Hammer Dulcimer Music by Joshua Messick

Developing an Arrangement

Mar 21, 2009 Intermediate

Arranging is a very personal thing that portrays many of the characteristics that embrace you. It is the personality of your music. Life, teamed with the adversity and bliss that it brings, will be passed on into your arrangements. There are endless possibilities to arranging a song; it will express individuality in a manner that may be concrete or abstract.

If you’ve never learned how to arrange music, than you will need some structure as a starting point.

Music has form, just like language compositions. Not all arrangements follow the same form, but some forms are more common than others.  We’re going to discuss today’s most common form, look at each element, and learn how to make an arrangement with this form.

COMMON FORM

• Introduction
• Verse 1
• Chorus
• Verse 2
• Chorus
• Bridge (or verse 3)
• Chorus
• Ending

The reason this form is successful is that it makes the song easily memorable because of the structure and interesting due to the frequent change. In fact you’ve heard this form dozens of times on your local music station. The songs you hear probably sound like this:

• Instrumental introduction (usually lead by a guitar)
• Vocals start with verse 1, music remains simple
• Chorus begins with a sudden build, caused by added instrumentation and alternate percussion
• Verse 2 starts and some of the build pulls back, making the piece simpler
• Chorus starts again, which is a repeat of the first chorus with minor variations
• Bridge begins that is very simple, making way for the big build
• Chorus is played again, big, dramatic, huge
• Ending (possibly abrupt)

Now, let’s discuss each element, but with a solo instrumentalist’s mindset.

#1 INTRODUCTION
The introduction is the initial impression of your piece. Make it memorable and make it good. Typically, it establishes the tone, mood, timing signature, and pace of your song (although I would encourage variations to this!). It can be something that is in your face and grabs your attention, or it can be subtle. Personally, I like it when the introduction does not play the melody of the piece, but rather plays a progression of chords that possibly includes variations or snippets of the melody or chorus. However you construct your introduction, make sure that it fits with the rest of the song.

#2 VERSE 1

Your first time around, establish the melody. Keep it simple. Don’t get carried away with added embellishments. This is not your time to to try to impress. While you know the melody, your listeners may not. It will be frustrating for them if they’re having to think to hear the melody.

#3 CHORUS

Still keep that melody prominent, but start building the piece. Maybe throw in some arpeggios, but don’t go all out just yet.

#4 VERSE 2

Once you have completed your chorus, you may want to add a transition before you play verse 2. You may want to play part of your introduction as a transition, so people will be reminded of it.

The second verse needs to start adding some variety to the piece, or else it may start to drag. You want the change to keep the listener’s attention. Some options are to use intervals you haven’t played with yet, some different chord constructions, etc. Vary up the verse slightly, but don’t go all the way just yet.

#5 CHORUS

Jump right into that chorus, but make sure that there is a little transition between verse 2 and the chorus. This gives some breathing room. One thing I like is to make the song “crooked” by adding an additional beat. If the song is in 4/4, add a 5th beat pause as a transition, then start the chorus on beat 1.

Add some variation to that chorus and really start having some fun, but not too much!

#6 BRIDGE (OR VERSE 3)

Here, you’ve just spent the entire song creating a build. A build can create a type of tension in your listener, so it’s probably time to back off and go back to simple for about 20-30 seconds. This will allow the song to breathe and your listener to exhale. Additionally….

Something that is bold will be better appreciated next to something that is more subtle

#7 CHORUS

You’ve just played that bridge or verse 3 simple, so whenever you play the chorus, your listeners are going to really want it. They’ll be anticipating it. Give them what they want and then some. If you’re performing and sense the crowd is really into it, you may want to adjust your arrangement and play that chorus a second (or maybe 3rd!) time.

#8 ENDING

You should not undervalue the importance of a quality ending. While you may want to leave your listeners hanging with an abrupt ending, this is not always the best approach. I like to be able to anticipate the ending. In order to do this, one option is to repeat the introduction as the ending. This will signal to the listener that the ending has arrived and it is time to wrap things up.

Tags: arrangement

Improvising (Demonstrational Video)

Mar 16, 2009 Development Zone, Songs, Videos

This is not a lesson to help you learn how to improvise. This is a picture into how I use improvising as a practice habit and development skill. For me personally, the thought of only playing what other people have already put to music sounds boring. I like to do my own things and make music that is unique. This is why I enjoy composing and arranging. Improvising helps me come up with new ideas.

I improvise all the time. I clear my mind and just let the music flow with what feels right at that given time. But, I’m always paying close attention to what I’m communicating, when the song needs “breathing room”, and when change needs to happen.

