumstick floating bridge.

(I found a guitar shop with a tin can full of tuners. They won't take anything for them, but I have to buy strings from them and tell my friends about 'em.)

Can I use the same strings to tune the alternate tunings?

Permalink Reply by Diane in Chicago on June 22, 2009 at 2:13am

I've made a handful of dual string instruments, one had a dual melody string only - so four strings total. I first saw that idea from a guy in Asheville making stick dulcimers he called a "woodrow".

As for alternate tunings, unless they are waaaay far from what the strings are "intended" for, you should be alright. But if you plan to tune much higher, tune back down when you're done playing for the day so you don't stress the neck of your instrument too much while it is sitting around.

There are folks who know all about strings, string tension and intended pitches. I'm not one of them!

Dave Alexander said:

The Strumstick is awesome. The melody string is so simple. I'd be more successful if I wasn't tone deaf. ( I really struggle to figure out what is a "lower note." no kidding. I want to build some other versions with cigar boxes. What do you think about putting two melody strings? I seem to remember seeing that on somebodies dulcimer.

I'm using long nails for fret wire -- superglued into tiny slots. Bolts or hardwood for nut and bridge material and cast-off guitar tuners. I like the strumstick floating bridge.

(I found a guitar shop with a tin can full of tuners. They won't take anything for them, but I have to buy strings from them and tell my friends about 'em.)

Can I use the same strings to tune the alternate tunings?

Permalink Reply by Wichita Sam on June 24, 2009 at 3:36pm

DAd is the mother of all tunings in the CBG world... many many 3 stringed CBGs carry that tuning proudly... I've build several "strummers" and unless the customer wanted something different, that was the tuning they got.

You right about that bagpipe thing.... the very first time I played a strummer, my wife said, "that sounds like a stringed bagpipe"...

Oh, the McNally website is a gold mine. Technical stuff, music, chords, lessons... all free.

hope you're enjoying your build and buy...

the best,

Wichita Sam

Permalink Reply by Dave Alexander on June 25, 2009 at 4:46am

Diane, Sam, Richard: Thanks.

The McNally strum stick was a great purchase. The other competing design is from Smokey Mt. Dulcimers, and they call it the Strum Stick. Theirs sounds great on videos, but I didn't like the shape. A similar instrument is the Dulcijo -- with a banjo head and a dulcimer fret scheme.

I'm finding that finally I am able to "noodle out" a tune on the top or bottom/high or low string, and then strum all strings for that drone+melody feel. The challenge is those songs where the melody is faster than any drone should be strummed. For example, I have figured out "Amazing Grace" and strum much slower than the melody. So between strums, I have to work quickly to add in extra notes. (The notes for the part where the words "Amazing Grace" appears involved sliding between adjacent frets quickly. First string- 5 then 4 then 5.) Still wrapping my mind around the concept of doing two things at a time. Not sure I'm describing this correctly, but I really want to learn "Scotland the Brave" which has a very definite bagpipe drone but lots of quick notes in the melody.

I have to think that people who can plink out a melody on the piano could play a melody on the strumstick and it's family members.

My next step is to restring my homemade version. I bought extra srings, but I really think I'd like to have a top string that is not wire wound. I like to slide up the string, but get a scratching sound on the wound string.

I also find that the Strumstic people provide a chord chart which shows multiple ways to form chords. Honestly, that's got me stumped. When I form two versions of the same chord, they sound different. Is the strumstick valuable as a chord strumming sing-along instrument, or is it really for melody?

Thanks for the ideas. If any other long neck dulcimer-style instrument players want to chime in, that would be cool.

By the way, I go into this as a 40-something schoolteacher who knows zero about music theory, who loves singing and strumming the baritone uke, and who really plays for his own enjoyment. I might never play in front of people except at church, but like playing for my own enjoyment. Toward that end, I don't hold back my questions just because they reveal my total ignorance. (As my dad used to say, there are no stupid questions...just idiotic answers.)

