Books

Dulcimer Basics: A Mountain Dulcimer Primer. (2006) Designed for beginners.  The first 2/3 of the book contain simple, recognizable songs appropriate for beginners.  The last 1/3 of the book contains the first eight lessons that a beginner needs to get started on the dulcimer.  Each lesson covers several skills and has exercises designed to help the beginner develop than skill.  A companion CD is also included with this substantial 78-page book. For a complete listing of the contents click on the picture of the book.

Christmas with the Mountain Dulcimer (Revised edtion; 2005) Newly revised and expanded from the previous 1999 edition. This new edition includes 38 Christmas classics, all beautifully arranged for the mountain dulcimer. It includes ten brand new songs and several other new arrangements not available in the older edition. Except for a few song written for the DAc minor tuning, all tabs are written for DAd.

Sacred Hymns of the Old Church (2008) is a great collection of 41 well-loved hymns.  It includes classics like Rock of Ages, Cleft for Me; I Surrender All; Steal Away; Joshua Fit the Battle of Jericho; Breath on Me, Breath of God; Have Thine Own Way, Lord; A Mighty Fortress Is Our God; Stand Up, Stand Up for Jesus; Lord, I'm Coming Home: and a Host of others.  For a complete listing of songs included, click HERE.  A companion CD is available for this book for students who would also prefer to hear how the tab is played.

Sacred Hymns of the Old Church Companion CD On the companion CD, Joe plays each hymn in this book just as written.  He plays through the one-page hymns 3 times and the two-page hymns twice.  The first time(s) through, the hymn is played simply.  On the last time through, however, some extra filler notes are added to give you a sense of what it may sound like using different picking patterns.  You are certainly not tied into making your arrangement sound like Joes, but the CD may be helpful to those trying to learn these hymns.

Simply Celtic: Revised & Expanded Edition.  (2000, 2010) Simply Celtic is designed for the beginning through intermediate player.  The newly revised edition includes 41 great tabs of favorites like "Danny Boy," "Rosing the Beau," "Blue Bells of Scotland," and "Auld Lang Syne."  All of the tabs are in the popular DAd tuning.  For a complete listing of songs included, click on the picture of the book.  A companion CD is available for this book for students who would also prefer to hear how the tab is played.

On the companion CD, Joe plays each tune in this book just as written. This is a very valuable tool for those who are auditory learners, who get more out of the tab by hearing listening.

Simply Hymns (2002) is a collection of 32 hymns that include many of my personal favorites. Click HERE for a complete list.  Most of these 42 pages of hymns can be played at a beginner level, noting only one string at a time. One unique aspect of this book is that it comes in three different versions, each one for a different tuning - DAd, DGd, and DAA.

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