With this approach, I can discover some passages and different licks that I really like. I then develop and memorize them. Sometimes, I may use just one passage from an improv to enhance an arrangement Or, I may be hopeful of what happened, and try to use it as a main theme to a new song.

One thing that is helpful when improvising is to record yourself. This gives another opportunity to analyze your playing, figure out the passages that worked, and remember what you actually played!

This video is an example of a blind improvise that I did during a practice session last night. I’ll use this video to analyze what I’ve done, decide what I liked and didn’t like, and probably use it to develop a new song one day.

Tags: improvise, improvising, video

101 Lesson 4 – Major Chords in the Box

Mar 16, 2009 Beginner - 911 for 101

We are now going to learn how to play the three major chords for the key of D. This is really quite simple, so don’t be intimidated by the technicalities if you don’t understand it. If you’ll give it a shot, it’ll make sense.

If you have not learned any music theory, the following paragraphs might not make much sense. I will do my best to make it simple, and you can try your hardest to understand. If you just cannot, please do not give up. Just jump right down to the illustrations and try it out. You may get farther than you think just by doing it before you fully know it!

The Chord Defined

The actual definition of a chord is “two or more notes played or sung simultaneously.” The hammer dulcimer is played with only two percussive objects, which may be chop sticks or pencils if you forget your hammers… So technically, only a two note chord is practical in most circumstances. For this reason, when two notes are struck simultaneously, it is typically referenced as an interval (3rd, 4th, etc.).

A chord on the hammer dulcimer would generally be considered three or more notes played by an arpeggio. An arpeggio is the notes of a chord played in succession rather than simultaneously.

For the sake of simplicity, when referencing a chord it will be understood that an arpeggio will be utilized to play it. This understanding is common for many instruments, not just the hammer dulcimer.

Three Major Chords

Within each key there are three major chords. In order to play them on the hammer dulcimer, you do not have to know the notes that make up the chord.

A Box and a Triangle

Instead, you just need to learn the chord’s shapes and how each shape sounds. And when playing inside the box, a three-note chord will look like a type of triangle when visualized…Just look at the illustrations.

Practice these chords and don’t get caught up trying to memorize the placement of the individual note names of the chord. Once again, learn to associate each shape with the sound and “feel” that they generate.

I’ve included two names for the three major chords for the key of D. First, their position (which is for you if you’re an ear musician), and second, their name (for those who know just enough of music theory to be dangerous).

Position 1

Position 2

Position 3
Yes, I know this is an A chord that starts on an E, and the previous two chords started on their root. This is a beginners lesson and we’re playing in the box, remember? You can start it on an A, but you’ll have to play outside of Box 1 in order to do that. We’ll cover all of that later!

Tags: beginner, Hammer Dulcimer Lessons

Declaring Your Indepedence

Mar 16, 2009 Advanced

Many people have been asking me for my approach to hand independence. I just thought I’d post this to let you know that I’m working on a lesson. It will be available soon.

The Value of Encouragement

Mar 16, 2009 Development Zone, Training for Competition

If it was not for the encouragement that I received from family, friends, and musicians, I would have quit the hammer dulcimer many years ago. The encouraging comments from those who recognized my talent was enough to keep me from quitting.

Additionally, I didn’t get the 1st place trophy at Winfield in one attempt. It took three failures before I had one success. And, I almost didn’t compete in 2003, but the encouragement of those around me was the inspiration that I needed to give it one more shot.

But my playing pursuits have not ended with a trophy, and I feel like my playing still has a long way to improve. But the encouragement that I received early on was enough to give me the confidence to continue for a lifetime.

Be a person who gives encouragement The value of encouragement may prove to be priceless.

101 Lesson 3 – The “key” to the box (Instructional Video)

Mar 15, 2009 Beginner - 911 for 101

So far, I’ve introduced you to the box concept and how you can build box 1 and box 2. Now, I’m going to show you the “key” to the box, meaning how you can use the box to play in multiple keys.

NOTES

I will show you how to play in the three native major keys of the hammer dulcimer. There are absolutely more keys you can play in, but these are the three most common major keys. They are D, G, and C.

To begin, you must know what the notes are for each marker on the bass bridge. They are (from bottom to top), D, G, C, F, and Bb. Memorize and internalize these. You must know them as an anchor reference point in order to know which key you’re playing in.

Now, look at the illustration below. Orange is the key of D that I already introduced you to. Blue is the key of G and red is the key of C. Do you see how box 1 and box 2 repeat themselves exactly?

The only difference is the starting point. The key of D starts on the bass bridge D marker. The key of G starts on the bass bridge G marker. And the key of C starts on the bass bridge C marker. See the redundancy?

