9/4/25 Update: I’ve added a new Class Overview video at the bottom of the page. It’s just for this course and walks you through what we’ll be covering.

This series is for upper-intermediate and advanced level players who are ready to polish their sound and tackle more challenging repertoire and techniques. We’ll dive into advanced arranging techniques, phrasing, and expressive playing while building a strong set of tunes you’ll want to keep. Expect to work on richer chord voicings, flatpicking, and crosspicking. You’ll practice moving melodies across octaves, building variations, arranging, and improvising. Other skills include upper-level fingerpicking, creating polished intros, endings, and transitions, and developing stage-ready tone and presence. Each class includes demonstrations, guided practice, and detailed handouts, along with review videos so you can dig deeper between sessions.

These 6 75-minute sessions total 7.5 hours of instruction. I'm video recording every session, and you'll get a link to each video roughly 24-hours after each class. I think you'll get the best experience by showing up for each class, but if you need to miss any sessions, I've got you covered.

If you’d like to work on sight-reading tablature and by-ear skills at the same time, please consider also signing up for my progressive ear training and sight-reading LAB: https://www.stephenseifert.com/six-week-courses/eartablab91025. I’ve designed this to work with all levels of mountain dulcimer players so we can all get better together.

Course Details:

When - Starts Tuesday, September 9, 2025
Time - 2:00–3:15 PM Central (3:00–4:15 PM Eastern)
What - We’ll start each class with a quick review, then we’ll cover new techniques and tunes. Expect to do a lot of playing in each session.
Where - Online via Zoom - I'll send you the link.

Schedule

Tuesday, September 9, 2:00–3:15 PM Central (3:00–4:15 PM Eastern)

Tuesday, September 16, 2:00–3:15 PM Central (3:00–4:15 PM Eastern)

Tuesday, September 23, 2:00–3:15 PM Central (3:00–4:15 PM Eastern)

Tuesday, September 30, 2:00–3:15 PM Central (3:00–4:15 PM Eastern)

Tuesday, October 7, 2:00–3:15 PM Central (3:00–4:15 PM Eastern)

Tuesday, October 14 - No class this week. Practice your tunes!

Tuesday, October 21, 2:00–3:15 PM Central (3:00–4:15 PM Eastern)

—

If you’re on the fence, here’s what students have said about my teaching:

• "I really loved how you set it up as a journey of discovery. You are an exceptional teacher."

• “As a beginner, everything was easy to understand and challenging enough to inspire me to continue..."

• “As you know, he is a fabulous musician and that does not always translate into being a good teacher; but in this case it does. He's charismatic, interesting, and tells great stories. He presents the information in the lessons logically and sequentially with many reviews of the material along the way, so that you do not feel lost.”

• "Steve is an excellent teacher. He will compare to or exceed the best teacher you ever had in school.”

• "You have the ability to make the student feel as if they are having a private lesson with a good friend."

This course may sell out quickly—register now and secure your “seat.”

See you soon,
Stephen