An interesting diatonic instrument

[rlgph]

For those who have interest in the strumstick/walkabout dulcimer type instrument -- here's an tuning variation. I had Stan Pope of Big Leaf Mandolins build me a custom instrument based on a bouzouki body, four course, four strings, and a diatonic (dulcimer fretting) fretboard. I requested a tuning (from low to high) of CGcg. This results in a key of C instrument that i cross pick with thumb and two fingers, using strings 1-2 and occasionally 3 for melody, and strings 3 and 4 as drones or for playing two-note "chords". (Three and four note chords could also be employed, but i like the ease of learning and playing melodies using the drone/single melody note approach.)

The same technique could be applied to any four string fretted instrument, of course (or even extended to 5 or 6 strings), but the dulcimer style fretboard is particularly easy to play this way. A 3 string strumstick/strummer could also be easily cross picked in this way with Gcg or analogous tuning, though you lose the deeper drone effect of the fourth string.

This fits the diatonic fretting quite well, so that i need play only in the first 2 frets, except for string 2 (which needs to be fretted at the 3rd in order to get an F note) and the first string when i need notes higher than a high B.

The sound of Stan's instrument is great, and this tuning results in a very regular arrangement of notes that are much easier to remember than a standardly tuned guitar. By picking across strings i can get more than an octave on strings 1-3, without moving my fretting fingers beyond the third fret, unlike a dulcimer or strumstick, which would require me to move well up the neck to get higher notes. Of course, still higher notes are available by moving further up the first string as in a dulcimer.

Incidently, i can play using the same style in the key of F by capoing at the third fret, or the key of G by capoing at the fourth fret.

[Wade Hampton]

Sounds interesting - any chance of you posting a few pictures of it?


whm

[rlgph]

I've so enjoyed noodling on the instrument that i'm thinking of having another built with five strings, tuned in the key of G, adding a high drone as a fifth string -- that is, tuned g'GDgd, where g' is two octaves above G, one octave above g. I'm debating whether to add an additional + fret between the 3rd and 4th (so i can capo at the first fret to get a key of A), or to go fully chromatic for more versatility. I'm afraid the latter would remove much of the fun of the instrument because of the extra strain on my aged brain .

Here are a couple of pictures of my C-tuned instrument, which i call Chimera: