Folkcraft Artists Blow-up YouTube
Good Morning, Y'all, and Happy Friday!
I'm back from my short-lived career as a sawdust artist. Evidently crudely drawn stick figures weren't close enough to "fine art" to be commercially viable. I guess I'll settle for being a dulcimer maker, and letting you all make the art (music in this case) with the tools (dulcimers!) that I build for you.
Going to a festival, and seeing so many of my instruments on your laps - "your" being both the festival attendees, and the festival instructors - is absolutely a heart-warming feeling. I know that there are a lot of dulcimer builders competing for your attention, and you have no idea how grateful I am each and every time one of you chooses a Folkcraft® (or FolkRoots®) dulcimer for your music making. Thank you!
I recently got an email from Mandy Tyner, one of our illustrious Folkcraft Artists. She's made a new instructional video for the Folkcraft YouTube channel. Here's a link to our channel:
We have hundreds of videos - some videos showing off new instruments, but also videos showing the workshop, and videos with the sole purpose of teaching something. Mandy's new video (thank you, Mandy!) is aimed towards chromatic dulcimer players. She covers the I, IV, and V7 chord progression, in the key of C. Even if you're not a chromatic dulcimer player, you might learn something. Just click on the photo below to view Mandy's new video.
While I was on YouTube, previewing this video, I was surprised to see another dulcimer video in Google's "Richard you should watch this next" recommendation queue. A dulcimer video that was posted on January 24, 2007. This one features another Folkcraft Artist, one that you all know well (I hope, at least!) - Bing Futch.
This video was the first of a series that now encompasses over 800 videos from this world-renowned artist. He's been making videos for a long, long time.
Perfect Timing
Many of you know that I wasn't the founder of Folkcraft Instruments - I bought the company (and learned how to make dulcimers) from Folkcraft's founder, David Marks. I purchased the company from David in January of 2007, just a few weeks before Bing uploaded his first dulcimer video. (I can't claim credit for any of his videos, or his success with YouTube, but the timing was right, for sure!)
Dulcimerica Deets
Here are a few statistics about just the Dulcimerica series: 6.3 million views. These videos have been watched over six million times. Between me, my Dad, and my wife, we're probably responsible for a couple of thousand views, so that's still a lot of dulcimer-binging Y'all are doing here.
How many unique viewers? (yes, Google keeps track of this) One-point-two million unique people! There are not 1,200,000 dulcimer players on the planet, so I would say, with pretty strong certainty, that the majority of the viewers don't play our instrument. Easily it's over a million non-dulcimer people being exposed to the mountain dulcimer, most of them for the first time. How cool is that?
Here's a really mind-blowing statistic: Watch hours. Google (the owner of YouTube) tracks how many minutes and seconds each video is played - and keeps a tally. Bing's Dulcimerica videos have over 164,000 hours of watch time. That's 6,833 days of someone watching for 24 hours straight. Or 19 straight years, watching Bing videos for 24 hours straight. If a person watched for only eight hours a day, it would take them nearly 60 years to equal the current watch time these videos have.
By contrast, the Folkcraft Instruments channel on YouTube? 397,000 total views, for a total watch time of only 21,979 hours of watch time. Only 2.5 years, at 24 hours a day of watching mostly me demonstrating various new dulcimers. That's 7.5 years if watching was only eight hours a day, which is a lot of watching me play "Shenandoah" and "Wildwood Flower," over and over. It's still a lot of video views, but nothing compared to Bing's channel.
How About A Little Lemonade?
Maybe next week I'll share some statistics from another Folkcraft Artist, Mandy Tyner. She has a very, very (very!) active YouTube channel as well. Mandy hasn't been active on YouTube as long as Bing has, but Mandy has a ton of subscribers, lots of video views, and a huge following.
Changing Of The Seasons
I'm heading back over to the shop now. It's been getting chilly at night here. It was 37 degrees this morning when I walked to the shop - and soon we'll have snow on the ground. My neighbors tell me it won't really stick (for the winter) until some time in October, but it won't be long before the ground is covered for the next six months or so. The bears won't go into hibernation until December, so at least we get to see them roaming the yard for another few months!
Thanks for reading, Y'all - have a great weekend. Go make some music, please. It'll be fun, I promise!
Richard Ash, luthier-that's-happy-to-be-gaining-on-the-backlog-of-we-just-moved-and-the-workshop-is-a-total-mess-instruments
FOLKCRAFT® DULCIMER PLAYER OF THE WEEK: JUNE DAY
Folkcraft: How long have you been playing the dulcimer?
June: I was first introduced to the mountain dulcimer in 2014 while on vacation in Tennessee. My husband and I decided to explore the Great Smoky Arts & Crafts Community, a series of shops and galleries along an 8-mile loop just outside of Gatlinburg. I had never even heard of a mountain dulcimer before, but there was a shop there that made them. We walked up to talk with the gentleman at the counter, and he said, “I can teach you to play this instrument in 5 minutes!” I was intrigued and tried it out, and amazingly I could play that mountain dulcimer in just a couple of minutes! But I decided against getting one on that day because I was concerned it may be just a vacation whim, and I didn’t want to play it for just a couple days and then stick it in a closet somewhere. But after returning home, I couldn’t get that instrument out of my mind. Months later, my husband gifted me with a mountain dulcimer for my birthday, and it quickly became an enduring passion of mine.
