Get Noterized

Get Noterized
by Ken Hulme
Photo by Dasha courtesy of www.AndyRobinsonMusic.com
Introduction
“The more I play and teach the mountain dulcimer, the more I appreciate noter style playing. I started
with this style, and months of picking out all those melodies on one string helped make me a strong byear player. That's a skill not usually developed as well in beginners who immediately go to chordmelody style playing. With practice and art, noter playing can be truly virtuostic.” -- Lois Hornbostel
Noter & Drone is a very traditional technique of playing the Appalachian dulcimer as well as its
European predecessors (hummel, épinette des Vosges, zitter). The technique dates at least as
far back as the late 1500s. Noter & Drone is not just for playing "simple tunes with no
chords," as someone once said to me. Listen to a hummel or épinette player perform
European classical composers' material! Nor is Noter & Drone style only for DAA tuning. It is
an effective and beautiful way to play all of the Modal Tunings in any key.
You simply cannot get the "haunting whine" of traditional dulcimer ballad playing using
fingers, no matter how hard your calluses get. Nor can you get really “zingy” slides. For fast
fiddle tunes or slow and stately ballads nothing beats a noter slip-sliding from one end of the
fretboard to the other.
N&D is much more challenging than just playing chords, and so is not suited to everyone. It
demands precise hand control – which requires practice to perfect. You also need to learn
about Modes and Modal Tunings, and be comfortable re-tuning your instrument.
The Naked Noter
Popsicle sticks make good noters.
fancy “Wildwood” noter
Lurgan Celtic design Pyrex noter
There are round noters and flat noters, and even ergonomic noters for folks with hand
problems. Many players prefer a noter about the length and diameter of their index finger.
Others prefer a tiny stick narrower than the tip of their finger. As with many things dulcimer,
the order of the day is “whatever works best for you”.
Noters can be made from wood, plastic, metal, glass or other materials. Different materials
will give you different sounds. That’s part of the fun – exploring what kinds of sounds you get
from what kinds of materials. Traditionally some noters were made from “river cane” and
feathers.
River Cane (Arundinaria gigantea), the native American bamboo, can still be found along the
banks of the Kentucky and Illinois rivers and other streams in the South and Midwest and
even into Texas and Oklahoma. Exotic bamboos have been planted almost everywhere in the
continental US. Bamboo contains a lot of silica (glass), so it’s very hard, and may be the ideal
noter material as it is also light, easy to work and readily available.
“Nature’s plastic” - a large turkey or goose feather - gives you both a noter and a plectrum or
pick. Choose a primary feather (the long one at the tip of the wing) or center tail feather. The
large butt end of the feather becomes the noter. Cut it off just where it starts to change from
hollow to solid white, and you’re ready to play.
Wooden noters should be made from the hardest wood you can find. The birch dowels sold at
lumber yards and hobby shops are barely hard enough. I find it sad that luthiers who charge
many hundreds of dollars for their instruments include a nickel’s worth of cheap hardware
store dowel for a noter, instead of something appropriate made from the same material as
your dulcimer.
Oak, cherry, walnut, hickory, and ash are hard enough to last quite a while. Teak, ebony,
olive, mesquite, madrone, and padauk are more suitable (but less common) woods. A useful
trick for “toughing up” a noter is to soak it overnight in a light penetrating oil such a 3-in-1
(don’t use vegetable oil). Very pretty noters can be made from exotic wood “knife scale”
blanks that you see advertised on Ebay and other places. But don't run out and buy exotic
hardwoods to make one or two noters unless you just have to! Ask your woodworking friends
if you can scrounge in their scrap bins for suitable pieces of hard wood.
Glass tubes or solid rods give notes an eerie sound, as do Apache tears and other forms of
volcanic glass. Polished stones such as malachite and onyx make beautiful noters. Metal rods,
tubes and bars are almost indestructible noters, although brass and copper will be notched by
steel strings. Plastic finger splints, shade pulls, swizzle sticks, ballpoint pens, and a variety of
tubing and flat stock make very ‘slippery’ noters if the plastic is hard enough.
