2011 Dulcimer Week Classes

Morning courses contain a total of twelve and a half hours of sequential training, primarily focusing on playing and general music skills, including repertoire to demonstrate those skills. Afternoon courses provide six and a quarter hours of sequential repertoire teaching, at the skill levels specified.

MOUNTAIN DULCIMER CLASSES

(For students who do not have their own mountain dulcimer yet, we expect to have a couple of excellent rental mountain dulcimers available for a minimal week’s rental fee of $35. To reserve one email Program Coordinator, Lois Hornbostel, at Loisdulc@frontier.com)

BEGINNER MOUNTAIN DULCIMER: SKILLS (Jan Hammond)
Prerequisites: No previous music skills are required. In this class you will join the fun and interesting world of the Appalachian mountain dulcimer. You will learn how to care for the dulcimer, how to change a string without fear, how to properly hold the dulcimer on your lap, proper posture while playing, and how to hold and use a pick. We will learn how to read and understand dulcimer tablature (playing by fret numbers). Once we learn how to play with tab we will learn how to play without it, by ear. You will learn how to strum smoothly and how to use different strum patterns, then how to make a strum pattern work into a tune. The noter stick is used in traditional style playing, and we will learn to play with it for a unique sound. We’ll explore the various modes and learn tunes in four of them. Once the class is comfortable with the above, we’ll explore the basics of playing some harmony notes on the mountain dulcimer. If time allows, we’ll introduce basic fingerpicking techniques. You’ll learn how to play together in a group, in a stress-free, lighthearted class where you will make new friends while enjoying yourself with music. You’ll need to bring a mountain dulcimer, pick, an electronic tuner if you have one, a pencil, and a music stand. Jan will provide a noter, a class booklet and possibly a few other goodies for each participant.

INTERMEDIATE MOUNTAIN DULCIMER: SKILLS (Rob Brereton)
Prerequisites: You should be comfortable with the material content of our Beginner course. We’ll start with a review of skills and typical repertoire from the Beginner level. Beginner strumming will be developed into syncopated strumming to fit a more varied repertoire of music, and we’ll learn how to play chords and melody at the same time. We will learn fingerpicking for both melody and as accompaniment, and cover chords and chord shapes in the DAD tuning and discover more chord choices to accompany melodies. Left-hand techniques such as hammer-ons, pull-offs, and slides will be demonstrated and applied to several pieces. We’ll find out why capos work and practical applications of this handy little device (If you do not have a capo, some will be for sale during Dulcimer Week at the Acoustic Corner booth.) We’ll discuss the “hows and whys” of music and see how music theory is applied to your dulcimer. This will lead to discovering how to convert a piece of music to dulcimer tablature. Course-appropriate repertoire will be used to demonstrate each topic.

ADVANCED MOUNTAIN DULCIMER: SKILLS (Butch Ross)
Prerequisites: A capo, a working familiarity with DAD (i.e., you can strum consistently and work well with chords) and a desire to have fun. Pens, pencils, music stands and voice recorders are also welcome and encouraged. After assessing students’ experience, Butch has planned a week-long, enjoyable and skill-appropriate exploration of ideas and techniques culled from other genres of music, such as classical, jazz and rock-n-roll, to propel your playing into the stratosphere. Using primarily DAD tuning and a capo, we’ll explore string bending, harmonics and just plain crazy stuff. We’ll cover chord voicing and voice leading, chord-melody techniques, fingering and flatpicking, syncopation and “owning” 16th notes, arranging & re-arranging, a bit of theory: the rules you NEED to know, as well as when and how to break them, what it means to find your OWN voice on the dulcimer and how to get there.

ADV. MD. REPERTOIRE (Rob Brereton)
In this course you will learn a varied repertoire to support Advanced techniques. Tunes will include American fiddle folk music, Celtic fiddle music and ballads, Irish harp tunes by Turlough O’Carolan, and European and contemporary style music. Some ensemble work will be included.

INTERMED. MD REPERTOIRE: ROCK'N'ROLL DULCIMER (Butch Ross)
If you’re in the Intermediate Skills morning course, this can complement your learning experience and it will be lotsa fun. As Butch says, “I’d like to spend a few quality hours in a multi-faceted dialogue that examines the ways in which contemporary music styles such as rock and/or roll can inform traditional dulcimer techni..... Naw, forget that, baby! We’re gonna rock out!” Everyone from Elvis to Lady Gaga is fair game as we learn about the power and surprising versatility of our humble box-zither. You don’t have to play or even want to play rock-n-roll to take this class; what we learn here will inform your playing no matter WHAT your style is.You bring the dulcimer, Butch will bring the RAWK!!! (Black T-shirts and sunglasses not required but strongly encouraged).

