Dulcimer Workshop by Martin Plea

Dulcimer Workshop by Martin Pleass

Ok, the the first thing you will need is a good, or at least ok mountain dulcimer. You can get the finest dulcimers from Matthew Bascetta (that's where I got mine) and in this workshop we will be on the most common sort of mountain dulcimer which is the four string. We will also start with a simple basic tuning, D A D. This workshop will assume that you have no previous music playing experience (though if you can sing that is a great start !)

If this page gets enough hits I will put up some more advanced stuff and other tunings . . . . . playing the dulcimer is a great opportunity to study triads and harmony, but only after we have learned to play what is a simple folk instrument !

For now though, let's tune the dulcimer. If you have never tuned anything before, I suggest you get yourself an electronic tuner. Most music shops have them. It would be great if you found a helpful assistant in a shop that tuned your dulcimer and started you off ! Failing that following the instructions with the tuner should be ok. You could also tune to a piano or keyboard, or any instrument to give you a D or A note. The first string is low D, the second A and the pair of third and fourth stings tuned the same ( we call that unison ) Here is an mp3 file of each string played slowly.. . . .

mp3 recording of an in tune dulcimer.

Your dulcimer has to sound very close to this to go further. (These computer things are great but I could help you so much quicker in person.) If this tuning business is a problem you need to find a guitar player, or in fact anyone friendly that plays music to help you.

Now we will learn three chords, "D", "G", and "A". A chord is a few notes played at the same time together that sounds good and will accompany a song. This is very easy on the mountain dulcimer ! Place the dulcimer on your lap and follow these pictures. Strum the dulcimer away from you with a medium thickness plectrum. If it sounds good, it is good !

This is a "D" chord. As you can see , this "D" chord needs only one finger ! ( I often use a thumb, I have seen others use a small piece of wood called a"noter") that is why we are starting on this tuning. How simple is that ? Try these two next. . .

This is an "A chord. This is a "G" chord.

Now listen to this simple chord progression :

mp3 file of "She'll be coming round the mountain

All that is is a strum of four beats per bar ( a bar is a slice of music) on the following chords. Written down, it looks like this :

4/4 [ D / / / | / / / / | / / / / | A / / / | D / / / | G / / / | D / A / / | D / / / ]

Now, your next task if to find lots of three chord songs with these chords. You can get simple chord books for guitar in most music shops. Ukulele, banjo and general folk song books are a good source. You need to be familiar with those three chords before you try other ones.

This starts us off playing chordal accompaniment with the dulcimer using these six chords that work great in the key of D. Of course we can learn lots more chords and change tunings but its best to gain lots of confidence with these chords at the beginning stage. Rhythm is also very important and as you strum the dulcimer try strumming away from you and towards yourself (like a guitar). Be creative at all times ! Remember, if it sounds good it is good, and if it is easy to do all the better. I like the dulcimer because it is easy to play and there doesn't seem to be as many rules and "do's and don'ts" as with many instruments.

Please email me on : info@martinpleass.com if you have any questions or comments on this dulcimer workshop. I Know these three chords are very easy, but understanding these is vital to any beginner and I want to get as many people plucking dulcimers as possible before the clever stuff comes along.