Duclimer tabs for trad. Asian music?

Subject: RE: Duclimer tabs for trad. Asian music?
From: KateG
Date: 16 Jul 03 - 02:23 PM

There's also a nice setting of the Japanese folksong "Sakura" in Bonnie Carol's book "Dust off that Dulcimer and Dance" that was done by a Japanese student/friend of hers.

Subject: RE: Duclimer tabs for trad. Asian music?
From: katlaughing
Date: 16 Jul 03 - 01:31 PM

Thanks, PS! PM sent. I do have the 1 1/2 fret, so maybe that would work. I appreciate it.

Subject: RE: Duclimer tabs for trad. Asian music?
From: GUEST
Date: 16 Jul 03 - 09:50 AM

Kat: I've got some tab for a piece called "Chinese Waltz" in Lucy Sollogub's "Portfolio of Music for Mountain Dulcimer." It's not on line, and it may require the 1 1/2 fret, but if you want it, PM me and we'll figure out a way to get it to you. Also, check out the John Jacob Niles songbook, if you can. If memory serves, one of his pieces is set to a Chinese tune, and I expect it's suitable for dulcimer (though, as Spaw pointed out in a thread sometime back, Niles had extra frets installed on some of his dulcimers). -- Pinetop Slim

Subject: RE: Duclimer tabs for trad. Asian music?
From: katlaughing
Date: 16 Jul 03 - 09:26 AM

Thank you, JohninKS! I will look over those links and see what I can find. I have a feeling you may be right...I may need to look into a trad. instrument, too.

Thanks, again,

kat

Subject: RE: Duclimer tabs for trad. Asian music?
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 16 Jul 03 - 01:06 AM

I'm not sure what happened to the last clicky. There seems to be a bunch of stuff in it I don't remember typing, and that doesn't appear on the doc I pasted from.

One more try: Johnson

John

Subject: RE: Duclimer tabs for trad. Asian music?
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 16 Jul 03 - 12:59 AM

Several of my favorite references say that the "intervals" between notes in much oriental (or non-"Western" in general) music do not correspond to our conventional spacings, so there is a good possibility that you'd need to "move the frets" to play accurately.

None of my home sources give much information on how "exotic" scales match up to where the frets would be on your dulcimer.

You may be able to work out whether you could play the notes needed for a piece you have in mind from info at More Exotic Scales, or the related/adjacent pages.

If you find you'd have to get a new dulcimer with the frets re-spaced, you might find it cheaper to get a 'trad' oriental instrument to play that music.

The only "educational resource" hit I got on a brief search was at J.M. Oriental Arts. Their standard courses look a little expensive, but if you poke around the site you might turn up some leads to other places to look.

I'm not sure what the purpose is for the page at Johnson", but there are some performers(?) listed as "incorporating oriental [stuff] into performance using western instruments. Searching on a few names might(?) turn up some additional connections with what you're proposing to do.

John

Subject: Duclimer tabs for trad. Asian music?
From: katlaughing
Date: 15 Jul 03 - 05:25 PM

Am I dreaming in thinking that I could tune my mountain dulcimer to play Japanese or Chinese traditional tunes on it? Or, other trad. tunes from Asia?

Anyone know of any books or online sites which might provide tabs to do so? Or, a good mp3 site for learning by ear? I ahve one site, but the pieces are much more complicated than I want to tackle for now, not knowing the proper tuning, etc.

Thanks for any info,

kat