My mountain dulcimer is like a kitten, she sleeps in her stand looking all pretty, somehow more adorable each time I glance her way. A couple of days ago she even helped me find my way out of a pickle. I've been wanting to learn Joni Mitchell's "River" for some time now, and due to the variety of chords not usually found in a diatonic dulcimer, I thought my autoharp would be just the instrument. Well, it seems that didn't work quite right. I was missing a key chord, a combination chord of Dm and C, that really sets the tone for the whole song.
My sweet Mary Jane, and the 1 1/2 fret I had added, came to the rescue. I figured out how to play that particular chord, and the song sounds much more complete. Like a kitten, my mountain dulcimer craves a certain amount of attention. This time stealing it away from my autoharp. Tonight is the night I catch up on some emails I need to write, so I was pretty excited to see an email from the folks at Folkcraft. It seems they are still sending out travel dulcimers for players to review and it's my turn to try it out! So look for my review, complete with photos here on the blog. The other thing in my inbox was a link to Dulcimerica 210 with Big Futch. A couple of sweet tunes on a baritone dulcimer, one of which I can play on my own little Folkcraft. Enjoy!
