Customer Reviews

Mel Bay You Can Teach Yourself Dulcimer

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This set is excellent. The teacher in my town couldn't even begin to teach as well as Madeline does in this book and DVD. I have loads of dulcimer books and CD's and this is by far the most well done set for beginners. A MUST for the beginning student; there is nothing better than seeing (on the DVD) an accomplished player playing each of the tunes slowly so that you can pick up the proper way to hold, strum and work the frets. I've been playing for two years now and still play some of the tunes from the book. My favorite is Soldier's Joy.

So I made the mistake of getting the DVD before I bought the book. Get the book first so that you can actually see what you are playing.The show the notes on the screen but they are quite blurry. This is a great book and DVD for beginners. You do not need to be able to read music to enjoy learning to play the dulcimer. She goes through ton of standard tunes and takes you though a few modes. I would suggest actually learning the notes and not relying on the tablature forever, but what can I say, I am a musician and I like people to expand their musical boundaries. This book and DVD is a good start.

This is a great beginner's video for teaching yourself how to play the Appalachian (also known as mountain, lap, or fretted) dulcimer.

Madeline MacNeil has a soothing voice, and takes it slow. She shows how to start with very simple tunes, demonstrating techniques patiently.

If you want to begin to play the dulcimer, and don't want to pay for expensive lessons, this is the way to start.

I got this book and was completely suprised at how simple the dulcimer was. The book is great and easy to follow, but the DVD brings the whole thing together and really make my lessons a treat! Recommended to all new dulcimer players.

Just learning mountain dulcimer and this is a great step by step book. It also comes with the DVD which is helpful to actually see and hear how you should be playing. Having lots of fun trying to learn this beautiful sounding instrument!

I am currently teaching myself to play a mountain dulcimer and have several "how to" books. This one is particularly helpful because the author discusses fingering in detail. The DVD clearly shows the fingering and the reader is invited to play along (I don't). My only complaint (not worth knocking off a star) is that early lessons use DAa tuning and many of my other books use DAd. Highly recommended.

I bought this DVD for some of my family members to follow in learning to play mountain dulcimer. It is good for taking someone from a point of picking up an instrument for the first time and going through the learning steps at a non-threatening pace. If you already have some experience with a dulcimer, this will probably be too slow for you.

The dulcimer is indeed a beautiful sounding instrument! This DVD covers everything one needs to know to get started! Madeline MacNeil is a wonderful teacher!

Had great expectations because of reviews, but it would not work no matter what we tried (equipment tested)had to repackage, deliver to UPS etc. Not good...

This book is a great help. You can be playing in a short time.