Teaching

Rhythm stickers

by Marcy

I had this idea the other day that I thought might help visual learners with understanding rhythm — the lengths of notes, how they combine into measures, and so on. Understanding rhythm can help a dulcimer player with selecting hammering patterns. And for any musician, a good sense of rhythm is essential for musicality — smooth, expressive playing.

I’ll need to add some dotted notes, too, and trim everything to fit more precisely.

The board currently only has room for two measures; if I want to show a pick-up measure, I could put it above the two full measures. Or, to analyze a pick-up measure, I could put it in the first measure-box, and use rests to fill in before the pick-up note(s). Guess I’ll need to make some rests, too! Since dulcimer has no real control of when a note ends, rests are not as frequently important as they are for other instruments.

To School

by Marcy

Daughter goes to preschool in just a few weeks! Her school is in Mishawaka Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday mornings. Since it’s just three hours each day and the commute’s an hour, I’ll just stay up there while she’s in school.

I’d love to find a home or music store or other space where I could offer dulcimer lessons. I’ll let you know if I find a place, and if you have ideas let me know.

I’m missing my trio; except for a few one-time things, I’ve been solo since we moved to Indiana. I don’t know if I will have time and motivation to be committed to a new band, but part of me is itching to find some folks to play more regularly with. I’d be especially interested in Irish flute and guitar or bouzouki, playing mostly Celtic with some classical and original and other traditional things thrown in.

A friend at Mark’s school plays viola; we have some tentative plans to work up some classical pieces together. I haven’t worked on my parts all summer, though! Better get out that sheet music again.

Olympus

by Marcy

Did you know you can spell any word with music?

Write out the alphabet in three rows of seven letters, and one row of five:

A B C D E F G
H I J K L M N
O P Q R S T U
V W X Y Z

Trace any letter to the top of its column to find its musical equivalent.

My student spelled “Olympus” as “AEDFBGE,” and after she chose where to play each note (including which octave and whether natural, sharp, or flat) and improvised a rhythmic embellishment, we settled on this for a first draft: