Dulcimer Tablature

Notes: Chord diagrams are located above the standard notation staves...the forward slashes shown below indicate the beats per measure. Each measure is divided by the vertical lines...notice that there are four measures to each line below.

The two dots at the beginning of the measure indicated that the piece will be repeated after reaching another set of two dots...when reaching the next two dots, you'll start over at the beginning where from where the first two dots are indicated.

The numbers at the beginning of the music, above the staves, indicate how many measures you've come to...notice below the numbers "9" and "13" are above the staves and count the measures for you. This makes it easy to reference where you are and to find a measure without having to count from the beginning.

The "D" symbols above the tablature, indicate a downstroke with your flatpick...the exercise below focuses on a Bm chord progression and each chord is to be played with a downstroke as indicated with the "D" symbols. If you see a "U" in other tablatures, you'll be playing with an upstroke...the down and up strokes also establish the rhythm of a piece...so it's very critical to pay attention to how you apply your pick directions.

Dulcimer TABLATURE:

The letters to the right of each line represent the name of the string. In this dulcimer tab representation, the top line represents the "D" string...the next below the "D" would be the "A" string...the next below the "A" would be the "A" string chorus (our melody strings)...So visually, you're looking at the dulcimer strings, as represented by these lines, as upside down.

The above tablature also shows slashes on top "/" representing strum symbols. Each "/" would represent one strum for each beat. The numbers below all of the lines: 1 2 3 4 represent the timing of the piece. If you were to tap your foot in a rhythmic manner as you count to four methodically, you have the beat of the piece. In this case, it would be 4/4 timing.

In the case of waltz timing you would have a count of 1 2 3 for each measure. You'll notice also the line that separates the two measures that run vertically through the tablature. This line divides each measure so that you can always tell how many beats are in a measure. If this was a waltz (3/4) piece, it would look like the following:

Adding Notes to the Tablature

We will now incorporate notes or finger positions to the tablature which will be represented by numbers on each line. Following is a simple dulcimer exercise that incorporates the numbering we are discussing. Each number will represent what note to be played. For instance, a number "1" means to place your finger above the first fret. A number "4" would mean to place your finger above the 4th fret of the string being represented by the line it's placed on...for example, if the "4" is on the top line, you will play the "D" string at the 4th fret. If the "4" is on the third line from the top, you will place your finger above the 4th fret on the "G" string. A "0" would mean the string would be played open without fretting.

The above exercise takes you through a melodic strum with the notes to be fretted on the melody strings (A) and walking up the frets slowly from 1 to 3 to 5 and back down from 5 to 4 to 3...all other strings are played open...a characteristic of dulcimer playing where the open strings would harmonically support the melody in a droning effect. This is in 4/4 time and all strings are strummed as you're tapping your foot to a count of "4" you'll also notice the "&" ampersand which represents the off beat between each tap of your foot. Each downbeat would be a downstroke with your right hand; each off beat, represented by the "&" symbol, would be played with an upstroke (if there were notes above this symbol...unless you're left handed and then you would be picking with your left hand). As you play this exercise, you'll want to learn proper positioning of your fingers. In this exercise, you only need to use your index finger as your fretting finger...Carefully place your index finger directly behind each fret as you walk it up. If you're not getting a clear tone, you may not be fretting close enough to the very left side of the fret...or you may not be pressing down hard enough...take your time and play very slowly. If you're having problems with the above tablature exercise, start with our basic lessons that follow to build up to it...

Tablature Basics How to Read & Understand Tablature for Dulcimer

Tablature Basics
How to Read & Understand Tablature for Dulcimer