1983-01, Dulcimer Players News Vol. 9 No. 1 by Dulcimer Players News

WINTER 1983

~ttter\'ic(u u'illl ,:lilllll ~inrtta

J\ttgusht ;Mrritagc orksllOpS

'rofile: 'iยงitt~rc~ ~atllcriltS

1982 ~c5ti\lUl ~iSllliSllts ~e\liefus, ~c(us, 'Q;unes an~ c!Jll!ore ...

VOL. 9, NO. 1

$2.00

DULClKER PlAYERS NEW'S Vol. 9 , No. I Whter: 198) t) All Right. Relerved

The DULCLHER PLAYERS NEWS 1. published four [t.e.

each year. I.lues are .. lIed to subscribers during the firlt week of Janu-ry. April , July and October,

Subscriptions 1n the United States are

$8 per year, $IS [or two y.are . avaUable . Editor:

Sack isaues are

Special thanks 80 to the authora of artlcl •• and the arrangera of tune. and 80ng8 for this i •• ue. We are grateful , alao, to the fine .. ,a,loe of Wear Virginia heritaga,

MADELINE Kac!H!lL

DULCIMER PLAYERS NEWS P.O. 80" 2164

Winchelter, VA 22601 (703) 667-2017

COLDENS£AL. for abaring the artide about the Auluata workshopa with us.

Ollr artists - Michel Legare. Gerry Norris , Randy Mohr and Betty Stuedle brighten thele pages each quarter with their talented work. Joan Nauer has helped us vith the major typing chores for over a yesr now. Seth Austen lays out DPN psses so beautifully with only an occ.sional "Cut the logo . The cat stays" proepting fro. tbe editor . Two wonderful neophytes vere introduced to the fUntic Int houra before the DPN goel to the printer . Ned Talley ..de at lelat two tripI to the 7-Eleveo between hi, stints at the typewriter while Susie PeterSeD wore a path between the layout deak and the waxer. Without them we Might have been here all night inltead of MOlt of it. Ruth Anne HacNeil and Oavid Hampton help U8 .ore than they could ever rea11%e .

Contents LETTERS TO DULCIKE:R PLAYERS NEWS •••••• • •• •• • • •• • •• • •••••••• • •••••••••• • •••• t.

1982 fESTIVAL HIGHLIGHTS . ••••••.•..•..••..••....•... . •. .. •..•.•.••.•.•.... . S

WHAT'S NEW? .....•... . .•... . .• . .• . ......... . .•..•.•• • .•..•.... • . • • . . . .... . 11 KINDRED CATHERING PROFILE

Robert Force •..••.•. . •• . ••....•.... • .. • .•....•. 13

REVIEWS .. • . .•.......•..•.....• . .•...•....... . • .. • .. . • ....•.........•....•. 14 BE THOU Kt VISION

arr . Randy Mohr ............................... . .. ...... 16

THE RENA.lSSANCE OULCIMER Woody Wdke.r . ..... . .. . .. . .. . .. . ................. 18 INTERVIEW VITH SAo... RlZZ!TTA Madeline MacNeiL •..• . .•..• . .••.... . . . .• . .•.. 21 CLASSIPIED ADS ••.•••••••••••••••••• • •• • •••••••• •• • • •• • •••••••••••••••••••• 27 SCARBOROUCH FAIR arr. Bernie Stolla .•......•.......•.• . . . •• . •. . . . ••.• . .. . 28 AUGUSTA:

A REAFFIRMATION OF HOHEHADE VALUES

Michael Kline •.•... . .•.• . .•. )0

DULClHER ORCAN.lZATIONS .... . . .. • .. •. . •. . . •. .. . •..•• . • . .•. . •.•.......•..••.• )) Please do not reprint or redistribute without permission. Contact dpn@dpnews.com

You ' ve asked for con tinual list-

-'-

Bie", .. lngIJ. pe!u;e , insight and n>usi-

cal expression - my wishes for you in the New Year. Many of you have COIIIIlM!nted favor-

ably about the new OPN format over the

past few months and we thank you . Now , beginning with this issue, your comments will be shared with other readers through a Letters To The Editor page .

If you

write to U8 and would prefer not to have your letter or a portion of it published, please ao notate. As with other publicatlons, views of the letter writers do not necessarily reflect the vlews of the editor - and many viewpoints are certainly good. However, since I'm a very peaceful per90n , strong conflicts and battlegrounds are out !

tive

well

Be nega-

positive , but be nice!

ings of dulcimer organi~ations and you'll find that page beginning in this issue. Please keep us infonaed of updates and additions. We begin our ninth year o( publication with anticipation and nostalgia as always. Thank you many times ove r for he lping us exist and gr ow. Thank yo u for sharing ideas and articles and especially thank you for being the wonderful friends you have beCOIlle. Ilhat ia in store for this year? Begioning with the Spring DPN the mailing list will be operated through an Osbourne office compute r. But IIIOre about that in the Spring issue. Following on the heels of a manageable mailing liat will be the move to bi-monthly publication rather than quarterly. That won 't happen immediately, of tourse , but that ' s how we'll begin our Happy New Year!

'??7d4!"'Y<!'-'7kac~ Madeline MacNeil, Editor

dulcimer construction error becomes rage Ha!'Dered dulciIrler construction has taken a new and revolutionary turn recently as the result of a harmless mistake. It has been reported that a builder on the Eallt Coast constructed a hammered dulcimer and experienced a large cacaphonous sound from the instrument upon picking it up . The noise was a tool inside the completed duicilller. As he wallowed in deapair , II new lIIOdel hammered dul cimer was born: The Crackenjack Dulc imer . Its sales slog.n is "buy a dul cimer .. get a prize inside". The Crackenjack Dulcimer has begun t o ca t c h on aDlOng buildera all along the East Coast. Its popularity is expected to spread throughout the rest of the count ry some time within the next six months. Ordinary hammered dulcimers have been eaaily transformed into The Crackenjack with an inc rease in price of $5 or more , depending on the prize to be included . The buyer can specify virtually any item that is able to fit reasonably within the con fines of the instrument . There may be an additional charge if internal changes need t o be made Qn the dulcimer to accomodate the pri~e , o r if the buyer opts to purchase the item himaelf to ship to the builder.

T\IU prizes have proved to be especially appealing out Qf all those which have been used thus far. One is a junior toal set , ideal for the ambitious child who will then have all the necessary equipment to put the dulcimer back together again once it is disassembled and the contents revealed. The other 1s particularly popular with single people liv10g in apartments or cond omin iums . A five piece place setting of bone china is protected by a deep red or blue velvet lining inaide the dulcimer. The single person has a fine service for meals , B.1d a muffled instrument which can be played tQ his /her heart's content without disturbing the neighbors. Unfortunately . fraud is nudging its yay intQ The Crackenjack Dulcimer industry . IndiViduals who have had dulcimers in their attics f o r years are selling those instruments at inflated prices , c laiming their authenticity . The prize inside? Cobwebs (with appropriate insects) and liust. Future buyera are warned to purchase The Crackenjack only from certified deslers and to reque s t a certificate of authenticity . Lucille Reilly P. O. Box 712 Moorestown , NJ 08057

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To the Editor: tn re.ponse to An Interview with Ruth Barrett. Cyntla SIIlth, Vol. a, No.4 Fall ,

1982

Dear DPN Thi • .ountaln dulcl_r h . .de of walnut , has five .lrlng. evenly spaced , aoundhole. in the fretboard a. well aa the top and ill tuned with. key. The fret. are only under the !lrat two atringa. It h approll1D.auly 7S year. old. The builder , To. Reynold., lived in Oregon , HO. at the time he built the dulcimer. Hi. BOn , RI.ine Reynold. , Sl . Joseph , MO . gave lie the instrument. HI got !lie name frOIll an article in the St. Joseph newspaper about

mo . The inatrument haa a lovely sound and 1 uae it often In programa , espec1ally in

ac:hoola.

t . Albert Kreek Orelon , NO

In her interview vith the DPN , Ruth Barrett t.ke. exception to dulcl.aer pl.yers who play r.at to to. c_aidarad good cbt...ing that they ''aisa the ..mole point" . "If you 're trying to convey a feeling , what difference can apeed _kef" I feel that •• perforMers , it i. easent1al to reaU.toe that none of us hf,s "the truth". There is roo. ir• .,sic for _ny atyles of playing . Jean Ritchie's music hf,a .aved .e , too , a. hf,a the beautiful Renal,unce atyle of Carrie CrOllpton . But as a perfOrMer who leans he.vily on the f.ster, .ore rollicking tempos, I have to uy that there is a place for the music thal . . kes the toes tap and the hand a clap. That h a "feeling" too - and. good onel To deny it ia to r.ll to recogniu the wonderful veraatilityof the dulcimer. If one can .. y that there are perfonaera who '''iaa the whole point" it ia , in Illy view , thoae who want to li.it the lIIudcal world to one or two "atceptable atylea". Surely It 11 betur to be open to any good lIIuaiciana who have developed their own atyLea and have .omethlng to aay vith their ltUalc . Mara Waahburn

W. Lafayetu, IN Dear DPN:

Here ia our check to renew our aubscription to DULCIMER PLAYERS NEWS for one -.ore year. The Ralph Lae S.ith article about John D. Tignor (Fall 1992) vas very nice . We firat .et John at a crafta ahow in Cincinnati about 1974. M eoon aa we played hia dulcLaera we knew he waa unique. We bought one of the laat "Amburgey" pattern dulcllllllra John Mde. It'a a S-atring aolid walnut lind one of tho,e rare inatru.enta that Mke you sound better the firat time you play it. We alwaya went to aee John whenever we knev he was in town. I reeelilber the 1aat tI.e I aaw ht. I told ht. 1 thought he vaa one of the -.oat under-raud dulciaer bulldera we knew. That ' a why the article meant to much to us and juat one .are reaann we appreciate the work you are doing for "the cause". Sonde and Alicia Sondergelt Cincinnati , OH

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TEXAS STATE DULCIMER CHAMPIONSHIPS

1982 festivals

The Powen That Be could nOt have p i cked a better two dsy. thin May 8 and 9 to give Texaa a respite frOlll its sprin8 .on800n 8ea80n. Thst w.s the weekend on which the First Annual Texas State Dulct.e r Championshipa wera held. Tex•• Colk .ulic Canl took adVantage of the lovely weather to co-pete , jam , and sun the • .elves thr ough the whole weekend . Prize winners in e.ch cl•• s were: Ha..ered Dulct.er , 1st prize , David Horan; 2nd prize , Lynds T~peon; lrd prize, Carol Verser; Fretted Dul cilDe r , lat prize , David Schnsufer; 2nd prize, Sandy Cain; lrd prize , Hike Druey. The Saturdsy evening conce rt featured groups and individual. , including the winnera fro m both conte.tl. Jean Schoiu , uling a hannered dulcimer purc hased by her great - grandf ather before the Civil War , played music her grandmother taught he r. We were aleo entertained by the fant.'lsti c hlmmering and l1multlneous Col k dancing of Jay Round. The Sweet Song String Band played our old favorite. aa well IS dhhing up 808Ie hoary old Jokes ( . . st of whi ch we ' d forgotten) in a st1le reminiacent o f Vaudeville. The new group ConnellLllra , f •• turing Ru ••• ll Cook on ha_rad dulc:i. . r , played 80aIe wonderful lrhh traditi onal . . aic. Sunday .orning , the Enae.ble ChI.pionship Wl8 lticked off with I rousing and ttghtly arranged duet for j8w harp and nose flute , pllyed by D4ina Ka.Uton and Je rry Reuben. First prize waa aW.'Irded to an i-rroNptu group organ i zed by David Lindsey Cor general .usica l co.petence and faat thinking. Dena Ilaa1lton received the Wild Turkey Award for his excellent toastlILlIaterahip and boundless energy. and the Chutzpah Award va8 given to Jerry Rueben for hh t.provhational nose flute vertuosity. As if all thts were no t enough , adJacent to the stage are. , there vaa a craf ts fair in progress. Most boothel were taken by 1IIUsicai inatrulllent builders , i ncluding Ruasell , Jay Round and Rick Hi c ka , but there ",as alao a wonderful aelection of hand_de jewelry , handwoven clothing , needlework and t o le painted goods t o be hid. The sk111 of these c raftapersons combined with an impressively high level of IIIlIsicbnshlp to aske the Firat Annual TeXIS State Dulci. . r Championship I s rich artiatlc: experience.

