Bettendorf, Iowa is sometimes considered to be the forgotten of the Quad Cities at the Mississippi River border between Iowa and Illinois. Here is where the “Mighty MO” takes a turn and flows directly from East to West, and was the site of a very delightful set of workshops and musical exploration in early September.
Linda and Reg Shoesmith opened their home to host hammered dulcimer workshops.
On Thursday after a delicious potluck dinner, we explored playing multi-part Christmas carols.
I used tunes from Dulcimer-Friendly Worship Volumes I: the season of Advent and Vol. III: Christmas in a Mellow Mode and from a new collection just published this year, Deck the Halls: Christmas Ensembles arranged for dulcimers.
A spirited jam session rounded out the night. (Is there a better way to round out a night?)
On Friday we focused on the skills and techniques required for playing Bluegrass on Hammered dulcimers.
An extra bonus:
I was given the opportunity to play a Homer Ledford dulcimer that Linda had recently acquired.
(I shared this experience in the DulcimerCrossing.com blog last week.)
