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.