Morning Playing Skills Courses:
8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., Monday-Friday (coffee break from 10-10:25). 
These courses provide 13 hours of well-balanced, sequential instruction in mountain dulcimer playing techniques and styles, with an accomplished, friendly instructor. You have lots of courses to choose from, on 6 different skill levels. Music hand-outs will be furnished.

Understanding these 13-Hour Courses:
You learn here in a more thorough and relaxed way than at a weekend dulcimer festival (which typically would have a lot of unrelated short workshops). Our afternoon electives provide many 2-hr. classes in different subjects, but our 5-day morning courses provide valuable sequential and in-depth development of your skills. When you sign up for your morning course, it’s for the 5 days (13 hours), so it’s wise to choose a course with prerequisites, goals and skills taught that suit you.

Your 5-day morning course gives you the opportunity to get to know your teacher – and his/her creative approaches as well. He/she can get to know you and help your progress. In consideration of all the students in the class, the teacher will progress through the lesson plan described for each course. If you need help, most classes have tutors and will provide some time for individual help. If you want to learn specific skills or music not in the course plan, the best opportunity to “branch out” is in our afternoon classes (see ‘Electives’ section), which can provide challenge, reinforcement and variety of music.

To nurture our newer players, we offer afternoon “coaching” sessions (a choice instead of electives). Beginner course students are offered coaching on Monday through Wednesday afternoons. Beginner-into-Novice coaching is Monday and Tuesday afternoons, and Novice students will have a coaching session on Monday. These are specifically for students of the corresponding morning course. All students have the choice to branch out into electives whenever they feel ready. For more study and fun we encourage all students to get together with classmates for after-class practicing.
 
The registration process fills classes on a first-come-first-registered basis. You’ll receive confirmation and descriptions of elective classes in which to enroll.

Please be aware that many classes fill up quickly. After this catalog is mailed it will be put on our website and registrations taken from the general public, so prompt registration will help you get your first choice of classes.

When you arrive at Cullowhee and your morning course begins, you can expect that the first session does not cover a large part of the week’s lesson plan. That will happen over 5 days of in-depth teaching. A good instructor begins a course by laying the groundwork for the week - getting to know the students, assessing the individual skills of the group and making sure everyone is “in sync” to progress through the full 13-hr. curriculum.

Participants who feel they have made a wrong choice of course may switch before Tuesday of our week into another course that has spaces available. After this “settling-in” period of the first day we expect participants to remain in these sequential courses.

How to Register:
Please take a little time to select your morning course carefully.
Fill in all the blanks on the Registration Form from this catalog, marking “1” for your first choice of course. Also mark “2” for your second choice in case you’re first choice course is filled up when your registration is received. Include your payment via check or credit card as instructed. Note that you may register quickly via fax or overnight mail.
After your registration is received, written confirmation will be sent to you. Mailed with it will be the Elective classes’ descriptions and enrollment form. (If you register just before the event there may not be time for you to receive written confirmation, so you’ll want to confirm your registration by phoning 828-227-7397.)
Final step is to send in your completed afternoon Electives enrollment form at your first opportunity so your Electives choices can be guaranteed.

Equipment to bring with you to playing classes:
• Your lightweight portable music stand
• Pencils (with good erasers!)
• Extra dulcimer strings and picks (Supply Booth will have some)
• A dulcimer capo for Novice skill classes & up (on sale in Dulcimer Marketplace)
• A tote bag is helpful. You can order our souvenir tote bag on your registration form (details follow in ‘Special Features’).
Please put your name on dulcimer bags, stands, welcome packets, etc., because they often look alike!

BEGINNER PLAYING SKILLS
Anne Lough, instructor; Joel Paul, tutor.
No musical or dulcimer-playing experience is necessary to take this course.
Course goals: To provide in a relaxed environment an opportunity for you to learn basic playing skills and enjoy music and the dulcimer,  taking home the ability to play and expand your repertoire more.

