A – Dulcimer Tabs / Dulcimer Sheet Music / Dulcimer Music / Dulcimer Songs. So in the key of D, the main chords to know are D, G, and A7. Here is a line of notes in “chromatic” order, i.e., all the sharps and flats in order. You could either strum along in a rhythm pattern, or simply play a good solid single strum at the beginning of the measure or every time the chord changes. endstream endobj startxref Notes on Dulcimer Making Paperback – January 1, 1977 by Rodger HARRIS (Author) See all formats and editions Hide other formats and editions. I am now adding the low D#3 on Bass 2 so a 3/16/18/9 is equivalent in notes to the my old model 3/19/18/9. $44.48: $18.99: Paperback $44.48 4 Used from $18.99 1 New from $44.48 Editor’s note – To see new posts on HOGFIDDLE, scroll down past this post. To most people around the world, this is the real dulcimer. Many dulcimer makers have offered a mini-dulcimer in recent years. (NOTE; not to be confused with Martin Whitehead's DulciTAB site, which is an archive of tablatures for dulcimer in TablEdit format.) By this I mean that the “traditional” style of play for the mountain dulcimer consists of a single line of melody played against a “drone” consisting of (usually) the root and the fifth of the key in which the melody is played. On your dulcimer, a full step is the interval between two of the “wide gap” frets, for example, between the “1” fret and the “2” fret. A7?Ah yes, we haven’t discussed seventh chords yet, have we? In 90% or so of all major key folk music the three chords you will need in a given tune are those built on the root of the key in which the tune is played, the fourth of the scale, and the fifth of the scale. DulcimerStore Ludwigsburg. A minor triad is built almost the same as the major triad, with one exception. Check out the 70-song Dulcimer Songbook. Play-By-Numbers song sheets for the tin can dulcimer or any dulcimer are just as easy as they sound. However, good dronal playing is a skill that is not to be scoffed at either. Besides the model which is tuned in D, Seagull also has, as I already mentioned a Merlin tuned in G. The G major scale includes the C note. %%EOF After you have both melody strings tuned to an A note you should tune the middle string to this same note. This might be a singer, another dulcimer, or some other instrument. The next shows the most traditional of dulcimer fret patterns, not all that common today. To play an A7 you need to have a G in the chord, along with the A, C#, and E. Unless you have a dulcimer setup for four equidistant strings, you can’t play a complete seventh chord, you are always having to omit at least one of the notes.Here is a chord constellation for A7. In the case of the Am chord, as shown above, the note you need to play are the A, the C, and the E. This is all very well and good, but how do you find the notes on your dulcimer once you know what notes to look for? From any given note, move right-1 and up-4, and you'll always find a duplicate, unless the second note is on a bridge marker. Minor Keys. DAA) Tuning… In 4/4 time a measure is 4 beats so this half note lasts 2 beats. I’d also suggest you check out the Chordal Explorations in D-A-D page of his site.The mountain dulcimer, in its traditional form, is a dronal, not a chordal instrument. If you want a major chord, use the note that the “3” is pointing to. Counting that note as “one,” go up the fret board. Dulcimer Tablature. Well, a seventh chord is a four note chord that contains all the notes we’ve used so far in major or minor triads, and adds an additional note that is, not surprisingly, an interval of a seventh (a flat seventh technically speaking) above the root. 176 0 obj <> endobj This particular fingering may also be used as a B minor chord, because it has the root on the middle string, and the minor third of the chord on the bass and melody strings. Mountain Dulcimer - 17; Note. Did I mention Jerry Rockwell’s Chordal Explorations in D-A-D site? Since both notes change the same amount, the relationship between them remains the same. It's my first attempt at actually showing a duet in the staff and notes, even though the tab doesn't attempt to play all of both parts - just the melody and some of the harmony. Adjust the tuning machines to tighten or loosen the string until it sounds the same as this note. Count for