3 1/2 fret

[Parker]

A couple of off-the-wall options......I've used a short piece of wire (or paper clip) super-glued to a piece of 3M post-it note (just a small portion with the adhesive). Probably only need it for one string, and it's good for several times through the song (I made up several and pitched them as they lost the ability to stick to the fretboard). Then install an entire fret, permanently as Ken suggests if it's going to be used a lot. Or, tune DAA#d and finger pick it if that works for the song.

[rendesvous1840]

Old Joe Clark is the song I had in mind when I wrote that, but similar situations turn up in other songs as well.
folkfan, the situation in Milk & Honey is also common, usually the IV chord drops from major to minor as you saw with the F.The melody note may or may not be on the A/AB, but the chord changes to a minor and needs the Ab. It's sometimes possible to stay on the major chord, if the melody note is a C or F, but it loses a pleasant chord change if you do. If the melody is on the A/Ab, you pretty much need the extra note. I have an early version of Sloop John B with that same change, and South Of The Border has a shifting IV as well. I used the major, then dropped to the ambiguous chord without the 3rd for the minor, and that functions pretty well. But I do like having the minor sound in there for those 2 beats.
Paul

[Bonnie in Houston]

A couple of off-the-wall options......I've used a short piece of wire (or paper clip) super-glued to a piece of 3M post-it note (just a small portion with the adhesive). Probably only need it for one string, and it's good for several times through the song (I made up several and pitched them as they lost the ability to stick to the fretboard).

I've used short pieces of paper clip covered with packing tape under single strings. They last a long time and stay in place well (burnish the tape with your fingernail to bring it as close to the wire as possible to prevent shifting). I found paper clip wire too soft to use across the entire width of the fretboard, though. Another option is half a cotter pin and super glue. Cotter pin wire is flat on the inside, and sturdy enough to reach across the fretboard, but even using thin wire may necessitate some filing. (Now you know why I like my chromatic -- but temporary frets are good in that they enable you to decide if you really want extra frets).

[folkfan]

Old Joe Clark is the song I had in mind when I wrote that, but similar situations turn up in other songs as well.
folkfan, the situation in Milk & Honey is also common, usually the IV chord drops from major to minor as you saw with the F.The melody note may or may not be on the A/AB, but the chord changes to a minor and needs the Ab. It's sometimes possible to stay on the major chord, if the melody note is a C or F, but it loses a pleasant chord change if you do. If the melody is on the A/Ab, you pretty much need the extra note. I have an early version of Sloop John B with that same change, and South Of The Border has a shifting IV as well. I used the major, then dropped to the ambiguous chord without the 3rd for the minor, and that functions pretty well. But I do like having the minor sound in there for those 2 beats.
Paul

Paul, I have to admit that much of what you said about the chords, really went over my head. I tend to think only of a melody note when I tab out a piece, since I'll be working with the same open drones all the way through. And this melody line has an A flat in it. Probably will use a paper clip.

[Robin the Busker]

Paul, I have to admit that much of what you said about the chords, really went over my head. I tend to think only of a melody note when I tab out a piece, since I'll be working with the same open drones all the way through. And this melody line has an A flat in it. Probably will use a paper clip.

Me too Folkfan

I'm eargerly awaiting the arrival of a 'real' mountain dulcimer by courier today - ie one with a diatonic layout of staple frets under the melody string only . I wont be using a paper clip for any missing notes though - I'll just play the tunes you way you hear them in those library of congress and other old recordings of trad dulcimer where the players use the flattened 7th quite liberally in places that would cause a contemporary chord player to have apoplexy

[folkfan]

Paul, I have to admit that much of what you said about the chords, really went over my head. I tend to think only of a melody note when I tab out a piece, since I'll be working with the same open drones all the way through. And this melody line has an A flat in it. Probably will use a paper clip.

Me too Folkfan

I'm eargerly awaiting the arrival of a 'real' mountain dulcimer by courier today - ie one with a diatonic layout of staple frets under the melody string only . I wont be using a paper clip for any missing notes though - I'll just play the tunes you way you hear them in those library of congress and other old recordings of trad dulcimer where the players use the flattened 7th quite liberally in places that would cause a contemporary chord player to have apoplexy

Fortunately I don't often have to resort to hunting around for notes as I tend to stick to old folk music, but when it comes to modern Broadway show tunes like "Milk and Honey", modern composers have a tendency to go "accidental" on the tune. If the use of accidentals gets too bad, I simply don't play the song. It goes on a "listen to" list rather than a play list.

