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Skill Levels? How do I compare?
by Steve Eulberg
All of us ask this question at some time or another.
What is my skill level as a musician? What is my skill level on THIS instrument that I am learning to play?From a practical perspective, this is how many festivals and workshops ask us to assess ourselves as we enroll in classes and workshops. I learned this first hand when I started the Colorado Dulcimer Festival many years ago. This was the question asked both by the students and the teachers with whom we contracted to pr…
Chopin's Raindrop Prelude for dulcimer!
by Steve Eulberg I've always been drawn to this lovely prelude by Frederic Chopin, and being able to arrange it and play it on mountain dulcimer feels awesome! I have been been hard at work filming and editing this lesson for mountain dulcimer players on DulcimerCrossing and am delighted to report that it is finally ready!
Chopin wrote this piece in the key of Dflat, and I am playing it in that key, tuning everything 1/2 step lower to Db-Ab-db, but the musical score is written in the mo…
Blue Water Thinking
by Linda Ratcliff
Creativity is a wild mind and a disciplined eye. - Dorothy Parker
My husband and I moved this week, and we now live in our RV on Watts Bar Lake in Tennessee. We have a beautiful view of the lake, right out our back window. Actually, we’re parked on a peninsula, so we can see water from every window in the RV.
I began to wonder if the change in scenery would have any impact on my creativity, so I did some research. I found an article about how our surroundings impact creative think…
Creativity is a wild mind and a disciplined eye. - Dorothy Parker
My husband and I moved this week, and we now live in our RV on Watts Bar Lake in Tennessee. We have a beautiful view of the lake, right out our back window. Actually, we’re parked on a peninsula, so we can see water from every window in the RV.
I began to wonder if the change in scenery would have any impact on my creativity, so I did some research. I found an article about how our surroundings impact creative think…
Original Music on DulcimerCrossing
by Linda Ratcliff
Ability is what you're capable of doing. Motivation determines what you do. Attitude determines how well you do it.
Original Tunes by Steve Eulberg
Sometimes we forget to count our blessings. And one very BIG blessing we have at Dulcimer Crossing is Steve Eulberg.
He is our co-founder, teacher, performing artist, and song-writer. Several of our lessons feature original tunes by Steve.
- Elk in the Meadow
- Club Footed Jib
- Blacktail Weasel & the Ground Squirrel Cl…
Papa-Daughter Concert Window Highlight
by Steve Eulberg
Back when I gave my daughter a Backyard Dulcimer kit for Christmas when she was five, I don't even think I could have imagined the joy that playing a full concert set together would bring to this Papa's heart! Recently we gave an Advent concert on Concert Window and this is the highlight video of one of our family's favorite tunes: Mary & the Baby (Sweet Lamb) [My $25 Patrons have access to the entire archive video of the concert on Patreon]
This traditional tune was colle…
Rich Chords Part 1 & 2
by Linda Ratcliff & Steve Eulberg
Your life will be richer when you use rich chords. - Steve Eulberg
Recently, we uploaded a new series of lessons about how to play Rich Chords on the hammered dulcimer. Rich chords are chords that have other notes added to them, in addition to the 3 notes that go with either the major or the minor chords. To set the stage for building rich chords, in this video Steve begins the series by explaining the basis or construction of major and minor chords.
…
Find Somewhere Quiet
by Linda Ratcliff
It is in that quiet place at our center that we hear the whispers of our soul. - Sue Krebs
It is in that quiet place at our center that we hear the whispers of our soul. - Sue Krebs
Find somewhere quiet. This almost seems too obvious to really need to say. But it's important. Many of you probably have a special room, or your own corner of the living room for practicing your dulcimer. When you have a designated quiet place to practice, you will be less likely to cave in to distractions.
In addition, going to your special practice area helps prepare you mentally for gett…
In addition, going to your special practice area helps prepare you mentally for gett…
How to Practice Smarter, Not Longer
Seek to accomplish more in less time - and have fun doing it.
- Linda Ratcliff
We’ve all heard the saying, “Work smarter, not harder.” Actually, I’ve been trying to do that all my life - succeeding and making good money with some ideas and losing money in others. But I have never given up. I keep on trying to think up new ways to work smarter.
Could we apply this mantra to our music. Most of us don’t need to practice harder - we are already practicing hard enough. But are we making any progres…
We’ve all heard the saying, “Work smarter, not harder.” Actually, I’ve been trying to do that all my life - succeeding and making good money with some ideas and losing money in others. But I have never given up. I keep on trying to think up new ways to work smarter.
Lessons on Bass Dulcimer
by Linda Ratcliff Be adventuresome. Expand your musical world. Learn to play the bass dulcimer.
We have a new lesson taught by our newest teacher, Larry Conger, along with his wife, Elaine Conger. They make a dynamic team as they present a lesson on how to play an original blues tune written by Larry. The most intriguing part to me is to see Elaine playing the bass dulcimer, and hearing how well the two instruments complement each other. Check out the contents for this lesson here.
Enjoy th…
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