HAMMERED DULCIMER CLASSES

(For students who do not have their own hammered dulcimer yet, we expect to have 2-3 excellent rental hammered dulcimers available for a minimal week’s rental fee of $35. To reserve one, email Ken Kolodner at Kenkolodner@aol.com)

BEGINNER HAMMERED DULCIMER: SKILLS (Cindy Ribet)
No prerequisites. Reading music is helpful but not necessary. A hammered dulcimer w/stand, hammers and tuning wrench are required and a chromatic tuner and audio recorder are recommended. We’ll cover not only fundamental playing techniques, but also basic chording for keeping up in jams or playing along with others. The class will cover musicality, chording, embellishing, easy rhythms, and hammering techniques in ways that are easy to understand so that students can continue their progress when they leave. We’ll also cover tuning, how to hold the hammers correctly, learning the notes of the dulcimer, playing scales, picking apart tunes to make them easier to learn, hammering techniques and exercises. We will also set aside time for practicing and jamming together. If you have questions feel free to email Cindy at CRibet@frontier.com.

INTERMEDIATE HAMMERED DULCIMER: SKILLS & ARRANGING (Ken Kolodner)
Prerequisites: Students should know how to play scales in the key of A, D, G and C, possess some basic hammering skills, and a working repertoire of at least a half-dozen tunes. The focus of this two-period morning course is on the development of hammering skills, gaining a full understanding of the layout of the instrument, and learning a variety of techniques used for arranging. With a variety of relatively simple tunes, we will discuss alternate approaches to hammering patterns and how to fill out the pieces using a variety of ideas and techniques such as two-note chord intervals, rolled-chords, flams, bass line construction, tremolos, arpeggio fills, runs, ghosting, a variety of rhythmic ideas and more. The application of basic chord theory will be included. The tunes and ideas will be taught through demonstration, by ear and by using standard musical notation. Use of a recording device is highly recommended.

ADVANCED HAMMERED DULCIMER:
SKILLS – EXPANDING YOUR TECHNIQUE (Randy Marchany)
Prerequisites: Students should have a good grasp of their instrument and a good repertoire of songs. You’ll learn and practice various techniques such as single-hand exercises (double/triple rolls, grace note, etc.), chording, transposition, and improvisation. We’ll apply these techniques on a variety of song styles (jazz, Celtic, old-time, swing, ethnic). Other performance skills like dynamics, phrasing, harmonies, chord progressions and arranging will be discussed and students will select some songs and apply what they’ve learned in class. Students will also learn how to incorporate “space” when playing in an ensemble. We’ll cover“stupid pet tricks” for the hammer dulcimer, and rhythmic skills for those players who have instruments with dampers.

INTERMEDIATE & ADVANCED HD: REV UP YOUR REPERTOIRE! (Wes Chappell)
Tired of playing the same songs all the time? This class is designed to broaden your repertoire. We’ll learn tunes from a range of styles and genres, including Celtic, swing, old-time, jazz, and original music. We’ll learn how to transform a tune from one style to another and the difference between a tune for a dance vs. a tune for a concert. The ability to read music is helpful but not necessary to enjoy this class. We’ll use our ears, eyes and whatever senses we have left (sense of humor,etc...). Some of the tunes to be covered will be “The Cuckoo’s Nest/ Nine points of Roguery,” “Jiggle the Handle/ Potato Hill,” “Roumanian Rhumba,” “Lady Be Good,” “Windy and Warm,” “Take Five”, “Brightleaf,” “Poppyleaf Hornpipe”, “The Isles of Langerhans” and more! As you can see, we will feast on a smorgasbord of sound. A good time will be had by all. (that sounds like a tune title). Sharing each other’s tunes will be encouraged in class also. Heck, we might even write a class tune for our final exam! Requirement for morning class: bring teacher caffeine.

INTERMEDIATE HD REPERTOIRE (Randy Marchany)
“What to play? What to play? ... Boy, I’d sure like to learn some of those No Strings Attached songs...” In this course you’ll learn some pieces from different styles of music such as old-time, Celtic, ethnic and jazz/swing. We’ll learn from a variety of sources such as a.) from a live musician, b.) from a CD/mp3 file, c.) from sheet music, and d.) a combination of these. You’ll learn some of Randy’s compositions, including waltzes (“French Girl’s Waltz,” “Pachobel’s Waltz,” “Princess Waltz,” “Waltz of the Jewel”), up-tempo songs (“Kartune,” “Mariachi Meltdown”), ballad-style (“Pretty Fine,” “T-Bear’s Lullaby,” “Planxty Clint Eastwood”) and some newer songs like “Carlos’ Tune.”

INTERMEDIATE & ADVANCED HD: ENRICH YOUR REPERTOIRE! (Wes Chappell)
Enrich your playing with musical arrangements in Wes’s style, chosen from many different music genres. This will be different repertoire from Wes’s morning course - a little less challenging, and a good opportunity whether you took his morning course or had a different course. Examples of some of the tunes to be covered: “Mariachi Meltdown,” “Banish Misfortune,” “Boys of Ballisodare,” “Sorta Samba,” “Norwegian Wood Jig,” “CW’s Bounce,” “Bryson Hall Waltz” and more!

