It's Time To Start Thinking About Christmas (Music)
Good Morning, Y'all - Happy Friday!
August is coming to a close, soon, which means it's time to start thinking about Christmas music. I did a quick search at Folkcraft.com for the word "Christmas," and found 45 distinct books of tunes.
Some books had a good selection of secular holiday tunes - "Jingle Bells," "Up On The Housetop" - that genre of music. All of the books had a nice selection of sacred tunes - "Silent Night," "O Come, All Ye Faithful" - the standards that define the Christmas genre for most of us.
All of the books offer something unique, but let me give you a recommendation or two:
Our absolute best selling Christmas book? Judy House's Christmas Songs For The Mountain Dulcimer
A book aimed towards young players, or at least a young audience? Mike Anderson's Hugo's Sing-a-long Dulcimer Christmas Songbook
A book with play-along tracks (think "karaoke for dulcimer players"!)? Bing Futch's Mountain Dulcimer In The Band, Book 4
Are you a finger-style player, or a flat-picker? You can't go wrong with Larry Conger's Christmas With The Dulcimer
Want something a bit "off the wall"? Butch Ross's The Crash Bang Dulcimer Christmas Book (Yes, Butch actually has a fun and quirky title for a collection of Christmas music. Leave it to Butch to be creative, both musically and literarily. (Yes, "literarily" is a real word. I checked...)
Pinching pennies this year? I have two books of Christmas tunes from Shelley Stevens - you can get both of them for less than $20. Here's a link to her book Dulci-Merry Christmas and here's a link to her follow-up collection Dulci-Merry Christmas Vol. 2
Since music is even more fun with a friend or two, how about a collection of duets? Larry Conger strikes again with Christmas Duets For Mountain Dulcimer
Do you have more than one dulcimer-playing friend? Maybe enough for a small (or large!) group? How about Ellen Pratt's collections of ensemble arrangements? Aptly titled "Ensemble Arrangements For The Mountain Dulcimer." Here's a link to Volume 1, and here's Volume 2.
And just for fun, consider Aaron O'Rourke's The Best Tunes You Never Play. This book has a whopping ONE Christmas tune, strategically placed between "Boogerman" and "Booth Shot Lincoln." This is an awesome book, and if you need a Christmas theme to justify adding it to your library, now's the time.
My last recommendation for you? A "not really a Christmas song that people associate with Christmas" March from Tchaikovsky's "Nutcracker" ballet. This is one of many great themes found in a book of classical arrangements by Shelley Stevens. Check out Classical Music For Mountain Dulcimer.
What's the very best of these books? There's no correct answer, of course. But there's something here for each of you.
All of these books are currently available at DulcimerDownloads.com - so click on the cover if you'd like to get your copy right away.
We'll be taking next week off from creating a newsletter, since it's a holiday weekend (NOT Christmas, not quite yet) so I'll write to you again in two weeks.
Thanks for reading, Y'all - I hope you have a fun, dulcimer-filled weekend!
Richard Ash - luthier-who-has-almost-all-of-these-books-in-his-personal-dulcimer-music-library
FOLKCRAFT® DULCIMER PLAYER OF THE WEEK: BECKY SROUFE
Folkcraft: How long have you been playing the dulcimer?
Becky: Since around 2012 or so after watching someone play what I thought was a sideways guitar and finding out it was a mountain dulcimer
Folkcraft: When did you get your first Folkcraft dulcimer?
Becky: In 2021, and it's still a beauty and a joy to play!
Folkcraft: Where do you enjoy playing your dulcimer?
Becky: Usually indoors at home with family, but occasionally I get brave enough to...
CLICK HERE TO READ THE REST OF BECKY'S INTERVIEW AND READ ABOUT OTHER FOLKCRAFT PLAYERS LIKE BECKY & YOU
FOLKCRAFT® PLAYERS - WE LOVE HEARING FROM YOU!
No brand-new player (Dare I say, "Bah Humbug!") to add to our online dulcimer community today, but we are happy to re-feature Becky Sroufe, who joined the Folkcraft family last March, and has had her first Folkcraft for five years now. Yaaayy!!
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!
This Week's Featured YouTube Video:
This week we’ll work on a melody-line version of "Silent Night." Sight-reading style. Try to sight-read it by playing it back several times, pause it, play short sections - have fun! Click on the image below to listen & learn.
We have a slew (that's a fancy luthier word for "bunch") of videos for you to watch on our YouTube channel. Click here to see the full list. Be sure to comment on a video, and subscribe to the channel - either action helps us a LOT with YouTube's suggestion algorithms.
September is nearly upon us and the kiddos have headed back to school this week in most areas of the country. I don't know about where you are, but the changing of the season is also bringing quite a few old-time and bluegrass festivals to my area. More than me and my dulcimer buddy can possibly attend. So with that in mind, today we have a collection of tunes by Larry Conger for the more seasoned player, and the second by the Johnstons is perfect for the newer player. Both books will give you some great tunes to join the jam. (Just click on either cover to download.)
SEPTEMBER ON THE MISSISSIPPI
by Larry Conger
This superb collection of arrangements for mountain dulcimer includes the "title track" - Larry's signature song - plus 19 other great tunes for your enjoyment.
Some capo is required for this book, and most songs are in DAD tuning, with one song in DGD tuning and one song in DAA tuning. (35 pages)
This book is published by Fingers Of Steel, and is made available here as an authorized, licensed download.
DULCIMER JAM TRAINING WHEELS
by Melanie & Mack Johnston
This is a book of sheet music from Melanie and Mack Johnston. With many (most!) of the popular jam tunes included, this is a really great book. But what makes it special? All of the tunes are simplified into quarter notes (or larger values, half and whole!) so that a fresh beginner can join the jam and play more than chords!
Perfect for the newer player, this is an amazing book. (117 pages)
This book is published by Melanie & Mack Johnston, and is made available here as an authorized, licensed download.
SOME OF THE SONGS INCLUDED:
The Blarney Pilgrim
My Shepherd Will Supply My Need
Sweet Hour Of Prayer
Sidh Beag Sigh Moir
September On The Mississippi
Bridget Cruise
Deep River
My Old Kentucky Home
Greensleeves
Londonderry Air (Danny Boy)
Bonnie Doon
Scarborough Fair
Blind Mary
Wayfaring Stranger
Morning Has Broken
The Water Is Wide
Sandy River Belle
Off She Goes
Smash The Windows
Denis Murphy's Slide
SOME OF THE SONGS INCLUDED:
Angelina Baker
Black Mountain Rag
Cherokee Shuffle
Cripple Creek
Dixie
Eighth Of January
Fisher's Hornpipe
Golden Slippers
Hangman's Reel
June Apple
Kitchen Girl
Little Liza Jane
May The Circle Be Unbroken
Nail That Catfish To A Tree
Old Joe Clark
Red Wing
Soldier's Joy
Turkey In The Straw
Whiskey Before Breakfast
Wildwood Flower