Exercise

A new year and time to up the exercise. This can be not just with the body but with going back and doing some exercises on the instruments. There are plenty of exercises on the hammered dulcimers and the mountain dulcimers. Scales are a part of it but also just smooth transition between notes. We often want to head right into a tune but sometimes 'noodling' around can be a good technique for learning new techniques. Discovering what works for you and what else you can try.
Here are Five Exercise tips for hammered dulcimer and then later in this message I'll give Five suggestions for the mountain dulcimer.
HD
1. Hit the hammer on what note - left, right, left - then right, left, right.
2. Do the same with significantly making the first hit louder and the others softer.
3. Do it again but use two notes - one up from the next - note 1 (left hammer), note 2 (right hammer), note 1 (left hammer) - Then switch with R,L,R
4. Now go 3 ascending notes in a row. Rotate hammers. Try the full scale but again 3 at a time.
5. Play two scales at once and play a note from the lower scale first, then the octave high note a short time after it, play the 2nd note on the lower scale, then 2nd note on higher scale. Do this up the scale and the DOWN.

Five Exercises for the mountain dulcimer
1. Practice hammer ons going up the instrument. One note up at a time.
2. Try hammer ons going up the instrument, Two notes away each time.
3. Do pull offs down one at a time.
4. You guessed it pull offs for notes two apart.
5. Juat practice hammer on and pulloffs go to or from open strings on all your strings.

Before I'll sign up I'll say I do have a dulcimer on Ebay. It's the butterfly hole dulcimer. It has 2 more days.

Also I'm working on the Dulcimer Day in Duluth festival for May 7. Mark your calendar. I'm working to finalize the schedule. If anyone is planning to come and would like to teach a class, please let me know. It doesn't necessarily need to be a dulcimer class. It could be mandolin, storytelling, writing songs, singing. I'll likely use a part of the vendor area as some workshop space but letting people know ahead of time is the key.

Wendy