| Subject | Date Asked | Expert |
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| Std Mcspadden to... | 8/2/2008 | John Blosser |
Q: Can I safely add baritone strings to a ST34CC without damaging the dulcimer?
A: Sorry I took a coupla days to answer this, Paddy, but since I do not own a baritone dulcimer, I ...
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| left handed dulcimer McSpadden | 7/31/2008 | John Blosser |
Q: My husband is taking his first dulcimer lessons and loves it. He has rented a left-handed dulcimer ...
A: Well, a left-handed dulcimer is just a matter of having the nut/bridge slots cut to reverse the ...
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| various tunings | 6/14/2008 | John Blosser |
Q: Are certain dulcimers only good for certain tunings? For example if i purchase a dulcimer and it is ...
A: Nope, you don't need other dulcimers in order to have different tunings - as far as I know, just ...
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| Keith Young dulcimers | 6/12/2008 | John Blosser |
Q: Just wondering if you have any knowledge regarding the quality of dulcimers made by Keith Young?
A: Rebecca -- While I don't have a lot of personal knowledge of Keith's dulcimers, (I've played a ...
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| playing with a group | 5/9/2008 | John Blosser |
Q: When playing with a group, is it possible to play in every key or is the dulcimer limited to certain ...
A: Very complicated question, Eleanor - lets see if I can give a simplified answer. I take it by ...
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| Translating Printed Music | 3/29/2008 | John Blosser |
Q: I have a lot of dulcimer music in many modes. I don't want to retune my dulcimer currently in Dadd. ...
A: Playing by ear -- I'm convinced it's not a gift; just a matter of years of experience playing in ...
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| Translating Printed Music | 3/29/2008 | John Blosser |
Q: I have a lot of dulcimer music in many modes. I don't want to retune my dulcimer currently in Dadd. ...
A: Well, that's an interesting question. Since I play pretty much only in DAA, and play by ear, not by ...
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| Quality of Cedar Creek Dulcimers | 3/3/2008 | John Blosser |
Q: 1.There's a dulcimer shop in Branson and Silver Dollar City called Cedar Creek Dulcimers. What do ...
A: Well, you asked the right guy about one of your questions -- I am a lifelong DAA player, who ...
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| High Country Dulcimer | 2/28/2008 | John Blosser |
Q: Several years ago I purchased a Mountain Dulcimer from the High Country Dulcimer Shop in Boone N.C. ...
A: Last time I checked, they were in Elizabethton, TN, having moved from Boone. I have no experience ...
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| kit dulcimer recommendation | 2/22/2008 | John Blosser |
Q: My brother gave me a cheap Cripple Creek kit in 1976 for a wedding present. I think it was about ...
A: well, Uncle Bill, you threw me a curveball with this one -- I'm a player, not a maker, and pretty ...
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| guitar chords | 2/13/2008 | John Blosser |
Q: is it possible to transfer guitar chords to dulcimer? if so how?
A: certainly is, Caleb -- at least, in most cases. Because the dulcimer is diatonic, you may have ...
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| Please Help!! | 1/21/2008 | John Blosser |
Q: My bass string on my dulcimer broke:( Thankfully I have another one, and I think I know how to ...
A: easy, Kate -- not to worry - I usually push my string through the hole, leaving it loose enough that ...
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| tuning for a baritone | 12/13/2007 | John Blosser |
Q: I just purchased a beautiful Mcspadden baritone dulcimer. It is tuned AEA. My dulcimer group ...
A: Well, I'm no baritone expert, and I play in DAA, so I went on to some dulcimer chatrooms and here's ...
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| Dulcimer Set-up | 12/5/2007 | John Blosser |
Q: I Built a Kit Dulcimer, turned out Great, however, do not know the correct distance between the ...
A: Hoo, boy, Glen - now you get down to the nitty gritty of dulci-luthiery! This is the tricky part, ...
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| tuning mountain dulcimer part two | 10/14/2007 | John Blosser |
Q: I am in a singing group that plays a variety of music, country folk, bluegrass they want me to try ...
A: hey, tanya, I asked around, and here's what a dulcifriend of mine came up with: Primary tuning DAd ...
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| Buying new...How many strings?? | 9/24/2007 | John Blosser |
Q: Play other stringed instruments but want a dulcimer. I notice some have 3 strings, others have 4,5, ...
A: Well, Charlie, there are several ways of stringing a dulcimer. Some have three, some have four ...
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| stringing a mountain dulcimer | 9/19/2007 | John Blosser |
Q: I am not sure which strings go to which screws.....can they touch when crossing over?
A: Not sure whether you have a scroll-type tuning head or a guitar-type tuning head on your dulcimer, ...
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| mountain dulcimer tuning | 9/3/2007 | John Blosser |
Q: what is aonian tuning? thanks
A: Well, sam, to the best of my knowledge, there is no such critter. There is: --Ionian tuning, ...
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| Bass, Baritone, or Standard | 7/26/2007 | John Blosser |
Q: What are the differences in the fretboards between the types? Are they all the same length, width or ...
A: Hey, Caleb - VERY good question it comes down to this: VSL or Variable String Length -- that's the ...
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| 5 string mountain dulcimer tuning | 5/17/2007 | John Blosser |
Q: OK, how about a five string dulcimer set up as a 2-1-1-1? What's the optimal tuning/string gauge ...
A: Well, you had me stumped on this one, since I don't play in that setup -- so I went onto a couple of ...