DOWN!AST DULCIMER FESTIVAL

This year'. Downe•• t Dulctaer Feativa!. al",.y. held on the ",cond weekend

of July , wa. blessed with another ~lne blue .ky . July weekend. The lathering on the Village Creen In Bar Harbor ranged between 800 - 1 , 000 people for the two day. of the Festival. Hany folka were also sampling Acadia National Park vith ita

pink Iranite .ountaina , lobater feeds and the que.tion , "just how rar can you see out on the ocean fraa the tOP of Hr. Cadillac on • 1IIOonl1t nlght1" The' workshops were ver y informative with Doug Berc h, Bonnie Carol , Alan Oarveaux , Ron Eving . Hike Kachuba , Sa. Hoffact , and Keith Patrie leading (olka along the dulcl.aer path . Saturday nLsht we IoIere all

treated to a great con tra dance at the Bar Harbor YMCA with The Baas Harbor String Band of Ht . Desert hland and Frank Klbbe cal ling. Hany nationally known instrument makers showed their tslents , ..ar". and _a1c. Hope you can all jotn us thh year! Eddie 0._

Mildred Crain shows Rob Maulsby a dulc~r she .ade. SOU'I1lERN APPALACHIAJI DULCIMER FESTIVAL Bininghall , ,uaba.a Photo: Ann Maulsby

S Angle IIrlaae

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"The Flowers of Edinborough"., •• "Wooster Oddity" ... "Little Burnt Potato" , 8O!ne of the tunes that could be heard on the weekend of July 17th as hundreds of dulcimer players gathered at Evart , HI for the 0r18inal Dulcimer Players Club Fun-Festival. Tbe activities be8an with a -arsh.allow roast on Thursday and led to a variety of j . . sesaions throughout the fair8rounds. Taking a leasurely stroll on Priday, I listened to s 8roup playin8 blue-8ra.s .osic , another playing Irish, a hugh j u sealion working on a potpourri o( jigs and reels , another group with the S1nclair Brothers playing old-time hymns and !JOllie fiddlers playing ''GeC:1I of the Bal1roOlll". By Saturday , you could hear ragtime and gypay IIlIlIic t oo. The wide variety of lIIusic WlIS cOllIplemented by the alght of sO IIIIlny beautiful duicilllers. There were lovely instrUlDents of walnut , maple, oak , c herry and mahogany 1o00dll with sound-hold decorationa like lute rosettes , hearts , copper wire deligns and a dolphin. Even two ambereyed kitty cats purred beneath the wires of Hickey Haloche ' s dulcimer. Individual playin8 techniques were in evidence aa the slow trelDOlo of the Sincla ir Bro thers contrasted with the fast and furious of Wes Linenkugel. The full , easy and relaxed .cunde of Bill YeLater , folloving the intense love of the d1.lllinished chord in the playing of Bob Spinner. Jay Round performed in his happy go-lucky _nner and Paul Gifford evoked old faahioned lIIuaic-box memoriea with some truly lovely waltzes . Players ranged in abUity [rOIl! be8inners to virtuosos and you could easily flnd a group and join right in. This year's festival had informal workshops and stage shows and a special aalute and invitation to our Canadian neighbors. A "Fiddle Parade" was held on Saturday . What a sound I AllllOst a hundred (well , maybe thirty) fiddlers playing to gether •• . the new Evart Symphony Orcheatral You really don't have to playa dulcimer to enjoy this festivsl. Many instrumentalists participated with recorde rs, banjos , guitars , harps, fiddles, accordians and autoharps . The people make a festival what it is and as 1 was leaving 1 heard co_nts like: Great •.• such nice people ••. 1 !net a lot of people to share tunes with ... next year 1 ' 111 going to stay a whole week •.. fantastic , I could write a teat1lllonial. So , if you'Te a scholarly folklorist or a low-down banjo-picker , a lIIus1e historian or a screeching fiddleT, the Original Dulci!ner Players Club has a lot to offer you. Cecelia Horodko

BOONE IN JUNE Attending the dulcimer workahop at Appalachian State Univeraity in Boone, North Carolina has become one of the most interesting times .any of us have CODe to enjoy each ye.r. Dr. Willi_ Spencer of the Music Depart.ent .t ASU directs thi8 well-rt-ed prosraN, keeping it at • high standard of teaching and communication with staff and students. The first wortuhop began in 1978 with 19 students and has 8rown to 102 io the fifth year . The workshop offe rs beginners, inter.ediate and advanced classea. Also, special SelllinaTIi and lllaster c lassell will be offered in 1983. TheTe are viaits with locsl instTument builders and lIIu,icians during the week. A conCert is held on Thursday night by staff mellibera and other folk lIIusiciana. ASU also has a museUIII col lection of Appalachian music and history for tapin8. Ralph Lee Smith , an authority on the history of the dulcimer, has a most rewarding clasa each year on traditional music. Along with the excitement , beauty and hUIIIDT , he ahare. with ua hi s atories about folks of ou r So utheTn Appalachian Mountains. Lois Hornbostel joined the tea ching staff two yeaTs ago. Lois shares her style of Irish and English ausic along with fine fiddle tunes. AlIna Barry and Ann Chambers are excellent dulcimer tea che ra . These ladies have their own style and are very conce rned about reaching the basic beginners level, bringing "anxious-tt>-learn" folks up to a blossa.ing flower or the mountaina. This is ahown on I118ny happy faces when all students are given the opport unit y to perfOnl as a clasa group or as individuals during the Friday student concert. See you in Boone in 19831 Sally George

•

Tabby Finch BELLE GROVE Hlddletown, Photo; Blll

and Joe deZsrn DULCIMER GATHERING Virginia HcHenTY

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1982 CRANBERRY HAHKERED DULC[HER GATHERING Once again the annual Cranberry Ita_red DulciMer Gathering in Binghalliton . New York proved to be a weekend meeting of extraordinarily talented player. in a most congenial atlllOsphere and setting . Held the laat full weekend of July on tile Grounda and in the building of the Unitarian Univer.aUst Church in Binghalllton. this gathering is a troe aha rin g of talent . While organizer a Boy wey . John Kle.ke and TOil! Baehr did arrange for 8OCIf! "apeclal perfonllflr .... thia is a fe.tival without .tara , where workahop. are truly opportunitiea to share and co-pare . and where perfonaancea have an intbaste quality. I tried to be lit leAst two or three plllce. at once , a. the poa.ibilities on tne .chedul e all seemed attrllctive. Here are co_nts about a few activit i es I did attend. The "Boys frolll Texas , nallll!ly Russell Cook, Dllvid Lind.ey, and Dana Hamilton , II trio of Ilward winning ha_red dulcimer player. and builders, gllve an enlightening work.hop on "Arrllnging for Contests" on FridllY afternoon . On SaturdllY 8ill Spence revealed that he really hAd only one "licit" (left . riaht, right, left) that he usea in a nUlllber of deucedly c lever way. . "Exploratory Exclecticiam" with Nick Krukovsky had Joyce Demarais of Yankee Ingenuity showing lola "Seventy Six Trombone . .. . the duo . "Win tergreen" de!llOn.trating dulcimer in duet with a wooden African zylophone and Ni c k himse lf with such delight. as Br ubeck ' . T.ke Five and Elite SynchopAtion by Scott Joplin . Lucille Reilly came up with thing. like the Purcell Trumpet Tunea and KaVA Nagila. One workahop llke that can give a phyer several years worth of ideas to develop. Lucille ReUly's work.hop on "PoUahing for Perfotlllance" lola. delivered complete with extensive handout sheet and Maddie KacNeil ' . work.hop on "Vocal Acc01llpaniment" gave u. A chance to hear how ahe worked out "Send in the Clowns" on the ha_red dulcaer. Leo Kre tzner . Seth Au.ten and Ron Ewing kept the mountain dulct.er players bullY .,ith a v.rieLy or detailed se â&#x20AC;˘â&#x20AC;˘ ions OD Saturday . Totl Baehr gOt to the heart of "Alternate St ring Picking" on Friday afternoon and the slide presentation by Sam Rizzetta of "Dulcimer. in Other Cultures" vas crowded with a faacinated audience. The Sunday !IIOrning ha_red dulcilller exchange got II sleepy start . but by the time "Ar ranging for

Duets" callie around there wa. lots of participation . The Saturday night dance loIall _rked by excellent dulcUer play1ng , plus calling by varioul callera around for the featiVAI. I can ' t say out of all of this ..mat 1 liked tbe IIIOlt , but the IIISgic of a late night j am $ession , in the resonant hall of the chu r ch loIith Sam Riztetta and Bob Kale , who brought hi. harpaichord a l ong . is It U l vivid. A nelol event for this year ' . gathering waa an "Open State " all day long in the Church. This gave everybody an opportunity to be. an officiAL perfOrMer if they wanted t o be , but I found it laIpoaaible to keep up with the work.hop IIchedule and the open auge schedule at the same time. I'd definitely recommend this festival to anyone who wanta t o be around some o f the best lIIIOunuin and halllllered dulcimer players in the country . The atmo.phere i. relaxed, the calliPing a r ea is lIIuch expanded , but 9t ill at .. ple . and the food is great. To get on the 11181110g list for next year's fe.tival , (July 29 . 30 . and 31) write : Bob wey , 21 Redcoat Lane . RFD 3 , Plainville, KA 02762 (617) 695-2037. Hittle Collins

fred Hontllgue THE fLOWER CAROL FESTIVAL Watertown, Massachusetts Photo : John Sheckler WINFIELD DULCIMER WINNERS Walnut Valley Festival 1982 Winfield , KS

Fretted Dulcimer: 1st To. Hauer. Denver, 00; 2nd Bonnie Carol, Boulder, CO; lrd Gib Seaman . Lawrence, KS . ~r.d Dulclller: lat David Mor an , Tuha , OK ; 2nd Bonnie Carol , Boulder , CO; 3rd Randy Zombolo , Colorado Spring. , CO.

