Beginning Notes for Success on a Mountain Dulcimer
playing in the Chord-Melody style
Tune your dulcimer every time you sit down to play it.
Remove one of the doubled melody strings.
Fretting hand finger nails must be very short. Fingernails interfere with fretting.
Fret the strings with your fingertips (not your finger pads).
Use all your fingers. Use fretting exercises to strengthen every finger.
When using your thumb, use the side of your thumb to fret the strings. Fretting exercises for Thumb.
Fret (press down on the string) just behind the fret. Not on top of the fret and not more than a finger-width behind the fret.
Don't press down too hard. Press down only enough to cause the string to ring cleanly. Pressing too hard makes it difficult to move to the next position.
Your fingers on your dulcimer will ultimately determine your precise fingering. However, a few important notes:
You should not twist your fretting hand, wrist, elbow, or shoulder to form chords. Find a different fingering, perhaps using your thumb to build the chord.
Fingers should always be generally pointing away from you. Even on “inverted” chords.
You have 5 fingers and only 3 strings. Try to leave a finger and/or thumb free to reach additional notes in the musical phrase.
When playing a song, keep fretting a note for the entire duration of that note. Move very quickly from one fretting position to the next.
In order to move quickly, memorize the numbers of the frets on your fretboard. See the fret board layout on my Learn to Play page. Practice moving up and down the fret board saying each fret number out loaud up to the 14th fret.
Don’t try to play just after having your hands in water. Your fingers will be too soft to fret.
Also, don’t put lotion on your hands and then try to play for the same reason.
Practice makes progress
The more frequently you can practice the faster you will progress
Practicing for 15 - 30 minutes at a time several times a week is far better than practicing for an hour in a single session once or twice a month
Leave your dulcimer out in a convenient location so all you have to do is sit down and start playing. However, protect it from pets, small children, excessive heat or cold.
Learn to change your strings and change them 2 - 3 times a year.
Learn to read tab or learn to play by ear. Both methods are equally valid and most people use both methods even when they say they are predominately a tab reader or by ear player.
Practice finding and keeping a steady beat! Listen to music that has a steady beat like Sock-Hop 50’s music and tap along to the beat with your hands. This helps your hands learn how to keep a steady beat.
