Richard Goes To Town: Galax-Style
Good Morning, Y'all - Happy Friday!
This has been a great week for "finishing" instruments that have been in the works for the past few months. A lot of neat instruments have come off of our workbenches this year, and today I'm featuring one of my personal favorites.
Based on our Folkcraft Custom Series dulcimers, this instrument is designed to be played Galax style. The Galax-style dulcimers were originally built to be loud enough to be played in a string band, they typically had four equidistant strings (all tuned to the same pitch), and they were generally played with a noter. They had long VSL's, and ginormous (by modern dulcimer standards) bodies.
Folkcraft doesn't currently make a historically-accurate Galax-style (named after the Galax, Virginia, region) dulcimer, but after taking a few classes led by Phyllis Gaskins - one of the premier Galax-style players - I fell in love with the sound of that dulcimer variant.
So I made a Galax-style (sort of!) dulcimer, and went to town playing it. This instrument has become my go-to dulcimer when I perform at various dulcimer festivals. I set up the instrument with six strings, in a "bagpipe" tuning. All six strings are tuned to G, with two melody strings, and four drone strings. Two of the drone strings are an octave lower than the other four strings.
Let me tell you - this dulcimer is FUN to play! I love playing my (more common) DAD-tuned instrument, too, and appreciate the flexibility of being able to put a melody on any of its strings. But the sound, simplicity, and haunting sound, of a Galax-style instrument with a slew of matching drone strings? Awesome!
So, here's my original Galax-style dulcimer, alongside the one our shop finished earlier this week:
Mine is the beat-up (well-loved!) dulcimer at the top of the photo (above). The Western red cedar top is much darker on mine, but over the coming years, the cedar in the new dulcimer will darken up a lot, and ultimately be darker in color than my personal instrument.
Check out the fretboard (of the dulcimer pictured above). Partial frets (only under the melody strings), plus no "half" frets - 1.5 or 6.5. Best place to play a major scale? Starting at Fret 3. You can get the major scale interval pattern of whole step, whole step, half step, whole step, whole step, whole step, half step, starting there.
We used all traditional Southern Appalachian hardwoods - Western red cedar, ebony, East Indian rosewood...
Ha! I hope you saw through that one! My goal wasn't to "make an accurate reproduction of a 100-year-old Melton (builder) dulcimer." Instead, my intention was to build an instrument that would bring a smile to my face when I played it. I didn't need every last erg of volume, so I built for "warm tone," and installed a Fishman pickup to give me volume when I performed. I set the action low, and rarely use a noter.
Here are the backs of the Galax-style dulcimers (old at the top of the photo, and new at the bottom of the photo) showing the gorgeous East Indian rosewood:
Want To Hear What It Sounds Like?
To hear my personal instrument (played with a noter!) here's a video of Kendra Ward, from when she last visited our showroom.
Most of what I know about traditional dulcimer I learned from Don Pedi (we carry all of his books), Betty Smith, and of course, Phyllis Gaskins. Phyllis has two AMAZING books with history/photos/drawings/tablature that go into detail on the Galax-style dulcimer. She's an authentic player (NOT Richard-Ash-style) of the instrument, and her books are a treasure trove of Galax dulcimer knowledge. Check them out! They're available at both Folkcraft.com and DulcimerDownloads.com.
This Week's Featured John & Karen Keane Book
Speaking of "available at" books - here's this week's "on sale" book: John and Karen Keane's "DulciFlute." This is the first book in a series of three titles, all arranged for mountain dulcimer/Native American flute duets. This is fun stuff, and even if you don't have a flute player handy, you can play along with the included CD. (If you prefer the downloadable version, you can get one at DulcimerDownloads.com - but it's not on sale.)
Did You Know We Have A Sale Page?
I have a feeling that a lot of you might not know about this page:
https://folkcraft.com/collections/sale
It features items we have at Folkcraft.com that have been marked down. I generally have one or two dulcimers on this page. Every Friday morning, our software automatically reduces the price just a bit. Something to keep an eye on - you might see a perfectly good, brand-new dulcimer that catches your eye!
Wow, this is a long newsletter. I need to get back to the shop, so I'll stop writing now. Thank you all for reading! I hope you enjoyed seeing one of my personal instruments from almost 10 years ago, alongside its modern counterpart!
Sincerely,
Richard Ash, luthier-who-insists-on-the-most-authentic-East-Indian-rosewood-for-all-of-his-historically-inaccurate-Virginian-dulcimer-reproductions
FOLKCRAFT® DULCIMER PLAYER OF THE WEEK: DIANE HARREL
My interest in the mountain dulcimer began back in 2001 when I was work-camping in a small shop at a theme park. Next to my area was a dulcimer shop. I spent a lot of my time listening to, and enjoying, what I was hearing. A sign in their shop said "there ain't no notes on a dulcimer, just play it." Sounded easy enough, so I bought one.
I have since then added to my collection from Folkcraft. My newest challenge is a chromatic dulcimer, which is in the center of the picture above. It is a 25" VSL, Folkcraft Custom Series with a walnut body, butternut top, and a Galax back.
HEY FOLKCRAFT® PLAYERS - WE KNOW THERE ARE A LOT MORE OF YOU OUT THERE! HOPE TO HEAR FROM YOU SOON!
No new Folkcraft Player today, but we are happy to be able to re-feature Diane and her trio of Folkcraft dulcimers.
Who's Going To Write In Next? Keep This Thing Going?
It really is super-easy to join our online dulcimer community. Just three easy steps:
1) Reply to this newsletter email
2) With answers to the four questions below
3) Attach a photo of yourself with your Folkcraft dulcimer(s)
We look forward to hearing from you and 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?
FOR JUST A LITTLE WHILE LONGER 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)
This Week's Featured YouTube Video:
This week is a follow-up to last week’s lesson on the baritone! Mandy shows you another way to play some chords. Have fun! Just click on the image below to watch.
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.
THE BEST TUNES YOU NEVER PLAY
by Aaron O'Rourke
Aaron's done it again! This collection features 30 addicting fiddle tunes that don’t get played very often in dulcimer circles. Mostly American old-time tunes, which really deserve to have more broad exposure. From "Duck River" to "Wounded Hoosier" - "Waynesboro" is a personal favorite of your newsletter editor - you're sure to find something you really like to play. See below for the complete song list.
Most of the tunes in here are pretty simple - all of them are in DAD tuning. But for the more complex tunes, Aaron includes a simplified version for beginners. (59 pages)
SONG LISTING:
Battle Of Cedar Creek • Big Scioty • Boogerman • Christmas Time Is Coming • Booth Shot Lincoln • Dry And Dusty • Duck River • Citico • Fly Around My Pretty Little Miss • Five Miles From Town • Goodbye Liza Jane • Greasy Coat • Gunboat - Happy Hollow • Hawks And Eagles • Hop High Ladies • Ida Red • Jack O'Diamonds • Old-Time Billy In The Low Ground • Jack's Creek Ridge • Kiowa Special • Last Of Harris • Leather Britches • Little Billy Wilson • Salt Creek • Wake Robin • Walkin' In The Parlor • Washington's March • Waynesboro • Wounded Hoosier