Comment

Comment by Uncle John on August 1, 2021 at 1:43pm

I should have called the dulcimer a dulcimer tuned strummer.  It would not be hard to add frets.

Comment by Doug Thorsvik on August 1, 2021 at 1:13pm

I fret all three strings and GDG is my standard tuning. Adding frets to a dulcimer would work, but I would worry that they aren’t the same height and you’d end up with fret buzz. We are supposed to have cooler weather too this week Uncle John, so I may get out in my shop too!

Comment by Uncle John on August 1, 2021 at 12:09pm

OK, I am thinking about it.  It may be under 90 degrees most of the week and I could build new or maybe just add frets to a dulcimer tuned build that mostly sits untouched.   Are you fretting one string or all?   Tuning GDG?

Comment by Doug Thorsvik on August 1, 2021 at 12:02pm

Very observant Rope! As those of you who have tried Zoom for making music are well aware, it leaves a lot to be desired. The faithfulness of the Zoom group has been a blessing to me. I have tried to structure our meetings to make them more engaging and it has helped. We are meeting in person now about once a month which is “incomparable” as everyone else knows.

Thanks for watching. If you’re bored on some Monday night, you could actually join us! We are not an exclusive group.

Comment by Rope Walker Country Star on August 1, 2021 at 11:09am

Good deal! And it’s cool how faithful your group seems to be. Same faces - they show up. That says a lot.

Comment by Doug Thorsvik on August 1, 2021 at 11:08am

Thanks Bill! Glad to hear you appreciate the song lists. I will try to keep things interesting with our song selections. And, as you know, the chord charts for all the 1-finger chord songs we do are available for free. I hope others are taking advantage of them.

Comment by Bill Saunders on August 1, 2021 at 8:09am

As a beginner myself I agree with your approach Doug. Simplifying songs keeps the beginners interest and enthusiasm. I know I appreciate the song lists you've put out.
Keep up the good work.

Comment by Doug Thorsvik on August 1, 2021 at 7:35am

I agree with you Uncle John; the 1-finger approach works well with such a variety of songs! When I first started teaching 3-string CBG, I was thinking like a 6-string guitar player (conventional wisdom): start with the 1-finger bar chord and then introduce the 1st inversion, 7th, and minor moveable shapes. I even had songs chosen to show how you could reduce movement down the neck and prove my point. The truth is that for 1st time players, those shapes are hard! I rethought my position and decided I wanted to keep more new players on board. I updated the charts of those songs to 1-finger arrangements and discovered they sounded just as good and in some cases better! I’m still amazed at songs that still sound great after stripping them down to power chords only. I’ve been burning the scale down the top edge of the fretboard: A B C D E F G; no flats and sharps. It’s a feature of my guitars that make it easy to get new players on board right away. I don’t see it as a compromise. I play my ukulele with all the chords and it’s rich chordally, but I prefer playing a power chord groove, it’s more fun!

Comment by Uncle John on August 1, 2021 at 6:17am

Excellent.   Your method works so well for so many songs.  Gees, I like what I do, but I am thinking about learning your way.  

Comment by Doug Thorsvik on August 1, 2021 at 5:43am

I agree Kale! Great songs with low chord counts are very accessible to the rest of us. And I like that a lot!

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