Appalachian Dulcimer Traditions (25 page)

As is explained in chapter 5, Amburgey based his instruments on patterns provided by Thomas. The variations in the measurements of these two instruments, notably the greater length of the Thomas, reflect the facts that Thomas's own instruments showed variations, and that, in the mountains, “copies” were rarely exact.

Old scheitholts and dulcimers were generally fretted by ear. A common method was to move the finger down the fret board, plucking the string, until the interval sounded right. The fretboard was marked at that spot, and small holes were drilled to accommodate the staple-style frets. A variant of this method, used by such old-time dulcimer makers as Edd Presnell and Homer Ledford, is described in chapter 7. Alternatively, the fret pattern of another instrument was copied, inaccuracies and all.

As noted in chapter 1, the makers of many old scheitholts and dulcimers did not attempt to provide accurate tones and halftones at the upper end of the scale. After about the 10th to 12th fret in many instruments, the frets revert to approximately equal spacing.

When dulcimer maker Bert Berry of Chesapeake, Virginia, read about the Ache scheitholt in my dulcimer history column in the
Dulcimer Players News
, he contacted Jeanette Hamner, the owner, and asked if he could visit and measure the instrument carefully for the purpose of making a replica. She readily consented.

As part of his measuring task, Berry checked the spacing of the frets and compared it to the correct measurements for the instrument's string span. His measurements reveal a common situation with old scheitholts and dulcimers: that the fretting is inaccurate. The errors, however, are not large. Only frets 1, 2, 11, and 12 stray about 5 millimeters or more from fully correct position.

The “correct spacing” given above is for a standard dulcimer scale for this instrument's vibrating string length (the span of the strings from nut to bridge), which is 248 inches. As explained in chapter 1, most traditional dulcimers are fretted in such a fashion that, if one depresses the melody string at the third fret and picks it and then proceeds down the fret board fret by fret to the 10th fret, picking the string at each fret, one will play the major or Ionian-mode scale. We think of it as:

do re mi fa sol la ti do

The major scale has halftones between the third and fourth and between the seventh and eighth tones of the scale. If one begins an eight-note scale at the open string rather than at the third fret, the result is a halftone instead of a whole tone at the seventh note of the scale:

do re mi fa sol la
ti-
flat
do

You can get this effect by playing a scale from G to G on the piano on the white keys only; going up to F-sharp at the seventh tone (as would be done in a major scale) isn't allowed. As explained in chapter 1, this series with a flatted seventh is the scale of the Mixolydian mode. Well-known old-time tunes that employ the Mixolydian scale include “Old Joe Clark,” “Fire on the Mountain,” and “Darling Cory.”

Now, suppose you would like your instrument to play the major/Ionian scale—
do, re, mi, fa, sol, la, ti, do
—from the open string instead of the third fret. Nothing to it.
Ti
-flat is the only offender. To get rid of it, just expand the interval between the fifth and sixth frets from a halftone to a whole tone. This will crowd the next interval down to a halftone, as it is between B and C on the piano.
Voilà.
Starting from the open string, one now gets the Ionian scale, exactly what one is after.

There are a number of old scheitholts and old dulcimers with fret patterns that have been altered in exactly this fashion. See, for example, the scheitholts that are illustrated in figures 14 and 16 in my book
The Story of the Dulcimer.
The little trick was no secret.

Now, let's look at the Ache scheitholt. Was it Samuel Ache's intention that the major scale be played from the open string? The answer, as indicated by the letters for the key of C that are stenciled along the fretboard, is almost certainly yes. Is the instrument fretted so that it will play the major scale from the open string? No. The halftone between the sixth and seventh frets has not been expanded to a full tone, and the ensuing interval crowded down to a halftone. If the player uses the stenciled letters as the guide to his scale, he will get
ti
-flat at the seventh tone of his scale. In effect, he will be playing in the Mixolydian mode.

What is the rationale of the tale? Did Ache have insufficient understanding of the fretting pattern that was known to him through tradition? Or is there something deeper and less accidental that we no longer know?

Perhaps we could assume that the presence of that pesky
ti
-flat was just accepted. Old-time dulcimer players were immensely forgiving of tonal irregularities in their scales, and Ache and his bride might have been the same. In addition, many old tunes do not employ the seventh tone of the scale at all. Maybe the idea was to avoid tunes that used it. We could look at it that way. But it's only a guess.

