Newbie who loves hammered dulcimer music wonders: How hard/expensive to learn?
Eye Eqs Ehl
wondered to myself: how hard would it be to learn? Can anyone
help me here? I studied piano and guitar as a youngster and
have a good ear for music but haven't picked up an instrument of
any sort in years. Is this the type of instrument that takes
many years of practice to be able to play with any level ofquality?
I know some instruments are harder to learn than others.
Also, what would an instrument cost? And how much do lessons normally
cost? Can I teach myself or do I need an instructor? Any help
appreciated. For reference, I live in the greater Boston area.
cheers,
-*-
charles
Gary J. Marmer
Your story sounds very much like mine. I have attended festivals for
several years and was enthralled with the hammered dulcimer. Like you,
I played an instrument in grammar school many years ago. I finally
broke down and bought a hammered dulcimer in October from Griffin Music.
Let me tell you, it is difficult. I have a beginners book called
łStriking Out and Winning˛ by Lucille Reilly. It is an excellent book
for beginners, but it is still difficult. Taking lessons might be the
best idea. There are a number of places to buy dulcimers, and they can
be found on the Hammered Dulcimer Home Page at
http://tfnet.ils.unc.edu/~gotwals/hd/dulcimer.html
There is a lot of good information here if you havenąt seen it. If for
some reason you canąt access this Home Page, let me know and I can get
you more information on where to get dulcimers.
Gary J. Marmer
novice
Ladyspnr
book and tape set I would HIGHLY recommend is the Tunes for the Hammered
Dulcimer by Linda Lowe Thompson. This is a great set of 44 songs with
lessons. She is fabulous!!! She plays each tune on the tape at a speed
that a beginner can follow with some practice (and so you can hear what
the tune is supposed to sound like). I have just graduated to her second
book and tape set which has 123 tunes and 67 lessons. I love this book
just as much, but I would definitely recommend feeling comfortable with
the songs in the first set before purchasing the second set.
You can reach Linda at:
Linda Lowe Thompson
HarvestTime Music
1517 Laurelwood
Denton, TX 76201
817-387-4001
Linda's books are also for sale through various retailers, but I ordered
directly from her. It gave me a chance to give her feedback on the books
which she appreciated.
Karri
Lady...@aol.com
Gary J. Marmer
Thank you for the suggestion. I received the identical suggestion from
a hammered dulcimer teacher. I called Linda Lowe Thompson and ordered.
I spoke to the answering machine, but hopefully I will receive the book
and tape.
Thanks again.
Gary
Jonathan Golden
it's one of the easiest instruments to play, and easy to pick up on. I've
tried reading dulcimer tab without much luck; once you figure out how the
thing is strung and where the scales are it's pretty easy to play by ear.
The HD is much easier than piano, guitar, etc. If you can play those,
you'll do well with a dulcimer.
Jonathan
Sean R. McCorkle
: I discovered this wonderful instrument a couple of years ago and
: help me here? I studied piano and guitar as a youngster and
: have a good ear for music but haven't picked up an instrument of
: any sort in years. Is this the type of instrument that takes
: many years of practice to be able to play with any level ofquality?
: I know some instruments are harder to learn than others.
I started playing HD about 10 years ago - I heard one at a concert and fell
instantly in love. I was only able to afford a kit, so I build one and started
trying to bang out tunes. I learned to play a few tunes very quickly, but
also ran into technical difficulties with others. Currently, I'm playing
on a James Jones 17/18 with a large contra-dance orchestra on Long Island.
I had endured violin lessons as a child, and enjoyed piano for about two
years in high school. My observations are that every instrument has its
unique pros and cons. (i.e. It can take 20 years to learn how to play a
nice note on a violin, but on a piano its pretty easy to press a key to
get a nice sound, but then they through 10 notes at you at once :-).
The first con is that HD's take a while to tune. I find that I need to
get to a site well in advance to allow the instrument to stabilize in the
new environment before I even begin to tune. Its really annoying if
temperature and humidity drift substantially *after* I tune (this happens
a lot to me at barn dances :-( )
The 2nd con (for myself at least) is that it is very hard to sight read
a tune - I typically have to spend hours working out the precise left-hand
right-hand hammerings for an entire tune, and memorizing the tune at the
level of motor-memory. This seems to be true for most of my HD playing
friends. This gets frustrating every time our orchestra gets new music.
Furthermore, some tunes are easy to play, but others, which don't look
very different when you inspect the music, can be extremely difficult, either
because of left-right hand, cross-bridge problems, or unusual chromatics
(typical HDs are not completely chromatic). Just because your fiddle
player friends think a tune is easy doesn't mean it will be for you
on the HD. (That works the other way too.)
On the plus side, like a piano, it's relatively easy to get a nice sound
out of one right away. If you stick to a set of easy tunes, you'll be
playing like a pro relatively quickly. Furthermore, the sound is out of this
world. I personally think a hammered dulcimer and guitar combination is
just unbeatable. Plus, I just don't know how to convey how incredibly fun
it is to just flail away with a couple of well balanced hammers. The
instrument has incredible dynamics and can achieve many moods. Also, a
big attraction is that, while you can get a satisfying sound out of one
very quickly, you can spend the rest of your life mastering it. I recommend
learning!
--
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sean R. McCorkle mcco...@genome5.bio.bnl.gov
Biology Department, Human Genome Project mcco...@bnlux1.bnl.gov
Brookhaven National Laboratory (516) 282-4270
Upton, New York 11973
"Oh plunge your hands in water, Plunge them in up to the wrist,
Stare, stare in the basin, And wonder what you've missed." - W.H. Auden
JCampII
Her instruction is so dogmatic! It must be her way or none. Like the
tennis instructors who tell you 46 things to do with every stroke. I
prefer the "inner tennis" approach. Hold the hammers the way they feel
best... stand (or sit) the way it feels best... pracice the way it works
best FOR YOU! I've interviewed several world class players AND THEY ALL DO
IT DIFFERENTLY! One even holds his hammers between his thumb and middle
finger (as do I) and if I could play like him I'd be selling CD's by the
case (as he is)!!
Ed & Theresa Gebauer
One other thing to remember if you come to the dulcimer from a
piano background. The dulcimer is opposite from the piano. The high
notes are on the left, the low notes on the right. My piano/dulcimer
students sometimes have trouble with that concept.
************************************************************************
Theresa Gebauer Web browsers visit our
Overland Pk, KS holiday page
http:www.//home.gvi.net/~tgebauer/card/html
tgeb...@gvi.net
NOTE - NEW EMAIL ADDRESS!
*************************************************************************
Robin E. Baylor
: It depends on musical inclination. I taught myself the dulcimer--I think
: it's one of the easiest instruments to play, and easy to pick up on. I've
: tried reading dulcimer tab without much luck; once you figure out how the
: thing is strung and where the scales are it's pretty easy to play by ear.
: The HD is much easier than piano, guitar, etc. If you can play those,
: you'll do well with a dulcimer.
I play piano, guitar, and etc. I don't think the HD is impossible,
but I am finding it one of the more difficult instruments to pick up
& play. (I'm in this group for the other dulcimer, thank you.)
--
Beep if you love E-mail
REB