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.