yourself to see how many half steps are in each interval in major, minor, and diminished triads. Therefore, not all songs are possible to play on the Merlin. The common tuning would be the tonic “do” on the bass string and the middle and melody strings both tuned to “so” or 1 - 5- 5 or C-G-G or D-A-A and so on. Like a lap- or table-mounted dulcimer, the Merlin is a diatonic instrument, meaning that it’s tuned to a specific key—D, in this case—and fretted so that you can only play notes in that scale. You will need a chart showing the dulcimer fret board as well, some dulcimer books have a few charts, at least for one or two tunings used in the book. numbered songs to play on the seagull merlin - Google Search. this chart as a PDF dulcimer DAA popular chord charts. Skillful use of chords can add a depth of expression to your music that cannot be matched otherwise.The key, as with most things, is to practice. Then I would like someone to teach me how to figure out the notes on each fret so I can build the chords to play whatever song I'm in the mood for. 209 0 obj <>stream There are other possibilities as well, 4 – 4 – 6+ for example, and 8 – 7 – 6+ are all A major chords. So, what is a chord, anyway?A chord is simply two or more notes played at the same time, that have a harmonic relationship. The neck is fretted with a diatonic scale and the strings are tuned G,D,G. It’s a comfortable hand position for me; it gives me leverage on the strings, which allows me to make all my notes, from the top to the bottom of the fretboard, sing out the way I want them to. So, what if I don’t use DAd tuning?The basic principles shown above apply to any tuning. these dulcimer chords are all triad (three-note) chords but they work really well – technically however, chords should have four notes (or more) so D should be D-A-F#-D with a D below and above Dulcimer Fret Boards Bass D Middle A Melody D Frets 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Bass D Middle A Melody D Frets 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 6+ 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 There are still some made without the 6 1/2 fret though not many. Whether it works as a G chord or a Bm depends on the context of the music in which it appears. The instrument is tuned in major scale sequences. 199 0 obj <>/Filter/FlateDecode/ID[<2F9E13C198B7F84CB2396E2AD659D2C1>]/Index[176 34]/Info 175 0 R/Length 117/Prev 643896/Root 177 0 R/Size 210/Type/XRef/W[1 3 1]>>stream The hammered dulcimer was around long before America was even a glimmer in George Washington’s eye. This allows you to play music that modulates or is full of accidentals, and is more like having both the black and white keys on a piano. To tune your dulcimer to DAA tuning you will first tune your melody string(s) to an A note. The root, naturally, is a D. If your dulcimer is tuned to DAd, then you can find this note on the open fret of either your bass, or melody strings. Now you can find either major or minor chords by sliding the interval ruler along the scale so that the R points to the chord you need. Usually, for the V chord, you use a seventh chord, but not exclusively. In 4/4 time each quarter note gets one beat. by Steve Eulberg With mountain dulcimer, every tuning has benefits to recommend it. It is, indeed an 18th fret, but the numbering scheme does not count it as the frets are named up the finger board. Method One: Ionian (D-A-A) Tune the bass string to the D below Middle C. Pluck the open string and … Say you want to see where you can play D chords. The dulcimer normally has the frets arranged in a Diatonic scale for 17 frets. We also will discuss relative minor keys and the “modes” of music. One of the free lessons at www.DulcimerCrossing.com: Steve shows where the Chromatic Notes are on a 5th-tuned hammered dulcimer. Here is an audio MP3 track to help you get tuned up in DAA tuning. by Steve Eulberg People always ask me if it is necessary to read music in order to play the hammered dulcimer. By Peter Ellertsen Sooner or later, anybody who plays the Appalachian dulcimer has the dulcimer conversation. Abide With Me dulcimer tab – Version 1, Version 2, Version 3, Version 4, Version 5 Amazing Grace dulcimer tab: Version 1, Version 2, Version 3, Version 4, Version 5, Version 6 Angels from the Realms of Glory dulcimer tab: Version 1