Chords for Learning the Hammered Dulcimer - Scales & Modes
Tempo:
101.1 bpm
Chords used:
E
D
B
Em
G
Tuning:Standard Tuning (EADGBE)Capo:+0fret
Start Jamming...
To many people, when they first see a hammered dulcimer, they go, how do you ever play that
great mass of strings?
It must take ages to learn it.
And I say, no, it really only takes a couple of minutes to learn it.
So if you don't know about it yet, you're about to learn all there is to know about
scales on the hammered dulcimer.
A scale, typically the basic modern western scale is do, re, mi, fa, so, la, ti, do.
And from the first step to the second step, from do to re, or one, two, three, four, five,
six, seven, one.
From one to two is a whole step.
On a piano that would be white keys with a black key in between [F#] that you don't play.
[D] And then you go, [E]
that's one to two.
Then two to [F#] three is a whole step.
Then three to four is a half step.
Four to five is a whole step.
[B] Five to six is a whole step.
Six to seven is a whole step.
Seven to one [D] is a half step.
That's because you have half steps between the upper black, or the upper unmarked course,
and the upper [G] marked course.
So you have marked course, that's [D] white on hammered dulcimers, mostly nowadays.
[Em] Then black, black, white, and then directly to the left, [E]
white, black, black, white.
So I have a scale that goes one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, one.
And [Bm] you think, okay, where is that coming from?
Okay, I'm looking at the markings and I'm hitting about a half inch [C#] to an inch and a half,
somewhere around an inch away from the marking.
I'm not looking at the string all that much.
I'm looking mainly at the little marking.
[E] So I look at the markings and I just go to [G] get the scale.
Now what about all the rest of the [E] instrument?
You can do the same thing starting on this marked course.
[F#m]
And that happens to be the key of D.
If I want the key of C, I'll do it starting on middle C right [D] here.
And [G] you end up with this little pair of four and then four to the left
to get the scale anywhere in [B] the dulcimer.
So once you learn how to go left, right, left, right, left, right, left, right,
four times in a row, you can play scales in a number of different keys
by doing exactly the same thing in different parts of the dulcimer.
It's very straightforward.
Now I want to add one more thing here.
[C#]
People talk about modes, music being modal.
Actually, a lot of music, folk music, jazz, rock,
all sorts of different kinds of music have [G#] modes.
And [E] we just need to know what they are.
They're real simple.
What I just played is the major scale, which [A#] is 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 1.
It used to be called the Ionian mode.
Then there was the Aeolian [G#] mode in the Middle Ages [F] or the Renaissance,
which went from 6 to 6.
And we now call that [E] minor scale.
[D] So let's see.
This was 1 in the key of D.
[Bm] So I'm going to go down to the sixth one,
you know, 1, 2, 3, 4, [Em] 5, 6.
I'm going to start on 6.
[B]
And I got a minor scale,
[Bm] just like that.
So that's what a minor scale is, 6 to 6 instead of 1 to 1.
Now [N] there are two other scales that sound kind of like these,
but with one note different that you hear in a lot of music.
And I want to mention those two because maybe this will
demystify the whole thing of modes.
The Dorian mode is a kind of minor scale.
But instead of going from 6 to 6 on that set of notes, it goes from 2 to 2.
[D] So I'm going to, let's see, here's 1.
I'm going to [E] go up to 2.
[E] [B]
[Em] 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, [E] 7, 1, [Em] 2.
A typical tune you would recognize is Scarborough [E] Fair, an old Elizabethan [E] tune.
[B]
[Em]
Hear that?
That's [F#] Dorian mode.
That's all that is.
And then the fourth mode, the last one that we'll talk about is [B] common nowadays also.
It's called the Mixolydian mode.
[D] And instead of going from 1 to 1, it goes from 5 to 5.
So I'm going to, okay, [E] here's 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, starting on 5.
[B]
[E] Hear how that's a [G] little different?
It's not major [G#m] because it has that flatted seventh note [E] the way that it's laid out.
[Bm] And of course, many, many, many pieces, bluesy type sounding pieces often use this type of [E] thing.
But of course in folk music, old Joe Clark.
And that, you'd recognize that bluesy type of sound, bluegrass music started [B] using that
sound all the time.
I wrote a piece similar to old Joe Clark called Spring in the Gap [A] using that.
