Workshop Registration

(Intermediate) 3-part arrangement for mountain dulcimer – Okay, so peace might not happen, but we can still play a peaceful song, right?! Erev Shel Shoshanim (“Evening of Roses”) is a poetic Hebrew love song well known throughout the Middle East, especially in Israeli and Jewish music circles. The song was first recorded in 1956 and its melody is a staple in many Jewish weddings. You’ll love playing it with your dulcimer ensemble with parts for two standards and bass. Get this: I’ll even teach you a simple folk dance to go with it!

Due to copyright restrictions, an official copy of the tab must be purchased in advance at:

https://www.sheetmusicdirect.com/en-US/se/ID_No/1412235/Product.aspx?aff_id=736549. Email proof of purchase to musicwithcongers@gmail.com

(Beginner) You want to play the mountain dulcimer. Let’s get off to a great start. In this class we will learn to tune, strum, fret, take care of our dulcimer, read tab and play our first tunes. It will all involve loads of excitement, information, and laughs! Fasten your seatbelts and let’s take off into a wonderful new world! Bring your instrument, a Snark or Korg tuner, and a pick!

(Intermediate) Jay Ungar and Molly Mason have composed many, many beautiful waltzes. I have worked with them to arrange 22 selections from their “Catskill Mountain Waltzes and Airs” book. In this repertoire workshop we will learn tunes from my dulcimer book of the same name.
Equipment Needed: Dulcimer tuned in DAD. 1 ½ fret helpful but not required.

(Advanced) I wanna show you how to loosen up and liven up your playing. I’m gonna give you the tools to be able to make up interesting and musical things on the fly. We’ll start with learning two ways I approach improvisation. Then I’ll be teaching a simple tune with lots of room to experiment, then using these approaches to improvise within the structure of the tune. Knowledge of chords and chord shapes will be very helpful for the class. DAD tuning.

(Advanced) Go ahead and show off! This workshop will present some arrangements of common fiddle tunes filled to the brim with chromatic embellishments. Demonstrate and improve your flashy skills, even when playing the simplest tunes.

(Beginner) Within this class we will touch on the important “First” considerations when learning the Hammered Dulcimer – hammer hold, getting a good “bounce” – hammer patterns, developing muscle memory – markers, patterns (and more) all while learning a tune! – “Simple Gifts”

(Advanced) Standard dulcimer solo with optional bass – We all love to play fiddle tunes in a jam, but sometimes it’s nice to blues them up a bit and make them new again. Here I’ve taken the standard, “Gray Cat on a Tennessee Farm,” and made it “cool” by just shifting the beats here, there, and just about everywhere! Add a bass dulcimer part and you’re off to a blues bar on Beale Street! We’ll be in DAd tuning but a 1+ fret will be mandatory to make it bluesy. If you have an 8+ on your standard, all the better, but it’s not required.

(Beginner ) Learning the notes available on your instrument – where they are, how scales are devised, and how chords are built – gives you So. Much. Power! Working with the (mostly) diatonic standard fretboard in DAD, you’ll get the information you need, with resources to refer to as learning tools. More advanced musicians will gain a solid review and be able to apply these principles to chord shapes on the standard dulcimer.

(Intermediate) Fly away on the wings of music to Ireland with the melodies of “The Chanter’s Tune,” “The Wind that Shakes the Barley,” and “Buachaille on Eirne.” On our journey, we will explore ornamentations and techniques to make Celtic music come to life, including hammer-ons and pull-offs. Please come with a capo and be prepared to retune!

(All Levels – All Instruments) When it’s time to sit down and practice, what do we do? Most of us have no idea! We will be looking at things to do and ways to use your practice time wisely to get the most benefit out of that time. I’ll give you some ways to use the metronome not only for keeping steady time, but to help perfect your music, and some tried and true practice tips to get those songs under your fingers!

(Intermediate) I’ll teach my favorite exercise, which uses a contemporary “pop” progression as a canvas for practicing various techniques in 6/8 time. We will work on non-alternating sticking patterns, hand separation, bass bridge accuracy, and improvisation.

We’ll be doing sing alongs and dance alongs! We’ll also be doing some music + art activities, so having some markers or crayons handy will be important!

(All Levels) Sometimes it takes a song to liven up a mainly instrumental performance. Maybe you’re looking for a way to incorporate yourself into worship services or as entertainment at nursing homes. No matter the reason, if you love to sing, come learn ways to use the dulcimer as an accompaniment to the singing voice. We’ll learn some backup techniques on the dulcimer that will highlight the voice as well as how to create melodic fills and embellishments on the dulcimer to add to overall sound. Also learn how to make your dulcimer play in any key using 3 chord shapes, a capo, and a tuner!

(All Levels) TablEdit is a great tool for transposing a piece of music to a dulcimer friendly key or octave. We will walk through the steps to do this.
Equipment Needed: A computer (PC or MAC) with TablEdit loaded and a second computer or tablet to sign on to zoom. You will be watching, then working on your own computer in real time.
Skill Level/Prerequisites: You must already know and feel comfortable with the basics of using TablEdit.

(Intermediate) We will first learn this simple tune. Then we will use it as a canvas for various techniques and embellishments. The goal is not only to learn some new embellishment ideas but to learn how to implement them into the music you play. Suitable for players intermediate and up.

This kids workshop will include Music & Movement, Collaborative Songwriting, Art & Music Integration, and Instrument Play-Alongs. Bring something to draw on/with (paper & crayons, markerboard and markers, etc); instrument(s) or noisemaker(s); and set up in a place that allows kids to wiggle.

(Intermediate) We will take a familiar melody and try our hand at writing a 3-part arrangement with melody, harmony, and bass parts. In writing an arrangement, the sky is the limit! This can be thrilling or, you may want to pull your hair out before it’s all over…but humbling when you hear a group playing your arrangement!

(Intermediate) The distinctively elegant and nuanced scales of Renaissance music and English country dances can emerge more fully on the mountain dulcimer when arranged as duets with one dulcimer playing in D-A-C and the other in C-G-C with a capo on the 1st fret. Among our deliciously haunting selections for this class are “Greensleeves,” “The Three Ravens,” and “Abbots Bromley Horn Dance.” Capo Required

(All Instruments) Playing with others is one of the greatest joys of being a musician – and this class will give you the tools you need to join in any jam with confidence! With specific instruction for both mountain and hammered dulcimers, every student will discover how to play the I, IV, and V chords in several keys by using repeatable patterns. Plus, we’ll demonstrate how to follow guitar-players’ hands to recognize chord changes, practice ear training, identify common chord progressions, and learn some back-up techniques to help you blend into jam sessions perfectly.