Special feature: To ease and strengthen the learning process, after you register you will be mailed a CD of the melodies to be played in class. This will give students and opportunity to hum along to learn and strengthen your ability to play by ear.

Free Loaner Dulcimers – If you do not own a dulcimer yet, we have excellent dulcimers you can borrow (check registration form to reserve one). There will also be excellent opportunities to make a good purchase from a variety of dulcimers in our Dulcimer Marketplace.

Skills covered:
• Dulcimer anatomy, how it works, how to hold it.
• Tuning the dulcimer (3 easy tunings will be learned – DAA, DAC and DAD), and learning where scales are in each.
• Basic left-hand finger work (plus an explanation of traditional noter playing – bring one if you have one).
• Strumming and different rhythms.
• Playing by ear and from dulcimer tablature (playing by fret numbers).
• Memorizing music.
We will put these skills to work as you learn simple folk songs, hymns and lovely mountain tunes.

Extra coaching: On Mon., Tues. and Wed. afternoons from 2-4 p.m., coaching and practice guidance will be offered to nurture the new players of this class. (We encourage you to take one of the easy electives on Thurs. afternoon at this time – or earlier if you’re ready.) We also encourage all students to get together with classmates for practice after classes.

BEGINNER-INTO-NOVICE PLAYING SKILLS
Bill Taylor, instructor; Paul Henderson, tutor.
To be ready for this course, you should be able to hold your dulcimer, strum it, and play some simple melodies comfortably.

Skills covered: This course helps ease the transition between new Beginner and Novice (Advanced Beginner). Confidence in playing is the keynote here, and you’ll learn how to smooth out your playing style. It will begin with a review of the Beginner level techniques listed above, strengthening students’ strumming skills, tuning and re-tuning, playing by ear and memorizing music, and playing in tune and in time with other dulcimer players. We will cover playing chords in a couple of tunings. We will also learn some fun songs as we practice how to play with simple chords. Bring your questions, dulcimer, pick, and an adventurous spirit.

Extra coaching: On Mon. and Tues. afternoons from 2-4 p.m., coaching and practice guidance will be offered to nurture the players of this class. (We encourage you to take one of the easy electives on Wed. and Thurs. afternoons at this time – or earlier if you’re ready.) We also encourage all students to get together with classmates for practice after classes.

NOVICE (Advanced Beginner) PLAYING SKILLS
Paul Andry, instructor; Paul Henderson, tutor.
Prerequisites: If you have your skills through Beginner-into-Novice described above and can play simple melodies, with a little experience in “chord/melody” style (playing melody and harmony together) in DAD tuning, you should be ready.

Course goals: To build your skills enough to eventually progress to Intermediate playing level. Playing in DAD tuning will be a major goal. For students to have fun while learning, using a variety of music to help gain skills and confidence.

Skills covered:
The first day will be a quick review of the skills through Beginner-into-Novice above to make sure you are comfortable at this level.
• Further development of strumming, fingerpicking, and flatpicking.
• More understanding and use of “chord/melody” style playing.
• Left-hand techniques like hammer-ons, pull-offs and slides.
• Playing back-up chords beyond basic
• The introduction of partial and full chords
• Reading and playing the different tablature styles.
• Memorizing music from the page.
• How to embellish basic arrangements.
• Building speed gradually and smoothly.

Each day will begin playing easy and fun songs to help build your confidence and skills.

Extra coaching for members of this class is on Monday from 2-4 p.m. for members of this course. It will focus primarily on playing in DAD if you don’t already. This session is not mandatory if you’re ready for the many electives that include students of Novice skills. We also encourage all students to get together with classmates for practice after classes.

NOVICE skill level players may also want to consider the following “Specialized” courses (described at the end of our course listings):
• 2008 Edition of “Traditional Music for the Mountain Dulcimer”
• “Playing the Bowed Dulcimer” (experience required)

INTERMEDIATE PLAYING SKILLS
Linda Brockinton, instructor; Elaine Conger, tutor.
Prerequisites: You should have the techniques described previously in the Novice level, should be able to read dulcimer tablature, should know the notes on the dulcimer, and be somewhat familiar with chords. We will play in DAD, and a capo will be required.