[E]
[D]
great mass of strings?
It must take ages to learn it.
And I say, no, it really only takes a couple of minutes to learn it.
So if you don't know about it yet, you're about to learn all there is to know about
scales on the hammered dulcimer.
A scale, typically the basic modern western scale is do, re, mi, fa, so, la, ti, do.
And from the first step to the second step, from do to re, or one, two, three, four, five,
six, seven, one.
From one to two is a whole step.
On a piano that would be white keys with a black key in between [F#] that you don't play.
[D] And then you go, [E]
that's one to two.
Then two to [F#] three is a whole step.
Then three to four is a half step.
Four to five is a whole step.
[B] Five to six is a whole step.
Six to seven is a whole step.
Seven to one [D] is a half step.
That's because you have half steps between the upper black, or the upper unmarked course,
and the upper [G] marked course.
So you have marked course, that's [D] white on hammered dulcimers, mostly nowadays.
[Em] Then black, black, white, and then directly to the left, [E]
white, black, black, white.
So I have a scale that goes one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, one.
And [Bm] you think, okay, where is that coming from?
Okay, I'm looking at the markings and I'm hitting about a half inch [C#] to an inch and a half,
somewhere around an inch away from the marking.
I'm not looking at the string all that much.
I'm looking mainly at the little marking.
[E] So I look at the markings and I just go to [G] get the scale.
Now what about all the rest of the [E] instrument?
You can do the same thing starting on this marked course.
[F#m]
And that happens to be the key of D.
If I want the key of C, I'll do it starting on middle C right [D] here.
And [G] you end up with this little pair of four and then four to the left
to get the scale anywhere in [B] the dulcimer.
So once you learn how to go left, right, left, right, left, right, left, right,
four times in a row, you can play scales in a number of different keys
by doing exactly the same thing in different parts of the dulcimer.
It's very straightforward.
Now I want to add one more thing here.
[C#]
People talk about modes, music being modal.
Actually, a lot of music, folk music, jazz, rock,
all sorts of different kinds of music have [G#] modes.
And [E] we just need to know what they are.
They're real simple.
What I just played is the major scale, which [A#] is 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 1.
It used to be called the Ionian mode.
Then there was the Aeolian [G#] mode in the Middle Ages [F] or the Renaissance,
which went from 6 to 6.
And we now call that [E] minor scale.
[D] So let's see.
This was 1 in the key of D.
[Bm] So I'm going to go down to the sixth one,
you know, 1, 2, 3, 4, [Em] 5, 6.
I'm going to start on 6.
[B]
And I got a minor scale,
[Bm] just like that.
So that's what a minor scale is, 6 to 6 instead of 1 to 1.
Now [N] there are two other scales that sound kind of like these,
but with one note different that you hear in a lot of music.
And I want to mention those two because maybe this will
demystify the whole thing of modes.
The Dorian mode is a kind of minor scale.
But instead of going from 6 to 6 on that set of notes, it goes from 2 to 2.
[D] So I'm going to, let's see, here's 1.
I'm going to [E] go up to 2.
[E] [B]
[Em] 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, [E] 7, 1, [Em] 2.
A typical tune you would recognize is Scarborough [E] Fair, an old Elizabethan [E] tune.
[B]
[Em]
Hear that?
That's [F#] Dorian mode.
That's all that is.
And then the fourth mode, the last one that we'll talk about is [B] common nowadays also.
It's called the Mixolydian mode.
[D] And instead of going from 1 to 1, it goes from 5 to 5.
So I'm going to, okay, [E] here's 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, starting on 5.
[B]
[E] Hear how that's a [G] little different?
It's not major [G#m] because it has that flatted seventh note [E] the way that it's laid out.
[Bm] And of course, many, many, many pieces, bluesy type sounding pieces often use this type of [E] thing.
But of course in folk music, old Joe Clark.
And that, you'd recognize that bluesy type of sound, bluegrass music started [B] using that
sound all the time.
I wrote a piece similar to old Joe Clark called Spring in the Gap [A] using that.
[E]
[D]
Key:
E
D
B
Em
G
E
D
B
_ To many people, when they first see a hammered dulcimer, they go, how do you ever play that
great mass of strings?
It must take ages to learn it.
And I say, no, it really only takes a couple of minutes to learn it.
