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”.