Customer Reviews

The Dulcimer Book

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3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I bought my copy in the late 70s, and still rely on it constantly. This is THE best dulcimer book to get, as a first book and as one you'll return to again and again. In it Jean Ritchie, who is pretty much the mother of the last 20 yrars of the dulcimer revivals, explains how to tune the dulcimer for all of the various modes, not just the 2 or 3 most common ones. She also has songs using each of the modes, ones simple enough for beginners and interesting enough for experienced players. This is traditional dulcimer playing, using a noter for melody & the open strings as drones. For detailed information on chording, check out other books. But if you want to know how to play those songs that are in other keys/modes than mixolydian and ionian, and/or want a good, complete, basic book (for learning and for reference), this one is it! Jean's book include pictures, history and other information too, print is a comfortable size & the music is written out large enough to see & read easily while playing.

Jean Ritchie brought a mountain dulcimer out of the hills of Kentucky to New York City where it was "discovered" by an entire new generation of musicians. This book gives the traditional background and history of the moutain dulcimer in her Kentucky hometown, as well as it's distant ancestors in Europe. She explains some basics of playing, introduces the modes, tuning and strumming. This book might not be a good teaching book, (limited tab) but it has historical interest, as well as 16 songs from Jean Ritchie's family collection (no tab, but all the gory lyrics).

To start out, about a year ago, I did a school project where I built, taught myself how to play, studied the history of, and did a presentation on the Appalachian dulcimer. This was one of two books that I decided to get. The other book was Mel Bay's You Can Teach Yourself Dulcimer by Madeline MacNeil, which I went through first. I would recommend that as the one to start out with, and when you're done to read this one.

The primary difference is that this one is much more traditional, and Madeline MacNeil's has a much more well-rounded assortment of styles. However, the traditional style is something that you need to have an understanding for.

This book starts out by talking about the instrument, and it's history, before you learn anything about playing it. I think that's good, especially if you do what I did by first going through Mel Bay's You Can Teach Yourself Dulcimer by Madeline MacNeil. I already had a pretty good understanding of how to play it. Some people would say that it was important to learn the history first. However, I feel that it's good to know at least a little bit about playing before learning the history. This book, to me, is like a continuation of Mel Bay's You Can Teach Yourself Dulcimer by Madeline MacNeil, but it's a great book.

I first picked up the dulcimer back in the 60s in a music store in New York. Trouble is, I didn't know anything about it. The owner had this book on the shelf and it went home with me and the instrument.

Jean Ritchie is about as traditional a player as you can get which is different from many other players who move it to a more contemporary mode of playing. Richard Farina was one of these.

But if you just want to sit out on the back porch and watch the sun go down, Ms. Ritchie has the time-honored method.

I lost the book years ago by giving it to someone who never returned it to me. I have returned to playing the dulcimer after a long hiatus and there was only one book to read to freshen up.

This is it.

i wasn't too impressed by the book. it had some interesting history and information, but wasn't the best facet for newbies looking to learn the dulcimer. as someone who can read music, i had no problem picking out tunes from the book. however, a friend who CANNOT read music (but can read guitar tabs/chords) had problems understanding the book.

The contents of the book may be great, but the pages have started falling out of the center of the book & I was just fanning through the pages after it arrived. Not impressed with the quality considering what I paid for it.