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7/13/2009
10:12 AM

How to Use 15 Minutes a Day! A Daily Warm-up Routine for Hammered Dulcimer

This book has become wildly popular in its 1st year as evidenced by 3 reprints! I hope it is just what dulcimer players are looking for: a quick way to stay in shape and address all the key areas of dulcimer playing in a short amount of time.

Now that the book has been out for some time, I have received helpful compliments and suggestions from my readers. The most common compliment typically comes from other dulcimer teachers who now use this book with all their students. The most often raised suggestion was, "How exactly should I work through this book?" I admit that perhaps the answer is not as intuitive for others as it is for the author!

The new printing of the book now has a "How To" section to clarify. Here is an excerpt from the Foreword:

"Start by learning one pattern at a time. Most are no more than 8 measures long! Then move that pattern around to other keys on your instrument as indicated. The patterns are easy to memorize and will take only minutes to play in all keys once learned. In each 15 minute session, review the patterns you know and try adding a new pattern. Then move the new pattern around on the instrument. Keep your technique routine to about 15 minutes. Once you have all the patterns memorized, you will eventually be able to play the book from cover to cover in about 15 minutes! You may want to focus on major scale patterns one day, hand independence the next day, and chromatic scales the next day. That’s okay too! This book is intended to be adapted to your own daily routine.

Have fun and remember to take it one pattern at a time!"

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