Dulcimer tablature transcribed by Howard Wright
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This transcription is for the dulcimer part played by Joni on
the original song. You can copy the dulcimer part on the guitar,
though you need to make sure you play only three strings (2nd,
3rd and 4th strings - it can be tricky to avoid playing the top
string, so you can try removing this string completely).
For a guitar "copy" of the dulcimer part, tune your 4th string
(D) down to C#, then tune your 3rd string (G) up to G# and your
2nd string (B) down to G#.
On the dulcimer, the bass string is tuned to C# and the melody
and drone strings a fifth higher to G#.
For each line of dulcimer tablature there is a corresponding
line of guitar tablature that gives identical chords. Make
sure you don't get the two mixed up - because of the different
ways the instruments are fretted, the fret positions needed
are quite different (the order of the strings is also different).
The top line of tablature is the dulcimer tab (labelled "Dulc")
and the bottom line is the guitar tab ("Gtr"). The lyrics are
written underneath both lines of tab.
NB the bass dulcimer string is at the top of the dulcimer
tablature, as this is the way things are usually written. Joni
sometimes strings her dulcimer in a different way, but I've
followed the usual way of doing things here.
Strumming style
----------------
Apart from the intro, I haven't shown any details of the strumming,
I've just written a new chord shape for each chord change.
The strumming pattern that's used is a fairly simple 8th note
pattern, using alternate up and down strokes. To add some variety
to this, Joni accents some strums (i.e strums louder) and mutes
others by relaxing the pressure of the fretting hand - this mutes
the fretted notes but allows the drone string to be heard. This
means that the drone string fills in the gaps between the strums on
the full chords.
If you listen to the original while following this tablature, it
should be fairly clear how this works.
\ = slide
This transcription is the author's own work and represents their interpretation of the song.
You may only use this file for private study, scholarship, or research.
Copyrighted material contained in transcriptions is used in accordance with 'Fair Use'.
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