So if you don't know about it yet, you're about to learn all there is to know about
scales on the hammered dulcimer.
A scale, typically the basic modern western scale is do, re, mi, fa, so, la, ti, do.
_ And from the first step to the second step, from do to re, or one, two, three, four, five,
six, seven, one.
From one to two is a whole step.
On a piano that would be white keys with a black key in between [F#] that you don't play.
[D] And then you go, _ [E]
that's one to two.
Then two to [F#] three is a whole step.
Then three to four is a half step.
Four to five is a whole step.
[B] Five to six is a whole step.
Six to seven is a whole step.
Seven to one [D] is a half step.
That's because you have half steps between the upper black, or the upper unmarked course,
and the upper [G] _ marked course.
So you have marked course, that's [D] white on hammered dulcimers, mostly nowadays.
[Em] Then black, black, white, and then directly to the left, [E]
white, black, black, white.
So I have a scale that goes one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, one.
And [Bm] you think, okay, where is that coming from?
Okay, I'm looking at the markings and I'm hitting about a half inch [C#] to an inch and a half,
somewhere around an inch away from the marking.
I'm not looking at the string all that much.
I'm looking mainly at the little marking.
[E] So I look at the markings and I just go to _ [G] get the scale.
Now what about all the rest of the [E] instrument? _
You can do the same thing starting on this marked course.
_ _ _ [F#m] _
And that happens to be the key of D.
If I want the key of C, I'll do it starting on middle C right [D] here.
And _ _ _ _ _ _ [G] you end up with this little pair of four and then four to the left
to get the scale anywhere in [B] the dulcimer. _ _ _ _ _
_ So once you learn how to go left, right, left, right, left, right, left, right,
_ four times in a row, you can play scales in a number of different keys
by doing exactly the same thing in different parts of the dulcimer.
It's very straightforward.
Now I want to add one more thing here.
[C#] _
People talk about modes, music being modal.
Actually, a lot of music, folk music, jazz, rock,
all sorts of different kinds of music have [G#] modes.
And [E] we just need to know what they are.
They're real simple.
What I just played is the major scale, which [A#] is 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 1.
It used to be called the Ionian mode.
Then there was the Aeolian [G#] mode in the Middle Ages [F] or the Renaissance,
which went from 6 to 6.
And we now call that [E] minor scale.
[D] So let's see.
This was 1 in the key of D.
[Bm] So I'm going to go down to the sixth one,
you know, 1, 2, 3, 4, [Em] 5, 6.
I'm going to start on 6.
_ [B] _ _ _ _
_ _ _ And I got a minor scale, _ _
[Bm] just like that.
So that's what a minor scale is, 6 to 6 instead of 1 to 1.
Now [N] there are two other scales that sound kind of like these,
but with one note different that you hear in a lot of music.
And I want to mention those two because maybe this will
demystify the whole thing of modes.
The Dorian mode is a kind of minor scale.
But instead of going from 6 to 6 on that set of notes, it goes from 2 to 2.
[D] So I'm going to, let's see, here's 1.
I'm going to [E] go up to 2.
_ [E] _ _ _ _ [B] _ _
[Em] 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, [E] 7, 1, [Em] 2.
A typical tune you would recognize is Scarborough [E] Fair, an old Elizabethan [E] tune.
_ _ _ [B] _
_ _ _ _ _ [Em] _ _ _
_ _ Hear that?
That's [F#] Dorian mode.
That's all that is.
And then the fourth mode, the last one that we'll talk about is [B] common nowadays also.
It's called the Mixolydian mode.
[D] And instead of going from 1 to 1, it goes from 5 to 5.
So I'm going to, okay, [E] here's 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, starting on 5.
[B] _ _ _
[E] _ _ Hear how that's a [G] little different?
It's not major [G#m] because it has that flatted seventh note [E] the way that it's laid out. _ _
[Bm] And of course, many, many, many pieces, bluesy type sounding pieces often use this type of [E] thing.
But of course in folk music, old Joe Clark. _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ And that, you'd recognize that bluesy type of sound, bluegrass music started [B] using that
sound all the time.
I wrote a piece similar to old Joe Clark called Spring in the Gap [A] using that. _ _ _ _
[E] _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ [D] _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
great mass of strings?
It must take ages to learn it.
