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Favorite Old-Time American Songs for Dulcimer
by Mark Kailana Nelson

Home on the Range for Mountain Dulcimer

When I was a little boy, my friends and I would play "Cowboys and Indians" for hours on end. My mother had a portable phonograph and a collection of 78-rpm records that included my favorite - an album filled with cowboy songs. I don't recall exactly who sang what song, but I do remember listening to "Home On The Range" - over and over again.

Apparently I am not the only one mesmerized by this song. Not only does it have a beautiful and memorable melody, but also has words that are filled with associations of peace, wonder and hope - I'm sure an inspiration and comfort to those brave souls that left everything to seek their new homes and fortunes in the untamed western US territories. A similar memorable song is "Sweet Betsy From Pike."

So it turns out, "Home on the Range" started as a poem called "My Western Home" written by Brewster M. Higley in 1870. The melody was actually written by a friend of Higley's named Daniel L. Kelley, and gained immediate popularity with settlers and cowboys as well as folks all over the country. Commonly regarded as the unofficial anthem of the American West, Texas composer, David Guion, made an arrangement in the early 1900's that is used to this day - he is often credited as the composer. "Home On The Range" was later adopted as the Kansas State Song in 1947 - the year I was born (coincidence?).

Funny how some arrangements just pop into your head! On a hot summer afternoon while camping in Florida, my friend and collaborator, Liz Perilloux, and I were trying to think of something new to play on our mountain dulcimers. We were distracted by intermittent movement from behind the sea oats by our camp sites -when, all of a sudden, this arrangement just came to me spontaneously - almost exactly as written. So it turns out, we were being observed by the rare and endangered Perdido Key Beach Mouse - not quite the "deer and antelope" of the song, but, I guess, in the heat of that summer, close enough to trigger some subconscious switch in this southern boy's head!

Although this arrangement requires the dulcimer to be tuned in Mixolydian (DAD) open D tuning, the song is played in G, taking liberties to make generous use of the C chords available on the mountain dulcimer:

You will note that I have added a 1-1/2 note on the middle string to achieve a low C chord:

that is such a pretty transitional chord.

The song can be played without the 1 1/2 fret, but I recommend that you have a partial or full 1-1/2 fret installed. I have "scotch taped" many a toothpick or snip (1/2") of bass/guitar string halfway between the 1 and 2 frets to make a temporary 1 1/2 fret. One of my students has had her original "temporary" fret for over eight years now - it still works great. I prefer the permanent partial fret on the middle string, as it is not as visually distracting as the full fret. However, some prefer the full fret - and the brain adapts quickly...

This song is fingerpicked. I always use the middle finger (right hand) on the base string, my index finger on the middle string and my thumb on the treble string or strings. I use my ring and little fingers to brace my hand on the outside of the fret board. I recommend that you pick or pluck the strings in the strum hollow on most dulcimers. The extra depth below the strings allows you to get more of the pad of your fingers under the strings and control the dynamics or volume by plucking strings with varying degrees of force. The index finger is used to "draw" across all strings when the tablature indicates three vertical notes - one on top of the other. Most of the notes in this arrangement are eighth notes played at a slow, steady rhythm. Emphasis (extra plucking force) must be given to the melody notes to make them stand out from the rhythmic fills. This will make the melody stand out and be recognized by the listener. Also, the dynamic of a loud melody against the softer fill notes will make the song much more beautiful. Remember - it's our job to play the song as we interpret the author intended.

Listen to Paul Andry play "Home on the Range."

Oh, give me a home where the buffalo roam,
Where the deer and the antelope play,
Where seldom is heard a discouraging word
And the skies are not cloudy all day.

Chorus (repeat after each verse)
Home, home on the range,
Where the deer and the antelope play;
Where seldom is heard a discouraging word
And the skies are not cloudy all day.

Where the air is so pure, the zephyrs so free,
The breezes so balmy and light,
That I would not exchange my home on the range
For all of the cities so bright.

The red man was pressed from this part of the West
He's likely no more to return,
To the banks of Red River where seldom if ever
Their flickering camp-fires burn.

How often at night when the heavens are bright
With the light from the glittering stars
Have I stood here amazed and asked as I gazed
If their glory exceeds that of ours.

Oh, I love these wild flowers in this dear land of ours
The curlew I love to hear scream,
And I love the white rocks and the antelope flocks
That graze on the mountain-tops green.

Oh, give me a land where the bright diamond sand
Flows leisurely down the stream;
Where the graceful white swan goes gliding along
Like a maid in a heavenly dream.

John A. Lomax collection (1910)

If you would like to try this as a duet, here is a nice harmony from Betsy Babb, a longtime friend and student who passed away in 2004.

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