Course goals: To help you develop beautiful, confident playing and a richer musical sound.

Skills covered:
• Fingerpicking, flatpicking and further development of strumming skills.
• More knowledge of “chord/melody” style of playing.
• Playing in multiple keys with and without a capo.
• Playing in minor keys without a capo.
• Playing tunes with different rhythms.
• Counting time and playing with others.
• Making your own arrangements, including finding the “right” chords.
• Playing with feeling.
• Ornamentation using slurs like hammer-ons and pull-offs.
• Transcribing music of other keys to play on the dulcimer in DAD – and vice versa.
• Playing at slow and fast tempos, moving smoothly up and down the fretboard.

These skills will be taught with and without music as ear training is very important in playing any instrument. We will also cover practice techniques. We encourage all students to get together with classmates for practice after classes.
 
INTERMEDIATE REPERTOIRE
Peter Tommerup, instructor; Ron Ewing, tutor.
Prerequisites: You should be adept at the techniques described previously in the Novice level, be learning those described in the Intermediate level above, and be ready to learn more skills through this course’s music.

Course goals:
1. Learn interesting and exciting new repertoire to enrich and enliven your playing.
2. Through this new music, to strengthen your playing skills and understanding to grow musically.
3. To make you a more colorful dulcimer player, have fun, musical camaraderie, and personal satisfaction.

Music taught:
We will draw our repertoire from the musical cultures of Appalachia, the British Isles, France, Spain, and Scandinavia. We will work on some songs, as well as accessible fiddle tunes, harp tunes, and other instrumental music. We will start with simple “skeletal” arrangements, become comfortable with these, and then learn to develop and embellish them to make them more interesting, beautiful and “musical.”

An important focus will be deepening understanding of the DAD tuning, and especially its versatility, user-friendliness, and recognizable patterns and fingerings with respect to playing in chord/melody style. We may also explore a couple of different “voices” of the dulcimer through some accessible pieces in DGD and DAC tunings, to enjoy how these alternative tunings can add variety and further interest to one’s repertoire. Students are encouraged to bring audio recording devices for help in later practice. The teaching and learning atmosphere of this course will strive to be inviting, informal, nurturing, patient and upbeat. Interactive participation is encouraged, and students are urged to form practice study groups. We also encourage all students to get together with classmates for practice after classes.

INTERMEDIATE skill level players may also want to consider the following “Specialized” courses (described at the end of our course listings):
• 2008 Edition of “Traditional Music for the Mountain Dulcimer”
• “Playing the Bowed Dulcimer” (experience required)

INTERMEDIATE-INTO-ADVANCED PLAYING SKILLS
Larry Conger, instructor; Elaine Conger, tutor
Prerequisites: Be comfortable with elements described in the Intermediate Skills course above.

Course goals: This course will focus on taking Intermediate level skills and applying them to more intricate arrangements while learning new techniques to enhance the participant's playing skills.

Skills taught: Based in DAD tuning, this class will be informative and challenging in a relaxed and comfortable setting.
• Developing the art of strumming and flatpicking as a combination skill.
• Identification of chords by shapes and the application of those shapes to various tunes.
• Developing and understanding the most consistent and efficient fingerings of chords and melodic lines.
• Playing in different keys while tuned DAD with and without using a capo.
• Adding intros, interludes and endings to help add interest to your basic arrangements.
• Compiling medleys in an effort to enhance the listener‘s enjoyment.
• Tons of tips and tidbits which will help to set your basic arrangement apart from other players.

The same concepts taught in Larry’s 2007 WCU Int.-into-Adv. course will be addressed again in this year’s course, with all new material being presented. If you're new to the class, you will definitely walk away at the end of the week a better and more knowledgeable player with a renewed interest for the dulcimer. Some useful items to bring to class include a music stand, capo, picks and extra strings. Larry will furnish pencils, highlighters and all printed materials. We encourage all students to get together with classmates for practice after classes.

