Lois Hornbostel, Editor

Welcome to the February 2008 issue of Dulcimer Sessions®!


The Mel Bay family of dulcimer books contains outstanding resources for a wide variety of music styles. You'll see what I mean when you visit www.baysidepress.com then click on Dulcimer in the left margin. That takes you to the Main dulcimer page. Click on Hammered Dulcimer or Mountain Dulcimer and check out the "All" line for a delightful browse!

This issue contains the following articles and music for your enjoyment:

1. "Holy Manna" a Shape Note Hymn for Mountain Dulcimer by Wayne Seymour. The harmonies of this style of hymn have an ancient, "droney" sound that is a good fit for traditionally-played mountain dulcimer.
2. "Calum Sgaire" is a lovely air from the Hebrides in Scotland arranged by English mountain dulcimer and guitar player Dan Evans.

The above are arranged for mountain dulcimer in tablature and are accessible to hammered dulcimer players through their notation.

A special St. Patrick's Day greeting to our hammered dulcimer friends is represented in:

3. "Two 'Classic' Irish Melodies for Hammered Dulcimer" - the slow air "Carrickfergus" and the jig "The Blarney Pilgrim" from the Mel Bay collection by Sally Hawley, The Hammered Dulcimer Treasury of Tunes (MB99528).
4. As a bonus, Mel Bay Publications has added a demonstration of some variations on playing a D7 chord in DAD tuning and bending a string to get a Dm chord. This video is part of Dulcimer Chords by Joe Carr

Many thanks to our February issue authors. I invite hammered and mountain dulcimer players to submit articles to me for possible inclusion in future issues of Dulcimer Sessions. We also welcome requests for new subjects from visitors to this website.

For more great music for mountain and hammered dulcimers from Mel Bay, make sure to visit: www.baysidepress.com

Don't forget to view previous articles in our Back Issues. You'll find 25 more issues!

Enjoy! See you in our April 1, 2008 issue.

Lois Hornbostel, Editor
Dulcimer Sessions
loisdulc@verizon.net
Website: www.LoisHornbostel.com
View Lois Hornbostel's Biography

• Two Classic Irish Melodies for Hammered Dulcimer by Sally Hawley
• Calum Sgaire by Dan Evans
• Holy Manna by Wayne Seymour
• Dulcimer Chords by Joe Carr