The Devil in Music - we can't live without it!

A musical interval that spans three whole tones is called a tritone (three + tone).  The interval created by three whole tones is an augmented 4th.  It may also be recognized as a diminished 5th.  Whatever the name, this interval is dissonant in the extreme.  Church practice during the Middle Ages banned the use of this dissonant interval.  They called it “diabolus in musica”…. The devil in music.

But those church leaders were tilting at windmills.  The tritone appears naturally in music.  It can be found on the diatonic scale between the 4th and 7th degrees.  On a G-scale the tritone appears between C and F#.  On a D-scale the tritone appears between the G and the C#.   

Common Chord Modulation: Diatonic Pivot Chords

Many of the standard expression tools used on most instruments aren’t available to hammer dulcimer players.  We can’t do vibrato.  Bending notes can be done but can be difficult to fit into a fast melody, and it often knocks an instrument out of tune.  We can’t control sustain.  We can’t crescendo on a tone.

But we can change the key in which a melody is played.  That act is called modulation.  It’s an effective technique on the hammer dulcimer; especially for solo players.  Here’s  how to do it.

When In Doubt: The WID

Every dulcimer player needs a tool box of rhythmic and harmonic performance techniques that can be deployed to make playing sound better or to carry-on in the midst of an unfamiliar tune.  If you master only one such technique, learn the WID and apply it “when in doubt”.

The WID is a mainstay in the playing of one of the masters of the hammer dulcimer, Walt Michael (www.waltmichael.com).  Walt often teaches the WID in classes and is credited with naming the pattern.  Occasionally he has been known to refer to it as a “WAEF”.  That’s pronounced “WAVE” and stands for “when all else fails”.

Pivot Chords: the fast way to learn chords

Note to music majors:  This post is NOT about common chord modulation. 
I’ll do a post on diatonic pivot chords later.  This post is about chord exercises. 

One of the important learning goals for dulcimer players is to master chords.  That means understanding how chords are formed and where the tones are located on the instrument.  The pivot chord exercise is one practice technique to help you reach that goal.

It’s A Drum!

Most of us come to the hammer dulcimer because of its voice and the infectious way it presents melodies.  But the fact is….. the hammer dulcimer is a percussion instrument.  It’s a drum. 

Strong players understand this fact.  The realization might be intuitive or might come from long and thoughtful practice.  Here are two sources to help you develop rhythm and the skill to break the hammer dulcimer mantra of “always alternate your hammers”.

Sticky Tuning Wrench???

Hammer dulcimer players, harpers and autoharpers tune more than most musicians.  They do so across a huge range of pitches and often with multiple courses supporting each tone.  That’s a lot of “wrench-time”.  

Sometimes the tuning wrench doesn’t let go of the tuning peg without a bit of wiggling.  Worse yet, sometimes the wiggling to free the wrench may knock a string out of tune.  Anything that slows down or confounds the tuning progress is frustrating.  You don't have to suffer a sticky tuning wrench.

Here is a simple cure.  Use a lead pencil to mark the inside of the hole in the tuning wrench.  Put the point of the pencil into the hole of the tuning wrench and rub it along the interior of the hole.  A star-shaped wrench has eight star-points spaced around the opening.  Run the pencil up and down each of those star points.  This puts a small amount of graphite on the shoulders of the wrench and makes it slick.  It will be easier to slide on and off tuning pegs.

You may be tempted to trot off to the hardware store and buy a tube of powdered graphite that is intended to lubricate locks.  That will certainly work.  But it is also likely to put far too much graphite into the wrench opening.  It could be a real mess on your dulcimer.  Stick with the lead pencil.  It works and doesn’t deliver too much of a good thing.

Rock 'n Roll on the Hammer Dulcimer

It's time for rock-n-roll on the dulcimer!  The choice is the 1960's rock-n-roll song Stand By Me   

It's a great tune that has endured for half a century.  Here are some points to note about it.

    * Rolling Stone Magazine ranked Stand By Me as number 122 on its list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

    * In 1999, BMI reported that Stand By Me was the fourth most-performed song of the 20th century, with more than 7 million performances.