My family is from Maryville, Tennessee,
in the foothills of the Smoky Mountains. My Uncle Bob taught me old folk songs as we hiked in the mountains
and traveled to wonderful places in the area. I have been playing dulcimer since 1988, and it has been one of the most
rewarding experiences of my life. The music has introduced me to many close friends in the folk music community,
and I have enjoyed traveling from the Ozarks to the Blue Ridge Mountains playing with other dulcimer players, as well as a
host of other folk instruments, including the hammered dulcimer, mandolin, autoharp, banjo, guitar -- even the kazoo!
There will be several opportunities to take mountain dulcimer classes each fall and spring.
Group classes are at Union University, 2745 Hacks Cross Road, in Germantown through
Germantown Parks and Recreation. Loaner dulcimers are available for those who are interested
in trying before they invest in an instrument.
In addition, I have been invited by Southwest Tennessee Community College
to join the staff of their continuing education department as an adjunct professor. New Players classes are held
at the Macon Road campus (at Sycamore View and I-40).
I am also available to schedule private
lessons throughout the year. A half-hour lesson is $30; one hour for $50. Call 901-877-7763
to schedule your lesson or click here to send me a message.
Feel free to call me at 901-877-7763, send me an e-mail , or send me a letter at P.O. Box 224, Moscow, TN 38057, if you have questions.
BEGINNER'S BOOK FOR NEW PLAYERS!
New 2nd edition with instructional CD!
Blue Smoke Risin' on the Mountain is my book
for the beginning dulcimer player, and the second edition is now available. This latest edition includes new chapters
on the history of the mountain dulcimer and how modes are applied to the instrument. The provides step-by-step
instruction for playing and tuning the dulcimer, using the methods from my classes. The best part -- the all new
instructional CD includes oral instruction for getting started, playing, and strumming. It also includes play-along
recordings of the songs from the book. The book contains tablature for seven different songs, with DAA and DAD tunings
for each. Also included is an arrangement of Amazing Grace in the key of G. The CD includes 19 tracks
of instruction and songs and makes learning even easier by allowing the student to hear the tunes and to play along with
the CD as you learn.
Songs included (all songs in both DAA and DAD, and all songs include suggested strumming patterns):
Amazing Grace; Amazing Grace (DGD); Bile Them Cabbage Down; Gray Cat on a Tennessee Farm; Liza Jane; Soldier's Joy; Twinkle,
Twinkle, Little Star; Wildwood Flower.
Book/CD set $20 (plus $4 postage).
Book only $12 (plus $3.50 postage).
To order, mail checks to me at P.O. Box 224, Moscow, TN 38057. Questions?
Write to me by clicking the "Write to Lee" link at the top of the page or call 901-877-7763.
Betty Dawson
Are you interested in Hammered Dulcimer
Lessons?
Betty Dawson offers private lessons and will
also be joining me as an adjunct professor at Southwest Tennessee Community College.
"The Water is Wide" CD from Lee Cagle and Betty
Dawson, with friends Steve Newman and John Albertson. All proceeds from the sale of the CD benefit
The Church Health Center of Memphis. CDs are $15 and can be purchased locally
from Lee Cagle (send me an e-mail or call 901-877-7763); The Episcopal Bookshop, 672 Poplar; or Cokesbury Books, 6150
Poplar Avenue. Click the photo link on the right to learn more about our volunteer
project and to hear songs from the CD.
To order from me, send check or money order to
Lee Cagle, P.O. Box 224, Moscow, TN 38057.
CD only: $15 plus $3 shipping (Total $18)
Tablature Book only: $15 plus $3 shipping (Total
$18)
CD and Tab Book: $30 plus $4.50 shipping (Total
$34.50)
All proceeds from sale of the CD goes to Church Health Center.
Also available: The Water is Wide Tablature
Book for Mountain Dulcimer. Play along with the CD! $15 (plus $3 shipping).
BEGINNER'S BOOK FOR NEW PLAYERS!
New 2nd edition with instructional CD!
Blue Smoke Risin' on the Mountain is my book
for the beginning dulcimer player, and the second edition is now available. This latest edition includes new chapters
on the history of the mountain dulcimer and how modes are applied to the instrument. The provides step-by-step
instruction for playing and tuning the dulcimer, using the methods from my classes. The best part -- the all new
instructional CD includes oral instruction for getting started, playing, and strumming. It also includes play-along
recordings of the songs from the book. The book contains tablature for seven different songs, with DAA and DAD tunings
for each. Also included is an arrangement of Amazing Grace in the key of G. The CD includes 19 tracks
of instruction and songs and makes learning even easier by allowing the student to hear the tunes and to play along with
the CD as you learn.
Songs included (all songs in both DAA and DAD, and all songs include suggested strumming
patterns): Amazing Grace; Amazing Grace (DGD); Bile Them Cabbage Down; Gray Cat on a Tennessee Farm; Liza Jane;
Soldier's Joy; Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star; Wildwood Flower.
Book/CD set $20 (plus $4 postage).
Book only $12 (plus $3.50 postage).
To order, mail checks to me at P.O. Box 224, Moscow, TN 38057. Questions?
Click here to write to me or call 901-877-7763.
Maag and Lee at Cullowhee, NC
During the summers of 2003, 2004, and 2005, I travelled
to Cullowhee, NC, to attend a weeklong workshop on techniques for playing mountain dulcimer. I have met players
from as far away as NY, Canada and Australia. Each year brings new and exciting aspects to my playing and teaching.
For information about Dulcimer Week at WCU, go to http://cess.wcu.edu/dulcimer.
I play a Blue Lion mountain dulcimer by Bob and Janita Baker.
You should, too!
I came across but one singer who sang to an instrumental accompaniment,
the guitar, and that was in Charlottesville, Va. Mrs. Campbell, however, tells me that in Kentucky, where I have not
yet collected, singers occasionally play an instrument called the dulcimer, a shallow, wooden box, with four sound-holes,
in shape somewhat like a flat, elongated violin, over which are strung three (sometimes four) metal strings, the two (or three)
lower of which are tonic-drones, the melody being played upon the remaining and uppermost string which is fretted. As
the strings are plucked with the fingers and not struck with a hammer, the instrument would, I suppose, be more correctly
called a psaltery. -- Cecil J. Sharp in his introduction to English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians, co-authored
with Olive Dame Campbell and published in 1917