(Note: Due to size variations, your instrument may not include all of the notes for the 2nd box of the key of C)

Simple isn’t it? You don’t have to memorize the appropriate sharps or flats in order to play in a different key (although that knowledge certainly wouldn’t hurt you)!

Also–get this. I have in three lessons introduced you to almost all of the notes on a typical hammer dulcimer, unless you have a huge 17/17/5/4 dulcimer or something like that!

Tags: beginner, Hammer Dulcimer Lessons

101 Lesson 2 – Building on the Box (Instructional Video)

Mar 10, 2009 Beginner - 911 for 101

In this lesson, we are going to build on the box that we created in the first lesson, and make a second box.

NOTES
We ended the previous lesson playing a 1 octave scale in a box. This box is “copied” and continued on the treble bridge of the dulcimer. The illustration below explains this easier than I could using words.

However, there are two points that I should communicate with language. First, you don’t play on the right side of the bass bridge, only the left. Second, you can play on both sides of the treble bridge. The bridge is placed at the fifth interval of it’s strings. This causes the strings on the treble bridge to produce two notes (depending on which side of the bridge they are struck) that are one fifth apart.

Now, watch the movie, review the illustration, and play that scale in the second box.

Tags: beginner, Hammer Dulcimer Lessons, scale

101 Lesson 1 – Learning “The Box” concept (Instructional Video)

Mar 10, 2009 Beginner - 911 for 101

I’m this first lesson for 911 for 101, let it be known that I’m not going to get into the fundamentals of music theory. If you’re going to benefit from this blog, a basic, working knowledge of music will be needed. If you’ve never learned music theory before, other resources on the Internet are available..

I’m going to show you a concept called “the box” that will help you to easily play a scale. Understanding the box will give you a good foundation to build on.

You’ll notice on your dulcimer that there are markers every 4th course. They are your guide to let you know where the notes are. Without them, it would be guesswork to know which note each course
is.The markers also enable us to draw imaginary patterns or shapes that assist in remembering keys, scales, and chords. And we will use them to make the box.

THE BOX

Remember in kindergarten when you had to connect the numbered dots on a piece of paper in order to draw a certain shape or picture? This time, you’ll use your imagination to connect the markers, forming the shape of a box..

(To know where the subsequent illustrations are located on your instrument, the “D” marker to the bottom right is the first marker on the bottom right bridge of your dulcimer. This bridge is called the bass bridge. Depending on your make and model, you may have some strings below this D, so don’t get confused.)

This is a picutre of what you should visualize in your mind, We have “connected the dots” of each marker in order to draw a box. Now, pretend that this box is a container. All of the notes contained within the box comprise the key of D. The D on the bass bridge and the D on the treble bridge are exactly one octave apart. With this concept, we can now easily play the scale.

PLAYING A SCALE

In the illustration below, the numbers are the sequence in which you strike the strings in order to play a standard diatonic 8 note scale. Start at number 1 (the D marker on the bass bridge) and strike the strings in sequence until you reach number 8 (the D marker on the treble bridge).

The L means that you should play that string with your left hand, and the R means that you should play that string with your right hand. Make sure you use the correct hands! This is important for proper technique!

You have succesfully learned the concept of the box as well as played your first scale.

Tags: beginner, Hammer Dulcimer Lessons

911 for 101

Mar 8, 2009 Beginner - 911 for 101

It seems that this type of phone call has repeated itself many times throughout my life. In one way or another, I’ll hear this: “HELLLLLLLLLLP! I just bought this instrument for $1200 and don’t know what I’m doing!”

Well, I’ll be more than glad to be your emergency assistance dulcimer guy. This new category is setup to teach you the 101 basics for when you feel that frustration of not knowing what you’re doing and reach that state of emergency.

More will come soon. Just keep checking back.

Once again, if you have questions that you would like to see added to this category or anywhere else on this blog, please let me know! joshua@joshuamessick.com.

Tags: basics, beginner, fundamentals

The Irish Washerwoman (Demonstrational Video)

Mar 6, 2009 Songs, Videos

I live in an older home, and when the winter arrives, the drain line for the washer machine often freezes and I can’t do my laundry! Thankfully, this is only during a hard freeze. Recently, we an extended period where I couldn’t do my laundry. (No worries, I have a lot of clothes!) As the weather warmed up, there were a few days where it seemed like all I did was laundry.

With St. Patrick’s Day around the corner, and my recent days dedicated to laundry, I thought it appropriate to play The Irish Washerwoman.

This is just a quick arrangement of the tune tailored exclusively for this blog. I play it rapidly, as expression of how much I wish that laundry could be done with FAST!

Enjoy!

Tags: Demonstration, irish, tune