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the duo Wintergreen and Truex joining her group Sidestep , played a great variety of ~usic, clearly demonstrating that there are alllOst al many styles of plsying ss there are dulcimer playera. B... t there vas also an allLllgallLltion of those diverse style •. Truex's ja%zinfluenced prolre8.10na. Kret%ner's hard driving flat picking , Berch's delicate orna.entation , Moffatt ' s precise and rhythmic hammered dulcimer playing , Thorne ' s supportive percussion and wind instrument playing , and Rockwell's special attention to chording cOllbined in their enae~ble work to give a certa in vibrancy t o the evening of ~ ... sic. The diversity of pl aying 8tyles snd musical preferencea vas evident, ho.... ever. in the solo appearances. Here , the contrast. were much more distinguishable ; yet no one performer dominated. Far h o~ being a competition . the concer t -indeed the whole symposium -- was devoted to sharing. The performers shared the spotl i ght with each o ther as graciously as they earlier shared their knovledge with the workshop psrtidpants. If for some reason you have refrained from participating in a "total i.mInersion" dulcimer weekend , please re cons ider. There are several here in the northeast , and the Northeast Dulcimer Sympoaiuo is smong the best.

THE NORTHEAST DULCIMER SYMPOSIUM DuI~lmer event I go by seversl nsmes. There sre (eltivsll , ~ontelts, gatheringl , fsirs , ~onvent i ons , f ... n (eltl , and now even a symposium . Co~n to molt of these events are a Iched ... l" of workshops followed by an evening concert. The exec ... tion of these attivitiel . and any other activitiel that take place, detenl ines whether the weekend is s ... c~e •• ful. The Northeast Dulcimer Sympolium , held in Woodstock, Ntw York on Oc tober 2 waa indeed succes.ful. BarbBra Truex and Chris White intended that this event address several .spects of conte.porsry style and playing techniques f or both hallllDll!red and .auntain dulcimer. The workshops , panel discussion, and con~ert all refle cted this .lant. Most of us who .ttended already play contemporary music, or play traditional music in a progressive style. Perhaps the symposium ' s emphasis dis~ouraged some people from coming , for attendsnce was fairly light. This is not uncommon (or the first seslion of an annual event. For those of us who don't like to get l ost in a crowd, the aympoaiUIII was idesl. Workshop leadarl Leo Krataner . Dou8 Berch, Je rry Rockwell , Sam Moffatt , Phil Thorne , and Barb Truex cove red several t opica related to contemporary style, including notation . improvisation , left snd right hand tec hniq ... e. , and instrument set-up and . . intenance . Each workshop vas repeated , giving the st ... dents more choice and flexibility in their sched ... ling. The leaders .teered away frolll treating their workshops ss miniconcerts o r lecture-demonstrations; the emphasis waa on particip.tion. The focal point of the .ympoaium was the afternoon panel di.c .... aion. The paneli.ts and .udience enjoyed the autumn sun and di.cussed several issues . Foremost among them and running like a thread throughout the conve rsation was a concern for promoting and publiciz i ng both mountain and hallllN!red d ... lcimer as legitimate ensemble instruments. SOllIe suggestions included IILIking use of televeision public .cceas channels . and looking into library programs for video tsping loc.l events. The evening concert put intO sound many o f the concepti that had been discussed and demonstr.ted earlier in the day . All of the workshop leaders , with Moffatt and Thorne performing .s

To_ Baehr Cheater, VT

SUMMER SOLSTICE DULCIMER FESTIVAL Beverley Hill_, California Photo : Elaine Weiaasan

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hammered & fretted dulcimers. harps. banjos. mandolins. kits & instruments.

records. books FREE

CATALOG 25 No. 4th

St .~. Mph., MN 55401

WE ALL LOVE THE DULCIMER - BUT 00 YOU

KNOW In; HISTORY? Read Ralph Lee Smith's booka: llYN American FoIIlnltnllMnll: 80x Z1thfis, ScMlthotta, and DuIcIINn. 41 pp., .o illustrations, $5.98. The MyalefY ot the Dulcimer. 45 pp., 45 illustrations, SS.98. From your lavonle music: store or from the author, 1662 Chimney House Road, Reston, VA 22090. Add 50 cents postage/handling lor one book, 75 cents lor two. Va. residents add 4 % tax.

ELK NECK DULCIMERS MOUNTAIN >HAMMERED DULCIMERS P.D.Box 358 North East, Md. 21901

1301 1287-9304

BILL KEAY, Luthler

AT LAST-

,. ...

A PRIMARY SOURCE ~ . "'_.o_, . ~

•

..,.

Acoutlk 5,,,,,,," ..... _ . HI_tel .. Pkoct;. . 0uIc-. Woock. " " 0. Ioob. _ 1 1 _

A dulcimer case that really protects -yet weighs only 2!fl pounds!

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9~t622

What's New? KEEP Qf THE SUNNY SlOg Jean

and Lee SChi1l1nq, Traditional

Recorda , P.O. Box 8 . Cosby . 'n1 )7722. Tht. albWI f.atur es .auntain and h~red dulc l. e r a , auton.cp . har.onica, recorder and vocal. on ael ections such a. Listen to the Mockingbi rd, Cabin In Clo r y Land , Golden Slipper . , Knoxville Gi rl .nd S- A-V-E-O . IN TIlE CI RCL£

THE SUN

Sally Rogers with Oakota Dave Hull, Chudi. SChllidt .nd the

Lost World String Band Thrulhwood Recorda . 80x 111 , p<*ftet ,

CT 06258. Fretted dulci.er play ing. unaccompan i ed solo vo ice to r o lUcking tunea with an old-t i mey flavor. Cir c le of the Sun . Planxty Pahny Poer , Lady Margaret, Old p"ther Fall.

SOUNDS LIJI:E FUN "itde Collina

Recorda , 197 Melrose St . Rochester , NY 14619. An albua o f song. for children perfor.ed by children and adult. . so.e h.... red dulcl_H'. The enclosed booklet sa~pler

features words and .usic to the songs , ga_s , poe . . and suggestions/adaptations fo~ use with special childre n.

Feast or Fuine, Records , P . O. Bo~ 5) , Ne w Haven, VT 05412 . An albuJI featuring traditional (Haid of CoolJao r e , Return to Fingel/Lord Franklin) and o riginal (lca~us , Eileen) tunes and vocals using du l ciIIoer, guitar, mandolin , mandol a , piano , acoustic bass, snd tin wh 11 tIe.

MOUNTAIN DULC IMER Mark Biggs , Mel Bay Publications, Pacific , NO 6)069 . A collec tion of t~adit1onal fo lksong s , Iri8h and ~~ican fiddle tunes, c la •• ical pieces a nd o ~iginal aongs with sa-e instruction. ea.ssette tape availabl e.

Mel Bay Pre5enll ...

THE BEST IN

DULCIMER

RDtAI SSANC£ DULC IMER Ca rri e M~ l Bay Publications , Pacific, MO 6)069. Thi. book for fr etted dulci _~ p ~ esen t 9 cou~t and count~y dances of the Renaiasance period written in tablature . C~ ocpton,

ClASSI CAL GUITAR Husic adopted and arranged for fr e tted du l c iJIIe ~, Randy Wilkinson, Sta~ Route 1, Bo~ 4031, Camp Ve r de , AZ 86322 . Thi s book contain s .us 1c by Fernando SO r, Matteo Ca r cass! a nd Fe~inando Carul li . A cassette tape i s availabl e. HUMMING DANCE sa. Moffatt , R.R . I, Bo~ 16B , ve~8uire, \IT 0507 9 . A cacee tte t~ pe featur ing instru.entals on ha_red dulci.er and kantile. selections include The Ash Grove , The Min8t~al Boy , O' Keefer ' s Slide , king of the Fae~ies and seve r al originals .

8RECON BEACON F~etless

HOBGOBLIN Randy Hudson and Phil Marple, J.06 Pr~nt '!we. N., seattle , WA 9BI03. A cassette tape featuring ham.ered dulcime r and guitar in such tunes as Newcastle/ Cukoo ' s Nut, Snowflake Breakdown , Si~le Gifts and Pretty Little Dog/paddy on the TUrnpike .

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Profile: Kindredbj~~~herin8 Port Townsend , WA

The seventh annual Kindred Cachering Music Festival for "friends o f modes and dulcimerie" 1.'88 held on the land of Sue Neil and Willie SeaTS. Sue and Willie , festival

organizers 8a well 8S hosts , welcomed over 150 people to their 15 acre Creaky Springs Holllestead located at the end of Yank Gulch Road ou tside the town of Talent in southern Or:egon.

The site ws a 8111811 canyon with a series of meadows connec ted by a meandering stream . Facilities included a sauna , swimlDing pool , and c ampfire pit. Willie also

made available the use of his WQodshop for giving first-aid to those severa l instruments needing care and adjustment. By Thursday night over half of the people who were to attend had already arrived. RaHway through the night the flrepit blazed as folks gathered around t o share new tunes picked up during the year, dust off a few of the old fa vor ites , greet friends and welcome newcomers. By Friday noon the meadows and hillsides were festooned with brightly colored tents. Groups ot lDusiClans were scattered in twos and threes all ove r the site and mUSiC began to be heard everyvhere you turned. An o rganizati onal meeting was called and everyone sssembled on the lawn to see what direction the festival was going to take. The Kindred Gathering ' s "Cha rter" was reiterated . People were told that the nature o f the festival was that of consensus activity. A scheduling board "'liS provided for any participants who fel t they had something to share. They were asked to write Who . \oIhat . and Where , next t o the hourly time-slot provided. Three such slots per hour were ae t aside to ac c01llOdate different interest groups happening simultaneously. It was pointed out that the gathering ran on "festival time". This meant that a cloc k sat next to the schedu ling board and was the officia l time of day. Any workshop leader who saw that a previous workshop was runnin g late simply turned back the c l oc k so that the othe r event wouldn't have to fee l rushed and so that their activity could begin "on time". This technique contributes greatly to the relsxed atmosphere of the gathe rings. Over forty workshop a were scheduled for Friday , Saturday , and Sunday between the hours of 10 and 6. Campfire songfests t ook place every evening after dark, of ten far into the night. At the height of attendance close to 200 people came to play music. By Monday morning there were still ove r 35 people on the grounds. Consequently several more workshops were initisted. Not until Tuesday afterno on did the last traveler depart, leaving Creaky Springs as fresh and clean as though no one had been there at all - but a treasure of songs and I!lelodies and laughter will forever be a part of that land. The following is a Ust of workshops transc ribed directly frOll'l the scheduling board: Aeolian Appalachian Traditional Songs; Old - Timey Irish ; Creative Visualizat i on ; Samba, Reggae. Cha- ChII, Latin Up-Beat Rhythma ; Songa to Sing Acapella , Sea Chanteys , .. tc,; Dulcime r Otientation- -H1story . co njecture , basic playing styles , introduc t ion to playing; Boot Camp fo r the r ight hand; Ionian Chord Pr ogreaions -- Pop music translated into Reggae Dulcimer; New Games Tournament ; rr i sh Tunes ; Lammas Celebration--unde r standing ritual and magical songs ; Hammered Dulcime r playing; Oldtime Dulcimer -- back-up chords ; Singing and Music Theory; Hammered Dulcimer, tuning to the piano - - r:leSO and even tempe r ed scales elplained ; Flatpicking 1 ; l r iah Dancing; Pop songs , R&B , and out r ageous things song swap ; Performing - - transcend stage frig ht; Bowed P/:UIltry; Making a Chord Chart; "Don ' t quit your day job" - - a workshop on making records ; Squar e and round dance

