This tune book/CD combination published by Mel Bay has many lovely tunes. The CD presents the hammered dulcimer in an ensemble setting with fiddle, pipes and guitar. Mel Bay author Maggie Sansone plays hammered dulcimer the “A Scottish Christmas” recording. The CBS “Sunday Morning” show said of the CD, “One...

The lyrics of “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen,” author unknown, are reputed to date back to the 15thCentury, making it one of the oldest carols. It was first published in 1833, when it appeared in Christmas Carols Ancient and Modern, a collection of seasonal carols gathered by William B. Sandys....

I “cut my dulcimer-playing teeth” playing in traditional Irish music sessiúns in New York City. The jigs were some of my favorite tunes, and the sound of the strummed mountain dulcimer reminded me of the ever-more-popular bouzoukis being played in well-known traditional Irish bands. There are a couple of other...

So, you have been playing your instrument for a while now and you feel the urge to compose something original. But where do you start, and how do you finish? Truthfully, all you really need is your instrument and the desire to make music. But here is a list of...

Editor’s note:  At the 2011 Fiddlers Grove fiddle convention I attended a jam in their “jamming barn.” It’s known for the expert senior players who jam swing, country and other vocally-driven music. This is the territory in which a musician who joins the jam needs to be able to play...