The first and last notes ("I've" and "road") are the tonic note, and the "been" is a note 3 steps lower than that. Sing the first line of the song "I've been workin' on the railroad". Here is another example of how handy this becomes. If your tonic D note is on the third fret now instead of the open string, then we now are in the ionian mode. Thus, when I want to play in the key of D, I most typically tune either DDA or DAA, tuning my open melody string(s) to the A note which is 3 steps below the tonic D. Well, if we tune our melody string(s) a little lower to begin with we can get those lower notes right on the melody string, like that "dong" note in Frere Jacques! So where would we go to play those occasional notes that dip below the tonic note? This droning gives the music an archaic sound that is distinctive and appealing to those who enjoy noter/drone playing. In typical noter/drone playing, however, the middle and bass strings are not usually fretted at all as part of the melody line, but are simply left open to drone. Lower-than-tonic notes do not present a problem to folks playing in chording style and fretting all the strings. So to them, DAd is a perfect tuning which enables easily fingered full chords on all the strings. People who play dulcimers in a chording style are used to fretting lower notes on the other strings. Thus you would have to go looking on your lower middle or bass strings to find those lower notes. Now if your melody string is tuned so that it plays the tonic note when it is open (as in DAd tuning), well then that string can't play any notes lower than that tonic note. Many traditional folk tunes and many fiddle tunes or old ballads that I like to play have these lower notes in them that are 1, 2, or 3 steps lower than the tonic note. If the key was D and the tonic note was a D, then that "dong" lower note would be an A note 3 steps lower. The song ends on the tonic note on that last "ding".but the "dong" right before it is three steps below the tonic note. The last line ends in "Ding, dong, ding". For example, sing the song Frere Jacques to yourself. But many tunes have notes in them somewhere that go a step or two below the tonic note. For example a song in the key of C will usually end on a C note (the tonic note for the key of C). Most songs and tunes end on their tonic note. In the key of D that first D note is also called the tonic note. So, if you tune your dulcimer strings DAd (or DAdd), then the first note of your D scale on the melody string will be the open string- or "0" (zero) in dulcimer TAB notation. If I were to say a tuning of DAd, then that last d is the melody string (the string or pair of strings which is closest to you with the dulcimer in your lap). These days, we name the strings of a dulcimer tuning from bass string first to melody string last. In the key of D, that first "do" note of the do-re-mi scale is a D. That means that if you are playing in the key of D, the beginning D note of the do-re-mi scale is at the OPEN melody string, which is tuned to the D note. 5.These days, the majority of beginner dulcimer students are started out playing in the DAd tuning.2023 Tennessee Valley Old Time Fiddlers Convention.Wild Flowers Don't Care Where They Grow.Ray Hunley & Roger Patterson: Turkey in the Straw.Mississippi Sawyer Lesson 02 (another view). Log Cabin String Band: Step Around Johnny.Log Cabin String Band: Galax Dulcimer Explained.Dulcimer Competition Dulcimentary: 2013 Tennessee Valley Old Time Fiddlers Convention.Tennessee Valley Old-Time Fiddlers Convention.Southern Appalachian Dulcimer Association (SADA) in Birmingham.North Alabama Heritage Dulcimer Association (NAHDA).Huntsville Traditional Music Association.
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