12 Please do not reprint or redistribute without permission. Contact dpn@dpnews.com

with caller; 0. circle; Swing and Jazz; Slow Iriah Tunea; Oulci.er Teacherl Rap lela ion and brainatonaing; Builder. Workahop; Buy and Sell Book. , Record., Dulcimeu; Turning chord progre.aionl and _lodie. Into dulct.er arrangementa including Oiseo Ind New Wava; Latin Rhyt~a Workshop II -- The Mambo; Rhyt~ Patterna and Time changea; funny Son,a; Diagusting , offensive and politically incorrect .onga; natpicking 11 ; Sweet Ceorg1a Brown , Alalwsa JubUee in Mixolydian (next day the . ._ IDngs in Ionian); Unnatural AcU: Waltzing with Beara. The last two items . . y nead a 11ttle explanation. Unnatural Acts is a aometi.es KG inatitution that allows people to lhow ofC thinga that .oat others would conatder iJapoaalble, Dr _ybe even blt.are. In previoua years we ' ve had people who could play the troll.bone with their feet while hopplng about , people who could invert their tongue and 1II8ke it beat lilte a heart , people who could roll both eyeballs in a circle independently of each other , people with trick Joints who could do 8IUzing ahenanigana and, well , I ' ll. .ure you let the idea . It ' l our way oC rellxlng a£ter leverll days oC Intenae IllUdc I88king Ind learning. Last year. ' highlight waa a troupe of choreographed dancing duicilller playera (with inatrUlllenta) doing a Dr. Pepper eo-rcial. Are you ready for UI Madiaon Avenue1 £Very year the gathering leellla to take a particular .ong to heart and everyone leama it. One year it was Teddy seara Picnic. Thia years ' take-it-to-heart song W,1.S written by Dr. SeuBa and then .odi£ied by Dale Manten of Corvallis , Oregoo and brought to UI by that indefatigueable .ong collector , Holly Tannen. I wouldn ' t presulIII! to print it here , but 1 w111 tickle your fancy with a verse excerpt: I bought Uncle Walter a new coat to wear But when he COllCS in ita all covered with hair And lstely we've noticed there ' a . .veral new teara , I'll. sure Uncle Walter ' s been waltzing with bears. Perhapa Holly will gracloualy conaent to tab i t out Cor all the OPN subscrlbera . Speaking of heartaong. , the encore to the Saturday nlght concert a. performed by the WUd Oata String Band vas a atiTTing rendition of 200 people ainging "Hang He, Oh Hanl Ke". 1982 ' . Kindred Cathering waa held on the 40 acre farm of An,us and Rommle Mclane. on '--1 lel.ml , Puget Sound , Waahinlton . To get on the . . iling lilt for future gatherings "Tite; ROBERT fORCE , P.O. Box 9)1 , Port Tovsend , Wuhington 98)68.

RECORD REVIEW SWEET RIVERS , Jean Ritchie with Jia Gage , John McCUtcheon , Harion Summer , Jack Wright and Iie_bers of Ritchie Family. SWEET arVERS , Jean Ritchie ' a lauat alOO. is an experlence in lOutheTn _untain Baptist *Jltc of a generation ago . There are old regular Baptist hy.,I , linginl-school son,a, " high-church" hy.,a , funeral , llleetinl , and baptizing hyans. Since Old Regulara never ulfl!d organs or pianoa (or any other frivoioul accOllpanillll!ntl for that . . tter) , -ast of the songs on th1l albu. are unaccOII:panied . Although the old tiDley atyle of hyan ainlinl ia apt to aound inUT1lllnably dlacordant to the uninitiand , the experience ia the reward In itself . There are a few cuta with dulc1lller. My favorlte cut , "Resignation" is based on the 23 Paalm, ''My Shepherd Will Supply My Need" . John McCutcheon does a classy Job of ha_r dulcimer accQlllpani.ent. "Evergreen Shore" is s vocal/lIIOuntain duicillll!r nUliber by Jean. On "She 1& Gone" Jean again teams with John McCutcheon as he adds vocal hal"1llOny and hia distinctive atyle of autoharp. This cut is probably the prettiest on the album. "SWII!e.t River. of Redel!llling Love" festurea Jack Wright "linin8 out" the baptizing hymn , a tecmique frequently ulfl!d when h)'lll1al. were not avaUable to everyone in the congregation . For purely preservation value of these old hywta , Ityle and all , this albull is auperb. June Appel label 11 one of the belt in the country for aeeklng out and record lng anre or les. oblcure heritage lllUaic . Although there isn't a whole lot of dulci.tller on SWEET RIVERS, this albull 11 recolIaended lince anst of the h,.,.,. COuld be adopted to the soft voice of the dulciDler.

Lear. Coats

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@(eviews FINGERPICKING DULCllIER , Janics Raker ,

Ki~klng

Mule Records KM 219.

Nothing you

have ever heard before can prepare you for this album: I literally gasped when the first mesaure of "Ragtime Dance" alid out of Illy speakers . Janita Baker has /:Iucceeded where nu_roua other dulcimer players have only endeAvored: ahe has transcended the limitations of the dulcimer and pioneered a whole new muaic:ality for us to marvel lie:.

Attempting to play ragtime or chamber music: on the dulcimer Is nothing new ; but where others are content with delllOnatratlng the novelty of their vision Janita makes her srrangementa sing . The exact quality 1s dIffIcult to describe , but whether she is playing a slinky country bluell. a c lassical piano rag or 8 sweet - tempered ("lit tune the Bound is just right. Janita displays her marvelously contro lled fingerpicking with a tremendous rhythmiC sense in her transcriptions of Scott Joplin piano pieces. Ilhat's ~re , she has developed a unique tuning (D-A-A'-D) that aUows her to play chrolllBtically, 80 she is able to play the entire piece in a way that does credit to the original. When perforllled by 30 artist of Janita IIoIIker ' s talent , these fine old tunes sound ellactly right on the dulcilllE!r. Another standout is the venerable blues "Careless Love", here given a la2.Y arrangeillent remlnh;cent of the fingerpicked guitar work of Stefan CroSll1llOln and Dale Miller. Likewise Coben ' s "Piano Roll Blues" offers one minute and forty nine seconds of flngerpicked perfection. The album 19 divided IlIOn or less in thirds ; with one third blues and rag-oriented music, one third songa co~n to turn-of-the-century parlor entertainments , and one third adaptations of classical oelodies. The balance makes for an unusually l1sten;:ble aibulll. Dulcimer players need to study this album; friends of the dulci.J:ller ",Ul be delighted by its musicality. Ja"lLIl Buk",,' _y nuL"'" a {.... Ular ,,"Ille LO readers of Lhis .... sal-be as she perforllls very infrequently. She lives in the California Coast Range outside of Santa Margarita, where she and her t.usband , Robert , build Blue Lion dulcill>ers. As if to underscore her relative anonynaity , the aibulll ' s front cover featur:es a picture of her InstrulllE!nt "'hile the bac k c over photo was her looking awsy frOIll the camera. No lIIatter , she knows how to make that all-important cOml'llunication w'lth her audience through her music. Although it Io/Ould be tempting to compare " Fingerpicking Dulcimer" to other dui c illll.!r alOOIllS. the truth Is that Janita Baker has developed a style 90 advavc~d as to place ho:!r albulll In a whole new category . For "Fingerpicking Duicilller " is not just a great "dulcimer: record" , rather it is an album of thor:oughly enjoyable muaic. Hark Nelson BALLAD OF 8OONSLlo:. , Cathy Barton & Dave Para , 2309 Woodbridge Rd. , Colulllbia HD 65201. Cathy Barton is gain1ng IIIOre and 1IIOre recognition for her hammer:ed dulcimer anistry , and for good reason . The latest release by Cathy and her husband, Dave . titled BALLAD OF BOONSLICK has SOllIe of the finest hammered dulcimer cuts I ' ve ever heard on recorded muaic. 'Scarbor:ough Fair". done as a sol o , is almost fragile in its beauty. "Call of FarAway Hilltl'contlnues the dulcimer magic , but In a 1IIOre or:chesnated marmer: including backup by fiddler John Murdock and guitar:ist Dave Para . Another cut that gives credence to Cathy ' s growing stature as one of the GOst exciting hammered dulcimer performers is a medley , "Boyers 1.'alt7./Dr:y and Ousty". Anyone who likes hammered dulcimer Io/Ould be absolutely delighted with the treatment given these cuts. But that's not all . Ragtime {'" raraly recorded on halllmllred dulci_r , and a purist =y tend to look a bit aokance at the suggestion of such uae of the inatruillent. But on th1a aibulll , the hammered dulcimeras-ragtime works beautifully 1n a cut titled "Black and White Rag". Dave helps with a super: 6-str:ing banjo accompaniment. Other gems found on the album include a couple of soogs written by a friend of Cathy and Dave ' s , Bob Dyer. "Dry Waltz" and "Ballad of Boonsl1ck" are well cOlllposed and delightfully per:for:lDI.!d. A banjo aledley , "Devilish Maryl The DevU and His Wife" features Cathy and Dave on 5 - string frailed banjo. An acapella nUlllber: by Dave and Cathy rates high marks. Somehow they always are able to r:esurrect an obscure hymn or two that really is a special tr:eat. All in all , this albulll rates an A+. 14 Leota Coats Please do not reprint or redistribute without permission. Contact dpn@dpnews.com

