Festival Schedule

Upper Intermediate– Many old folk songs are public domain, often with unknown composers and numerous variants, belonging to all of us. With research and thought, we can learn and rework these treasures to make them our own, altering melody, lyrics, rhythms, keys, and more, adapting and keeping them relevant. Songs covered as time allows will include “Hush, the Waves are Rolling In”, “Jenny Jenkins”, “One Morning in May”, “Going to the West”, and “As I Roved Out”.

Advanced – Are you feeling the need for speed? Would you like to take your dulcimer playing to new levels? In this workshop we will explore ways to increase our speed and fluidity. Topics covered will include more advanced use of hammer-ons, pull-offs, slides, and picking techniques, as well as ways to use them together to create faster, smoother runs and phrases. We will have a look at some familiar tunes and play them in new and exciting ways! Tunes covered will include Spotted Pony, Sally Slapped Me with a Flounder, and Sugar Hill. All tunes will be in the key of D and use DAD tuning.

Intermediate – Dive into several different right hand, flat picking techniques to play “Wildwood Flower” with Kara . These patterns will dress up any song you play and are guaranteed to impress your friends, family and pets.

Absolute Beginner – Welcome to the wonderful world of mountain dulcimers! Get an introduction to your instrument, tuning, strumming, and reading tab. By the end of class you’ll be playing a tune or two in traditional style. DAD tuning

Novice – Using The Water is Wide, I will guide you through Hand Separation—an important skill and an easy way to accompany your melody. We play the melody with the left hand while the right hand adds a root to fifth bass ostinato. Don’t know what this means? No problem! I’ll make it accessible for all.

Upper Intermediate – Have fun learning a couple gems from the lively SouthWest Virginia tradition. These will be great tunes to explore rolls, bounces and build speed and hammer control.

Intermediate – We’ll start in D-A-D and separate our two D melody strings to create the tuning, D-A-D-D and then adapt songs that are tabbed for three strings. We will address how four equally-distant strings affect and change the use of drones, tunings, chording, fingerpicking patterns, and more. We will then examine songs specifically arranged for 4 equally-distant strings. Songs covered will include, as time allows, “Love Is Little”, “The Riddle Song”, “The Blackest Crow”, “Spanish Lady”, and “Saddle and Ride”.

Upper Intermediate – Discover the fun of music that puts a skip in your step with measures of extra beats. We’ll use hammer-ons, pull-offs, and slides on tunes from old-time greats like Ernie Carpenter, Henry Reed, and Edden Hammons. Our tunes will include “Elk River Blues,” “Camp Chase,” “Texas (New Castle),” “Fine Times at Our House,” and “Santa Ana’s Retreat.” We’ll play in keys of D, G, and A, so please bring a capo.

Advanced – We’re going to pump up your pinky! We’ll build your pinky up with a few tasty chord progressions then learn a pinky heavy song by Kara. The pinky is a terrible finger to waste.

Novice – One of the strengths of mountain dulcimer is using different tunings to play in a minor mode, or Aeolian. You’ll be introduced to such favorites as Shady Grove – easy to play in the traditional noter/droner style. DAC tuning

More soon…

Absolute Beginner – In this class, I’ll share my list of common mistakes I made as a beginner and how to fix them. We’ll start with the optimal grip for holding your hammers and how to produce the best tone. We will explore techniques that will make everything you play sound better. I’ll also share my tips for tuning, and my favorite apps for improving your ear and rhythm.

Intermediate- We’ll listen to compelling songs and voices captured on early recording technologies from public archives available to all of us and navigate how to adapt and arrange these songs on the mountain dulcimer. Songs covered as time allows will include: “Block Island Song”, “The Conscript’s Departure”, “My Bonny, Bonny Boat”, “500 Miles”, “The Jamestown Homeward Bound”, and “Sister Sally”. We’ll start in D-A-D and address fingerpicking, chord-melody style, tunings and keys, the slap strum, and many delightful historical notes about the songs.

Upper Intermediate – Let’s get you out of your slump and take you to the next level! A 15 to 30 minute, well organized practice session will benefit you so much more than an hour of spinning your wheels. I’m going to present you with a few challenges and show you how to easily overcome them. I’ll share my magical formula with you and teach you a few new tricks while we’re at it.

All Levels – TablEdit is the prefered computer notation software of many mountain dulcimer arrangers. In this class, I will show you the ins and outs of using TablEdit software to create mountain dulcimer tablature. You’ll learn about some of the “hidden features”, useful keyboard shortcuts, and formatting tips. In the first hour, you’ll re-create a couple of existing transcriptions. In the second hour, we’ll do Q&A and tips and tricks. Class will be recorded and lots of handouts will be provided for future reference as well.

More soon…

Intermediate – Most of our treasure of Appalachian tunes and melodies came from the Celtic, Scots-Irish tradition and many were modal in nature. Explore a few of these lively as well as haunting and plaintive tunes as you experience the subtle difference in sound and placement of the modal scales.

Intermediate – Are you looking to explore other keys and tunings to get a bit more out of your dulcimer? In this 2-hour workshop, we will look at ways to play in keys other than D using DAD tuning, DAC tuning, DGD tuning, and AAD tuning (Note: this not the same as DAA tuning. We will instead be tuning our bass strings down to a low A). Tunes covered will include Pig Ankle Rag, Shady Grove, Sandy River Belle, and Kitchen Girl. We will also have a look at some chord shapes in these tunings to help accompany these tunes!

Novice – No picks needed when you use your fingers to do the plucking! Exercises to gain facility with picking individual strings, a variety of picking patterns, and methods for streamlining the process are introduced. After a bit of practice the techniques are applied to beautiful tunes, including “The Water is Wide,” “Sky Boat Song,” and more. Capo needed. DAD tuning

All Levels – The spirit of a place, the land, or perhaps a memory from home each carry a story that we can write into a song. Drawing inspiration from our theme of Appalachian culture, let’s turn inward to heart and hearth, remembering our roots, our ancestors, our place in the world. Using one of my songs as an example, I’ll explain how I use detail, description, and imagery to bring a place to life in a song. We’ll do writing exercises that help you discover and expand your own ideas. We’ll talk about song craft, what goes into a verse, chorus, and bridge, and how to create a melody, tempo, and chord structure that serves the lyrics. Please bring a notebook and pen or pencil for exercises (or use your computer). Have an instrument nearby to try out musical ideas. We’ll take
frequent breaks for questions and sharing.