Folkcraft: When did you get your first Folkcraft dulcimer?
June: After playing that first dulcimer for a couple years, I had figured out some specifics that I would want in an “ideal” dulcimer. So, in 2016, my husband and I took a trip to visit several dulcimer shops in the midwest to pick out a new dulcimer. Folkcraft was one of those shops, and I fell in love with the sound, beauty, playability, and quality of the Folkcraft dulcimers. After spending a couple hours in the shop with Richard Ash, we custom-ordered one that had all the features that I wanted. I named my new dulcimer "Bonnie" because she's so pretty with the heart vine design and...
CLICK HERE TO READ THE REST OF JUNE'S INTERVIEW AND READ ABOUT OTHER FOLKCRAFT PLAYERS LIKE JUNE & YOU
FOLKCRAFT® PLAYERS - WE LOVE HEARING FROM YOU!
We don't have a new player to welcome to our online dulcimer community today, but we are happy to refeature June Day. Check out the Facebook page for her dulcimer group - Dogwood Mountain Dulcimers. They happen to be hosting our beloved Bing Futch next Tuesday, September 22nd, for an afternoon workshop, followed by a concert and jam. How cool is that?!
There's still plenty of room for more of you, folks! Maybe we could feature you and your Folkcraft dulcimer(s) next week?
Who's Going To Write In Next? Keep The Family Growing?
It really is super-easy to join our online dulcimer community. Just three easy steps:
1) Send an email to: newsletter@folkcraft.com
2) With the answers to the four questions below
3) Attach a photo of yourself with your Folkcraft dulcimer(s)
We look forward to receiving your submission & featuring you in our newsletter real soon!
1. How long have you been playing the dulcimer?
2. When did you get your first Folkcraft dulcimer?
3. Where do you enjoy playing your dulcimer?
4. What other hobbies, or interests, do you have besides playing dulcimer?
WE'RE OFFERING A $25 FOLKCRAFT GIFT CARD TO ANYONE WHO ANSWERS THE FOUR EASY QUESTIONS LISTED ABOVE, AND SENDS IN A PHOTO (OF YOU WITH YOUR FOLKCRAFT DULCIMER). IT'S REALLY SO EASY TO DO!
WE JUST LOVE HEARING FROM Y'ALL!
Did Mandy's new video whet your appetite for more frets and chromatic know-how? We have a couple of books focused exclusively on the chromatic mountain dulcimer in our catalog. The first is a great collection of tunes arranged by the amazing Dana Gruber and the second is a very well done method book, by our very own Bing Futch.
Your newsletter editor loves those early 1900s tunes, and even delightedly shares a birthday with Irving Berlin, who wrote several of the included tunes. She plans to download it as soon as she finishes putting together this week's newsletter. She can also speak from experience on the value of the second volume, because she somehow let Bing talk her into making her very first Folkcraft dulcimer a chromatic. When it finally arrived, she excitedly opened the case, saw all those "extra" frets and freaked out. But thankfully, Bing had just the roadmap she needed to get the hang of playing her beautiful Koa Chromatic. Either book is sure to delight and inspire. (Just click on either cover to find out more.)
SPEAKEASY AND TIN PAN ALLEY TUNES
by Dana Gruber
The early 1900s was a pivotal time in popular music. It was the era of ragtime, jazz, and blues dance tunes. This period introduced improvisation and syncopated rhythms that had an impact on all types of music. The era welcomed such great composers as Irving Berlin, Gus Kahn, Billy Rose, George and Ira Gershwin, to name a few.
This amazing book (from none other than Dana Gruber!) has 16 great songs, all representative of this illustrious period in American musical history. The songs are all arranged for chromatic dulcimer solo, and are challenging, but not excessively difficult.
All songs are in DAD tuning, and no capo is required. (41 pages)
METHOD FOR CHROMATIC MOUNTAIN DULCIMER
by Bing Futch
This exciting book will introduce you to playing the chromatic mountain dulcimer. The only book of its kind, Bing Futch's "Method For Chromatic Mountain Dulcimer" is the definitive source of instructional materials for this unique part of American culture.
With over 100 audio tracks included in your ZIP file, tons of full-color diagrams, charts, and other reference aids, and of course the wisdom and experience of Bing Futch, you'll go from novice to expert in no time.
Join in the fun as you learn to play the chromatic mountain dulcimer! (108 pages)
These books are published by Fingers Of Steel, and are made available here as an authorized, licensed download.
SONGS INCLUDED:
Alexander's Ragtime Band
Always
Baby Face
Blue Skies
By The Beautiful Sea
Bye Bye Blackbird
Carolina In The Morning
The Charleston
I'll See You In My Dreams
It Had To Be You
Ragtime Cowboy Joe
Somebody Loves Me
Someone To Watch Over Me
Sweet Georgia Brown
Tonight, You Belong To Me
Toot, Toot, Tootsie! (Goo' Bye)
When The Red, Red Robin Comes Bob, Bob Bobbin' Along
Check Out This Five-Star Review:
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A recent reviewer had this to say:
"I am finding the book extremely helpful in not only introducing myself to the chromatic dulcimer, but on its integration of musical theory with playing music. I’ve spent a lot of time searching the web for answers and Bing Futch has brought everything together into one convenient book. Thank you." (Matthew B. - 6/17/26)
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