Celtic Connection

I love Celtic music in a big way. Being all Norwegian and Finnish, you'd think I'd gravitate toward that, and I do like it. But there is something about the lilt of an Irish Jig that really sets my toes a tapping, and I find it completely irresistable. My very soul is moved and transported to the magical hills of Ireland, and I find myself longing for a land I've never been to except in books, pictures and movies. But the music can surround me and flow through my fingertips through my dulcimer, and out my mouth in singing. And my locks of light auburn waves fit the music so well, and the color comes from a bottle, but I can't be any other color. It suits me as well as the music suits my soul.

I found an amazing online source in The Session today. So I have signed up to fuel my obsession even further. Another useful link is the Irish Traditional Music Archive, which is an online treasure for folks like me. Add to that the following:

• http://www.celticmusicpodcast.com/
• http://www.cpmusic.com
• http://www.libraryireland.com/
• www.freesheetmusic.net 

And I'm in my very happy place. I am seriously ready to retire right now, I have so many projects to keep my heart dancing, my fingers strumming, and my soul singing. Twenty years of work and then, then, I will be able to retire and pursue my passion full time. I should be a pretty good player by then anyway!

Strings and Songwriting

An amazing thing happens sometimes when I am playing my dulcimer, sometimes I get a musical phrase that is all my own. I'm building a relationship with her, my dulcimer named Mary Ann, and she is telling me her secrets bit by bit. I have written one tune, and have another one in the works, and I am looking forward to this wonderful dialog. Right now I'm concentrating on going through the book "Lapidus on Dulcimer 2" and so I am joyfully working on new songs!

The other thing I want to get back to is learning more traditional Finnish tunes on my dulcimer. It's an adventure for sure, as I'm still learning to play. Hey, I just started to learn my first song in DAa! I've been a solid DAd player since getting her last May. Which reminds me, her first birthday is coming up soon, April 19th  and then there is her adoption date, which conveniently matches my wedding anniversary of May 13th. I might as well be rambling on about a girlfriend that I'm infatuated with, because that kind of sums up the relationship. We're very close and I absolutely adore her. There is so much to be thankful for in the past year, and I'm starting to take her out and about and play her at some jams. Tomorrow night we're going to St. Paul to join in on one, and I hope we do well. We will endeavor to have a good time anyway.

I can't remember how I stumbled across this next clip, but there is an interesting Zither there, and I'm super inspired by it, you may be too. It's Basia Bulats and she's playing a zither called a Pianoette in the video. She also plays autoharp. I'm currently searching out her videos online.

Music and Fiction

This past weekend was spent hanging at MarsCon 2012, one of the local Science Fiction and Fantasy Conventions. You might be asking yourself what that has to do with music, and all I have to say is LOTS. The theme this year was "Rockin' The Apocolypse" and it certainly lived up the title. One of the new things to come along is funny music with a SF&F or Fan theme. It is a great creative mix that's called the Dementia track and is put together each year by the great Luke Ski. It's fun and music taken to an extreme. There are some seriously talented folks who present each year, and not all of their stuff is Dementia oriented.

Case in point, the talented Beth Kinderman. She really is a fantastic songwriter, and it's mostly SF&F fan stuff. But it's her passion and she has been pursuing it relentlessly for the past several years. If you are a fan and are familiar with the term Mary Sue, you need to check out the lyrics of her song of that title. She also was one of the hosts of the Space Oddity Music Club & Brew Pub room party at MarsCon 2012. That's where I came in. Friday night there was a music circle and I brought my dulcimer as I threatened to. I managed to fumble through about four songs, and drummed a bit on another. I consider it a good effort on my part, and I managed to avoid the epic crash and burn that I did at Convergence in 2010 with my Autoharp.

New Dulcimer Book 2.0

A week ago I finally broke down and ordered Lapidus on Dulcimer 2. It is THE place to get tab/music of Joni Mitchell's four tunes written on the mountain dulcimer from her album "Blue". I fell in love with "Carey" when I saw Cyndi Lauper sing it on a tribute to Joni on TV years ago, and I've always loved "A Case of You" since I first heard it, who knows how long ago now. So I've been aware of this book since it was featured in Dulcimer Player News, added to a very long wish list of dulcimer related items that I want to aquire. I waited patiently...and it finally arrived last night! :)

Since I purchased it directly from the author it is a signed copy. This makes the geek in me quite happy, and the hippy in me loves the story of the book and how it came to be at the back. In just about a week I'll be going to one of my favorite SF&F conventions in town and a friend is hosting a music and gaming room, I plan to sit in on some music circles and enjoy hanging out with other music geeks like me. After that, I will dive in head first and study the book from cover to cover. There are lots of good lessons, chord charts, alternate tunings galore, and songs by all of the cool kids in there.

