Great Musical Tips for Dulcimer Players

1. I was really pumped by the message Stephen Seifert posted on FB January 1, 2020. Good words/tips to abide by. Let’s look at each one.

2. Strumming – move your hand back and forth, but don’t always hit the strings. Learn to make this automatic. I met David Haas at the New Mexico Festival and he had us moving our whole arm back and forth.
3. Keep your instrument in tune with an electronic tuner. Nobody wants to hear a dulcimer playing out of tune. Need I say more.
So, you have a nice instrument, it’s in tune, and you learn how to strum well. You can’t mess it up too badly.
Learn some simple tunes! Better to play the simple stuff with passion and joy rather than stumble through the hard stuff never achieving flow or joy. I am so guilty of trying some very difficult pieces, I know it stretches me, but to just play some simple tunes well is really rewarding and keeps one’s confidence in check. If you are not happy, no one is going to be happy listening to you play not even your cat (in my circumstance my dogs)!

Stephens closing comments: How can we be happy? Do other the other stuff 1 – 4 and find some joy in it! We don’t have to be measurable all the time, worried all the time, stumbling and hiccupping through the tunes all the time. To be a happy player stop thinking about crazy hard stuff as your goal. Play something simple, well, and like you mean it.

Shall we all add this to our 2020 goals list?

Yours truly,

NancyJ Davis, VP