ADVANCED skill level players may also want to consider the following “Specialized” courses (described at the end of our course listings):
•  2008 Edition of “Traditional Music for the Mountain Dulcimer”
• “Playing the Bowed Dulcimer” (experience required)

ADVANCED PLAYING SKILLS
Leo Kretzner, instructor. Ron Ewing, tutor.
Course goals: At WCU Mountain Dulcimer Week we are excited about our Advanced course! It has developed into a unique and effective opportunity for experienced dulcimer players to cultivate their own independent, creative styles. This is good for the continued development of the mountain dulcimer. Leo Kretzner is one of the most virtuosic mountain dulcimer players ever, and is a skilled and supportive teacher. Students in this class will learn from his originality, talent and organized approaches to learning. Ron Ewing, who will tutor, also has a wealth of talent and experience to offer students.

Prerequisites: You should have progressed through the Intermediate-into-Advanced skills, being:
• adept at tuning your dulcimer
• experienced at using multiple fingers of the left hand
• comfortable with using chords in different inversions
• comfortable playing melodies at different places on the fretboard
• familiar with chord/melody style playing
• able to strum well in alternating directions and have experience flatpicking
• able to adapt to different rhythms
• willing to play some of your music informally for other class members in small practice groups.
• Some experience creating or adapting arrangements of pieces of music will be a plus.

After you register, you will be e-mailed a letter from Leo that will help you prepare for this course.

Skills taught:
• Advanced aspects of playing melodically, chordally and rhythmically.
• Thorough emphasis on all types of rhythm, accents, and syncopation, both strummed and flatpicked.
• Playing in the most common keys with or without re-tuning, and with or without a capo. Although our primary tuning will be DAD, the under-utilized but very useful DGD tuning will also be explored.
• How to use chords in many voicings both to jam and to improve your arrangements.
• Music taught will be drawn from Leo’s favorite music styles, including Celtic, old-time, blues, and more modern styles like rock and jazz with elements of improvisation. (The 1-1/2 fret will be useful on some pieces, but is not required.)
• Arranging music for the mountain dulcimer. We’ll define and help you develop your knowledge of the tools and artistic choices to make your own musical arrangements.
• Parts of the course will have participants break out into small groups to work on the music taught, play for each other, and to share creative ideas in an informal and fun setting. We also encourage all students to get together with classmates for practice after classes.

Specialized Morning Courses:
8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., Monday-Friday (coffee break from 10-10:25).

*2008 Edition!
“TRADITIONAL MUSIC FOR MOUNTAIN DULCIMER”
Teaching Team: Don Pedi, Mark Gilston, Susan Boyer Haley, Norris Bennett.
For students with dulcimer playing skills beyond Beginner and through Advanced level.

It’s important that the exciting traditional voice and colorful background of the mountain dulcimer not be lost. This year’s “Traditional Music for the Mountain Dulcimer” course is a special chance to learn lovely heritage music, played in straightforward single-string, melody-drone style. Both noter style playing and simple finger noting will be used, and you will not be required to do intricate left-hand work or complicated chords. Right-hand work will focus mainly on strumming skills. Basic traditional tunings will be taught and used to bring out the dulcimer’s colorful musical voices. Emphasis will be on developing clear, rhythmic playing. Some harmony playing and basic accompaniment chords will be taught. True to tradition, there will be training in picking out music by ear and memorizing. You will go home playing 20 pieces of traditional music not taught last year – a rich mixture of songs and dance tunes from Southern Appalachia, the Ozarks, the British isles, African-American gospel music and tune styles, and even some European folk melodies.
 
