Beginners Workshops
Mountain Dulcimer Discovery Workshop (novice) This workshop is designed for those who have always wanted to try to play the mountain dulcimer but never had the opportunity to do so. Students will be introduced to basic strumming patterns and terminology. Some simple songs will be taught, as well as how to tune your instrument.
Playing rounds on the Mt. Dulcimer (beginner) ’Round and ’round we go. Rounds are an easy way to achieve beautiful harmonies while playing simple melodies with other people. Come tuned to DAd.
Basic Rhythm and Timing (beginner) " They say that timing is everything." Learn how to read basic music notation from standard music sheets, as well as from dulcimer tablature. Time signatures, note values, and" bump diddies" will be discussed. Bring your hands for clapping.
Beginning finger picking (beginner) Put down that pick and let your fingers do the walking. Some basic finger placement and easy beginner finger picking songs will be introduced. Come tuned to DAd.
Beginning Fiddle Tunes (beginner) Add to your repertoire by learning popular jamming songs and tunes which are played by many other musicians. Come tuned to DAd.
Basic Flat picking (beginner)
Beginning Mixolydian-DAd- Workshop (beginner) Make the leap from DAA to DAD. This versatile tuning will allow you to play many songs in different keys. Come tuned to DAA.
DGD - Reserve Ionian Workshop (beginner) Learn how to play songs in DAA and DGD. Knowing how to play in this tuning will allow you to play familiar DAa songs in a different key.
Jamming and Playing with Others (beginner / intermediate) Learn some easy songs on your instrument. Basic" Jamming Etiquette" will be discussed. We will spend time learning how to play with other musicians.
Practice Makes Perfect (beginner / intermediate) Sometimes it seems that our playing doesn’t seem to get any better. In this workshop, we will discuss some techniques the mountain dulcimer player can utilize in order to become a more proficient player.
Left Hand Embellishments (beginner / intermediate) The key to making your music sound more interesting is to develop some basic skills in your left hand. You'll learn how to hammer on, pull off, slide and vibrato techniques. (It almost sounds like a carpenter's workshop doesn't it?) Appropriate music to reinforce these skills will be presented.