It looks like I haven't been updating in a while here, I've been very distracted with being distracted. My dulcimer now has a shiney new 1 1/2 fret and I've been happily playing with that, re-learning some of my favorite songs. Not having my dear Mary Ann for about three weeks threw me into a musical tizzy, and I found myself soothing my nerves with my kantele quite a bit. But that's the subject of a completely different post. Suffice it to say, I was thrilled to get my dulcimer back on my lap. She is a darling instrument and she sits quietly each morning in her stand as I sip my coffee and write in my journal. The cats think I'm just sitting and adoring them, but Mary Ann is part of the family as well.

And now I've got a thick juicy book to work through, so Spring is already arrived in my music room. I can't wait to see the flowers start to emerge and bloom to the sound of my dulcimer. That reminds me, I've been wanting to learn The Garden Song since before I got my dulcimer...I'll have to look up the chords for that one.

Music is Life

On Wednesday I was turned onto folk musician and duclimer player Claudia Schmidt, and I enjoyed viewing the YouTube videos of her performing. Of course I checked out her website, her wonderful and long history as a folk and jazz musician, and her long list of CD's to choose from. I had never heard of her before, and I was thrilled to find this dragon's treasure of folk/jazz goodness.

Just out of curiosity, I checked out her calendar. Sometimes you come across something really cool only to find the band or musician moved on a few years ago and has never been heard from again. Not so with Claudia! In fact, I saw that should would be playing locally on Thursday night! I immediately contacted my sister and invited her out to dinner and Claudia's show at the 318 Cafe in Excelsior. Talk about serendipity!!

We got there an hour before the show so we could get settled and get something to eat. The food was very good, with all kinds of yummy options on the small menu. I officially love Guac with tortilla chips, as an example. And they even had a couple of my favorite Surly Beers to choose from! I chose Bender for the evening, and it was definitely a good choice.

When Claudia got on stage in front of a crowd of about 50 of us, the mood in the room turned to joy. She really puts on a great show, and I've signed up for her update list. She mentioned that she has a new album coming out this Spring that she recorded with Sally Rogers, the first album they've done together in 22 years. I picked up their "While We Live" and I have yet to find time to listen to it. Maybe Saturday when I'm cleaning the house will be good.

Something fun to look forward to while doing drudge work anyway. It will be a good way to start the weekend, I think.

Bass String & Cardboard Dulcimer Update

Well, thanks to my trusty wine opener I got my cardboard dulcimer strung with the bass string so it is now playable! It's a three string which is how I play anyway, and I think I found where it originally came from. It looks just like the barn red simplicity dulcimer from Backyard Music. The picture here is from their website, so I wanted to share where it originated.

Now that I have it actually playable, I went through my songbook and had a little fun tonight. I could not play one of the newest songs I have been learning, Edelweiss, as this dulcimer does not have a 6 1/2 fret. The action is fairly good, and while it's not as nice as my lovely FolkCraft dulcimer, it does an admirable job. When I pick out a melody with just one string, it rings out loud and clear. Strumming chords is a little trickier and I have to play with how I use the pick to get the best sound. It is a good learning experience, and I might just break out some art supplies and decorate it a bit. Giving it my own personal touch seems like the right approach for me, as I'm just so darned visually oriented.

Finding a company like Backyard Music is also exciting for me. Learning the dulcimer has been such a joy, it's great to see folks who make it possible for anyone to learn to play this wonderful instrument. They even have banjos and harps too!

Dulcimer Jones

Dulcimer Jones, I've got a dulcimer Jones, I've got a dulcimer Jones oh Baby Oo-oo-oo!

It's true. I just dropped off my dulcimer to have the 1 1/2 fret added two hours ago, and I'm already missing it terribly. When I decided it was time to add that little option, I figured I would just use the cardboard dulcimer my friend gave to me. It's a backup! Yay! I wouldn't be completely without my dulcimer. The strings were ancient and nearly black, so a couple of weeks ago I got a new set. Melody and middle string went in without any trouble. This was my first time changing strings, and it was going very well indeed. Then, when I was tightening the bass string I was overconfident. I tightened it too much too fast and *SNAP* no more bass string. No problem, I said to myself, I'll just pick up a new bass string when I drop off my dulcimer for the addition of the fret.

So I left my dulcimer behind, confident in the knowledge that I would be able to play my back-up cardboard dulcimer tonight once I added that pesky bass string. It didn't go so well, in fact, the tiny flat head nail the loop end of the string goes in got pushed in so I can't get the loop on. Oh yes, I did try and pry it up with my fingernail, then a utility knife blade, even trying to grip it with the wire cutters, all with no success.

A two string dulcimer is not going to meet the needs of my heart, longing after it's dulcimer. Now I understand how people can have more than one dulcimer, and why I really would like to have a back-up one at this point as well. Hopefully I'll get the nail pulled and a new one put in it's place within the next couple of days. Until then, I'll be missing my sweet Mary Ann...big time.