If you took last year’s course, this year’s will give you the new music and more knowledge of dulcimer history and culture. If you’re new to the class, you will walk away at the end of the week a better traditional player with the ability to play and understand that music. The class environment will be non-competitive, sharing, and both the music and the dulcimer’s traditions will be savored. The music will be taught in a relaxed, personal way, with some discussion of the background of each piece (as has been done through the ages), rather than just a mechanical transmittal of musical data. Each morning will conclude with a gentle jam to help students practice and enjoy the music taught that day.

Our teaching team brings approximately 160 years of learning and loving traditional music! Each one has a unique wisdom and an individual way of playing and passing on the traditional music they love, giving students a rich and diversified musical experience.

• Don Pedi will host and moderate the course. He will be presenting a special new slide show of historical dulcimers and players. This slide show will be repeated as we gather for classes and take coffee breaks. Don, a champion old-time dulcimer player, will teach Southern dance music and songs, sharing his style of finger noting and strumming. He will also focus on helping students improve playing-by-ear skills.

• Mark Gilston will help you enrich your traditional dulcimer music collection with some charming and simple melodies like those played on the Appalachian dulcimer’s European zither ancestors. Mark will have some actual examples and photos of these instruments, which go by names like the German scheitholt, the French épinette des Vosges, the Dutch vlier, the Norwegian langeleik, and the Swedish hummel. They all have the same basic fret pattern as a dulcimer and use familiar tunings - so you’ll love the way this music plays on the dulcimer!

• Susan Boyer Haley, from one of America’s most outstanding folk music families, will teach her traditional mountain dulcimer style, honed from childhood. With songs and ballads from the Ozarks to the British Isles, Susan will cover singing with the mountain dulcimer, which is both a strong part of its traditions - and a valuable tool for memorizing and playing tunes by ear.

• Norris Bennett, a member of the Ebony Hillbillies string band, will teach some African-American gospel hymns and present an African-American playing perspective in the Southern Appalachian fiddle tunes and songs he will teach.

PLAYING THE BOWED DULCIMER
Kenneth Bloom, instructor.
Prerequisites: Some bowing experience highly recommended.
If you are a complete beginner at bowing it is recommended that you take the “Introduction to Bowing” afternoon elective, for which you need no prior bowing experience.

Background: The bowed dulcimer is growing in popularity. This recently revived manner of playing the dulcimer is gaining many new enthusiasts. Starting in the 18th century, this was a common way to play dulcimer until the 1940s. Interest has grown in the last ten years along with heightened interest in many of the more traditional approaches to playing the dulcimer.

Skills taught: This class will concentrate on good bowing techniques, efficient left-hand methods, and go on to examine all that is needed for playing expressively on the bowed dulcimer. We will be using music from both American and European traditions. The music will be broken down for three different playing levels, experienced, intermediate, and people who have been playing but feel they want to concentrate on fundamentals before moving on to more challenging parts.

If you have any questions about the course, the music, or the bowed dulcimer, contact Ken Bloom at kgbloom@advi.net. 

“BUILD YOUR OWN MOUNTAIN DULCIMER”
John Huron, instructor; Homer Phillips, assistant extraordinaire.
This outstanding course is taught “apprentice-style,” with lots of individual help from teachers, and no previous building experience is required. John has nicknamed this course “Southern Spousal Day Care,” because it’s an opportunity for spouses to have as enjoyable and productive a week as their dulcimer-playing husbands and wives! But you don’t have to have a spouse to take this class.

This course occupies both the morning and the afternoon sessions of our schedule and is limited to the first 10 enrollees. Students learn traditional, time-tested techniques for building dulcimers and at the end of the week take home a beautiful, accurately-fretted, smooth-playing, and acoustically-excellent instrument. Experienced students are able to hone their skills by concentrating on the finer points of building. John says, “There are no secrets; questions are encouraged; and I love watching the interaction among the students as the class progresses through the week.”

John brings all the necessary building materials and tools. Things for students to bring from home: an expendable towel for a work table cover, pencil & paper for taking notes and tracing patterns (optional), and a smile. Much of the pre-assembly “grunt work” is already done, including fret installation. All of these steps and procedures will be explained, and fret installation will be demonstrated. This eliminates a lot of “sitting and watching glue dry” and the use of large power tools. The class begins with the identification of the parts of a dulcimer and progresses through the final finishing and set up of the instrument. Sources for building materials and tools are supplied.