ANTHOLOGY FOR THE FRETTED DULCIMER Lois Hornbostel, Mel Bay Publications , Pacific , HO 63069. Lois has produced ano ther .... inner. This time she has given us a potpourri of tunel (65 in all) plsyed in a variety of Ityles on the mountain dulci~er. The tunes range in variety CrOll! Old Time - "Sally Goodin" , English Country Dance - "Parson ' s Farewell" to Mazurk.as - "Sonny ' s Mazurka" , Polkas - "Polka PrOlll Sunnerbo" and Wal t~es "Empero r Waltz". The songs span countries such ss France and Itsly. The music is ~itten in easy to read tablature and musical notation including back-up chords , and is apiral bound so it l118y be opend out ÂŁlat . Lo is includes finger exercises , plsying techniques snd practice tips, a brief but comp rehensive description o f tunin gs used in the book and reco rd and book sources for lIIOuntain dulcimer. The book also includes pictures of lIIOuntain dulcl$er players and muaicians f rom around the world. Obviously, some thought ....al put into this anthol ogy and it would be a valuable addit i on to any folk musicia ns library as well as a terrific source for the beginning to advanced lIIOuntBin dulcimer player. Judi Korningstar DARGASON: A DULCIMER SAMPLER Joemy Wilson , Darga son Music , 517 S . Gri ffith Park Drive, Burbank, CA 91506. At first listening one almost thinks this album is too sophisticated for the dulcimer , that l118ybe this album title is a bit misleading--a dulcimer sample r ? But upon close r ex_ination one realizes that .... hat Joemy WUso n has IIIOSt artistically shown on DARGASON is another rather recently explored facet of this uniquely fascinating American instrument, the dulcimer as a refined stringed instrument. The instrumental blending of dulcimers, fiddles, harps , flutes, cel l o . whistle , bodhran, et al. is so ....ell done that one is caught up in the artistic offe ring , rather than a study of the dulc:1lller as an individual inatrument. The folks Joemy has helping here all have impressive c redential , including ~n International Folk Ensemble, All-Ireland Harp Champion. talented cellist , a doctoral candidate in ethnDmisicology. etc. But the album is rar rrolll snobbish . JoelllY ' s selections range frolll British Isles , occasional classical , medieval , Elizabethan to a couple of earthy ballads and some traditional American tunes. A couple o[ nateable cuts are " Greensleeves", that all-time over-recorded Elizabethan standard, but strikingly beautiful as Joemy plays a plu ~ed hamnered dul~imer with harp and flute. accompaniment. and "Bocche rini Minuet", a ~laasical atring quintel IIIDvement that Joem)' has adapted to two dul cime r parts and a cello. This is a fine. album illustrat i ng the gro .... ing prestige and aophistication o f the dulcimer. It is not strictly a dulcimer album , but it ia ce rtainly good music. Enjoyable album. Leo ta Coats THE LIVING ~~ THE BREATHING WIND. Kevin Roth , Folkways Records. I re cently read that the average phonograph record is played only 12 timea. 1 played this one at least that _ny tilDeS the first week. Kevin Roth is continuall y finding different s tyles of music t o app roach with the dulcilDer. This albulll contains several French tunes , two by Jacques BreI , ''Marieke '' and "The Song of Old Lovers , " the latter being my favorite on the album. Another , "Gnosaienne , " by Erik Satie , is a hauntingly moody piece ....hich usea a f ou r str ing tuning of C, Eb , G, C. There are several o the r ~ontellipo rary songs , such 8a "The Un i co r n Song" by Margie Adsms. Some of the traditional piecea included a r e "Kitty Alone , " blending dulchner, voice and a delightful pennywhistle accompanyment by Tim Britton , "Kecnp 's Jig/Over The Rainbo .... . " and "Skye SOat Song , " .... hich after an introduction On Scottish bagpipes , combines dulcimer .... ith ulllean pipes (yes , you can hear the dulcimer). About half the lIIateria! is instrumenral-.-lIowever , if you ' ve ever bought a "dulcimer alOOIll" and been disappointed Iodth the vocals, have no fear here. Kevin cou l d easily be making it via just his singing. Together with his talented du l cimer playing , the result ia an ex~ellent album , one o[ hia best yet. Nancy Fortner

15 Please do not reprint or redistribute without permission. Contact dpn@dpnews.com

Old Irish Melody Arranged by RANDY MOHR

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vith ROBBIE DAVIS EO SIMPKINS

HIKE SCHRADER

Selec tions include: Old Joe Cla r k, June Apple, Over The Waterfall, An Uncloudy Day, Scotland the Brave •. . $8 Post-pdd

Kitty Psw Reco rds 1214 Blazier Court Louisville, [y 40228

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1) the tordion is played using the fingers instesd of a pick . The necessity of playing notes simultaneoualy Ilnd in combinat iona not posalble with a pick determine that the fingers lIII,Iat be used. 1 find that the thumb , index and middle fingera ~re aufficlent to play this piece . I also use finger and thumb picks, as I think that l :!ey produce the beSt sound in combination with the metal str1nga of the dulcimer , juSt as bare fingera produce the best sound on the gut strings of the lute . 2) Use alternations of the thumb and index fingers to play the faster scale passages in the tordion. Tbis is how a renaissance lutanist would have done it (but with a radically different hand posi tion , and not with finger picks!) and it will probably come ou t smoother for you . J) Since dulcimer music is written in tablature the sallie way lute music was , I have not tried to indicate the dU["/ltion of each note but have indicated hQw faSt the c hanges take place. Be aIJare , however , that Renaissan ce music IJas much more conSCiOus of individ ual musical Lines than is IDOSt of our popular lIICKIern IllUsic . A good rule of thumb for the tordion is to hold all bass notes as long as they can be held (until the next bass no te o r until you can 't stand it any IIIO re ). In o ther \lOrds , Just because the baaa note (Ion the 10\olest string) :

ORDION THE

RENAlSSA"~CE

DULCIMER

by Woody Walker As a long time lutanis t , it would be inevitable that most of my favorite IlUsic was written before 1625. As a short time duicilller phyer , it wa s probably inevitable that 1 would become cur ious 9S to how Ny favorite !lUsic would sound on the dul cimer , and one of the results Is the

tordion. The lute was the IDOst popular inlltru-

ment of the late middle ages through the Baroque , a period of three hundred yea rs. It reached Ita height during the Renaissance . The lute 1s 11 plucked , fretted atring instrument. The closest s urviving relatives t o the lute in western culture are the mandolin and classical guitar . The technique of playing the lute is unique to that instrument and does not IuIv" a potnlLel in any -odern inattu_n t . A tordion is one type of a family of related dances of unknown origin cultivated at the courts of Western Europe during the 15th Century and more generally during the early 16th Century, This tordion was written by Pierre Attaingnant and publhhed in Paris in 1529 in a collect ion called " Dixhuit Baases Dances Carnies De Recoupes Et Tordions" (eightteen Raase Dancea). In this collection Basse Dances were followed by a Recoupe and a tordion to fOnl an example of an eatly suite. Due t o the liMitations of the dulcimer (non-<:hrollllltic fingerboard , only three strings) there is a sizable amount o f the lute repertoire especially from the first half of the 16th Century , The transcriber transfen the piece froll1 lute to dulcimer with as little changes as possible , The tordion presented here was a particula rly happy case because only II very few notes had to be IDOved an octave frolll original to transcription. It is identical to the lute version , even in the same key . The tuning of the dulcimer is C-A-<:. Since this type of music for the dulcir:ler 1s not nearly so \oIell known as the more traditional types , some notes on playing are in order:

lZJ4JZ is above I on the highest string and not above 2 and J does nat mean that it stops sounding. actu811y i t lasts until the O. 4) Unless you plan to use the tordion as an exercise , loosen and l ay aside one of your top doubli! Strings. Thill wlll improve the playability and balance of tbe sound.

The reader will notice a change in the time signature fra. 6 /8 to 3/4 in measure six . In addition , there are the aymbols () - Âť ) above the beginning of that measure . There WlIS a practice in the Renaissance and Middle Ages (and surviving

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explaina that the The symbol ( ) . ) eighth note in the 6/ 8 aection is equd in tt.e duration to the eiahth note in the 3/4 section . This _ans that in the t o rdion the eiahth note. (and henc:e all other notes and the _aalre itself) are to be played at the a __ speed in the 6/ 8 section and the 3/1, section. Thil mean a that only the accents will c hange , moving [ro- a 2 rhytn. to s 3 rhytn. at 1IIeaaure six while the ti.lle duration of the _aaures re . . ins constant . 1 apologi&e for the lengthy explanation . As in a great IIIIIny other things , the ac: tual doing is ~ch easier th.sn the explaning . Sollie alow practice while coun ting will work wonders if any problem is encountered. I hope that SOlie of you .. UI enjoy thia piece. No tranacription for the dulcimer will ever capture the beauty of thia lII\Jaic played on the lute , but the aound on the dulcimer is enticing enough to I113ke working on this lIIudc well worthwhile (and it ' a easier than learning to play the lute). It isn ' t possible to know .. hat Renaissance people would have thought of their III\Jsic played on the dulcimer , but 1 can't help thinking they would have liked It. I would be interested in c~ icat ing with anyone who is interested In playing this IllUsic o r .uslc fra- dlfr~r ent periods on the dulciJler.

to the preaent day) of alterina the atre.ss

pattern. of the beau in • INsLcal piece fro~ one .e•• ure to the next Vhile not actually alterlns [be overall [lIM duration of the _a8ure . Thil practice ia

referred to •• beaLol. .

Invariably

this took the for. of alternatina between • 2 rhytt- and 8 3 rbythm. The he.lola in the tardiOD 11 of the .illlpl .... t kind , part of the piece being in 2 and pan in

3 with no alternation, except for the switch itself. The rirlt five __ .urea of the

Tordion are in 6/8. 6/8 hae six e1&hth notea per _alure , with the accents or stresses ral11n8 on the £lrlt and fourth eighth noUa.

J> ~ s 4

Therefore , the 6/ 8 I, the 2 rhythm. All the reat of the mea.ures of the Tordion sre 1n 3/4.

1/4 hal three quarter

notes or six eighth notea per _a.ure , same as the 6/ 8 aection . The ac.c:enta fall in a different pattern , however , falling on the firat , third and fifth eighth notell.

1 I

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!3 +» d' 5

therefore, the 3/4 is the 3 rhytt. .

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Woody Walker 1911, Melrose Garland . TX

750112

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For Beginning and Intermediate Dulcimer Players

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Larkin's Dulcimer Book combines outr.JO of her whlmslcallUustrat/ons with her arrangements of n tradfllonal tunes (InCluding 7 duets), step-by-step instructions. examples and charts

A companion cassette Is keyed to the book and features larkin perfonnlng all the songs up to tempo as well as playing all the songs and examples at a practice tempo. ,his book Is the next best thing to haulng an Instructor present. whether you are a pure novice or looking for help In more aduanced techniques. " -~lIlott Hancock. Ozark Please do not reprint or redistribute without permission. Contact dpn@dpnews.com

folk Center

AN IN'TERVIEW WIn!

Sam Rizzetta by MADELINE MacNEIL WinchesteT , VA

DPN :

\lhy don ' t we begin with YOUT involvement with lIlusic in gene Tal.

Sam:

When I was a youngste T, 1 had an uncle who callle from Montana who was a wndcrful musician. He was gTeat on the tenor banjo and I used to sit at his knee at Christmas time snd listen to him play. \lhen I became intercsted in stringed instTurnents , I waa influenced by him. I didn't want to takc clarinet or piano lessons and thcre was no one to teach me gu itar . When I got old enough I just picked up the banjo and guitar on my own and played the kind of mudc that I rcmembered my uncle playing .

DPN:

Where did you grow up?

Sam :

In Northern Illinois . CarTie and I did a t our out West during the sWlDl'ler o f 1981 and one of the high points was to see my uncle for the first tilDe 1n perhaps 30 years and t o play music with him . We found out that we both knew the same kinds of old -time tunes. That \oIII.S a real tTeat fOT me because he was my musical idol. As a teenager I fooled around with musical instrumcnts. 1 was alwys building th:1ngs , painting , and dra1dn8 . I ea r ned Illy _y throu8h achool by pa:1ntin8 portraits of people ' s gid friends . When I wanted a banjo 1 would see what ha rdware was In Hofll ' S kitchcn. A pie pan could turn into a banjo rim. I got intereated in fIIusical instruments , I think , almost ss much for the asthctic aspects as for the musical ones . I tbought musical instrumenta , cspecially woden , stTinged ones , werc ve r y beautiful as well as nic e sounding. I WIlS drawn to guitara at fiT&t because of the decorative work you can do with them. I really went overboard with doing mother of pearl inlay and carving and thinga like that on somc of my early guitara. But now I am more interested in function and acoustics. My inteTest in dulcill!Crs started while I was l i ving in Kala_zoo , Michigan in the early 60's. I can ' t remember whic h type of dulc1mer came first. Probably 1 first encountered the halllDered type of dulcimer and I gave it no considerat i on because the only ones that 1 saw were o l d and looked very c rude and primitive. I tbought there can ' t be anything to them , although 1 repaired a few for peoplc . It wasn ' t until a few years later that 1 actually heard one played well and then I tbought , ''Where haa that inatrumcnt been all my Ufe" l I could have kicked myself for not lesrning more about them when I first salol them. It was probably hearing Chet Parker , still one of my fsvorite players , that really got II!C excited about the hsmmered dulcimer .

