Customer Reviews

Four and Twenty Songs For The Mountain Dulcimer

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This is definitely not a book that a beginner can readily pick, flip through its pages and start playing, but it is one that everyone can learn from. I would not hesitate to recommended to players of all levels because it is a classic that we can all glean something from. This book was first published in 1970 and in the introduction talks about it as a "forgotten instrument." The earlier editions of this book have a brown cover, the later a red. I have the earlier edition, but I'm assuming they are simple reprints with no major changes. The author states that "it is one of the most sweetly musical, charming instruments we know," and I must wholeheartedly agree with that. At the time of publication dulcimers were still being handmade, but there are some mass-produced ones. I have two and much prefer the old handmade one as the sound is infinitely better.

In this book you will read about two different ways to tune your dulcimer by tuning it to itself or another musical instrument (Ionian recommended for the beginner). Many people are now opting to use an electronic tuner to make things easier. Keep in mind new strings do go out of tune quickly. They are demonstrating tuning on a scrolled head not a guitar shaped one in this book. You'll also learn about traditional playing style, how to hold the dulcimer, the basic strum, thumb strum, an introduction to chording, tapping, progressive playing styles (double thumbing, three-finger picking) picks and noters, and the tabulature system (tabs). There are several photographs that are very interesting and a line drawing of a mountain dulcimer that illustrates its parts.

SONGS:

Note: All are Ionian unless otherwise noted.

All Good times

Aura Lee

Balm in Gilead

Boil Them Cabbage Down

Buffalo Gals

Cherry Tree Carol

Down in the Valley

Eighth of January

Four Marys

The Frozen Girl

Greensleeves

Harrison Town (Mixolydian)

Hold On (Phrygian)

Hush, Little Baby

I Ride an Old Paint

Jesse James

Little Birdie

Lord Lovel (Aeolian)

One Morning in May

Passing By

Scarborough Fir (Dorian)

Turnip Greens (Mixolydian)

Wondrous Love (Aeolian)

Wild and Reckless Hobo


In the back of the book you will read additional information on how to take care of your dulcimer, how to tune it with the guitar and banjo, modal tuning (Ionian, Dorian, Phrygian, Lydian, Mixolydian, Aeolian), and there are some chord charts. In the bibliography there are recommended books to explore that deal with the history, are instructions, songbooks, and standard books that can be used. For example one of the books is "American Favorite Ballads" sung by Pete Seegar. No, perhaps this is not a beginners book, but I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it highly as there is a learning curve to everything we do. The beginning dulcimer player can learn a lot and will be able to look forward to what they will be learning. This book is wonderful and is a classic everyone should have in their music repertoire.

i have recently started playing the dulcimer, without any musical background. if you are not familar with musical notes and don't have a full grasp of how to read sheet music, this book will be difficult to follow. i ended up having to find different books that were closer to my knowledge level - which was practically zilch.

This book is traditionally included in the purchase price of all McSpadden dulcimers. It is a traditional book with many interesting, historical pictures. The tab is easy to follow, and the songs give a good working beginning knowledge of some very well known and other not so well known tunes. The main problem is that while including examples of all tunings used in dulcimer, most of the tunings in the book (for example, Phrygian mode) are rarely if ever used in the "real" dulcimer world. All in all, a good first book and a good introduction to a really fantastic line of dulcimers.

I received this book with my very first McSpadden dulcimer, and it's quite good! It lists the notes by fret numbers, which makes it super easy for people with no musical knowledge to follow along and learn. The book also lists the notes for those who prefer to read music. The twenty-four songs included in this book are a wonderful cross-section of the various tunings and styles that are popular with the dulcimer. I highly recommend this book, and also recommend that buyers take this book to a local printing store to have it spiral-bound for easier reading while playing.

I liked the song selection, but this is an intermediate book not necessarily for beginners.