Pocono Dulcimer Club

HD Workshop Descriptions

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Hammered Dulcimer Workshop Descriptions

Dan Duggan

9:15am    Tunes My Grandfather Taught to Me:              Intermediate

Dan will teach some wonderful tunes learned from good friend Sterl VanArsdale of Frusburg NY . The VanArsdales learned to play the dulcimer one phrase at a time from their grandfather and Vaudeville great Jesse Martin!

10:45am Deciphering Dance Tunes:                Novice

Learn the ins and outs of dance tunes, melody, form, rhythm, and tune construction. Several tunes will be taught to demonstrate how dance tunes are set up and work.

2:15pm   Rag Time Rhythm: Advanced

Dan will teach some traditional, modern and original tunes that feature the Rag Time Rhythm.

 

Brett Ridgeway

9:15am   The Five-Note Hymn:         Novice

This workshop will teach the old traditional hymn, “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross” made up of five notes with plenty of room for graceful embellishments of arpeggios, grace notes, etc. This workshop will teach several embellishment ideas that can be applied to any tune and will you will leave with various performance-ready arrangements of the tune.

10:45am   Soldier’s Joy 104:          Advanced

This is not a tune workshop. Taking the basic melody line of Soldier’s Joy, you will learn to “mix it up” learning to improvise and embellish on the fly. If you play any tune ten times through, you will learn the techniques and skills to play it ten different ways, never having to play the tune the same way twice. Stop playing someone else’s arrangement, play what is in your head, not what is written down on a piece of paper in front of you!

3:45pm   THIS CLASS IS FULL The 8-N0te Miracle Lick:                   Intermediate

This little eight note lick will open up new ways to play your instrument and will really “fancify” your playing with a syncopated fill in for those fast tunes. Or slow it down for a graceful fill-in lick for those slow tunes that need some embellishment. This “go-to” lick is easy to learn and can be applied to almost any tune and will really change the way you play the hammered dulcimer.

 

George Nixon

9:15am   Discovery I – New players w/ little to no experience 

In these workshops we'll learn all the anatomy and physiology of the HD from parts, finding you way around the beast, care & feeding, hammers, some rudiments and techniques, and finally learn two familiar tunes. These are geared to folks who are interested in learning to play but have no real previous background with the hammered dulcimer.

10:45am   Discovery II

(Discovery 1 - Cont)

 

John Lionarons

9:15am   Making for Good Dulcimer Arrangements:                           Advanced

In this class we will explore What Makes for a Good Dulcimer Arrangement, Separate Hands Techniques, Unusual Chords and Where They Live, Use of Ornamentation, Plucking/Dampening.  As time permits, we will also try to address students' individual performance questions.

2:15pm   Chords, Voicings & Dynamics:                                Intermediate

Topics covered in this class include:  Chords and When to Use Them,  The Importance of Dynamics, Making Arrangements More Interesting, Easy Voicings For Some Hard to Play Chords, Left-Hand Melodies (Separating the Hands,) How to Play Rhythm Accompaniment.

3:45pm  The Basics of Making Music:                                  Novice

This session will introduce the beginner to the basics of making music on the hammered dulcimer, including - How to Hold the Hammers, Introduction to Scales, Hammering Patterns, Chords and Arpeggios, Musical Exercises to Strengthen Your Weaker Hand, Learning Simple Tunes, How to Practice, and Advice on How to Tune the Dulcimer.

 

Paul Mueller

10:45am   HD Poly-rhythms #1:                            Intermediate

Songs with poly-rhythms will have layered parts played on multiple dulcimers using the African drum circle format.

2:15pm   Basic Sticking Techniques:              Novice

Applying basic drum rudiments and sticking coordination to the hammered dulcimer.

3:45pm   Hand Independence and Coordination:           Advanced

Body independence while playing a drum set will be applied to playing the hammered dulcimer.  Challenging time signatures will be enjoyed.

 

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Master Classes w/ Ted Yoder: Intermediate to Advanced

To be taken as a continuum (9:15, 10:45 & 2:15): You must pre-register for this class – 1st come, 1st in class – maximum 10 students

 

Know Thy HD:

No matter what experience you bring to the HD it can be hard to feel fluent with it. Foundations aren't seen but they are very necessary for what is seen on the surface. In this session I would love to help you lay a strong foundation so you can build your musical castle, whatever that may look like. In this master class we'll spend time on chords and theory and how knowing these can add color to you music. We'll move from there to rhythm and syncopation. How you can make it seem like there's more than one instrument playing. Your two hands are not enemies and they can work together without thinking about it. Finally we'll round out the weekend by putting these all together and making your songs sing. This session will give you the tools, knowledge, and confidence for building that foundation to enjoy your HD for life.

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