DPN:

Did you hear him in person or meet him before he died?

Sam:

Oh yes!

DPN:

What IoICre some things about Chet Psrker ' s style that particularly impressed you?

Sam:

It was a very pleasant, danceable style. He had played for dances for 50 years or mo re. There ' s a feel in a person ' s playing that only comes with that kind o f experience . His rhythms were very solid and the tunes spritely. He knew a lot o f tunes. It was just wonderful to hear him play .

He passed away in the mid 70 ' s.

21 Please do not reprint or redistribute without permission. Contact dpn@dpnews.com

DPN:

When you first began to play , was it by learning things from people like Chet or did you pick up a lot on your own?

Sam:

I began by learning the kinds of old dance tunea that Chet played. Chet al80 played anything that he liked - Country Weatern music off the radio and 80 on. 1 thought that was neat, so I didn't just play old-time music . 1 played whatever I heard that I liked and didn ' t worry too much about the category until I started running into the folkies out East. About that time I made my first fretted dulcimer, pretty much an unheard-of inatrument in the lIIidwest. If I remember correctly. I think the first fretted dulcimer I made was from looking at a picture in a book. I didn ' t know what it was, but I saw that it had the same name as our dulcimers , although it didn ' t look the same . I could see from the photograph in the book that the fretting was diatonic , unlike the guitar. By studying where the frets were placed , I was able to figure out where scales started. I went ahead and built one and it worked. When I moved out East to the Northern Virginia area , I was surprised to find there were dulcimer players out here - hammer dulcimers as well as fretted dulcimers . In Michigan we just assumed that the dulcimer was unknown anywhere else in the world because we had never seen one anywhere else . The more I travel , the I!K)re I find that it is a very cosmopolitan instrument. Out here I met Russell Fluharty who has certainly introduced the dulcimer to s lot of people . 1 also met Hovie Mitchell. His approach to instrument making was totally new to me and kind of delightful. He would just put something together and see what happened. I'd never thought of that approach before . I would always bring meticulous gUitar making techniques to other instruments and it was nice to find out that WIIsn't alwys necessary .

DPN:

When you were in Washington with the Smithsonian Institution , did you work with any of the old instruments there?

Sam:

Actually , I didn ' t work with them very much at all. 1 came to the Smithsonian with a background in Biology. On the side 1 worked with musical inatruments , especially with writing musical instrument educational programs for the museums. These programs used traditional types of instrumen ts such as dulcimers and banjos . 1 think those programs are still go i ng on. Vol unteers in the museums teat:h various kinds of programs , among them folk musical instrument programs , for school students. My background in both art and biology came together in instrument making . My res I interest in botany dealt with t r ees and practical uses of woods . Bringing an together with an interest in the acoustic properties of woods led right to instrument making combined with Illy i nterest in traditional music .

DPN:

Mast people think of you as a hammer dulcimer builder without considering some of the other instruments you build.

Sam:

I ' ve never been able to discipline myself to butid the same thing twice . So far no instrument out of hundreds that I have made has been an exat:t copy of a previous one. It ' s fun for me to make the kinds of instrument that 1 play. I a l so make some things that may not have been made before , just for fun or just to explore some new muakal ideas. I ' ve made some autoharp type instruments. I've experimented with octave mandolas which are low-pitched mandolins . I recently finished a seven- stringed fretted dulcimer so that I could play melodic finge r -style in more octaves. Carrie and 1 are making some psalteries now and , of t:ourse , I ' ve been tooling with hammered dulc1mers tor nearly twenty years. When I started building there seemed to be pretty much one sort of American-style hammer dulciJr.er which had sbout a two~ctave range and was diatonic . I ' ve experimented with dozens of chromatic tunings , finally coming up with ones that were easy to play and still gave all the notes . I ' ve also worked with eastern European type instruments like Hackbreta and C}'l%Ibaloms which play differently than our American instruments. One of my zanie r ideas was to design and build a family

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of ha_r du1ci1llera of diHerent sizes to play in enaemble. I often played dueta and trioa vith some o[ .y other dulct.er playing friends such al Sandy Oavia and T. Willis. (Fill) SIIith. Somett.es we all played on one dulcJ..er. It wu 110 ...ch [un that I began wondering . what would i t sound lika if we had a soprano dulcu.er and 8 baaa dulcimer to go along with the nor.al range inatrument. Fooling around with that idea ultiutely resulted in the (or.ation o( Trapezoid in about 1974. OPN:

Speaking of Trapezoid , didn 't that aU besin around CharlottesvUle and the cent ral VlrRI,..h

Rrf"A?

Salll:

Right. 1 was living near Charlottesville and aome of the friends with wholll I had been playing , lived rar away. It WII not practical to get together very o ften lind ce rtainly not to have a blind. The original idea o[ Trapezoid was to get a group o[ these frienda together [or one summer and travel around the country playing duicilller quartets. That would be a seans to see the country and do a bit of canoeing and 80 on . In Charlottesville I .et so.e lIIIaicians who were interested in learning the dulct.er. One waa Pete Visour. We lived c lOse by and wound up playins a lot of dulciJaf"r IllUdc together . Eventually I talked Paul RelaJer into Joining ua to play bBla parta on a third dulcimer. Pllul Yellton , who waa ataying at Paul Reisler'a bouse , is a lind IIMndolin player. He picked up the haJDer dulct.er too and 80 the [our of ua atarted working together as a band , playing IJOIIII!! duicillll!!r quartet. . Eventually everyo n e went off to do other thing. and move to other places and it wasn ' t poaaible to keep four dulcimer players together. That pa rticular Trapezoid died out and it ' s now a very different kind o[ band. Paul Relaler ta the only original melliber.

OPN:

You IIIOved to Valley Head , West Virginia approxiaaately (our years ag01

Sam:

Right.

DPN:

Was thta to

Sam:

Yea . I've been buildin. full tlae for quite a while , but .y wife , Carrie , held othe r Joba . We finally decided that her co~ting back. and forth t o work waa not aa IIIIch fun aa our working together i n the workshop . It turna out that ahe haa far !DOre akill and ability in the workahop than any apprentice that I've ever had. So , we thought we ' d get awy [1'0111 Cha rl otteavUle and come up he r e in the -auntaina where we could get SOllIe land , build a homestead, and have IIOme peace and quiet whUe we work on inatrumenta. We atil1 do travel quite a bit and it'a fun to play lIIIIaic aa well as build the instrumenta . Yet we don't have to do eithe r o n e or those thinsa all the time for incOllf!. When we get tired or either building instrulllenta o r of playing ... alc we do .a_thing else.

DPN:

This year you traveled to the 짜est. western part of the country?

Sail:

Ic _s the. first time we ' d been weat of Hontana for any reason at all and it vas really exciting to hear what people a re doing with oid-tillle muSic and the duicilllf!ra all through the. northwest and California. We played IllUsic with a lot of fine IllUdeians . Wherever we went , people received both tbe hallllDflr and the fretted dulcimers really well. Even after all these yeara , I ' m atill really excited about these instruments and it al~ys am.~es me when o ther people are , t oo .

DPN:

You besan teaehing in the Augusta Heritage Art Workahops at Davis and Elkins College a few years ago. Please tell ua about that project.

s..:

There had been IIII.Islc instrument const ruction classea at Auguata for a good maber o[ yeara and I've alwya been IIIlIrlina11y involved , deaigning haJmer dulcimeu for atudent construction and COMing in to help teach the claasea (or a (ew daya each year. One of the IIIny kinda of programs that go on at Auguata , besidea inatrument conatruct ion and c raft. and dance , has been an Appalachisn Husic class. For a number of years John Kc:Cutcheon was one of the main inatructora in that cIa as.

It lllUat have been in about 1977. ~ild

full t1M?

Waa that your firat time playing IllUsic in the

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Since he ' a a fine hammer dulcimer player , that llleant that SOllie of the claaa could 1o«lrk with thllt inatrument . It seells a lot o[ people ~re apecifically interested in learning to play the ~r dulcimer or in expanding their skUls. In 1981 I taught a clasa that waa apeciUcally for hllJlllller dulcimer playera and invited Bob Shank , a really 1o«lnderful player , to help me teach. It waa [un and successful. We had a great time both with beginning and experienced studenta. In 1982 , Augusta offered three claases in hammer dulcimer. One was a week apecifically for beginning playera and the others \!ere for more experienced players. In 1982 . for the firat tillie , Augusta slso offered a clsss on playing the fretted duicilller . DPN :

When you are 1o«lrking with beginners how do you help and encourage them over SOllie of the beginning hurdlea?

Sam :

The main thing is to let beginners diacover that getting atarted on the dulc1mer is much easier than it seems. Once aOllleone gets the instrument it's essy to pick out It a1mple lIIelody which sounda rewarding . The tone of IDOst }ulIllmer dulcirrlers is attractive and after It person has learned a few tunes and gets ready to confront some of the nore difficult things to do on the dulcimer , she/he is already hooked on the instrument . That ' It what happened to me. By the time I started trying to play some of the IIIOre difficult thinga that I heard Chet Parker doing , the instrument WlIS JUSt 80 IIlUch fun that I had to keep trying . Peteerverance pays off with the dulcimer as it does with any DlUsical instrument. Also , I think it ' a an instrument that can give a lot of satiafaction , even if the player does nothing but a few simple tunes on it. The tone ia aD exciting becauae it incorporstes ele_nts both of melodic instruments and percussion instrwaents all in one.

DPN:

Do you read music?

Salll:

I have absolutely no muaical training. I do read IIlUsic just a little from having taught myself, but I ' m not a good sight reader. I have to struggle through a piece of music , 80 it ' s far lIOre fun for me to learn tunes by ear . I do get interested in other kinds of muaic and I lesrn them any way 1 can .

DPN:

Take Silver Svaa Rag for example.