Flat noters are often made from ice cream sticks or tongue depressors, but like dowel they
are not quite as hard as could be. They are readily made from a variety of flat stock with a
saw and sandpaper.
Up to a point, a heavier noter is better than a light one. I have one that is actually the mortar
from my malachite molcajete (Mexican mortar & pestle). Its weight makes it fabulous for
playing long sessions.
Ergonomic noters are individually shaped to the hand or finger configuration of the user. Such
noters may incorporate holes for anchoring fingers, bulges to fill palms, or extensions to
compensate for lost digits. One simple ergonomic noter has a notch at the string end to
prevent the noter from slipping into the middle drone(s). Another is the “noter bun” – a
foam rubber and duct tape tube into which most of the noter slips – to take the strain off the
noter hand during long sessions.
Get A Grip On It!
There are two basic ways to hold the noter – underhand and overhand. Neither is better than
the other; they’re just different.
The Underhand hold is sometimes called the Jean Ritchie method because it was illustrated in
her landmark The Dulcimer Book © 1963. This "thumb on top" style is very useful if you have
a tall (3/4" or more) fretboard, so your fingers can clear the soundboard. The knuckle of the
index finger acts as a guide to keep the noter from going too deeply into strings. (This is the
style you see Andy Robinson using at the top of this article.)
However, many modern fretboards are only 1/2" – 5/8" tall, and most people have fingers
thicker than that! That’s when the Overhand or Galax hold (used in the Galax, Virginia
dulcimer playing style) is especially good.
Overhand hold. Photo by Elaine VanDeWater
Champion Galax style player Phyllis Gaskins using overhand hold on noter.
Photo by Marie Shelton.
"Hold the noter with the index finger on top, with the side of the end of the middle finger as a
brace along the side of the fretboard for stability. Just enough of the noter protrudes to cover
the strings..." — Mary M. Mason (student of Phyllis Gaskins), Noter & Quill, Mountain Dulcimer
Southwest Virginia Style, © 1995
The Overhand hold works on both shallow and tall fretboards, and with the dulcimer in your
lap or on a stand. It also provides good control of noter placement - almost as if the noter is a
hard fingertip. As Mason points out, the middle finger also acts as a guide to keep the noter
from extending into the middle strings.
Editor’s Note: See Phyllis Gaskins’ Feb. ’05 DulcimerSessions article on Galax style noter
playing, which includes free written music and a sound file:
http://www.dulcimersessions.com/feb05/galax.html
It’s Not What You Do, But How You Do It
The noter should be parallel to the plane of the strings and at right angles to the fretboard,
pressing close to the fret. This means your wrist must be relaxed and flexible as you move up
the fretboard.
To prevent “clicking and clacking and bumping sounds” the noter must be parallel to the plane
of the fretboard. If the nose or tail of the noter comes down first, the result is a “bump” every
time you cross a fret. If you have doubled melody strings this is even more important. If the
noter isn’t parallel, either the inner or outer string may not be fully depressed, which can
create some real discord!
You can also get “speed bumps” if you’re pressing down too hard. White knuckles are NOT a
requirement for good N&D playing!!
The “speed bump” syndrome decreases as you get more comfortable with your noter. You’ll
eventually relax your death-grip and start moving more fluidly. At the same time you’ll stop
feeling a ‘clunk’ every time the noter crosses a fret. Start slow and work your speed up. We
blithely talk about how easy it is to learn to play the dulcimer. And, comparatively speaking
that’s true. But we must never forget that it does take playing experience. Forget “practice” –
just “play”.
Sliding Down the Fretboard of Life
The most asked question about Noter & Drone style is "Do you have to pick the stick up and
put it back down for each note, or can you just slide the stick along?" The answer, of course,
is a resounding "Yes."
Picking up between notes versus sliding between notes depends on the effect you want to
create or the song employs. If you're trying to keep up with a fiddler, keeping the noter to the
strings is the fastest way to play. If you want the song to sound more "stately" when
fingerpicking or flatpicking, then by all means pick the noter up between notes. Work at just
barely lifting the noter, so as not to waste time and energy moving broadly.
While Hammer Ons and Pull Offs take a bit of practice when you finger dance, with a noter,
they are simple and crisp – lift or push. An interesting effect is what I call Ghost Noting.
