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
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
Necessity is the mother of invention. As we are all grounded for the short term we are all finding ways to make our lives as normal as possible. Using a tool like “zoom” for meeting up with frends and having a music session is just one of the new tricks the Nonsuch Dulcimer Club, andRead More
Having spend years of fumbling in the dark at gigs and sessions trying to play my Hammered Dulcimer a friend suggested I get a music stand light. I had been put off the idea in the past as they all seemed to be mains powered and would add so much faff to the whole thing.Read More