I loan ukuleles to friends and students and try to spread the love of music. This coming school year I hope to introduce the diddly-bow and cigar box guitar to my students.

Dave

Permalink Reply by Wichita Sam on June 25, 2009 at 5:20am

Dave, your post caused a couple lines of thought in me. First a lot of "applachian" music and even a fair of amount of bagpipe music is non-rythumic (?) in nature. The first come from musical traditions where "chanting" was a key heritage. The second is dealing with an instrument that does not lend itself to metronome precision. We have become obsessed with 1-2-3-4 on the beat precession. I have a recent studio session where I couldn't get the produce to understand that blues wasn't a "Susa March". He kept wanting to through out perfectly good tracks, just because I was lagging a few mini seconds behind the beat indicator (and these were solo tracks).... So don't get all worried if it takes 1 and 1/2 beats to get all the notes in... That is sometimes more authentic.... By the way, have you ever play with a "cowboy" who would drop a beat and then pick it up to bars later? The first time I heard it, my brain about exploded.

the second thought is to again thanks you for getting this discussion going.... I have started (again) to build a personal "strummer". I'm going to keep it....

the best,

Sam


Dave Alexander said:

Diane, Sam, Richard: Thanks.

The McNally strum stick was a great purchase. The other competing design is from Smokey Mt. Dulcimers, and they call it the Strum Stick. Theirs sounds great on videos, but I didn't like the shape. A similar instrument is the Dulcijo -- with a banjo head and a dulcimer fret scheme.

I'm finding that finally I am able to "noodle out" a tune on the top or bottom/high or low string, and then strum all strings for that drone+melody feel. The challenge is those songs where the melody is faster than any drone should be strummed. For example, I have figured out "Amazing Grace" and strum much slower than the melody. So between strums, I have to work quickly to add in extra notes. (The notes for the part where the words "Amazing Grace" appears involved sliding between adjacent frets quickly. First string- 5 then 4 then 5.) Still wrapping my mind around the concept of doing two things at a time. Not sure I'm describing this correctly, but I really want to learn "Scotland the Brave" which has a very definite bagpipe drone but lots of quick notes in the melody.

I have to think that people who can plink out a melody on the piano could play a melody on the strumstick and it's family members.

My next step is to restring my homemade version. I bought extra srings, but I really think I'd like to have a top string that is not wire wound. I like to slide up the string, but get a scratching sound on the wound string.

I also find that the Strumstic people provide a chord chart which shows multiple ways to form chords. Honestly, that's got me stumped. When I form two versions of the same chord, they sound different. Is the strumstick valuable as a chord strumming sing-along instrument, or is it really for melody?

Thanks for the ideas. If any other long neck dulcimer-style instrument players want to chime in, that would be cool.

By the way, I go into this as a 40-something schoolteacher who knows zero about music theory, who loves singing and strumming the baritone uke, and who really plays for his own enjoyment. I might never play in front of people except at church, but like playing for my own enjoyment. Toward that end, I don't hold back my questions just because they reveal my total ignorance. (As my dad used to say, there are no stupid questions...just idiotic answers.)

I loan ukuleles to friends and students and try to spread the love of music. This coming school year I hope to introduce the diddly-bow and cigar box guitar to my students.

Dave

Permalink Reply by toasterburn on June 26, 2009 at 3:03am

Dave Alexander said:

I also find that the Strumstic people provide a chord chart which shows multiple ways to form chords. Honestly, that's got me stumped. When I form two versions of the same chord, they sound different. Is the strumstick valuable as a chord strumming sing-along instrument, or is it really for melody?

I have a cigar box version, and I think they're great for playing simple chords. It's almost effortless compared to say a guitar or even a uke. Here's a vid of me playing "Brain Damage" just using the chords: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Thi5xSM0w5M

Permalink Reply by Dave Alexander on July 3, 2009 at 1:19am

Toaster:

Very good. I hadn't noticed your response before this morning. Good job.

Dave