Salll:

FrOIll hearing it played , I picked up the basic melody and then put the rest of it together fro_ the sheet ... sic . What I found , though , was that as 1 got interested in IIIOte complex kinds of .usic 1 needed .are complex kinds of hammer dulcimers . Because of my interest in playing ragtime , 1 started looking for ways to get the. chrolll8tic notts so I could play runa and scales , and any chords in any key if I needed to. I probably experimented with \!ell over a doten different tuninga on experimental ha.almer dulcimera . That lIItant I had to relesrn IIIOSt of the tunes that I knew on each new instrlUllent in order to keep playing. I finally settled on a tuning that pel"Qitted me to play other kinds of music , such as Scott Joplin ' s rag , Silver Swan. Paul Van Aradale, who h my favorite traditional player , recently gOt one of Illy chrolD8tic dulcime.ra and it ' s intereating to hear what he's playing on the duicilller now. He said that there were some. certain tunes going through hia head since he was a youngater which he was unable to play on the dulcilne.r before , and no ... he. can . It ' a u:citing to get the dulcilaer sound , yet puah back the lillita . There's no reason to be lillited to anyone kind of muaic . In other parts of the world , the dulcimer has evolved to a very sophistocated state and plays slll8ting typea of !DUaic.. I ' m really delighted to aee people in this country expand the use of the dulc1laer . Jay Round ' ., album , "Don ' t Get Around Much Anymore" , has Jatt classics played on hallner dulcime.r . John McCutcheon is playing rags and polkas and even Sousa _rclles on the instrlUllent . Other people are arranging a lot of claasical music for the. dulcimer . With Chromatic inStrlUllents , they don't have to leave anything out.

DPN:

As people discover the fretted and ha_r dulcimer and bring their own creativity

How did you spproach that one.

to it , they'n n;)t bound by anything . It ' s an extension of peOPle ' s creativity through an instrument . That's exciting. Please do not reprint or redistribute without permission. Contact dpn@dpnews.com

Sam :

In buUding an instrument , I've considered that 1 ' 111 providing other people with a tool for their own creativity. When 1 hear what they ' re doing , Lt's nLce to think that maybe I've provided them with a tool that lets them take their own creativity and their own art in a direct i o n in which they vish to go .

DPN:

we've been talking about IllUsic being a part of one ' s life , sort of a c ircle of creativity including _ny facets. It ' s nice to see you r eaching out and sampling life in _ny directiona vith your instrument building , you r srt , your photog raphy, your playing - even with the hOIne you amI C.r .-ie buil t . It ' s SODething I ' ve al_ys enjoyed about your work too .

S~I1I1 :

I ' m doing what seems like fun. Life is too short not t o take tiDle to do the things that a r e enjoyabl e and worthwhile.

THE GREAT BLACK SWA."P DULCIMER FESTIVAL

Apr 11 29 and 30

Msy bt

Ohio State University and Lima Technictl COllege. Lima Ohio Featuring Sally Rogers Madeline MacNeil Lois Hornbostel Ruffwater String

J ay Round Fred Meyer Jim McCaw . .od

several all day workshops ~deline MacNeil - Beginning Dulcimer Lois Hornbostel - Intermediate WQ rk shop Rutfwace r String Band - Ha_red Dulcimer Also many shorter workshops -- ~jor ooncerts -- open stage For additional information contact : Susan Porter. 4200 Campus Drive, Lima , Ohio 45804 (4191 227-5131

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19 Soogs and Dances , 1ncludin "Old Joe Clark. " ''Soldiers ' Joy ," ·'Wild.... ood Plower"

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A PLEASANT ADDICTION ••• $5 , 9 28 Dances and Songs , includ1n~ "Kaste to the Wedding J " "OVer he Waterfal l," " New Century "

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HERE'SFRED'SSTUFF

REAL-TIMECASSETTESS8pp 0 ALBUMSS7pp

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SONG OF THE SEA GREAT LAKES DULCIMERS Edward S. Anne Oamm

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Each instrument 1, priced II to t one and beluty .

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• CaU FIlii (207) 288-5653 • ...... IOf I... CAtALOG: H..........cI Dulcm..11330 UPI. lap DuIc'1Mf1 (1115 Kit.. • • PuIl.IM, "-nt..... wtWt .... Bodlvan., Book.. RKo<dl. •• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 118 Ledgelawn· Bar Harbol', Maine 04609

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LARKIN ' S DULCIMER BOOK. Par beginning and intermediate mountain dulcimer players. Contains 103 pages , spiral bound, with 23 traditional songa , duets, step by a tep instruc tions, examplea , charts , historical informa tion and illustrations . COMPANION CASSETTE has Larkin 8ryant playing at both prac ticing and performing tempos. Book and tape $6.95 each; both for $12.95. Incl ude $1. 00 pos taae. Ivory Palsces Music , 3141 Spotsvood Ave . , Heaphis , TN 38111.

cla .. iUed section of DULCIMER PLAYERS NEWS 11 a l ow cost way to reach hlmdreda of DPN readera. Classified sd rates: JOe per wo rd , $10 minimum . A flyer on larger ad rates and composition i. available upon request . The

PINlLY DESIGNED HAND-CRAFTED YOU TOYS: L1aaber Jack , LilIIber Dog , LilIIber Pony $10 . 95 each includes shipping. Jean ' . Dul cialer Shop , P.O. Box 8 , Cosby , TN 37722 . QUALITY HAMKERED DULCIMERS ONLY $99. Excellent sound aDd full guarantee. Complete with everything , including comprehensive playing instruc tion book. Mailarders add $38 f or shipping crate (converts to case) and coa ts. You must be aat iafied or money cheerfully ref unded. Info: Phi llip Mason , Country Gardens HammerDulc~er Factory , Rt. 2, Box 140 , Williamsburg , KY 40769. TABLAT1JR.E FOR APPALACHIAN DULCIMER . Aleo fiddle , claw-hamme r / bluegrass banjo , and flatpick/fingerpick gu itar. Send SASE Cor s ingle styl e list or $1 Cor complete catalog plus sampl e tab (spec i Cy style). jane Keefe r, 1155 19th St., NE , Sal em , OR 97301. AVAILABLE : Mounuin Dulc~e r Manual begi nne r through advance $4.50. I ndividual pieces: Sarah , Jacqueline ' s Delight (Elizabethan-Aeolian) , Canterbury Sell. (Lydian-included i n manual) , Remembrances (Ionian), Shr ub Oak J i g (Ionian or Mixolydian) , Sa lterell o (Renaiasance-my arrangement) , Lady Rosamond's Fancy (Aeolian) $1 each. Please add $1 postage on manual and 50Â˘ fo r single pieces. H. 8latte r, J12 Jay St. , Katonah, NY 10536.

THE KITCHEN MUSICIAN' S OCCASIONAL FOR HAMMER DULCIMER, FIDDLE , ETC. 12 page leaflets in atandard notstion , sbout 20 tunes in each. No.1 Waltzes and Airs; No .2 Mountain Tunes (many modal tunes); No.6 Jiga . $2.50 ea. postpsid. Ssra Johnson , 449 Hidden Valley, Cincinnati , OH 45215. FOR SALE: Dorogi Ha_r Dulc imer built 1919. Solid and in eJ:cellent condition. 12 courses with treble and bass bridges . Cherry rails. Includea pl)'YOOd case . $450. Hark Jones, P.O. Sox 8 , Green Bank, WV 24944. PICK POUCH: Sturdy (co rduroy) attractive I:ipper pouch 3" x 5" with cr oss stitch dulcimer design. Holds picka , st rings, noters , capos . $1.50 postpaid. Name , initials, $4 extra. Deborah Ss i rd, 619 Greenlawn Ave., Ft. Wayne , IN 46808. HAMMER DULCIMER LESSONS BY HAIL vis per sonalized cassette tapea and co rrespondence des igned t o .set your individual needs. Send SASE for informa tion on this low cos t learnin, method. Phillip Haaon , Rt . 2, Box 140, Williamsburg, KY 40169. DISCOUNT PRI CES on a full line of hammer dulc i me r records, books, tapea, builders supplies , instruments, and other accessories (many unavailable elsewhere), Informative ca talog $1 fr~ Phillip Hasan, Count ry Gardens Hammer Dulcimer Shop , Rt. 2, Box 14 0, Williamsburg, KY 40169. COTTON PRINT PADDED DULCIMER BAG : 40" by 11 " with shoulder strap . book pocket and zippered accessory pocket . $12 . 95 include. ahi pping. Homemade from Jean ' s Dulcimer Shop, P. O. Bolt B, Cosby, TN 37722 .

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Tablature Explanation: the top three spaces of the ataff refer to the left aide of the treble bridge , right aide of the treble bridge and baaa bridge , respectively .

by BERNIE S'I'OLLS Jericho, NY

A number in any of these spaces refers to the bridge number. The TAB i8 (or 8 12 / 11 course instrument. For further explanation , see page 23 in Summer 1981 OPN , Vol. 7, No . 3.

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TBI DUJ.4:IIIIB SBOPPI Hanckrahed Musicalln •• rumen,. By Mc$padclrn RECORDS FOLK CRAfTS BOOKS Dr,wer E - Hillhw'y9 Nonh MOUNTAIN VIEW . ARK ANSAS 12560 Phone 501· 26'1·86.)9

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Augusta A Reaffirmation of Homemade Values By Michael Kline

Olive Goodwin came fr~ a whole family of weavera back in Roane COunty. Her greatgrandmother , grandmother , and all of her aunts wove for generaciona out of necessity , to produce cloth for family needs. Olive'. DOther was the youngeat of many weaving alsters , but just about the tiDe she herself should have learned , Olive'. grandfat her acquired a dry gooda store and began to order cloth by the bolt. So Olive ' . IDOther never learned to weave, and the tradition of f_ily weaving vound down a generation before 01 Ive could get

her handa on it. In the early 1930 ' . , 8. the Depression set in , people had little tilM! to devote to hobbies. Even the neeell t tle. of life were hard to cc:-e by. Olive was teaching 8chool when the HolDe8tead project was launched in the Trg8Tts Valley by EleanlH Roosevelt. The

hope waa that poor Randolph County fa~ilies might schieve self-sufficiency on s few acres of ground with a rich garden plot and a good house . The houses would be built collectively by the new tenants . In 1935 Olive ' s father was selected aa a carpenter and happily went to work building new hollieS for the pr oject. Another part of Eleanor Roosevelt ' s dream for the "hOlllesteaders" was to restore their lost aense of traditionsl craft , i n hopes that people could earn a living wage from variou8 COttage industries. A weaving shop waa built, looma were acquired , but since local weavers were no longer to be found , traditional weaver8 were brought in from Scandinavia and Poland to teach the craft to West Virg1nia WOlllen. At the sallie t1nte Olive was forced to quit her teaching job becauae it was stipulated that her father could be the only family member allowed an income, carpentering on the project . Olive began spending ti_ at the weaving 8hop. She learned the teChnique8 and design8 of her European teachera, and eventually became one of the weaving 8hop supervi80r8 herself. The weaving achaol proapered until the earl y years of World War II , when thread wa8 no longer avallable. In 19lol the weav!ng project folded and the 100llls were sold at a reasonable price to the weavera. But rather than see the craft link once again into the corners of local me~ry , Olive Goodwin , Bli8S Snyder , and Belva Presseau kept on weaving. The three women support themselves to this day with various aspects of the trade . Olive's deft application of her skills eventually led her to teach weaving. Since 1966 she has been in cone ..... nt demand in the cOlllaunity. "1 felt that 1 ehould pasion my knowledge ," aays Olive , "but I never dreamed it would go thb far!" For the psst 15 years Olive haa taught wesving classes for community education program~ at Davis snd Elkina College , snd for students at the Augusts Reritage Arts Work8hop , held for five week8 each 8U~r on the D&E campus. Augusta is an astonishing phe.nolllenon which "-S it8 beginnings in the Elkins community about len yeara ago. In retrospect it was an idea which seems to have occurred independently to a number of people concerned about an increasing loss of the sense of craft in mountsin life . Dorothy Cr omwell remembe r s her own concern about how local people reaponded qui~~ically , even sentimentally , to a 1970 Forest Festival de~nstration of crafts which had been widespread in eentral We8t Virginia hollte8 a generation eatl1er . ''Our traditions were being laid aside st sn sla....ing rate , " recalls Dorothy . Her close friend , Sadavoia Goddin , says that, "Loo1ll8 were getting chopped up , quilting frSllleS thro,," out , and fiddles 8tuck away in attics , or sold for junk . " Hiss Coddin and Mrs . Cromwell grew up in families and ca.munities where carding , apinning , weaving , needlework , and basketry were all in a day ' s work. . Lesrning the traditionsl arts was just PSrt of growing up in a big family in West Virginia. 30 Please do not reprint or redistribute without permission. Contact dpn@dpnews.com