ADVANCED HD REPERTOIRE: GREAT OLD-TIME TUNES YOU SHOULD KNOW (Ken Kolodner)
For those eager to branch out beyond the “Top 40 of old-time music,” we will learn some of Ken’s favorites that are much less familiar but are growing in popularity on the festival circuit. We will work on achieving the groove and swing that forms the rhythmic core of old-time music, and we will add in a few variations and additional tricks!

"DULCIMER-COMPATIBLE" INSTRUMENT CLASSES

We have arranged for our Swannanoa Dulcimer Week students to rent good-playing guitars and banjos, and autoharps at a very economical rate of $35 for the week, from Acoustic Corner in nearby Black Mountain. You can reserve yours (while they last), by phoning Acoustic Corner at 828-669-5162 or e-mailing them at contact@acoustic-corner.com. You can also check with Lois Hornbostel, Dulcimer Week Coordinator, at Loisdulc@frontier.com

GUITAR (Patrick Crouch)
This class will be beneficial to beginning or established guitar players who wish to accompany dulcimers, other instruments, or singing. We will develop chords, bass lines, and countermelodies that complement the sound of the dulcimer’s lead, while learning rhythm and texture techniques essential for expressive accompaniment. Students will learn “chord families” which may be used to harmonize melodies in the jam/dulcimer-friendly keys of D, G, and A. We will learn strums, and be introduced to cross-picking and fingerpicking patterns to accompany music in various meters such as: 2/4 (breakdown, reel), 4/4 (ballad, country, jazz, rock), 3/4 (waltz), 6/8 (jig), 12/8 (blues). Hand-outs will be provided for all examples covered in class. Students should bring a flat pick, thumb pick, capo and an electronic tuner. Audio recorders are encouraged.

AUTOHARP (Mike Fenton)
Whether you are a brand-new autoharper or have some experience, we will provide a solid playing foundation for you and help you progress in your skills and fun playing the instrument. (If you do not have an autoharp and would like to rent one, contact Dulcimer Week Coordinator Lois Hornbostel for details Loisdulc@frontier.com.) Mike’s strong background as a professional educator, his award-winning musical talents, and our small-class format combine to make this multi-level course possible, offering class members progress in their individual playing skills. There will be an emphasis on good melodic and accompaniment techniques and specific reference to playing autoharp with dulcimers and old-time music situations.

OLD-TIME & BLUEGRASS BANJO (Patrick Crouch)
No previous banjo playing experience is needed, but you’ll need a banjo, a banjo capo, a thumb pick & two fingerpicks, and an electronic tuner. Patrick will first demonstrate and explain the difference between these two popular styles of banjo playing. We’ll learn the traditional old-time clawhammer right-hand lick (Bump-diddy rhythm), and the bluegrass right-hand 3-finger “rolls,” for which you will use the thumb and finger picks. He will teach fundamentals like how to tune, and right- and left-hand playing techniques. We’ll learn the most common jamming keys of D, G, and A, which are also the main keys in which dulcimers are played. (This will come in handy as you venture into our evening jams!) You will learn to play accompaniment chords and to play lead on some simple melodies.

JAMMING FOR EVERYONE (Mike Fenton)
This class is for you no matter what instrument you play! One of our most well-versed, spirited and inclusive jam session leaders has been champion autoharper Mike Fenton. He’s learned much of his music in decades of jamming with many of the historical icons of old-time music at the Galax fiddle convention and other traditional gatherings. Mike will take you from the basics of jamming, like determining keys, playing in tune and in rhythm, picking up new melodies by ear, hearing chord progressions, jamming customs, and more nuanced points of enriching the overall sound of a jam. Along the way, students will be taught a number of favorite jamming tunes and songs from American, English and Celtic folk music traditions. Lots of fun, and this class will give you confidence in both our Swannanoa jams and after you go home.

ENRICHMENT SESSIONS

Nandkishor Muley will give an evening presentation of traditional Indian music, explaining the workings and playing techniques of the santur, with an overview of this improvisational music and its history. “Nandu” is also looking forward to learning more Southern Appalachian music and playing in our jam sessions

Doug Orr’s guitar and spirited singing have enlivened many a concert and informal singalong, and his wife Darcy is an accomplished mountain dulcimer player and singer. They will be leading us in song again this year in both those activities.

Betty Smith is a true North Carolina traditional treasure! She sings and plays several stringed instruments, including the mountain dulcimer and the large plucked psaltery (closely related to the hammered dulcimer). Betty is looking forward to meeting everyone and to taking part in one of our Dulcimer Week singalongs, which are becoming legendary!!