{"id":624,"date":"2013-12-08T15:17:56","date_gmt":"2013-12-08T20:17:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mountaincolor.fattaleh.org\/?p=624"},"modified":"2021-10-14T10:09:18","modified_gmt":"2021-10-14T14:09:18","slug":"112013-return-of-the-dulcimer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/mountaincolor.fattaleh.org\/?p=624","title":{"rendered":"Return of the Dulcimer"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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According to Wikipedia the Lap or Mountain Dulcimer is a fretted sting musical instrument that is part of the zither family. Now you are asking what is a zither? Well, a zither is any musical instrument where strings are stretched across a flat body. The Autoharp, Psaltery, and Tremoloa are part of the zither family.<\/p>

Most seem to think the Lap Dulcimer had its origins with the Scottish and Irish that immigrated into the Appalachian region in the 1800s where they developed this instrument. It gained prominence in the 1940s and is played at all Old Time string band festivals.<\/p>

Over the Thanksgiving weekend the Lap Dulcimer returned to the Mountain Color band. David has and still does play this instrument in a masterful way but with him living away from Huntington it is not heard often enough. So, our brother Jim has left the Autoharp and began learning to play this instrument. Over the weekend we had an introductory \u201cdive into\u201d with Jim playing. He is a beginner so we stuck with songs that he had been learning. We must have played \u201cBoil Them Cabbage Down\u201d multiple times where everyone heard it in their sleep. For some added fun John would toss in a verse or two. Jim has a bit to go before mastering the Mountain Dulcimer but everyone commends his efforts.<\/p>

Jim was not the only one trying out something new. At our last jam session in September, 2013 Larry was beginning to learn the guitar. He has improved a lot since then with being able so smoothly change chords and play in all keys. With that it was time to develop a \u201cback up\u201d bass player. John was more than ready for the challenge. We stuck with simple stuff at first but got complicated when we played \u201cCripple Creek\u201d where John had to \u201cfret\u201d or push down on one of the strings. The bass is not a simple instrument but a lot of fun to play. I am sure the adventure will continue.<\/p>

We continued our learning of the song \u201cHangman\u2019s Reel\u201d which will soon be part of our regular play list. For this song, Edna, Tim, and John carried the melody while Larry, on guitar provided a perfect back rhythm. Hopefully we will perfect that song so a recording can be made.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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