The two wo.en n-d visited the Sale. College re8toration projec;:t 8nd they knew of the tradition of craft8114n8hip 8t Berea College in Kentucky. In Petersburg one night they heard • ~n fro. the state Oepart.ent of Agriculture ' s ran. Co-operative Service describe how craft co-ops could be organized to capitalize on a growing appetite for Appalachian handcrafted ite.. in big c1t1es . Uke WalMngton , D.C. Sources of fundI for the training of craft8people were .entioned. The two Elkins women drove home that evening with a strengthened drea- about a regional craft8 school which would revitalize the heritage art. and crafts of West Virginia through the development of training programa for crart8people . Subaequent conversationa vith Har.aret Coddin at D&E Collogo and Dala Wil~n , than president of the Randolph COunty Creative Arts Council , led to the o rgsnitation of the first Augusta au_r . so caUed becaule Augu8ts the hi storic naDle of we8tern Virg i n i a during the period of earliest settlement. The name Augusta i8 a.~clated with the valuea , ~sic , and len8e of cra ft of the first sett l e rs of the Allegheny region . Margaret Codd1n had long been concerned about the rejection of c r aftl education by liberal .l Ittl in8titutiona like D&E. She rellll!lIIbers the superb It itching and sense of delign of hlll!r grandlllOthi!r and the satllfactlon ahe herself derived (rOIl ltlarning fro .. an older _ber of the family. "1 waa a a.lch .are balanced , understanding h..-n being by having had the experience of a craft than I .iaht otherwise have been . " "y. Dr. Coddin , "I wanted people to learn the same way I did , to learn fro. their grandpa rents , frO' an older per.an , not only the craft itself , but the values of family cooperation and self-Iufficlency ••.aciated with It." The Uut AugU8t8 summer of 1973 wal bull t a round a philosophy of hands-on teaching and lharlng exprel.ed by Margaret and Dale Wllson and eapouaed by the othe r foundera . ... . . There is something intangible about joining t oge ther to pass along our heritage; that apir it and excitement . .. were the true inlportance of Auguata ' 73. " The craft curriculum that aUllllll!r waa determined by who was available to teach. Olive Goodwin waa on hand , of course. , as the _aving inatructor , while Bert Kerns taught Ipinnln8. Additional classes _re offe red in Appalachian GUslc , ba8ketry . folk dance , folklore , general crafta , potteTY . and instru.ent construction . Willetta Hinkle , a Randolph County native who had relocated as a teacher in Ohio , wal 8ual11Oned hoae to teach general crlfts.

wa.

Leo Kretzner work. with Patty Beagle In the fretted dulcillll!r clall firat held at AugUsta in July , 1982. Madeline HacNell also taught that cia .. and Hike Casey assisted. Hammer dulcl~r classes (or beginners to sdvanced player a were taught by Sam Rhzetta a .. 1sted by R. P. Hale, Angel Chiango and Carrie Rinetta .

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As the Augusta idea begsn to sp resd , mostly through word of mouth by past participants , othe r craftspeople were discovered around the state , around the region. It was like awaken ing fr~ a sleep of 20 years. The Appalschian muaic c lsss began t o draw from the IIIlIsical experience of surrounding colllltUJlities. "Old Masters , " who a[ill sang the old , "throwed- away" songs and ballads , were hunted up by eager students of traditional lllUaic . WOOdy Simmons of Hill Creek , Blackie Cool of Point Hountain , and the Hammonses Crom nearby Pocahontas County were invited to come into the c laases for a day to sing songs , plsy the fiddle and guitar , tall storia. about 8ro~g up in the mountaina and forests . about the experiences oC by-gone generations. Folk IllUsic once again had a context. The students could see and hear the place where music had lived in the experience of mountain people . One participant vrote , "The Old Masters' were the best exposure to living history that we could have had . They truly brought the feeling of the past to ua." Th r o ugh nine aummers the tradition of small claaaes at Augusta haa probably been moSt responsible for the educational succesa of the workshopa , that and the students ' lust for learning . From early mo r n in gs through long afternoons and into late evenings the hil l y campus of 0&ÂŁ College haa hu.med with activity: the clack-clack of looma, the mad shuffling oC dancing feet , the loneso-e tvine of old fiddle tunes , all of it with tealous concentration , with only occasional evidence of exhaustion. Under the capable lesdership of past directors and coo rdinat ors , Augusta bas been a surge of energy , a renewing of forgotten things , an intense reaffirmation of artistic endeavor and perfection . The older teachers and "Old Masters" have grinned with satisfaction at the eager accomplishments of their students , many oC whom come from faraway cities , even foreign count ries . The older people ~ile as if they know that when they leave Augusts , they leave a part of themselves behind. It ' s as if there had been a reprieve on the final caating off of old talents , stories , and songs. These things will be remembered after all , maybe. Two years ago Augusta was suddenly without funds to hire a director. Staff salaries , too long paid out of CErA funds , had dried up , and the progralll faced an uncertain future under the sole sponsorship of the Creative Arts Council. At what aee~d to be the last 1IIOlIIent , Gordon Hel'lDanson , President of D&E , accepted spon sorship of Augusta , and in January , 1981 , artist Margo Blevin was hired as full-time director. With on ly a few months in which to pull loose ends together , Blevin lined o ut sn ~lIIbitious progralll , adding several new classes , wnile dropping SOIlll! old ones. The response lOllS overwhelming: 586 students frolll 29 States , plus Japan , England , and Canada , enrolled in 32 coursea. The Augusta Festival , the culainatlon of the summer'a experience , featured Utah Phillips and lIally Near, and drew record crowds . Coverage of the Augusta act1Yitieli by Nationsl Public Radio reaulted in a 2D-ta.inute feature story on "All Things Conaldered. " And Augusta broke even financially for the Urn time in I118ny years . So now it appears that the Augusta Heritage Arts Workshop has a home and occupies a seture and natural setting as a part of D&E ' s program . Margo Blevin is working with a staff of three allsistants, and the nUlllber of classes has exp:mded to 52 . "The classes fill remarkably fast ," Slevin reporu. "Feople who put off signing up until later _y vill find the classea full ." A week of Irish !alsic was added in 1981 because of its oo01lling popularity. Hick Moloney , Liz Carroll , and Billy HcCollllskey returned to Augusta for what l118y have proved to be the 1IIOst intense class ever offered. Irish Step-dance and Ceili dancing generated equsl enthusiasm. A week of southern lIIOuntain singing was led by Jean Ritchie, John McCutcheon , and Ethel Caffie. All styles of singing , from Kentucky ballads to traditional gospel singing was taught. Gerry Milnes returned as the coordinator of the Appalathian IIlUsic class as well as fiddle teacher; Dwight Diller taught banjo and Tom King, guitar. The class concentrated on instrumentsl atyles of West Virginia with input from. old masters Currence Ha-.nds , John Johnson , Sarah Singlet on , and Bl~ckie Cool. And yes , Olive Goodwin still teaches weaving. She has been joined by contemporary weaver Pat Burson who specializes in tapestries and clothing construc ti on. But Olive is the traditional wesver , the one who has been tying it all together since she went to homesteading with her father back in Eleanor Roosevelt's time.

Reprinted frD1l GOLDENSEAL-A Quarterly For Documenting West Virginia's Traditional Life Vol. 8 , No. 2 Summer 1982 Used with permission Please do not reprint or redistribute without permission. Contact dpn@dpnews.com

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_ Dulcimer Organizations

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8eqinnings of a comprehensive dulci.er society li s t .

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You ' ll notice this list docs not Include several active groups . Rather than re ly on details glee ned from newsletters and miss updates that often happen , I will use this inforMation received after my request in the Fall 1982 DPN. All is not lost. This page will appear in each issue to help new readers find people with mutual interests . If you ' re not listed (and ~st of you aren ' t), send us a E2!! card with the neces~ry information . Thank you. Many of you have requested such a page in DPN. 1 hope this helps.

NEW! NEWI NEWI NEWI NEW!

The Durango Dulcimer SOCiety, Durango , Color ado Contact: Ann Chambe rs, 18101 North U. S . Hwy . 666, Cortet , Colorado 81321 (303) 882-444 ) First spring ~eting of 1983 ~111 be the 1st Friday of H.:>.rch. Dulcimer SOCiety or Northern Illinois Contact: Rosa~nd Campbellj Jo McBride , 835 Linden, Wilmette , IL 60091 {3121 256- 0121. Meets (u sua lly) 2nd Sunday , 2:00 p . m. , lst Presbyterian Church of wilaette , 9th' Greenleaf. Dues SlO . OO annually. The Not So Dulcimer SOCiety Contact: George Thompson, 4435 Dewey Ave ., St. Louis, HO 63116 (314) )52-6204. Meets usually 3rd Sunday of each month at 1:30 p.m. Location varies. Dues: SlO year, S15 per famUy per year, S5 newsletter only per year .

DPN readers may be i n terested in this ducimer , which wal given to me by 75 year old Katie Buck. It is over 100 yean old . Her father, Charles Buck . played in so~ square dance bands in this area around the turn of the cen tury.

Louisville Dulci~r SOCi ety . Contact: Eleanor Greenlief , Rt . 4, Box 264, ~w r enberg , KY 40342 . (502) 839-5682 , 4th Sunday at 4:00 p . m. , Water Tower, Zorn Ave . at River Rd ., S18.00 per year. Fli nt Hills Dulcimer Players Contact: Linda Inlow Teener , 1900 Judson, Manhattan , KS 66502 (903) 537- 0508 . Meet on Wedne$day evenings. (Mountain and K4mmered dulciJne r players) . Houston Dulcimer SOCiety contact: John Liestalan, 58 S. WOodstock , WOodland , TX 77380 (7131 591- 5147 (office) (7l3) 367-1958 (hoate). Meet o n second Sunday each month , SOIIIewhere in Houston, TX . No dues . The Northeastern Ohio Dulciae r , Folk Music Club Contact: Rusty Barwick , 244 Oregon Ave., Louisville, OH 44641 (216) 875- 5839 . DULCIMER DOINS ' Feb. 25-27 Camp Hiami , Ge~ntawn , Ohio Information : Judy Liesch 513-298-6516 Dayton , Ott Dulcimer Club 408 Schuyler Kettering . OH 45429

To. H111s

1042 Hazel st. Fremont , OM 43420

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