Let's say the tab calls for you to play frets 3 5 and 7, with a strum at each fret. Instead, you
could Ghost Note this phrase by strumming the 3, sliding to the 5 in tempo without a strum,
then sliding to the 7 and strumming. You could even “ghost” both 5 and 7 and delay the
strum till the next note.
Similar to Ghost Noting are Sliding On or Sliding Off. Basically you play the wrong note and
then slide up or down the fretboard to the right note – in the timing of the single note. Some
people say I developed this technique because I had trouble remembering where a particular
note was! That may have been true once, but now it’s just “my style”!
After you've been playing Noter & Drone style for a while, you'll begin to notice that not all
Drone Chords are melodious. As you play the scale, especially in Ionian Mode above the 7th
fret, the Drone Chords sound less and less pleasing to the ear.
An easy solution is to change the angle of attack; not of the noter, but of the pick on the
strings. As you go up the scale, strum less and less of the mid and bass drones; so that by
the time you pass the first octave, you're playing just the melody string(s). As you come
down the scale, play more and more mid- and bass drone until you're playing all strings more
or less equally.
Come over to the Dark Side…pick up a stick and give Noter & Drone a try for a couple
months. You may be glad you did!
Here is a tablature arrangement of one of my favorite tunes to play Noter & Drone style.
This traditional English folksong, dating back into the 1600s, is a beautiful noter & drone song
played slowly and liltingly – no bum-ditties here – let there be spaces between the notes! In
fact, I usually play this with older style single direction strums; no back-and-forth. When
singing, the last eight bars are the Chorus. The tune has been used by the Royal Marines as a
slow march, as a children’s TV show theme in Canada, and as a vehicle for political satire in
several English elections!
“Early One Morning”
Ionian Mode (DAA tuning)
Strummed
Arranged by Ken Hulme
Remember the vows,
That you made to your Mary,
Remember the bow'r,
Where you vowed to be true,
Chorus
Oh Gay is the garland,
And fresh are the roses,
I've culled from the garden,
To place upon thy brow.
Chorus
Thus sang the poor maiden,
Her sorrows bewailing,
Thus sang the poor maid,
In the valley below.
Ken Hulme’s Story
Photo by Marie Shelton.
In the early ‘70s I first heard eerie music coming from a small shop in Manitou Springs, CO,
and followed it to discover the mountain dulcimer. Bud & Donna Ford still own Cripple Creek
Dulcimer Company, where I eventually bought a kit to built my first instrument so that I could
learn to play.
Although I had some choir and glee club training in high school, I was otherwise musically
self- taught for a number of years. In those days there were only a couple of books on playing
dulcimer, and I had them both.
I taught myself to play in Noter & Drone style, and have been playing that way ever since.
Although the ‘70s was a period of dulcimer revival, it wasn’t until years later that I found
others to play with regularly. I have since picked up a certain amount of music theory
education “on the streets” as it were, from other dulcimer players and builders with whom I
have associated.
My play list includes several hundred Scots/Irish/English folk and dance tunes; medieval,
renaissance, American folk and pop music from the Revolutionary War to Metallica, and tunes
from other countries around the world.
About 15 years ago I started building mountain dulcimers of my own design – a teardrop
shape with a one-piece side. I have since branched out into building and learning to play
several other relatively obscure folk instruments as well, including the Psalmodikon (a onestring fretted Swedish ‘fiddle’), wing-shaped Baltic Psalteries (from Finland, Latvia, Lithuania,
Estonia, etc.), a unique fretted zither invented in 1914 by Georg Stoessel of Cologne,
Germany; and reconstructions of 5th - 9th Century European lyres of the type mentioned in
Beowulf, found in burials in England and northern Europe. I also play Bass drum for Scottish
pipe bands, and the middle eastern doumbek.
I have played and taught children and adults privately, at dulcimer festivals and through clubs
in Utah, Oregon, Kentucky, Arizona, Colorado, and most recently, the Republic of the Marshall
Islands and now Florida. I have also helped organize clubs and festivals in several of those
places.
I can be contacted through my e-dress, [email protected]
Ken Hulme