Basic Backup

Most dulcimer players learn to play melodies first. But when two or more players get together, whether it's a duo on stage or a circle at a jam, the music sounds fuller when one person carries the tune and the others support it. Good players trade those roles back and forth all the time. Knowing how to play a solid backup part is what lets you join in, and it's a skill you'll use every time you play with other people.

In Basic Backup, Aaron O'Rourke teaches the building blocks of accompaniment on the mountain dulcimer:

• Chops – short, percussive chord strokes that keep the rhythm going
• Riffs – little repeating figures that fill the space around a melody
• Bass lines – low-string movement that gives a tune its foundation
• Following the lead player – listening, staying out of the way of the melody, and knowing when to take a turn

Every song and example has a demonstration recording, so you can hear how each backup part should sound before you try it. The audio is a free download from Folkcraft, and the PDF edition from DulcimerDownloads includes the 13 tracks as MP3 files.

47 pages.