• What a great meeting we had in January. Nothing sounds better than 30+ dulcimers joining in! Five new players joined the beginner class and we hope we see all of you again in February! Guests included Tull Glazener who taught us a four-part arrangement of a beautiful new tune, Spanish Hymn. We've added that tune to the playlist and will work on it again in February. If you missed the meeting, you can find the tab for it in the tab secion on Tull's website. We also learned another Uncle Dave Macon song, Back to the Farm which we played as a medley with Gray Cat on a Tennessee Farm. We'll work on those in February too.
• A planning group met in January to talk about ways to make the club stronger. Ideas which had been submitted by club members were discussed and here's a brief summary of the main ideas which emerged. These ideas will be discussed by the entire club in February so be sure you don't miss the meeting!!
  • Adding a second meeting on the first Monday evening of each month - focus will be on playing the club tunes
  • Identifying a club list and having uniform tablature. Steve has offered his skills in doing the tab!
  • Improving the jam by having a leader and strong rhythm players to keep the timing right
  • Having a curriculum for beginners and enabling all club members who are interested to be beginner teachers and mentors for new players
  • Structuring the meeting in a new way so that the first hour has beginner instruction and other options and the last two hours include club songs, new songs, and jamming.
  • Limiting the break time and adding social events such as dinner after the meeting and a club picnic
  • Having nametags
• Take a look at the song list at the left. It has been revised, and this suggested list is a starting place for us as we work toward a club list. These titles reflect the results of a survey asking members for their favorite songs which are played at meetings. Some of the songs haven't been played in a while, and it will be fun to go back and revisit them! This is a flexible list that will change as we decide to add and subtract songs and work toward a definite list. Other songs that were suggested for consideration were Keep on the Sunny Side, Holy Manna, Chinese Breakdown, Harrison Town, Sweet Hour of Prayer, Old Folks at Home, Rosin the Beau, Estonian Folk Dance, Flop-Eared Mule, Fynbo, When the Fiddler Plays the Last Dance, Ragtime Annie, an Down Yonder
• The Wednesday playing group that meets at the Martin Center is now The Dulcimer Dandies. They recently played at Hillcrest Methodist church. The gig was arranged and emceed by GODC member and Dulcimer Dandy Robert Brown. Judy Beier added the great artwork on the front of the stands.
• Someone once said, "There ain't no notes on a dulcimer...you just play it!" Many players play by ear, but there really are notes on a dulcimer and if you are interested in knowing where they are, the diagram below will help. You can use this chart to find D, G, and A chords which are the major chords in the key of D. The D chord uses the notes D, F# and A. You can find one at 2/0/0 and another at 4/3/2 (first number is bass string, middle number is middle string, and last number is melody string). The G chord uses the notes G, B, and D. You can find one at 3/1/0 and 5/3/3. The A chord uses the notes A, C# and E. You can find one at 1/0/1 and 4/4/4. With the A chord we can't get all three notes in those positions so we just use two. To be a full chord, you need all three notes, but you can get by with 2! Now see how many D, G, and A chords you can find....have fun!!!
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• When learning a new tune, get the basic melody in your head first. Hum it. Think about whether the next notes are higher or lower. When someone teaches you a new tune, tape record it so that you can listen to it and learn the melody. Look for patterns in the music...especially the old tunes. Many of them have phrases that are repeated and it if you spot them, the tune begins to make more sense musically.
• Playing with a metronome keeps you on the beat and improves your timing.
• Break down a song into sections and learn a line at a time. Keep repeating it over and over and over until you get it. When all sections are done, put it together. This also helps to get it in memory so you won't have to read the tab.
• Practice daily and be patient with yourself!!
• I play a single phrase over and over with new tunes. Here's another tip that I heard somewhere else but it definitely works for me. Evidently a scientist-type person has determined that our brain needs at least six, uninterrupted hours for something new to "settle in", so when learning a new tune, play it multiple times, then sleep on it; don't play anything else until the next day.
• I read somewhere that you shouldn't practice a new skill for more than 20 minutes at a time. So practice new skills for 20 minutes and then go back to something more familiar. Come back to the new skill later!
• When you are playing in a group and learning a new tune, find the phrases you can play and every time they come around, play them with energy! Add a little more each time you hear it.
• If you don't have a dulcimer stand, get one. Leave your dulcimer out where you can pick it up and play without having to get it out of the case.
• Strumming across the strings at an angle gives me a better sound.
• Glide across the melody string instead of lifting your fingers.
• Play with people who are more accomplished players.
• Memorize the tunes instead of playing from tab. When you hear the music in your head, it's easier to play it with feeling and also easier to find your place if you get lost.

