Mountain Dulcimer Chord Shapes for Backup, Chord-Melody, and Embellishments (Six-Week Course for Intermediate and Up)
Mountain Dulcimer Chord Shapes for Backup, Chord-Melody, and Embellishments (Six-Week Course for Intermediate and Up)
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Intermediate and up players, my system helps you learn major and minor chords all over the mountain dulcimer fingerboard, regular and flipped (reverse), and all the spin-offs we use all the time. Use these movable shapes to play backup, combine melody and chords, play harmonies, and create intros, endings, licks, and riffs. THIS IS MY SECRET SAUCE. With six ninety-minute sessions, I can show you the big picture. Brave experienced beginners are welcome.
You can’t learn all this stuff in an hour. It’s best to get a little bit of new stuff each class with plenty of time between sessions for it all to sink in. These 6 75-minute sessions total 7.5 hours of instruction.
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Course Details:
When - Six Wednesdays, starting May 14, 2025
Time - 10:00 PM to 11:15 PM Central (11:00 PM to 12:15 PM Eastern)
What - We’ll start each class with a quick review, then we’ll cover techniques and tunes. Expect to do a lot of playing in each session. You’ll learn by doing.
Where - Online via Zoom - I'll send you the link.
We’ll be in the DAD tuning. This is for all types of fretting: full diatonic, added 6+/13+ fret, added 1+/8+ fret, and fully chromatic. I’ll be mostly using a diatonic with 6+/13+, but I’ll also have a dulcimer with a 1+/8+ as well as a chromatic standing by.
I'm video recording every session, and you'll get a link to each video hopefully within 24-hours after each class. I think you'll get the best experience by showing up for each class, but if you need to miss any sessions, I've got you covered.
Schedule
Wednesday, May 14, 10:00 AM to 11:15 AM Central (11:00 PM to 12:15 PM Eastern) - Notes, Open Fifths, and Three Main Shapes
Wednesday, May 21, 10:00 AM to 11:15 AM Central (11:00 PM to 12:15 PM Eastern) - Flipped Shapes, Zones, and Backup
Wednesday, May 28, 10:00 AM to 11:15 AM Central (11:00 PM to 12:15 PM Eastern) - Playing Bass Lines, Chord-Melody Improv, and Cool Licks
Wednesday, June 4, 10:00 AM to 11:15 AM Central (11:00 PM to 12:15 PM Eastern) - Planned or On-the-Spot Arranging Part I (Melodies and Harmonies)
Wednesday, June 11 - No class this week. Practice your tunes!
Wednesday, June 18, 10:00 AM to 11:15 AM Central (11:00 PM to 12:15 PM Eastern) - Planned or On-the-Spot Arranging Part II (Full-Chord Melody)
Wednesday, June 25 - No class this week. Practice bending and practice your tunes!
Tuesday, July 2, 10:00 AM to 11:15 AM Central (11:00 PM to 12:15 PM Eastern) - Planned or On-the-Spot Arranging Part III (Partial Chords and Drones)
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If you’re on the fence, here’s what students have said about my teaching:
"I really loved how you set it up as a journey of discovery. You are an exceptional teacher."
“As a beginner, everything was easy to understand and challenging enough to inspire me to continue..."
“As you know, he is a fabulous musician and that does not always translate into being a good teacher; but in this case it does. He's charismatic, interesting, and tells great stories. He presents the information in the lessons logically and sequentially with many reviews of the material along the way, so that you do not feel lost.”
"Steve is an excellent teacher. He will compare to or exceed the best teacher you ever had in school.”
"You have the ability to make the student feel as if they are having a private lesson with a good friend."
Learning these shapes and how to use them will change the way you see and play your instrument is so many fun and useful ways. Ultimately, it will make it easier for you to make better music no matter what your interests are. (Believe it or not, even noter-style players will benefit GREATLY from spending a short season understanding how chord tones exist on the fingerboard.) While basic music theory will sometimes be mentioned, I won’t be dwelling on it. The bulk of this class will be about finding, knowing, and using shapes to find the notes your need to make the music you want to make.
See you soon,
Stephen