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Here are two tunes appropriate for Christmas. They both are for a mountain dulcimer tuned DAD and they both need a capo to play. In the eighties, I had a dulcimer built with a scalloped fretboard so that I could wrap an elastic banjo capo under the fretboard. Other players were using chopsticks with large rubber bands. Ron Ewing  "Patapan" This noel is from the Burgundy region of France. It comes from the collection of Bernard de la Monnoye (1641-1728). It is the grandfather of the contemporary "Little Drummer Boy" in that the lyrics are a call for boys to play the flute and drum (tabor). The lyrics say that at Christmas God and man are joined as closely as drum and flute. It is described in the New Oxford Book of Carols as a dance-like noel that remains popular throughout France as a sung carol. In Provence and Gascony it is also part of the pipe-and-tabor repertory of noels and dances that are played at various points (including the elevation) at the Christmas midnight mass. This is an easy dulcimer tune with one not-so-easy challenge. In order to play a D sharp, you must bend the note. Do the bend before you pluck the string and it won't sound like you are trying to play the blues! I find it easier to bend the string towards me rather than away from me. (Ed. Note: By happy coincidence, this issue of DulcimerSessions.com contains an article by Steve Eulberg with photos and descriptions of how he bends notes.) "Christmas Eve" This reel is one of my favorites to play. It is in the key of G. Many years ago in the eighties, Robert Force was producing a mountain dulcimer Christmas LP for Kicking Mule Records called "Pastimes with Good Company." The call went out to the dulcimer community to submit recordings to Robert. At the time I had just completed my first recording with Kevin Burke. I asked him if he had any tunes that were appropriate for a Christmas project. He wrote out his version of "Christmas Eve" and gave it to me. At first, I tried to transpose it to D and quickly realized that it was too hard to play in that key. By using a capo on the third fret, the notes are closer together and the reel can be played at the correct speed. After Steve Einhorn and I recorded "Christmas Eve," I played it for Kevin and he was surprised. Even though he had written it out for me, he didn't think that it was possible to play it on the mountain dulcimer! Kevin recorded this tune later on the Windham Hill recording of "Celtic Christmas Volume 1." What makes it possible is the capo. Playing "Christmas Eve" involves flatpicking. Flatpicking is playing the individual notes in the melody. Some dulcimer players find it easier to rest their pinky finger on side of the dulcimer's fretboard in order to improve accuracy in picking. Don't worry if you accidentally play other notes as you pick the melody. Those notes will be drones or harmonies. The important thing is to sound the melody out clearly. In the transcription, I have used quarter notes on measures 8, 20, 21, 23, 25 and 26. If you listen to the example of in the recording, you will hear us use triplets sometimes instead of the quarter notes on these measures. Sometimes I play it the way it is transcribed and sometimes I play the triplets. Start off using the quarter notes, which make it sound a bit more American (especially with a Texas style guitar back up) and then expand to adding the triplets. The MP3 is an excerpt from "December's Hearth" on the Wizmak label. The recording is of Sylvia Hackathorn on guitar and banjo and Robin Banks McReavy on accordion and myself on mountain dulcimer. For many years I was fortunate to play in a ceili band called "No Seamus." This is a good aural "snapshot" of what our band sounded like .In your left hand, you will need to use proper fingerings in playing the reel. It simply cannot be played to speed if you use only one finger. As I go up the scale, I will slide my ring finger up the fretboard. That keeps the index and middle fingers free to play notes above the notes I fretted with my ring finger. In other words, use your middle and ring fingers and don't just rely on your index. Using the three together will give you more speed. I didn't bother to write out the fingerings because they vary with each player. If you have trouble, don't hesitate to e-mail me through my web page, http://www.e-z.net/~frodsham. About the AuthorLance Frodsham makes his home in the Pacific Northwest. He has taught, played and written about the dulcimer ever since his debut in 1983 on the Kicking Mule Records label. Like many others, Lance was first introduced to the mountain dulcimer through the recordings of Richard Fariņa. While in high school, Lance hitchhiked up Highway 1 from his home in Glendale, California in order to meet Richard Fariņa. Surprised to find that Fariņa had died two years previously, Lance nevertheless made Pacific Grove his home after graduation. He bought a Capritaurus dulcimer from a drunk on Cannery Row and found his way up to Felton, California, where The Capritaurus Dulcimer Shop was the center of the West Coast dulcimer revival. Lance has written and appeared in three books published by Mel Bay and has recorded LPs and CDs for Kicking Mule Records, Wizmak and Mel Bay. Lance has taught at many festivals including the Kindred Gathering, the Claremont Folk Festival, the California Traditional Music Festival, Stringalong Festival in Wisconsin and the Appalachian State University Dulcimer Workshop in Boone, NC. Lance has hosted the Kindred Gathering twice. The Kindred Gathering is a thirty year old moving dulcimer festival which appears somewhere on the West Coast every August, Lance Frodsham can be contacted at his web page, http://www.e-z.net/~frodsham Bibliography and Discography:
These books and recordings are available through the author and CD Baby See http://www.e-z.net/~frodsham for more information. |
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