AboutJohn Blosser Expertise All questions pertaining to the playing of mountain dulcimer, acquisition of dulcimers, books, CDs, etc., how to play, how to learn, WHY to play, where to get a good dulcimer, what books are most helpful to beginners, etc.
Experience Teacher/performer: French Creek (Pa.) dulcimer symposium
Teacher/performer: Sunshine State Music Camp, 2000
Teacher/Performer -- NGFDA Fall Festival, 2000
Performer - various venues for the past l0 years.
Current Florida dulcimer champion, 2000.
Expert: John Blosser Date: 5/9/2008 Subject: playing with a group
Question When playing with a group, is it possible to play in every key or is the dulcimer limited to certain keys? Is there a tuning that is best for group playing?
Thank you
Answer Very complicated question, Eleanor - lets see if I can give a simplified answer. I take it by "group" you mean a group of different instruments. "Traditional" dulcimer is a diatonic instrument, rather like a piano with no black keys. It's usually tuned either DAD or DAA, and in dulcimer jams, usually played in the key of D. It's also quite possible to play in other keys - notably A, G, Bmin, E, C, without retuning, simply by playing different chords which you can locate by picking up a good dulcimer chord book.
Here's where it gets tricky - some dulcimer makers are now adding a 1 1/2 fret, some add other frets, and some are even making chromatic dulcimers, which have all the frets of a guitar and, therefore, make it possible to play in virtually any key. Others play ina four-string setup, which makes other chords and keys possible. Also, if you use a capo, you can play in many other keys and modes, depending on where the capo is placed. You can also re-tune the dulcimer to play in other keys, but you usually don't have time to do this in a group-playing setting, i.e., by the time you get re-tuned to the key of C, the song is over. Some dulcimer players even carry two or more dulcimers, tuned to different tunings...
I suggest you get a couple of good books on dulcimer which list chords, or download Bob Force's "In Search Of The Wild Dulcimer" at www.robertforce.com, for a further explanation...