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| McSpadden Dulcimer | 5/2/2007 | John Blosser |
Q: I have been searching for dulcimers and wondered what your opinion is about the plywood back vs the ...
A: well, solid wood usually costs more than plywood and is generally thought to give a somewhat better ...
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| Tuning a 5 string | 4/10/2007 | John Blosser |
Q: I have a "Mountain Dulcimer", I purchased in 1983 from Berg Musical Instruments. It is a 2-1-2 ...
A: Yup, your Korg will work just fine - dulcimers can be tuned in many ways - the most popular for ...
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| The difference between a ball string and a loop string for a mountain dulcimer | 12/19/2006 | John Blosser |
Q: My dulcimer(Mountain) needs restrung. I have removed the srings but I do not know the kind of string ...
A: The little round brass thing is the "ball" and if your strings had them, then your dulcimer can take ...
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| 5 string dulcimer | 12/18/2006 | John Blosser |
Q: My father built me a 5-string Bill Davis dulcimer back in 1976. I am finally slowing down enough ...
A: Bill: Well, first of all, I would like to know the setup of your strings - is it five strings, ...
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| dulcimer tuning | 11/19/2006 | John Blosser |
Q: My husband and I are having a hard time tuning the dulcimer to the guitar so we can play together. ...
A: Well, lets see, why is the guitar tuned to C? Wouldn't a guitar normally be tuned E(bottom string), ...
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| Oriental/arabic music on dulcimer? | 10/13/2006 | John Blosser |
Q: Browsed trough old quetions and answers. In an answer you mention oriental/arabic music on/for ...
A: well, MIke, I'm no expert on this, but I went onto some of our dulci-chats, asked around, and an ...
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| !!! | 10/13/2006 | John Blosser |
Q: No question really, just amazed and happy that there are such thing as a dulcimer expert! Have a ...
A: Well, lets see, there are a lot of good web resources. I might suggest ...
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| Stilling trying to chose | 9/29/2006 | John Blosser |
Q: I am searching for my first dulcimer. I am not a musician. I decided to take your expert advice and ...
A: By the way, since you mention Farina, you may want to check out the website www.richardandmimi.com, ...
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| How to play a C | 9/20/2006 | John Blosser |
Q: I am 63 and brand new to playing the dulcimer and trying to teach myself. I have my dulcimer tuned ...
A: 6th fret, either the top or the botton string, and when you press both with the midle string fretted ...
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| tuning for dick and mimi farina tunes | 9/15/2006 | John Blosser |
Q: I am a dulcimer novice and I want to tune my instrument to play the songs Richard and Mimi Farina ...
A: Martha: Now, you're into something I know something about! You might want to get Neal Hellman's ...
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| broken strings | 7/23/2006 | John Blosser |
Q: My dulcimer with the original strings was tuned to DAD. I broke the 2 melody strings. I could not ...
A: well, that's a very good question, George. I don't know how your dulcimer is set up (i.e., what ...
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| Dulcimer accompaniment tuning | 7/4/2006 | John Blosser |
Q: Me and my two friends are amateur players that like to play songs around the campfire. We have a G ...
A: my pleasure -- suggest picking up a good chord book for dulcimer might be a good idea...I use one ...
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| Tom Yocky or Dulcimer Factory | 2/17/2006 | John Blosser |
Q: John, I appreciate the time you are taking to answer folks' questions. I looked. But couldn't find ...
A: Well, I don't know anything about Tom Yocky dulcimers - I do know that the Dulcimer Factory has a ...
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| New player | 12/11/2005 | John Blosser |
Q: I recently designed and built my own dulcimer (from scratch!) and am having problems finding books ...
A: Wow! Good for you! Great going! Let me tackle those questions one at a time: --I think the best ...
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| How to tune ALL FIVE strings of a 5-string dulcimer | 1/5/2005 | John Blosser |
Q: I can find only information on how to tune a three string dulcimer. Please, what is the pattern ...
A: Brenda FIVE-string? Well, as far as I know, a five-string dulcimer is played with a doubled first ...
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| Frailing | 9/24/2004 | John Blosser |
Q: I saw a mention - forgotten where already, yikes! - that you (sometimes?) frail the dulcimer, like a ...
A: Well, usually I teach this in two classes, but here goes a sorta way of explaining it. l. I use ...
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| Dulcimer kit | 9/14/2004 | John Blosser |
Q: I'm a furniture builder & musician. I'd like to learn to play the dulcimer, and, for fun, I'd like ...
A: well, Gordon, first off, sorry it took me so long to reply - I;m in West Palm Beach and we're ...
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| McSpadden | 9/11/2004 | John Blosser |
Q: All of your answers to questions sound like an advetisement for McSpadden. There are numerous ...
A: Well, there's a reason I do that, Bill -- most of the people who ask me questions don't know much ...
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| DAA tuning of a five string dulcimer | 9/7/2004 | John Blosser |
Q: I am a guitar player. My husband bought a 5 string dulcimer and wants us to learn to play it. Our ...
A: Sorry it took me so long to reply! I'm kinda in the middle of a hurricane or two here, living in ...
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| Books on Playing the Dulcimer | 8/24/2004 | John Blosser |
Q: I make and sell mountain dulcimers, among other instruments, in Australia. I get asked by customers ...
A: Sure! That's terrific - do you know of Terry Hennessy? Lives in Kangaroo Valley. If you check out ...
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