WHAT YOU’LL GO HOME WITH!
John will offer native Appalachian black walnut back, sides, peg head, tailpiece and fretboard with a butternut top as standard woods this year. Some optional wood choices will be available. Also included, each student will make a beautiful hardwood wall hanger to display his/her dulcimer at home!

NOTE: In addition to the tuition for the week that covers the instruction and all the non-class activities, there is a $175 fee covering all the materials/use of tools to make the dulcimer. This fee is paid to John Huron on the first day of class.

On Friday the class culminates with a special time for the builders to unveil and share the joy of their “newborns” with all WCU Mountain Dulcimer Week participants.

Although registrations are only taken through Western Carolina University Continuing Ed (use the attached Registration Form), questions on more details can be directed to John Huron at 423-764-3332, e-mail jjh@noteworthyjohn.com or through his web site, http://noteworthyjohn.com

Afternoon 2-Hr. Elective Classes:
2:00-4:00 p.m., Monday through Thursday.

These 2-hr. classes teach different kinds of repertoire, and styles not normally covered in depth in the morning skills courses. There are electives suitable for various playing skill levels each afternoon. Our electives also offer you the opportunity to study with several different instructors!

After you register in your morning course you will receive an Electives Enrollment Form. Participants attend one 2-hr. elective each afternoon, Monday through Thursday. Some class subjects planned for 2008 are:

Coaching Sessions:
Students in our Beginner, Beginner-into-Novice, and Novice courses who want extra nurturing in their morning course skills before they venture into afternoon electives can choose some special tutor-led coaching sessions from 2-4 p.m. at the beginning of the week.

Repertoire Electives:
“Rhythm” with Leo Kretzner • Classical Music with Paul Andry • Songs of the ‘60s Folk Revival with Don Pedi • Louisiana Cajun & Zydeco Music with Lois Hornbostel • Children’s Songs with Mike Anderson • Syncopated Tunes with Paul Andry • Blues Styles with Bill Taylor & Leo Kretzner • Celtic Music with Ron Ewing • Upbeat French Tunes with Peter Tommerup • Traditional Hymns with Betty Smith • Gospel Music with Norris Bennett • Renaissance Music with Mark Gilston • The American Revolution through Music with George Haggerty & Ken Bloom • String Band Styles with Don Pedi & Norris Bennett
 
*New This Year!  6-hr. afternoon Ensembles Mini-Course, with Larry Conger and Linda Brockinton. Novice & up. Join these two past National Mountain Dulcimer Champions as you learn some beautifully crafted arrangements for multiple players in DAD tuning. There will be parts arranged for all skill levels. You sign up for 3 afternoons.

Style & Specialized Electives:
*New This Year! 6-hr. afternoon Mini-Course in TablEdit, with Terry Lewis. This is for people who already use TablEdit to generate tablatures on computer. You sign up for 3 afternoons.  

*New This Year! Introduction to the “Dulcijo” (repeated) with Michael Fox.
• Mountaintop Jam • Arranging Music to the Mountain Dulcimer, with Peter Tommerup • Young Players’ Forum with Paul Henderson • Dulcimer Adventures for Retired Persons (D.A.R.P.!) with George Haggerty • Singing with the Dulcimer with Susan Boyer Haley • Noter Style Playing with Betty Smith • Playing Baritone Dulcimer with Ron Ewing • Introduction to Bowed Dulcimer with Ken Bloom • Basic Dance Tune Rhythms with Mark Gilston • Modes with Susan Boyer Haley • Improvising in the Pentatonic Mode with Anne Lough •  Dulcimer Maintenance with Joe Shelton • Gamelan Orchestra • Introduction to Computer-Generated Tablature Software (TablEdit) with Terry Lewis • Pocket Instruments