And I say, no, it really only takes a couple of minutes to learn it.
So if you don't know about it yet, you're about to learn all there is to know about
scales on the hammered dulcimer.
A scale, typically the basic modern western scale is do, re, mi, fa, so, la, ti, do.
_ And from the first step to the second step, from do to re, or one, two, three, four, five,
six, seven, one.
From one to two is a whole step.
On a piano that would be white keys with a black key in between [F#] that you don't play.
[D] And then you go, _ [E]
that's one to two.
Then two to [F#] three is a whole step.
Then three to four is a half step.
Four to five is a whole step.
[B] Five to six is a whole step.
Six to seven is a whole step.
Seven to one [D] is a half step.
That's because you have half steps between the upper black, or the upper unmarked course,
and the upper [G] _ marked course.
So you have marked course, that's [D] white on hammered dulcimers, mostly nowadays.
[Em] Then black, black, white, and then directly to the left, [E]
white, black, black, white.
So I have a scale that goes one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, one.
And [Bm] you think, okay, where is that coming from?
Okay, I'm looking at the markings and I'm hitting about a half inch [C#] to an inch and a half,
somewhere around an inch away from the marking.
I'm not looking at the string all that much.
I'm looking mainly at the little marking.
[E] So I look at the markings and I just go to _ [G] get the scale.
Now what about all the rest of the [E] instrument? _
You can do the same thing starting on this marked course.
_ _ _ [F#m] _
And that happens to be the key of D.
If I want the key of C, I'll do it starting on middle C right [D] here.
And _ _ _ _ _ _ [G] you end up with this little pair of four and then four to the left
to get the scale anywhere in [B] the dulcimer. _ _ _ _ _
_ So once you learn how to go left, right, left, right, left, right, left, right,
_ four times in a row, you can play scales in a number of different keys
by doing exactly the same thing in different parts of the dulcimer.
It's very straightforward.
Now I want to add one more thing here.
[C#] _
People talk about modes, music being modal.
Actually, a lot of music, folk music, jazz, rock,
all sorts of different kinds of music have [G#] modes.
And [E] we just need to know what they are.
They're real simple.
What I just played is the major scale, which [A#] is 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 1.
It used to be called the Ionian mode.
Then there was the Aeolian [G#] mode in the Middle Ages [F] or the Renaissance,
which went from 6 to 6.
And we now call that [E] minor scale.
[D] So let's see.
This was 1 in the key of D.
[Bm] So I'm going to go down to the sixth one,
you know, 1, 2, 3, 4, [Em] 5, 6.
I'm going to start on 6.
_ [B] _ _ _ _
_ _ _ And I got a minor scale, _ _
[Bm] just like that.
So that's what a minor scale is, 6 to 6 instead of 1 to 1.
Now [N] there are two other scales that sound kind of like these,
but with one note different that you hear in a lot of music.
And I want to mention those two because maybe this will
demystify the whole thing of modes.
The Dorian mode is a kind of minor scale.
But instead of going from 6 to 6 on that set of notes, it goes from 2 to 2.
[D] So I'm going to, let's see, here's 1.
I'm going to [E] go up to 2.
_ [E] _ _ _ _ [B] _ _
[Em] 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, [E] 7, 1, [Em] 2.
A typical tune you would recognize is Scarborough [E] Fair, an old Elizabethan [E] tune.
_ _ _ [B] _
_ _ _ _ _ [Em] _ _ _
_ _ Hear that?
That's [F#] Dorian mode.
That's all that is.
And then the fourth mode, the last one that we'll talk about is [B] common nowadays also.
It's called the Mixolydian mode.
[D] And instead of going from 1 to 1, it goes from 5 to 5.
So I'm going to, okay, [E] here's 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, starting on 5.
[B] _ _ _
[E] _ _ Hear how that's a [G] little different?
It's not major [G#m] because it has that flatted seventh note [E] the way that it's laid out. _ _
[Bm] And of course, many, many, many pieces, bluesy type sounding pieces often use this type of [E] thing.
But of course in folk music, old Joe Clark. _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ And that, you'd recognize that bluesy type of sound, bluegrass music started [B] using that
sound all the time.
I wrote a piece similar to old Joe Clark called Spring in the Gap [A] using that. _ _ _ _
[E] _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ [D] _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _