Morning Class Descriptions
Choose one class from the list below. Your morning class will meet each morning, Monday-Friday with the same instructor.
Help me decide what level I should be in
LEVEL 1 - New Player Skills - Carol Crocker
Hooray! You have chosen to begin the exciting journey of learning how to play the mountain dulcimer. During our week at Dulcimer U, you will be introduced to and become familiar with basic skills for a new or beginner player.
Goals for the week are for you to be able to play several simple and familiar dulcimers tunes and to come away with basic mountain dulcimer playing skills that will allow you continue to play, expand on what you have learned, and add to your repertoire for the mountain dulcimer.
Some topics will include:
- How to hold, tune, and care for your dulcimer
- Basic strumming techniques
- Becoming familiar with basic music reading skills including note values and time signatures
- How to read dulcimer tab and play by ear
- Explore playing basic chords that will help when playing with others (or even in a jam!)
- Explore some left-hand fingering techniques
- Learning about other tunings, DAA, DAC, and DGD
Come enjoy learning to play the mountain dulcimer in a relaxed and encouraging environment鈥njoy the music and enjoy the fellowship with other dulcimer players!
Contact Carol Crocker c.crocker0705@gmail.com if you have any questions regarding this class.
Level 2 鈥� Advancing Beginner Skills 鈥� Laurie Alsobrook
It鈥檚 been a good year enjoying and exploring your new dulcimer skills as a beginner. Now you鈥檙e ready to take your dulcimer playing to the next level. This class is just for you as you continue your dulcimer journey and expand your confidence in acquiring and playing with new skills.
- Review Level I skills
- Expand left hand fretting skills including across the middle and bass strings
- Continue to improve and strengthen right hand strumming skills
- Explore flat picking and finger picking skills
- Gain confidence in playing two and three finger chords
- Introduction to using a capo
- Playing in other tunings
- Continue to hone listening skills and confidence in playing by ear
- Begin looking forward to the next level as you increase your confidence in playing
Come enjoy playing the mountain dulcimer in a relaxed and encouraging environment, enjoying the music and the fellowship with other dulcimer players! Contact Laurie alsobrooklp@gmail.com if you have any questions regarding this class.
Level 2, 3, 4 & 5 -Beyond the Tab 鈥� The Mechanics of Music 鈥� Jim Miller
This class is designed for players who are proficient at playing tunes from TAB but would like to explore how music works on a deeper level. We鈥檒l look at the nuts and bolts of music and discover the 鈥渨hat鈥檚 and whys鈥� of what goes into playing. It will offer a musical toolbox, allowing the player to gain a greater understanding of the mechanics of playing, and gain a greater appreciation of why we play.
We鈥檒l start with a basic introduction of music theory as it applies to the mountain dulcimer. Covering scales, modes, intervals, chords and chord progressions, this will form a firm foundation for the rest of the class.
Next, we鈥檒l spend some time developing our musical ear. We鈥檒l learn how to recognize musical intervals, melodies, and chords and see how chords and melodies relate to one another. This will provide an excellent basis for learning to play by ear.
Reading musical notation will be the next topic. These covers reading notes on a staff, timing and rhythmic structure, note values and key signatures.
Finally, we鈥檒l spend some time with rhythm, playing different world rhythms and having fun exploring the many varied ways rhythm can improve our playing.
We鈥檒l conclude each day with a jam session, applying the concepts we have covered that day. By the end of the class, hopefully, you鈥檒l be able to turn off your iPad, throw away your mountain of TAB, and join the jam, playing and enjoying Music.
**NOTE: A $10 materials fee is required for this class and will be collected by the instructor on the first morning. Jim can answer any questions you may have about this class. Contact him at jimiller5@msn.com
Level 3 - Lower Intermediate Skills - Susan Trump
Susan鈥檚 gentle and methodical style of teaching will combine simple music theory and fingerings to bump up your knowledge of the fretboard, smooth out your playing and understand how chords work to support the melody.
Susan writes: We鈥檒l include several techniques including hammers and pull-offs, playing in different octaves, with various strumming and picking patterns to add variety to your tunes. We鈥檒l explore some fingerpicking and use the capo to capture that lovely minor sound to play in different keys. Our repertoire will include a wide variety of styles from the British Isles to Appalachian tunes, early music and lots more.
Questions about this class? Contact Susan at DulcimerMail@gmail.com
Level 3 & up - Just the Bass-ics! - Deby Libby
Prerequisites: bass dulcimer tuned DAd with 1+ fret, ability to perform barre chords efficiently, knowledge of chords and chord shapes.
Do you have a bass dulcimer and want to learn the techniques to truly become a bass player? The first step is learning the alternating bass technique, which is the foundational skill for all bass instrument players. You will learn how to do this in multiple keys and time signatures, which may seem daunting, but once you鈥檝e learned the bass-ics in one key, you will be amazed at how easily the rest will come - you鈥檝e got this!
