How To Play Dulcimer by Larry McCabe published by Santorella Publications is a beginners guide in learning how to play the Mountain Dulcimer. Each lesson is written in easy-to-read tablature, therefore note reading experience is not required. We included lead sheets for those who may have some ability to read music, but the approach to this method is a simple one. Great care has been taken to anticipate any questions that may arise.
This Santorella Publication is designed for dulcimer beginners of all ages and includes an instructional CD to make playing the mountain dulcimer a fun and exciting recreational hobby. Learn to play all these great songs in no time at all with How To Play Dulcimer. Its a snap!
Roll on the Ground Old Joe Clark When the Saints Go Marching In Boil em Cabbage Goin to Boston Fais Dodo Down in the Valley Wausau Polka Golden Slippers Molly Malone I Know Where Im Going Across the Western Ocean Green Pastures Waltz Shady Grove Nine Hundred Miles Nonesuch Handsome Molly
FOREWORD by the author, Mr. Larry McCabe
How would you like to take a trip to the mountains, enjoy the beautiful scenery, listen to a rippling stream, breath the pure air, watch an eagle fly and just plain get away from it all? After you learn to play the dulcimer, you will be able to do these things every day - spiritually if not physically because the relaxing strains of this beautiful instrument will transport you far away from your everyday worries and cares.
The precise history of the dulcimer as we know it today is almost as mysterious as its sounds.
We do know that instruments related to the dulcimer - simple fretted instruments with a melody string and drone strings date back to the Middle Ages, and we also know that Scandinavians, Germans, and other European immigrants carried dulcimer-like instruments with them to America in the 1800s.
It seems that many of the instruments (and their owners) ended up in the Appalachian Mountains, the region that is now considered the home of the modern mountain dulcimer. It was perhaps in the mountains that the fretted dulcimer, miraculously persevering as the industrial age encroached upon tradition, evolved into its present form. The Appalachians is also where the great dulcimer revival, led by Jean Ritchie, began in the late 1950s.
The dulcimer is currently enjoying a renaissance of popularity: the instrument is a mainstay at folk festivals; excellent new dulcimer recordings are available on CD; and many talented luthiers are crafting dulcimers of superior quality. This unique, haunting instrument remains viable because many wise people have learned that playing the dulcimer helps them rediscover the joy of simplicity. In addition, that daily spiritual trip to the mountains is a surefire anecdote for the stresses of the modern world.