• March 11-13 - Ohio Valley Gathering - Four Points Sheraton - Lexington, Ky. The Gathering in 2005 will be held at the Four Points Sheraton in Lexington KY, March 11-13. Registration forms will be posted on Maureen Sellers' website after January 15, 2005. Four Points Sheraton Lexington, local (859) 259-1311, 1938 Stanton Way, Lexington, KY 40511. Reservations: 1-800-325-3535. Book early and tell them you want the dulcimer festival rate.
• April 1, Appalachian Celebration, Blair School of Music, Ingram Hall
• April 2, Dulcimania, MTSU, 7 p.m. - State Farm Lecture Hall in the Business and Aerospace Building across from the Walker Library - featurning Gary and Les Gallier, David Schnaufer, and the Nashville Dulcimer Quartet, free and open to the public
• April 17-23, Elkins College Spring Dulcimer Week at Augusta Heritage Ctr. 800-624-3157, ext. 1209
• May 20-22, White River Folk Festival, Conner Prairie Museum, Fishers, IN
• Aug 19-21 Dulcimer Daze, Vermont, Contact George Haggerty at swewater@sover.net Aug
• Oct 14,15,16 New Harmony Festival

I'm a member of the Nashville Dulcimer Quartet, and I really enjoy ensemble playing. We are able to explore a totally new range of sounds and interactions and to learn from each other. Our arrangements grow out of our own personal styles and our closeness as a group. You can feel that in our CD, Four Part Inventions. I also play my dulcimer as a volunteer at Vanderbilt Medical Center. My primary focus is with patients who are waiting for heart transplants, and I have developed some wonderful friendships with these patients who are often in the hospital for several months. Linda Sack and I began playing at Vanderbilt in 1996, and last month we had dinner (in a restaurant...not the hospital!) with one of our patients who has had two heart transplants and one kidney transplant. To walk into that restaurant and see him standing, smiling at us was one very special moment .... we would never have met without the dulcimer! As a breast cancer patient six years ago, I realized quickly how important the dulcimer was to my healing. I discovered Gilda's Club and knew that there should be dulcimer music there. There are now two dulcimers which stay in the library at Gilda's Club, and I teach a class there each month.

I am also working with David Schnaufer and Zada Law on a project to document historic dulcimers. My primary focus has been in locating and archiving Tennessee music box dulcimers. We've now found over 60 of these instruments. I've been able to identify some of the early builders and collect some interesting stories. David and I published an article in the Tennessee Folklore Society bulletin in 1998.

I have a website where you can read more about the hospital program, the Quartet, and the dulcimer research. Go to the Nashville Dulcimer Quartet website and follow the links with my name.

I really love to play the old fiddle tunes and to fingerpick sweet melodies. I wish I were better at the Irish rhythms... they are too much fun! No one has influenced my playing style more than David, and I am grateful for his patience and persistence. Lee, Linda and Natasha teach and inspire me constantly, and Sarah Elisabeth's skill and enthusiasm motivate me.

I guess you could say I'm in my third career. I taught in the Metro Nashville School system for 25 years and after retiring worked with the Chamber of Commerce 's School-to-Career program. I'm currently the volunteer coordinator at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum and I love it!! There are now four dulcimers in the education department at the Museum! I guess I'm on a mission. I've always been a dabbler in art projects...stained glass, pottery, painting.... and this semester I'm taking a drawing class at Watkins College of Art and Design just for discovery. I've never been a real artist, but before the dulcimer, I wasn't a musician....who knows what I'll find out!!!!

I have been part of the Grand Old Dulcimer Club and Grand Old Dulcimer Day from the beginning and enjoy sharing the music. My best advice .... find a friend and play!!!

In partnership with Metro Parks, The Grand Old Dulcimer Club sponsors Grand Old Dulcimer Day each year in May at Two Rivers Mansion. Don't miss our seventh annual Grand Old Dulcimer Day, May 15, 2005

The club and its members perform at festivals and civic events and often take their music into special needs facilities such as hospitals, nursing homes, and other care facilities.

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