The reader may have a final question. Doesn't it make sense for the major/ Ionian scale to start at the open fret? Why does it start at the third fret on the scale of most traditional dulcimers and scheitholts? The answer, or rather answers, reflect some old folk wisdom:

• First, if the major scale starts at the third fret, one can carry tunes down to three notes below
  do,
  which is where a lot of them go. Think of “Red River Valley,” “My Home's across the Blue Ridge Mountains,” and a hundred others. On an instrument with
  do
  at the open fret, one must play such tunes on the second octave. While this is feasible, it is more difficult because the frets are more closely spaced, and the sound is less appealing.
  
• Second, it turns out that, if the major scale starts at the third fret, it is easier to retune the instrument to play in other musical modes. Ask any dulcimer player.
  

The information in this appendix is taken from the book
The First Forty Years of the Old Fiddler's Convention, Galax, Virginia,
by Herman K. Williams. The book lists the winners of the various contests at the convention from 1935 through 1974 and provides supplementary information. The following should be noted:

• Two conventions were held in 1935. The convention in April was a trial run. It turned out to be so successful that a larger-scale effort was immediately planned for October 1935. When this one, too, was successful, the event was established on an annual basis.
  
• The records of the October 1935 convention list the contestant's place of residence and the song or tune that the contestant played and/or sang. Records of subsequent conventions provide the place of residence only.
  
• The records for the 1938 convention have been lost.
  
• The 1942 convention was shortened to one day because of the wartime restrictions on automobile travel. Only one dulcimer winner was selected that year. No conventions were held during the war years 1943 and 1944.
  
• When the convention was resumed in 1945, the dulcimer contest was dropped. It was not reinstated until 1974, the last year for which the book provides coverage.
  

Also of interest, a fine early picture of Raymond Melton playing and a number of other musicians watching, captioned, “Showing How to Play Dulcimer: Raymond Melton,” appears on page 16 of Williams's book.

*  *  *

April 1935

Ruth Melton, Galax, Virginia

October 1935

1.   Ruth Melton, Galax, Virginia, “Ebenezer”
   
2.   Lina Melton, Galax, Virginia, “Walkin' in My Sleep”
   

1936

1.   Jacob Melton, Galax, Virginia
   
2.   Lina Melton, Galax, Virginia
   

1937

1.   Raymond Melton, Woodlawn, Virginia
   
2.   Velma Nester (Musser), Dugspur, Virginia
   
3.   Jacob Melton, Galax, Virginia
   

1939

1.   Raymond Melton, Woodlawn, Virginia
   
2.   Velma Musser, Galax, Virginia
   
3.   Jacob Melton, Galax, Virginia
   

1940

1.   Raymond Melton, Woodlawn, Virginia
   
2.   Lina Melton, Woodlawn, Virginia
   

1941

1.   Blanch Melton, Woodlawn, Virginia
   
2.   Raymond Melton, Galax, Virginia
   
3.   Jacob Melton, Galax, Virginia
   

1942

Blanch Melton, Woodlawn, Virginia

1974

1.   Bonnie Russell, Galax, Virginia
   
2.   Raymond Melton, Woodlawn, Virginia
   
3.   Terry W. Burcham, Huntsville, Alabama
   
4.   Roscoe Russell, Galax, Virginia
   
5.   Velma Musser, Galax, Virginia
   

*  *  * 

The book gives Lina Melton's name incorrectly as Tina in the 1935 and 1940 entries, and Velma Musser's name is incorrectly spelled “Belva” in the list.

In addition to Raymond Melton's placing among the 1974 winners, it is impressive to note that Velma Nester Musser was a winner in 1937, 1939, and 1974. Several Library of Congress recordings of her, made in 1965, are listed in appendix A.

A leading Galax-area string band of the 1930s, the Bogtrotters, won the string band contest in October 1935. A member of this band was a second-generation Galax physician, Dr. W. P. Davis, who played the autoharp and also secured engagements for the band. An article on the contest in the October 31, 1935, issue of the
Galax Post Herald
states, “Dr. W. P. Davis conducted the dulcimer and folk song contests, giving an interesting history of the dulcimer, the oldest of the present musical instruments.” I would give a lot for a record of his comments.