Dulcimer Central

I've always been I guy with strong opinions, about some things anyway.    I'll express some of them in this category from time to time, because they do generally have something to do with how my philosophy concerning various aspects of of everything I do have been formed.  The initial spark of an idea, or answer to a question, many times started with an opinion.    But the Key thing about this category is that if my opinion differs from yours, it is NOT that I don't respect yours as just as valid. 

Everyone has heard great guitar flatpickers. This is a very developed art among guitar players, and the folks that teach it I’m sure have more complete rules on how pick direction is determined than what I know. These rules would…

The past 10 years or so I have been arranging and playing a lot of tunes in keys other than the open tuning my dulcimer is in. With the addition of the 1.5 fret on a standard dulcimer, and a…

I am not a Mac user so I’ve relied on others to tell me what they do when they get gibberish when trying to open these TablEdit files with a Mac. It appears that my web design program cause a…

The udu is a vessel drum originally from the Igbo people of Nigeria. Traditionally it was a water jug with another hole in the side, played by women for ceremonial music. The udu has become a very popular instrument in…

Since I compose about 95% of the music that I play, it is common for me to hear comments like, “How do you just pull notes out of the air?” or “You have a rare and special gift.” The fact…

 Here is information about Chord Arpeggios for Melody I put together for the Mel Bay Dulcimer Sessions.  CORRECTION:  Since writing this article I have changed and improved my picking style.  When reading, if it references pick direction, such as…

Born in Tulsa Oklahoma, I grew up in a family of athletes. My father was a multi sport standout in college, and played Semi Pro baseball after. He even played competitive fast pitch softball until he was 55 years old…