The fun begins when you learn how to walk up or down from one chord to another and how to do turnarounds. We start this on day 1 - why wait for the fun stuff? Other skills covered will be ear training (listening for chord changes), how to play the bass without bass tab (using your group鈥檚 tab) and how to make up your own jam cards with chord letters or using the Nashville Number System. In addition, each day you鈥檒l practice the skills that were taught. If you want more bass practice, you can also take the afternoon elective 鈥淛ust the Bass-ics Alternating Bass Lab鈥� with Jim and Cheri Miller and Deby Libby.
Required text:
鈥淚t鈥檚 All About the Bass Dulcimer, 2nd Edition鈥� by Elaine Conger
Digital Download (e-book): https://dulcimerdownloads.com/products/elaine-conger-its-all-about-the-bass-dulcimer
Physical book, advance purchase: https://folkcraft.com/collections/sheet-music-tab-books-and-tablature/products/elaine-conger-its-all-about-the-bass-dulcimer
Questions about this class? Contact Deby Libby at debylibby1@gmail.com. Please enter 鈥淒ulcimer U鈥� in the subject field.
LEVEL 3 & 4 鈥� 鈥�SPREADING YOUR DULCIMER PLAYING WINGS鈥� 鈥� Jeff Furman
This 4-day morning class may be a little different from other workshops you have taken so far. Of course, you will get plenty of TAB, but I have been asked to present a class that emphasizes your expression, feelings, and variations in the music you are playing鈥hether that be by yourself or with others. Examples include rhythm changes, adding notes or playing fewer notes, different chord voicings, dynamics, and many more.
The main goal will be to get the music you play to express how you feel when you play a tune. There is no right or wrong鈥nly what you hear and feel. And, of course, to do this you must learn to LISTEN to what you play and not just see it! We鈥檒l focus on playing with our eyes, our ears, and our hearts! Don鈥檛 worry鈥 will provide plenty of different tunes for you to play and learn how to play 鈥渂eyond the notes! And to help all of us improve and refine our hearing/listening, please consider bringing a tune or two that you can play for us so we can all learn together! I think you will enjoy and benefit from this process! Please bring a CAPO!
Send any questions you may have about this class to Jeff at dlcmr@yahoo.com
Level 4 鈥� Upper Intermediate Skills 鈥� Steve Eulberg
We鈥檒l chart the course of our improvement by growing in our understanding and appreciation of the strengths of the dulcimer and developing our skills to utilizing its strengths so we can play the music we love on this instrument we love.
Beginning with demonstrating our Intermediate Skills (playing melodies and chords, keeping steady timing, utilizing articulations (hammer-ons, slides, pull-offs and bends and harmonics.) We鈥檒l advance to noter-style and flatpicking with strumming variations, blending all of these techniques are we create our own arrangements of tunes we know and those we are learning.
As you master these skills, you will understand your entire fretboard more deeply and be able to play more smoothly, expressively, with and without tablature.
Your growing understanding of chord progressions will help you recognize songs and tunes so you can follow them by scanning written music/tablature as well as by ear. As a result, you鈥檒l be able to thrive in jam sessions in a variety of ways.
By trying things that are unfamiliar, you can broaden your palate so that more ways to play are as tasty to you as your standard fare as you recognize and develop your own playing style.
Questions about this class should be directed to Steve at seulberg@gmail.com
LEVEL 5 鈥� Beyond Intermediate 鈥� Joe Collins
Please read the entire class description carefully so that you will be prepared to fully participate!
The focus of the Level 5 morning class this year is 鈥淒eveloping Your Unique Voice on the Dulcimer.鈥� While we will talk about and refine skills, a level 5 class assumes that you are competent in all skills required at levels 1-4 whether you have mastered them or not. The goal of the week will be to synthesize what you can do into a 鈥淰oice鈥� out of which you can more consistently perform.
Some planned topics include:
- Accuracy 鈥� playing cleanly (i.e.hitting the right notes at the right time)
- Rhythms 鈥� playing the same song in different metrical patterns. Strumming & picking strategies
- Controlling Tempo 鈥� manipulating speed to make the music say what you want it to say
- Structure 鈥� designing parts of a song for effect (intros, bridges, tags, verses, choruses)
- Variety 鈥� giving you and your audience a break from the 鈥渟ame old thing鈥�
- Emotive Objectives 鈥� investigating how and why your music makes people feel
Other topics are likely to arise as we dig into songs that you bring with you and that the instructor introduces.
Please bring three or four pieces of music around which you want to develop your voice. (Bring some of your favorite songs.) Please bring several extra copies. As time permits, both the instructor and class members will offer suggestions as you determine the direction you wish to take these songs.
Joe can answer any questions you may have about this class. Email him at dulciman@bellsouth.net
Dulcimer U Photos
