Check this out. Jeff Hames hosts a forum on his site but it's not what you would expect. Once a month, there's a topic. This topic gets most of it's activity in a 60-minute period. Most of those participating are well known dulcimer teachers and performers. It's like a round-table discussion once a month. There's all kinds of good information to explore for mountain and hammered players. (http://jeffhames.com//forum/)
Appalachian Dulcimer Noter and Drone Blog
I've been listening to the old-time music of Lisa Johnson and her husband Brian Sullivan a lot lately. (mountain dulcimer & fiddle) Lisa's in love with the older ways and she has a real knack for communicating her passion through her blog. It's really full of all kinds of great stuff! You can also learn about Lisa and her music by listening to an interview I did with her earlier this year.
Are You Talented?
If you've been wondering about the role talent plays in your life, check out Talent is Overrated by Geoff Colvin. You will be encouraged.
Interested in Hammered Dulcimer?
My good friend Dan Landrum is a GREAT player and teacher of the hammered dulcimer. Check out his blog and get hooked in.
Robert Force & Albert d'Ossché
The first mountain dulcimer book I ever saw, owned, and read was In Search of the Wild Dulcimer by Robert Force & Albert d'Ossché. One of the authors, Robert Force, has made the whole thing available on his website. Just under his top banner, you'll see a cover of the book with the word "Instruction" under it. Click and enjoy. It's a classic!
Gallier TABs
Although Gary Gallier is known for his compositions and improvisations, he has been delving deeper into traditional filddle tunes for the past couple years. Check out his great bunch of recent tabs.
Rockwell Cabbage Explorations
Jerry Rockwell has just posted some sheet music and audio files documenting his recent explorations of the "Bile Them Cabbage" form. The audio samples go from simple acoustic to wild electric.
If you are owed Lesson #13, please send an email with the subject "PLEASE SEND LESSON 13" to
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
. Include your full name, mailing address, and phone number. Many have already received this lesson and I want to wrap this up. Even if you've already alerted me you're waiting for Lesson #13, please do so one last time so I know you're still owed it.
Actually, is there anything you're waiting to receive from me? I've spent the last few months getting caught up. Please respond to
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. Thank you!
Doug Berch is a seriously cool guy with a seriously cool dulcimer blog. While I'm mostly drawn to his building posts, there's a whole lot of rich information and photos on every page. There's a lot of posts, too. Enough to make a pretty cool dulcimer book. Please visit http://dougberch.com/2007/09/. Scroll to the very bottom. This is the first post. Read, enjoy, and keep hitting next. Doug has fired me up. I'm going to build a dulcimer.
Sue Carpenter - Following the Muse - Waltz for Katie and Harry
Sue Carpenter was my guest on Mountain Dulcimer Folk LIVE Monday, June 15, 2009, at 8PM CST / 9PM EST. We'll talked a bunch and I played some of her music including a couple tracks off her new recording. Sue's a great player. Don't miss this one!
Sue started playing the mountain dulcimer in 1981 and has been performing and teaching since 1982. When Sue Carpenter first played a mountain dulcimer she was immediately captivated by its simplicity and challenged by its fingerpicking possibilities. As an instrumentalist, she is best known for her expressive style and exceptional technical ability. She delights her audience and balances her repertoire with a wide range of...
Larry Conger was my guest on Mountain Dulcimer Folk Monday night, June 8, 2009, 8PM CENTRAL / 9PM EASTERN. I asked him a bunch of questions and played some of his music.
"Larry Conger is a player and teacher of the Appalachian Mountain Dulcimer. He makes his home in Paris, Tennessee, a small town halfway between Memphis and Nashville. There he operates a private music studio, teaching piano and guitar as well as mountain dulcimer. Larry is active as a participating artist for the Tennessee Arts Commission Arts In Education program and the Kentucky Arts Council Teacher Incentive Program, presenting...
Beginners to advanced, please join me at the Fiddle & Pick in Pegram, TN on the first Wednesday of each month from 7 to 9 PM and on the third Saturday of each month from 9 to 11 AM. There's many good clubs in the greater Nashville area you should check out. Here's what we offer:
We're not a club, we're a jam.
There's food and drinks.
Tab is welcome, BUT you're welcome to leave it at home, too.
This is a safe place for learning how to learn by ear. It will take time.
You don't have to know the tune to play. Just show up.
Mistakes WELCOME! This is learning by immersion. YOU ARE WELCOME!
Super slow with lots of repetition for at least one song.
Snappy tempos.
Last ½-Hour for truly advanced players.
Upright bass always present.
One pretty song for every 5 fiddle tunes.
We rarely play something just three times.
This is not prepare then do. It's learn as you do.
Want to know how I use Tabledit? I've produced over 20 online videos, over 5.5 hours worth, covering everything from basic installation to the most advanced features I use. Whether you want to make a book or just some simple handouts, it's all covered here. To start checking them out, just click Tabledit Tutorials in the top menu. The player won't let you hit the play button until 10% of the selected video is loaded. This takes about 15 seconds on a DSL line. Please report any errors or omissions. Enjoy!
Mountain Dulcimer Folk Webcast Archive
These shows are free for your listening pleasure. They're like radio shows where I play music and interview folks from the mountain dulcimer community. You can listen to them on my Webcast page or you can download them to your computer.
Want to Be a Guest on Mountain Dulcimer Folk LIVE?
Send me some of your recordings and tell me your favorite three tracks. MP3 tracks are fine in a pinch. Send me a long bio, a three sentence bio, a photo, your contact info, and links to everywhere you're on the web. If you're doing something even slightly remarkable in the mountain dulcimer world, I want you as a guest. I want to hear from you!
If you are owed Lesson #13, please send an email with the subject "PLEASE SEND LESSON 13" to
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
. Include your full name, mailing address, and phone number. Many have already received this lesson and I want to wrap this up. Even if you've already alerted me you're waiting for Lesson #13, please do so one last time so I know you're still owed it.
Doug Berch is a seriously cool guy with a seriously cool dulcimer blog. While I'm mostly drawn to his building posts, there's a whole lot of rich information and photos on every page. There's a lot of posts, too. Enough to make a pretty cool dulcimer book. Please visit 
