Most Popular Dulcimer books

Thought I'd share the most popular dulcimer books

First Lessons, Mt Dulcimer

Deep Roots by Helen Johnson

Also, the holiday music books are quite popular.  There are 2 by Shelley Stevens and one by Helen Johnson.

Hymn books are popular.

If you are in the Duluth area I will be holding intro to the mountain dulcimer classes coming up in late September.  Go to www.duluthcommunityed.org for the schedule.

Wendy

Playing for People / Banned Books Song

I definitely like to use the word 'Play' rather than "practice."  Playing music, making music, and spending time with an instrument can be a rewarding experience.  Is the vibration the benefit?  The harmony?  The melody?  A connection to a past experience?  Music is a connector.  I joke and say I'm a CEO - community connector, educator, and organizer.  I've organized over 35 local art & gift fairs - one is this Sunday and it's called the Get to the Point Awesome Art & Gift Fair.  It's at the Lafayette Community Building at 3026 Minnesota Ave, 2 miles past the Lift Bridge on Park Point.  The educator part in me  'lives' through teaching biology, being a stormwater educator, and writing a newslettter, articles, and making films.  For the C I create events that connect people and yes I think music is tied into connecting. 

I'm now on a walking spree and using a pedometer to get 10,000 steps a day in.  What if there was a 'musometer' that measured how many strums you did or a vibrometer that measured the string vibrational waves you made? Get the waves going.

Whether you play on your own, with others, or for an audience the waves of music are good additions to our fast paced society and computery/cell phoney lifestyles.  I need to come up with a set list for a little library concert I will give at the Superior Library on Oct 20.    Here is a song I wrote to the tune Eighth of January  that I wrote back in 2006. Maybe it's time to bring it out.   I'm not a singer but I like to write songs and at least I can speak a song with music playing  - like Kenny Rogers.  I like to get audience participation going, too. 

Don’t Ban Books -   Banned book song  (1/8/06 Wendy Grethen)

To (roughly) the tune of Eighth of January/Battle of New Orleans

CHORUS

Don’t ban books  - we really want to read them

Don’t ban books - Keep ‘em on the shelves.

Don’t ban books  - we really want to read them

Let’s say it once more- put them ALL out on the shelves.

The Koran and Harry Potter books; Walt Whitman’s “Leaves of Grass”.

Freedom to nonfiction    & to tales of the past.

How can books be banned and kept from our  eyes and from our minds?

Let us access any books –all that we can find.

Large fires were made, and books were burned as people watched and cheered

Isn’t it sad to ban   books that we hold dear?

Our minds want to be opened up     to many new insights.

Douse the fires, don’t challenge books –it simply is not right.

           CHORUS

Let’all have a chance to meet Tom Sawyer & Huck’ Finn.

And see all the illustrations in the fairy tales of Grimm.

No permission slips should be needed to check out Shakespeare

“The Origin of Species” makes   biology more clear.

New York Times reported “Frankenstein””obscene” in ‘55.

Release “Catcher in the Rye”  -  to read’s a part of life.

Margaret Mitchell’s “Gone with the Wind”    is a classic for all to know.

Paper pages or e-books – make my heart aglow. 

     CHORUS       

Do not censor Brave New World or Uncle Tom’s Cabin.

Ban the holy bible?                     That would be a sin.

Think about the books that you read; what if they were denied?

Let writers write what they want      & share their work with pride.

We deserve open access to any book we choose

Don’t restrict or take away – or I’ll be so blue.

So pick out what you want to read; and WRITE  if you please

Let all open up a book – and read, read, read, read.