[Ken Bloom]

What we have here is the same situation that you have in Sweden with nyckelharpa players. The keyed fiddle (nyckelharpa) has several different versions. The older ones are more like our diatonic dulcimers with "missing" notes but perfectly fine for the old repertoire. The more modern chromatic nycekelharpa was introduced in 1924 and has become the standard instrument to play. In the last ten or fifteen years, the older forms are making a comeback. You have the oldest and the newest versions existing side by side in perfect harmony.
The same thing seems to be happening here with the dulcimer. The diatonic instrument is the traditional instrument and I think will always exist quite happily in the hands of people who want that connection with the past and enjoy the limitations that the instrument presents. The more recent chromatically fretted dulicmer satisfies a need or it wouldn't exist. It's for those who want to play " Milk and Honey" on their dulcimer and enjoy the instrument that way. Neither is better than the other. They both offer challenges and alternatives that favor one style or another. Some of the finest players I know (Steve Seifert, Aaron O'Rourke, Sarah Elisabeth) make excellent use of both versions. It all depends on what you want to play and how you want to play it. My personal orientation is to have all the frets all the time, but that's me. In the end, I think it's all about what you sound like, not what your fretboard looks like.

Ken Bloom
http://www.boweddulcimer.com

[Robin the Busker]

What we have here is the same situation that you have in Sweden with nyckelharpa players. The keyed fiddle (nyckelharpa) has several different versions. The older ones are more like our diatonic dulcimers with "missing" notes but perfectly fine for the old repertoire. The more modern chromatic nycekelharpa was introduced in 1924 and has become the standard instrument to play. In the last ten or fifteen years, the older forms are making a comeback. You have the oldest and the newest versions existing side by side in perfect harmony.
The same thing seems to be happening here with the dulcimer. The diatonic instrument is the traditional instrument and I think will always exist quite happily in the hands of people who want that connection with the past and enjoy the limitations that the instrument presents. The more recent chromatically fretted dulicmer satisfies a need or it wouldn't exist. It's for those who want to play " Milk and Honey" on their dulcimer and enjoy the instrument that way. Neither is better than the other. They both offer challenges and alternatives that favor one style or another. Some of the finest players I know (Steve Seifert, Aaron O'Rourke, Sarah Elisabeth) make excellent use of both versions. It all depends on what you want to play and how you want to play it. My personal orientation is to have all the frets all the time, but that's me. In the end, I think it's all about what you sound like, not what your fretboard looks like.

Ken Bloom
http://www.boweddulcimer.com

Absolutely Ken. It is what you sound like rather than what your instrument looks like. I love the sound of the dulcimer however it is played, contemporary or traditional. My passion though is for old time music, the fiddle tunes, banjo tunes and ballads of the Southern Appalachians. I came to the music BEFORE finding the dulcimer and that music was played on diatonic, partially fretted duclimers most usually with noter and quills over drones - so that is my focus for playing. I don't play like that to be historically accurate or anal about "tradition" - I play like that for the timbre, tone and rhythms, and the fluid movement of noter and quills on a pure diatonic fret layout. It is ALL about the music. I'm sure that you feel the same way about your own music and the styles you enjoy playing. I don't see the diatonic fretboard as limiting but as liberating

[Ken Bloom]

Hi Robin,

"By George, he's got it!!!" I tend to go to either extremes. I am, at the moment, building a kratz-zither, an Hungarian citera, and a langeleik for a class I'm doing in May at Ferrum College in Ferrum Virginia. The langeleik has frets for one string, purely diatonic. The kratz-zither has diatonic frets for two pairs of strings, and the citera is the real mode straddler. It has two melody strings (or pairs). The outside pair has diatonic frets. The inside pair has all the missing frets. It has lots of drone strings. That way you can play some very Turkish inspired modes and still be diatonic. This approach is being used now in France on the modern eppinette and also elsewhere in Europe for modern hummls. I love the sound of melody against drone (five years studying Indian Calssical music). I also love intricate harmonies. Nice to have instruments that do both.

Ken Bloom
http://www.boweddulcimer.com