Description
Every aspect of the hammered dulcimer and its playing techniques is covered in this comprehensive, yet easy-to-understand text. A masterful teacher, Madeline MacNeil exceeds the expectations of a beginner’s book, providing a firm foundation for the development of a total musician while maintaining an engaging, informal tone throughout. With detailed discussions on dulcimer layout, hammers, tuning, and stands plus extensive performance notes on every tune, this book is a valuable asset to the beginning through intermediate player. From Oh Suzanna to Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring, Madeline shows the novice dulcimer player how to “map your way through” a new piece of music, finding clear, musical directions through what at first must seem like a maze of strings. All tunes are in standard notation. The book is illustrated with photos as well as quaint woodcuts, engravings, and pen and ink drawings. Includes access to an online 85-minute video and audio containing essential basic information on playing the hammered dulcimer–such as tuning, major and minor keys, duplicated notes, repeated notes, modulations, walking bass lines, chromatic notes, drone harmony, back-up chords, interval harmony, and more! Also contains Madeline MacNeil’s hammered dulcimer solos on 25 tunes.