Hammered Dulcimers and Hammered Mbira's made in the Vale of Pewsey
I often get asked if Hammered Dulcimers need restringing periodically. I attended a “Meet the Builder” session at the Potomac Dulcimer Festival held on Zoom in the days we couldn’t travel. It was run by Nick Blanton, he had James Jones and Sam Rizetta with him on the panel, so, three of the top buildersRead More
In May 2024 I was very please to welcome Ken Kolodner, Mary Lynn Michal and Laurie McCarrier to Pewsey while they were over in the UK to teach at the Nonsuch Dulcimer Week at Halsway Manor. Halsway Manor is the National Centre for Folk Arts in the UK and runs courses and workshops all yearRead More
Following on from my review of the Ken Kolodner and Mary Lynn Michal’s book on Chord Theory and Mapping for Hammered Dulcimer, which I pretty much gave it a “thumbs up”. I suggested you needed to tackle this book a few pages at a time with your dulcimer to hand. Someone must have heard me…Read More
I posted this on Facebook recently following an interesting discussion on what to do it you are leading a tune and it all goes wrong for you: At the Nonsuch Slow Jam Zoom session yesterday we had an interesting discussion on what do you do if you are leading a tune and it all goes wrong. IfRead More
Many newer Hammered Dulcimers have a D# as the top bass bridge note. Why you would want one is another topic, but having it opens up the possibility of a nice B or B7 chord to add colour to your arrangements, for instance. With smaller dulcimers (12/12’s and 15/14’s) this can be at the expenseRead More
I am afraid this is not going to be a short review, it is a big subject, and a big book. The title sounds very grand, but does it live up to its promise and give a complete guide? The short answer is yes, I believe it does, and for the long answer here isRead More